It's interesting going to bed here. The mattress is on the floor and I'm provided with two regular pillows, two bolsters, a duvet and lots of cuddly teddy bears. I can get down onto the mattress but somebody should take a movie of me trying to get off it. It's a bit squishy so I wobble all over the place. I didn't get much sleep because it rained for three hours in the early morning. There was no thunder but just torrential rain. It didn't slow down but stopped abruptly; in a way the silence was more noisy than the rain.
I had a shower and then wandered across the road to the cafe. Mother and daughter had already been there since 7am. I had chicken in a rice porridge with bean sprouts, a traditional fried bread, corn on the cob, iced coffee and hot tea. I kept saying I'd had enough but more kept coming.
I feel sorry for their dog, Baboo. He's a lovely, gentle animal but nowadays all his fur is falling out. He looks a mess and it's hard to bring myself to fondle him. I feel a bit guilty about it as it's not the dog's fault. Imagine if we treated balding humans the same way!
Usually, I sit in a hammock overlooking the river but today I've been sitting on a wooden bench near the road and so I see the world going by. I discovered that the lads come here for a smoke because their parents won't let them smoke at home. Right now there are three of them hanging around watching me type; they don't speak English but they are fascinated with what I'm doing.
Today I've seen the man who brings the crushed ice, the man delivering the coconuts, the man who collects the recycled things. He provides the family with sacks and they separate the cans from the glass and cardboard. They weigh the items and the family gets some money. The lady street sweepers came along and stopped for a bottle of water and a natter. Boroith often yells at people going by on their motorbikes. A group of ladies went by in a tuk tuk, dressed in white blouses and black skirts; they'd either been to a funeral or were going to one. I've told friends if I die here they have to wear pink! The young men come and go; mother's known them for years so they are like family. I think it's so funny the way they help themselves to whatever they want and then pay whenever they feel like it. Nobody bothers checking to make sure they are honest. Mother often gives them heck. They do smile a lot, which is nice. Khmer people have a repertoire of funny sounds which they use instead of saying something. We Western folk say such things as "Yuk!", "Wow!", etc but here they use sounds. It's funny listening to them talking and throwing in these sounds. I often think if Phyllis when Khmer people are talking as they don't look people in the eye. I remember complaining to Phyllis about her not looking at me when I was talking and that she hadn't heard a word; she repeated everything I'd said back to me. I presume the Cambodians are the same - looking directly at someone is not good manners.
A couple of tourists walked by with two tiny dogs on leashes. Some comments were made in Khmer which I don't think were complimentary. The folks said they don't like little dogs and the idea of taking one for a walk was beyond them.
Dad's started to raise fancy pigeons since he was laid off; he sells the youngsters. They seem to have a lot of babies but I don't think he gets a fortune for them. They have feathers on their feet and fancy wings. I feel sorry for them as their cages are quite low so they can't fly.
I decided to give the cooks a holiday for dinner and we ordered pizza. There's not much variety- one was tuna and the other was said to be ham and cheese but the 'ham' was more like Chinese sausage in flavour. Nobody complained and we even managed to feed seven adults and two children with two pizzas; that wouldn't happen in Canada.
At 8.30pm I took a shower and got ready for bed. I decided it was time to call an end to the day as I'd already had five showers. Even the locals were complaining about the heat today. We ate the pizza in the cafe area so people kept stopping by for ice and other things even though we were officially closed. Some of the same lads kept on coming; I joked that their parents must have kicked them out - one said they had but he was also joking.
Normally, when I'm here, I spent most of my time in a hammock gazing at the river but today I spent the entire day sitting by the side of the road. It was much more lively than the river. Tomorrow I won't see the boys as they get up at 6am to go to school but Boroith will come home to see me off to the bus. It's been a lovely, relaxing visit.
