My mantra, when I come to this part of the world, is "Absolute flexibility and absolute patience." It's good advice but, like everything else in life, it's for other people rather than for myself. All was going well until I had a call from Vuth; "Please come and pick up the boys as soon as possible." I had a feeling he was going somewhere with his wife and wanted the lads away from the computers, where they'd spend the time gaming.
I decided I was going to do a bit of flexibility myself and the lads could wait. I had lunch and then wandered over to get them. My house key fits their home so I let myself in and found them sitting in their shorts, playing on the computers. I had no intentions of waiting for them so I went back home and gave them an hour to get ready. At 3pm I was at their door. The boys were ready and Grandma was giving them instructions about locking up. When the house is completely empty they add a padlock to the door and so she was telling Samnang what he had to do. She was going off on her scooter to pick up her husband who'd gone off to some rental property to fix a leaking pipe. The first big mistake of the day was for Grandma to give the padlock key to Samnang.
Off we went to pick up Val at her hotel. It was her last full day in Cambodia and she wanted to walk along the riverside and take some photographs. The traffic was heavy so we had to walk along in single file with me hanging on to Ponleu's wrist. I thought I was being very clever. I didn't like any of the books I got from the Siem Reap hotel so I thought I'd leave them in Val's hotel - she wanted a book so I'd just leave what she didn't want. Oudom started doing cartwheels on the hotel furniture which didn't do much for my sanity. It's not really the lads' fault as they spend all day in their home with no outside area. They go to private schools and so all their classmates come from different parts of the city and so, when they come home, they've got no close friends nearby to play with. This didn't stop me from giving Oudom a mouthful!
Val chose a book, I left the rest on the shelf, and off we went. Immediately, Samnang raced ahead as he is 14 and doesn't want to be associated with others. The riverside was teaming with locals and tourists. Boats were plying up and down the river; some were party boats with loud music playing. Hawkers were selling goods and I've never seen so many balloons in my life. Thousands of pigeons were everywhere.
Val happened to mention that there was a Sikh walking along, wearing a turban. That set Oudom off - he kept laughing and going on and on about the turban; he wouldn't shut up. Ponleu started to say he was hungry and needed a drink - we weren't carrying anything and seeing as they'd just left home I wasn't in the mood to accommodate him. Every time Val stopped to look at something there was a complaint about food or wanting to go home.
After half an hour the two oldest lads turned around and took off. In a way it was a relief; I knew they were heading home and going back to their gaming on the computers. Ponleu wanted to chase after them but I made him stay with us which was big mistake number two. Val taught him a new word - whingeing - is that spelt correctly? My computer seems to like it. We watched a "family" of small boats forming a square in the river. These are the tiny boats on which families live. They have a tiny, covered area in the centre of the boat for sleeping, but the rest of the time is spent on the deck of these tiny vessels. I couldn't help thinking of safety issues in the West around young children. On the boats, tiny tots were wandering around with no supervision and no barrier to stop them falling into the water. Some of them were Muslim while the rest could have been Vietnamese illegal immigrants. The lads kept diving into the river and coming up with branches, bits of rubbish etc and these were tossed onto the bank. I think they were clearing the area of debris in order to fish. They had nets with them so I think they had cordoned off an area and would use their nets after removing the rubbish. We never did see the rest of the operation because of Ponleu and his constant demands.
I decided it was time to wander back and on the way Ponleu went off to buy a bag of cut up guava and mango which he enjoyed sitting on the riverside wall, dipping the fruit into a chilli mix. He finally quietened down. He's a bit of a scavenger and so he went around picking up corn seeds the pigeons hadn't found so that he could feed them himself. I hope he ends up studying biology as he walks around with his eyes on the ground looking for things while the rest of us have to make sure he doesn't bump into objects. He found a lotus flower, which he pulled apart to show me what was inside and how the seeds developed. He found a bit of sugar cane which he threatened to eat until I gave him a whack.
He brightened up when I said we'd have a drink at a roadside restaurant. He ordered his favourite - passion fruit. He really was developing into a pain in the neck with his demands. He finished his drink before we did and wanted to go home. Poor Val kept trying to explain that when young people are with senior people they don't rule the roost. On the table was a gadget that could be used by guests to call a waiter or pay the bill. Ponleu grabbed it and started to press the buttons - I could have strangled him. It was a huge relief to deliver him back home. I've been developing a plan to tell all of them, "Never again!" I know it won't work but it makes me feel better.
I wonder if there are websites where elderly people can go to get support from other elderly people who have to look after children? I don't need help but I do need to vent!
Val and I were able to unwind in a restaurant and were joined by Thornin who'd come in from Battambang. It was lovely to sit there, without anyone whining and going on about wanting to go home. I'm sure the lads have told their parents a story about their afternoon. Tomorrow it'll be my turn to tell my version - sweet revenge.
