I have realised my brain is getting addled. I have to make a genuine effort to keep my life simple and routine, otherwise I have a muck-up. That is something I've just had, but it's not the end of the world. It's a bit like that Banksy painting which partially shredded after some lady in Europe had paid nearly 1.5 million US dollars for it. She says it has a history to it so she was keeping it. It's the same with my diary - my little foibles and mistakes make things a bit more interesting and, those who read it, will very often feel much better about themselves when they realise I'm in a far worse state than they are.
So, tonight's the night for the mouse!
Vuth invited me for coffee in the morning and I met a friend of his whom I'd met earlier. Nobody bothers telling me the names of people I don't know so I learned later his name is something like "Oun". He's a very nice person and he's built a small kindergarten for about 30 children in a rural area about two hours from Phnom Penh. He's hired university students, who are studying English literature, to be teachers. The children do pay, and, out of his own pocket, he finds money for the teachers. He's invited me to go there on Monday to meet the teachers and to talk about education. I told him I'd prefer to get them to ask questions, which I can hopefully answer, otherwise I could be prattling on about things that are of no concern to them.
I'll go there with Vuth and the boys because it's a public holiday on Monday. We'll have lunch with the students and then I can have my chat. Vuth said it's close to a large lake which is famous for freshwater lobster so I have a feeling we'll be bringing some back.
The rest of the day was spent writing and reading until Samnang came over and this time my Mother's recipe - cheese, egg and tomatoes - was on the menu. Mother used to have two recipes; cheese, egg and tomatoes in a pan and cheese egg and tomatoes on the plate. The first one involves something akin to scrambled eggs; the second one has slices of cheese covering a plate, rings of tomato around the edge and an egg in the centre. It's then put into the oven to bake for a few minutes and eaten with bread and butter. Both are lovely and my comfort food if I can't think of anything else to eat.
