I've been coming to Battambang every year since 2002. In the beginning I rented a very basic wooden home for $25 a month and students came to live with me. I got so used to the sight of rats they stopped bothering me. I pushed the toilet door one day and it fell apart; the termites had destroyed it. We slept in a windowless room that was reached by a rickety ladder. We had a great time together as the young students were busy with projects, trying to help the poor children in the community. Once a month Chamnan and friends cooked a meal for about a hundred young children. We had English classes and taught computers using old donated ones. At one point Chamnan organised English classes for the children living in the slum around the abandoned railway station. At that time there was only one "institute" teaching basic college courses so my friends decided to move to Phnom Penh where they could study at a university. That's when I also decided to move there. I bought a house, which would become my base until 2017 and would be home for students from the provinces. Actually, I didn't buy it; I gave local friends money to buy it because foreigners aren't allowed to own the ground.
I enjoy coming to Battambang. It's the second city in Cambodia but much smaller than Phnom Penh. I doubt if there's any more than half a million people here. It's quieter, life is slower, and it's far less stressful than being in the capital. My home nowadays is with Thornin and Serey who have a restaurant and share their lives with Serey's parents and other family members and friends. In earlier days Serey's father used to take in young boys he'd find roaming the streets. His family would care for them and send them to school. He would also teach them the traditional Cambodian ornate wood carving so they would have a trade when they left school. Nowadays a Canadian friend and I give some money so that six older teenagers can study English. They promise to come to this home every evening, Monday to Friday, to teach English to up to a hundred younger children. This place is a going concern.
Thornin and Serey work from the early hours of the morning until after 9.30pm when the restaurant closes. Today I said I'd take them for a pizza meal. Their daughter and son joined us. They are one year and 4 years old and super lively. To make matters worse, the restaurant gave them balloons on long sticks and a number of times we nearly had our eyes poked out. Lee An, the son, loves pizza but for him 'pizza' means the little sausages that are embedded in the pastry around the edge of the pizza. He seeks out the sausage and ignores the pastry. After that, he picks out things he likes on the pizza and leaves the rest for the adults.
Later in the evening, two car loads of friends arrived from Phnom Penh. Because it's the national holiday for the boat races, many people use it as a chance to do some travelling. The restaurant serves a traditional soup which means a large pot of broth and into it you put vegetables, egg, meat, noodles etc. Afterwards we decided to go for a fruit shake. These are hugely popular in Cambodia. They are made with a mixture of fruit, carrot, avocado etc., along with shaved ice, sugar, condensed milk and a raw egg. My innards shudder at the thought of all that sugar and egg so mine are very basic. I ordered avocado but it wasn't available so I ended up with strawberry - a daft choice in a country where strawberries aren't grown. Don't ask me where the 'strawberry' came from but it definitely was a far cry from what I know as a strawberry.
I don't think I'd survive in the restaurant industry. The hours would drive me to insanity and the noise would do my head in. I enjoy the food though. The children's play area is a great success with the children, and also with adults who need a break.
