In Canada I do a long distance drive once or twice a year - long distance being into BC or Saskatchewan. Here, every single drive is long - it's not the distance, it's the traffic and the roads. Battambang should be the same as driving to Calgary from
Edmonton but here its almost like driving to Saskatchewan because of the slow traffic, bad road conditions and nobody obeying the rules. Police are everywhere, catching those speeding through the villages, and that means stopping to argue and most likely pay a bribe to be able to move on.
Thornin phoned to say he'd driven to Kandal Province to meet a health department official. The man wasn't there, even though he'd made an appointment. This is what happens all the time with our work to get permission to bring in the dentists. We work in three provinces so we have to visit three provincial offices. In order to get the papers completed quickly we usually give the clerk a $10 phone card. In Cambodia we give tips before anything is done rather than afterwards. Then we have to visit the main Dept of Health in Phnom Penh. After they give their approval, and we give another phone card, we have to go to the main customs office to deal with the equipment the dentists bring in. From there we pay a visit to the airport for final approval. What's interesting is that only once has anyone at the airport asked us to open a box and, when we leave Cambodia, nobody has ever checked the boxes. It all seems such a waste of time.
Things do happen though; one year we applied to visit a prison where we'd worked before, but were refused permission. We were told by the prison governor that an NGO from another country had been to the prison and had left blood products all over the place. At another location the local policeman came and wanted to see all our passports. The next day the chief of police arrived. Our local friends panicked because there was a secret meeting going on at our location with members of the political opposition. We calmed down when he said he wanted his teeth fixed. One dentist objected as he wasn't poor but we reminded her that without these people we wouldn't get permission to treat the poor.
I had my English class in the afternoon. Srun eats his lunch at the office after class, whereas Phearak eats it before coming to class. Phearak yawns his head off throughout the entire hour whereas Srun doesn't. Lunch always includes meat and fish so I've told Phearak it's sapping his energy and makes him sleepy. The first thing he does when he comes is to charge his phone. When I asked him to say in English what he did the evening before it's always, "I play Facebook!" He does go to university straight from work so he gets home at 8.30pm and then has to have his evening meal, so it's a long day for him. His job is messenger and he motorbikes all over town delivering tickets to customers.
I waited in vain for my cook to arrive this evening. Later I was told that he'd found out both his parents were out for the evening so he went back to doing what he likes best which is gaming on the computer. He's only 14, so no money's involved, but I'm sure he's addicted to it. I waited for an hour and then I decided I'd better cook for myself; I may fire him the next time he comes over.
I went out in the evening to buy some supplies from one of the small 24/7 shops. I have to pick and choose because they all sell different things. Tomorrow I'll visit another one as I couldn't find honey at the one I visited. Because I live in the town centre these shops sell everything for the foreigners who live in the area and for tourists. As I walked along the street, the beer ladies at one of the bars said, "Hello!" They sit outside, wearing high heels and a mini skirt, and try to attract me inside. I feel sorry for them because their salary is a commission on how many beers they sell.
I've mentioned the sidewalks before, which are covered with cars and motorbikes. Outside my alley there's a clothing shop that takes up the street corner. They've gone one step further and have tiled the pavement and put up a permanent awning, which literally doubles the size of their shop. This is done by all sorts of restaurants too but nobody in officialdom seems to bother about it.
I have my neighbours the Durian I'd bought for them. They said "Thank you". It always fascinated me the way people reacted in Asia if you give them something. They are polite but they don't go overboard like we do in the West; "Oh you shouldn't have done. What a lovely gift" etc. I was glad to get rid of the package as the smell of the fruit was starting to leak out of the styrofoam package plus two plastic bags.
I started to feel a fever coming on so it's off to be early.
