Our final breakfast at Serey's restaurant; we leave Battambang in the big bus for Siem Reap. It's been hard work for her and the family, preparing food for 23 people who arrive all at once. The evening before, while they are having dinner, I go around asking for their orders for food and coffee. It's not just "Coffee please!" - as they'd say in Canada but "Hot black, hot black with condensed milk, some wanted more sugar; then there's iced black coffee with or without milk; two ladies wanted half milk. I think I mentioned there were 65 items on the restaurant menu but I limited the group to 5 choices which worked out well. I never know what to have for breakfast so often I ended up with a leftover meal that was put together by mistake.
Thornin has to take care of the regular customers while Boroith and I go back and forth taking meals and coffee. The group fills the table so I have to eat on my own or with the local men. It amazes me how much the group chats - they seem to talk non stop during their entire time in the restaurant. It's frustrating in a way because I never really have time to sit and talk to anyone for any length of time. When we are working, I'm doing the running back and forth with patients. If I'm not doing dental work I'm working on logistics and keeping invoices up to date. I'm constantly having to think about what we might need next. I mentioned earlier that Hans had said that he knew nothing about me and the same goes for me with the rest of the group. I know little snippets but that's about all. When we say goodbye on the 26th some will want to connect on Facebook but it's not to correspond. Others wander into my life for two weeks and then go off.
It was interesting that two of the group knew friends of mine from my time in Nigeria. Judy has been here twice and I often have a meal with her and others in Edmonton during the summer. Those living in Alberta often ask me to drop by their clinics so we can have a drink together, so that's nice. The annual meeting of Kindness in Action is in Calgary in late April so I'll be able to reconnect with people if I manage to get there.
It's fascinating watching people on the bus; almost all of them fall asleep. Some of the younger ones are permanently plugged into music. I always think, if I'm not coming this way again I should see as much as I can, but the rest of the world seems to disagree with me. In the earlier days I used to walk up and down the bus telling people about the things we were passing but this time I decided not to bother. It didn't bother anyone else either.
We were short of a room when we got to Siem Reap. Two of the men, sharing a room, snore so loudly they keep each other away. For one night they'll have to put up with each other as the hotel is full and then, tomorrow, we'll get them another room. One lady had to have her own room as she snores loudly. As usual, I'm sharing with the two Cambodians. When it comes to their bodies they are fastidious; both of them bring piles of clothing and they never seem to wear anything more than once before taking it to the laundry. On the other hand they are a total disaster when it comes to keeping the room tidy so it's a case of East meeting West. They throw their clothes all over the place, wet towels are draped over furniture, shoes and slippers scattered everywhere. I do my mother hen bit and follow them around picking things up.
They went off with Syden, my guide friend, to spend time on Tonle Sap Lake and waiting for sunset. I stayed at the hotel as I had received an email from Marta, from Poland. She was in town for a linguistics conference and up to today our paths had constantly crossed with no time to meet. I'd completely forgotten about our planned visit so it was a good job I went to see the lobby staff just as she was at the desk asking about me. We managed to have a pleasant half hour together, catching up on news and friends.
The group wanted to have a meal together, even though it was supposed to be a free time for shopping. We chose an outdoor restaurant that's very pleasant. They have singers who sing a lot of old Western songs that have been translated into Khmer so it's nice to have the music in the background. Everyone had asked to go to sunrise tomorrow so they were all eager to get to bed so they would be able to wake up at 4.30am. Not me, thank you very much. I'm not that interested in sunrises as they tend to happen every day. At Angkor they are very special though as the sun rises at the very top of the main tower at the temple. I have a photo of it so I don't need any more.
In our room I worked on Thornin's CV as he's been asked to teach at a university in Battambang. Boroith worked on the department of education accounts that he has to do while he's away from work. I nodded off.
