Went to a wake this evening. Sophak, my language tutor, her mother passed away suddenly today. Apparently she fell down some time ago and suffered some sort of fracture and got a cast recently. For some strange reason she went from not so well to really sick, after being prescribed some medicine from the hospital. The kind of medical care in this country..... Sigh. I don't know....

Sophak received a phone call probably some time during lunch. Her neighbour told her that her mom wasn't doing well and she should come home right away. So she rushed home. Sadly, before she could get home, her mom passed away. I can't imagine how she was feeling as she received the dreadful call to go home. And how bad she must've felt when she found out that her mom passed away before she could get home to her. What do you say to someone who has to deal with the unexpected death of a loved ones? Dealing with death is painful enough, let alone a sudden one. Such a tragic and freak ...... incident. My heart goes to her. She's one of the sweetest person I've ever met. Always gentle, caring and patient, soft spoken and loved by everyone. So petite and cute. You just want to hug her when you see her. I don't think anyone can say anything harsh to her.

I always enjoy my lesson with her, because she's so patient. It's a great arrangement. I take lesson from her and she does TOEFL class with me. You can tell, she's someone who's genuinely interested in wanting to make a difference for this country. Passion, that's it. Working not because for money (which is rare here), but because of the desire to want to make an impact.

I'm always amazed at how Khmers handle situation like this. Be it death or birth or weddings. Always a laid back attitude, as if nothing better/worse could happen. At times it almost seems.... resigned... She seemed surprisingly composed to me at the wake. I probably wouldn't even be able to speak if I were to go through the same thing.

I'm never good at situation like this. Lack of words compounded by my quiet nature. I guess maybe silence is better sometimes. Some things are lacking in this country, but there're a few things that are not: weddings, births, deaths and illnesses. Those and NGOs....