I'm hearing news from the dentists that they've reached their various destinations; some have gone on a holiday whilst others headed straight back to Canada. I'm receiving messages of thanks from various members and thankfully they all enjoyed their time here. I sometimes feel as if I'm becoming an ambassador for Cambodia because the Cambodians themselves are not very good at blowing their own trumpet.
Because I'm low man on the totem pole I spend most of my time with the dentists moving around doing a number of little jobs. Those who work together are able to do their work and chat at the same time but I'm always between here and there as I take patients from one place to another. One person wrote and apologised, hoping his situation during his time with the group, hadn't caused me any problems. I had no clue what he was talking about but it turned out that he'd come with his lady friend and, during their time here, they'd decided it was time to part and move on. He thought I'd observed things but I had no idea what was happening. Maybe he's now regretting mentioning it.
I've learned that one learns a lot more by listening and with this group I learned some interesting things. I learned it's possible to have a divorce and to remain good friends with the ex-spouse. Two of the ladies mentioned that they often have holidays with their ex because their current spouse doesn't want to do what the wife wants to do. It was said in a group situation and nobody took offence so maybe it's the new way of thinking.
I get fed up with the attitude of tourists towards the local people. The Chinese are getting a bad reputation because of their loudness and the way they push and shove. It's offensive here but maybe it's common practice back home - I would think, with a population of over a billion, there's a big need to be assertive. I haven't been on a Canadian bus in a long time but, when I lived in Calgary over 50 years ago I often was a bit put off by the way those speaking Chinese spoke as if they were entertaining the entire bus.
We are now getting a lot of people from Eastern Europe and they tend to be far more direct and, what we would consider to be, less polite. When I was with Ponleu, he and a couple of little boys, were using the parallel bars in the park. Along came an Eastern European who obviously wanted to develop his muscles. He chased away the other little boys and then announced to Ponleu that he should take off because the man wanted to use the bars for a real purpose. I said, "In Ponleu's mind he's also using the bars for a purpose." The man backed off and used the end of the bars from which he'd chased the little boys. I thought, "You arrogant so and so!"
Mother used to say I was an accident looking for somewhere to happen. It was most likely true. I'm trying to think of a statement to fit Oudom's personality. What should I call someone who puts glue stick in my microwave or decides he wants to mix baking soda with vinegar to see what happens? When we had a fruit shake together he finished his chocolate shake and then he decided to play with the straw. By the way, I was very impressed that the restaurant was using paper straws. I happened to be looking in another direction when I felt air on my face. Dear Oudom had blown down his supposedly empty straw and now my nice blue shirt was splattered with blobs of chocolate. I was ready to strangle him; "Chocolate washes out! It's no problem!"
Life's been complicated, especially with the workers fixing things in the stairwell. The stairs were so full of ladders and other things I couldn't get out of the apartment. In the evening Thornin came to collect the laundry I'd had to wash twice because of his leaving paper in the pockets of his trousers. I helped him pack for India and then he decided he'd collect his motorbike, get items for storage from the hotel and then go home. I suggested it would be easier to stay in my place but the idea was turned down.
We went downstairs and onto the street where I stood and waited with his bags while he went off for his motorbike. He couldn't get it - it was parked too far inside the building and it was already 8pm. I said we needed a larger tuk tuk to collect the items for storage but he decided a smaller rickshaw was OK. I was right! He finally decided to leave everything as it was and sleep at my place. It's nice to be right every once in a while.
