One of these days, a day in Cambodia will end the way I thought it would. Yesterday, I sent my diary off early because I thought that was the end of anything happening. Then I got a call from Vuth; "Would you like to go out for a drink?" I said I would so I went across to his office. He decided to phone Tola who was happy to join us. He hadn't eaten dinner so the walk to the riverside changed to a car drive. We drove to the riverside and parked at a hotel I'd never visited before; Tola obviously had so we followed him into the elevator and up to the 3rd floor where we found a very nice sky bar. It was on the edge of the river so there was no need for it to be very high. The wind blew lustily so it was lovely and cool. The tables had a glowing gadget rather than a light and so, looking at the menu was a challenge. With the aid of the glow Tola ordered food. When it came, Vuth said, "You didn't order anything for us!" We'd both already eaten but Vuth said he couldn't have a drink without eating something and so we ended up with a plate of chicken wings, a plate of some sort of bbq'd meat on a stick and a plate of French fries.
We stayed for a couple of hours, watching the world go by and then went back to the office. I was saying hello to Cina when Ponleu came down the steps carrying a bag; he declared he was coming over to stay for the night - and thus my evening changed even more. When we arrived home he said, "Let's find a movie!" This time I watched almost two hours of Berenstain Bears. I've mentioned them before because they are very gentle movies about families of bears. They are full of learnings for children and very moral. It beats me how Ponleu, and others, can love these movies and then switch to killing people with computer games. We ended up watching the movies in bed as I was ready to flop.
When the lads are here for breakfast I have to put on my thinking cap. Ponleu enjoys cheese on toast but it has to be paper thin and warmed in the microwave. We sat on the balcony and I listened to his patter about various things and then he decided we needed story telling. I told him it was too early so he said we should do riddles. This meant sitting for an hour listening to a riddle and then being given three chances to solve them. His last one would be difficult, he said, so I had ten chances. "A girl stood on the side of a river. She wanted to cross but the bridge was broken. She closed her eyes and, when she opened them she was across the river." I started to guess. "You need to stop guessing and start to think," he told me.
I had no clue and I finished my 10 chances. "The bridge broke exactly in half so one half looked the same as the other half. The bank on the other side was the same as on this side, so she thought she'd got across. You only got two right but that's better than none at all," Ponleu said.
I took Ponleu home for lunch and arranged to take him and Oudom for a haircut and then for a fruit shake. Oudom asked me how I liked his special sports shoes he'd bought in Bangkok. "They cost nearly $100," he said. I asked him why spend so much when he was still growing and he told me these were a size too big so he'd be wearing them for a long time. I don't think I've even spent $50 on a pair of shoes and he's a 12 year old.
Back home I had lunch and settled down on the bed to read my book. There's AC in the bedroom and I thought it would be a relief from the heat. Not long after settling down in the cool air the power decided to go off and two hours later it's still off. I'm therefore going to be flexible; there's no point in going for a fruit shake or a haircut so I'll just wait. We're supposed to have rain this weekend so maybe it's still on its way.
I went to get the boys and hammered on the door but nothing happened. The bell wasn't working as the electricity decided to go off for a few hours. I can't complain as it's the first time since coming last October. I'm living near the National Bank and I presume, for security reasons, they always need electricity. It went off this afternoon so maybe power isn't needed in the afternoon when employees aren't working. It only takes me about 20 minutes to go over the road but it really gets my goat when my visit is wasted. I have to change into street clothes and then out of them when I come back. I saw one of the lads swinging in the hammock so I yelled across the road but got no response.
I sent a tex message to Oudom saying I'd be over at 4.45pm and, if they weren't there, my invitation to fruit shake etc was cancelled. At the appointed time I went over and rang the bell; it was working as the power was back on. I rang again and again. Finally Ponleu came to the door. I went inside and he raced in front of me as fast as he could, back to his computer game. Oudom was sitting there at a computer with his headset on. I gave him heck for not answering the door. "I only heard it once," he said. Kids baffle me. I did my usual count down from 10 and got them moving.
We first of all went to the street barber. He has a chair, table, mirror and umbrella. Ponleu climbed a tree and sat in it for a while. When he came down he hunted around on the ground for things of interest. He's always so focused on the ground he often nearly gets knocked down by traffic. This time he picked up some rubbish - it was bright purple and looked like a bit of a chimney sweep's brush. He fiddled around with it until Oudom said it might be a toilet brush. Two dollars later they left looking quite smart; I think I'll go to the man before I leave for Canada.
Oudom says I should consider getting Apple Ear Buds. In amazon.ca they are around $275 but here they are US$159. He said I had to think carefully why I needed or wanted them. He gave me three things I had to think about - this is someone who's just got a $100 pair of shoes. We decided to go to Surya Mall for our fruit shake and so he could look around for the ear buds. We did see some so we know where to go. He said I needed to be concerned if they were real or not but he'd come with me to make sure I wasn't cheated. I had an avocado shake and the boys had passion fruit, which always tastes too tangy for my liking.
I took them home, had a couple of hours of peace and quiet and then Oudom came over for the night. At bedtime I congratulated him on giving me a relatively quiet evening; normally he's full of questions about GDPs and national military strengths. He's into a programme called "Choices" which allows you to choose characters and options for the story they are involved in. I was also given a lesson on Australia and computer languages; it's a sobering thing feeling inferior to a 12 year old.
