The best made plans of mice and men rarely work out. My idea of travelling from Battambang to Siem Reap was cancelled because there were no hotel rooms available because of the town's river festival, which involved dragon boat racing. On top of that, some of the people I wanted to see were travelling elsewhere. There are three main holidays in Cambodia - New Year, Pchum Ben, which is when they go home to remember their ancestors, and the river festivals. I'm learning these are the best times to stay home.
While I was staying with Thornin and Serey there was a leadership workshop going on with Grade 12 students, run by two young Buddhist monks. Buddhism has an interesting attitude towards being a monk or nun. You can become one permanently or you can be a monk for a period of time. Whether this is for one day or one month, the man has to go through the same ritual of having his hair shaved etc. Some men do it to give thanks for something that happened in their life, others do it if they feel the need to find a new direction. Many young children become monks because their families are destitute; the parents know, if they send their sons to a pagoda, the children will be fed, clothed, given a certain education and cared for. These children often return home for events such as rice planting, harvest or family ceremonies. Nowadays, many monks are educated and they are happy to share their knowledge with other younger people.
At the start of the workshop the monks hung up a poster of the various aspects of leadership. It used symbols and was in the Khmer language. After they left, I tried to figure out what the symbols meant - some I understood while others had me baffled. I hope I can post the photo I took so you can figure them out yourselves.
It reminded me of when I was at the airport a few days ago. A man went into the toilet and he came out very quickly when he realised he'd read the symbolism wrongly. I don't understand why there can't be a universal toilet symbol for men and women. When I first went to Canada I was taken to a German restaurant. The toilets were labelled Hansel and Gretel. I'd completely forgotten which was the man so I had to wait until I saw people entering and then I followed them. In Macedonia the authorities often used an umbrella and a high heeled shoe or fancy hat to represent the sexes for the toilets. When I travelled in Cambodia about ten years ago toilets were few and far between on the highways. Passengers would get off the bus and head off in different directions - no symbols were needed.
While staying at Serey's family home I've earned a deeper respect for anyone working in the restaurant business. In Cambodia the same people work in the restaurant seven days a week. Thornin and Serey offer over sixty different meals so it's challenging work. The first customers come for breakfast at 6.30 so they have to prepare the vegetables, soup broth etc long before the customers start arriving. Breakfast goes on until the late morning and, at that time, the staff are preparing for lunch. They do get a short break in the afternoon but that could involve cleaning the restaurant and shopping for more supplies. The restaurant doesn't close until after 9pm which means very little time for family.
It's not just tiring work, it's noisy too. Children run all over the place and use the play area with its swings and roundabouts. Staff shout orders to those in the kitchen to save walking there. It reminded me of the short-order restaurants in the USA that use a tradition of waiters shouting to the cooks to tell them what to prepare. I have a devil of a time because I never know what to ask for. I'm used to a menu with a description and pictures; here people generally create their own meal by saying what kind of meat or fish they want and what kind of noodles and how they want them prepared - in a soup, plainly cooked or fried etc. It's one job I've decided I could never do.
I think it was the full moon today. The family set up a table with candles, flowers and incense sticks, along with a gift of food and drink, to give thanks to the moon for the harvest etc. I suppose it's the Khmer equivalent of Thanksgiving or the Harvest Festival time in the UK. Little Lee An gave me three incense sticks. I asked what I was supposed to do and they said, "Look at the moon and say something." It was a nice way to end the day; a simple ceremony, and giving thanks for the food I'd been eating in the restaurant and the people who took care of me.
