A lovely day. I woke up at 6am and did my walking exercise. The floor still didn't look shiny so I washed it again. I phoned Thornin and told him he owed me a meal after I'd spent time cleaning the bits of paper from his clothing. Vuth came over and said that workmen would be in the building to fix a bit of wall that was falling. My apartment had to be used for the electricity so I had wires, ladders and bits and bobs all over the place. They are back tomorrow so my home looks like an obstacle course. People here work every day of the week as there's no special "Sunday" for Buddhists.
Vuth encouraged me to go over the road to have lunch with the family. I was a bit reluctant as I'm still in the mood of flopping and enjoying peace and quite, but I decided to join them. Cina had been to the market in the morning and had bought 5kg of crab at $15 a kilo and 4kg of lobster at $40 a kilo, so she spent a lot of money today. The creatures were fresh from the river and alive when she brought them home. Some of them had been cooked in the oven while others were made into a soup.
I just sat there, eating away, while others broke everything open for me. Grandma was having a great time chomping on the spiny legs of the lobsters and pulling out a piece of meat shaped like a small pencil. I've learned how to identify a male and female crab by it's underbelly. I gave up after two lobsters and a crab. They told me to keep on eating but I said I was worried there weren't many left for the rest of the family. I was then reassured they had lots of them left. I wonder how much all of it would cost in the West?
The workers were still busy when I left the apartment to pick up the boys to go for a walk. I'd promised them a fruit shake along the river so that got them away from the computers. Their's is not a normal family. With the travel office inside the home, there are computers all over the place so there's no need to share. The lads bragged that they'd played games for nearly 5 hours. I think it's absolutely whacky but I doubt if I can change anything. They pulled a face when I said, if they come to my place, there's no computer games; they can bring books, do drawing, play with the Lego etc. Ponleu enjoys drawing but he insists on being paid for each picture - if he colours it he earns $5. I've told him he'd get nothing from me except a thank you and maybe a hug. I don't like kids learning all about money at such a young age.
I left the house with three boys. Samnang (14) was in a muttering mood, saying how much he hated living in the house etc. I told him he had to wait four more years and then he could make his own decisions. I always get onto him when he's in this kind of a mood, reminding him of what life would be like if he was with his addict father - no lobster dinners for him if he was with dad. He likes getting dressed up so he emerged in black and white with long pants; the other two were in floppy t-shirts and shorts. Ponleu had a bunch of grapes rolled up in his shirt. At the riverside Samnang went ahead, kicking his ball, and that's the last we saw of him. He'll be over tomorrow evening and I'll pounce on him for not telling us he was going off on his own.
We sat at the riverside and ordered drinks; the lads ordered the most expensive shakes on the menu but I was in a good mood so I let them have it. I was impressed with the paper straws. Poor Ponleu had ordered a passion fruit mix so he had a problem getting the seeds up the straw. A young man went by on a tiny trolley, as he has no legs; he wasn't begging but had a weigh scale and he wanted people to pay to be weighed. People here are very resourceful.
I did a bit of shopping for basics. Here I have to go from shop to shop. My brown bread is at Panda, my cheese and yogurt is at E Mart and other things I need at Smile so I get. my exercise. On our way home I saw Ponleu drop to the floor - he was thrilled to bits as someone had dropped a cache of candy on the ground. He scooped them up and wrapped them in his t-shirt; I was glad the candies were in wrappers.
It's 7pm and I think I'm going to find a nice movie, have a cheese sandwich and relax. I should phone my brother Barrie in the UK as his wife has just had a stroke and has lost her speech and the use of her legs. She was always as strong as an ox during her years as a nurse but, since retirement, she's suffered quite a bit with ailments so I feel sorry for her
