I enjoy travelling but it’s always nice not to be travelling and to be able to have an ordinary day. I’d been away from home since Saturday so one of the first things I had to do was to wash the floor. The colour of the water, as I threw it down the toilet, was disconcerting but there’s nothing I can do about it. I had done my laundry last night so that was one job less to do. I have to do it during the dark hours because my washing machine is outside on the balcony. In the bright sunlight I can’t see the dials so I’ve no idea how much water I’m putting in and whether I’m choosing “Fuzzy” or “Favourite” etc. I love my washing machine. In Canada we get the “old fashioned” kind with paddles that bash the clothes to and fro, or we can buy a front end loader that has no paddles and so the clothes simply flop around. For some strange reason, in Asia I can buy a machine that’s like a front end loader, in that there are no paddles, but it’s actually a top loader. It’s fascinating how jets of water pulsate and gently move the clothes around.
Vuth phoned to ask me to bring over a silk wall hanging I’ve had in my apartment. He wanted it to cover up a space in his office. I’ve seen that wall hanging since I moved into the apartment in September 2017 but it’s interesting how I don’t even notice it’s gone. In the old days I always told people my home was no longer my home once I took the pictures down. Now here I am showing absolutely no interest in what’s on the walls. Vuth said he was going to buy a new painting but I can’t say I’m bothered one way or the other.
I had lunch with the family. I always find it funny when they tell me what I have to eat with which food. This time I was told I had to eat the dried fish with a tamarind sauce. There was also a soup made from a squash with slices of omelette in it. In the fruit department there was banana, watermelon, guava and mango. The children were on holiday so the house was full of noise. I’d accidentally scraped my leg on something yesterday so little Cheata was concerned and kept getting onto her knees to check it out. She ended up getting a sticky label from a bottle and putting it on the spot. Later she put a cold compress on my forehead to make me better and I was also given a bib.
Ponleu wanted to come over so I told him, “No television, no iPhone, no iPad”. He ended up bringing his school books in a backpack. Poor lad, he’s only 9 years old but the bag weighed 10kg. This happens a lot in Asia; students have nowhere to put their books at school so they end up carrying all of them back and forth. He did his homework and then settled down to write a two page report on the weekend which is something the three boys have to do if they go somewhere. Later we went shopping - I needed bread and they wanted some snacks. Oudom wanted to check out 3 shops but I told him one was enough. It’s hard weaving in and out of the traffic holding the wrists of two boys - for some reason people don’t hold their childrens’ hands. Ponleu always seems to be looking at his feet rather than where he’s going and Oudom never stops asking questions or giving me statistics about world affairs. I took them home and quickly took off before they could ask to come back with me.
