It has been 2 weeks since my furniture arrived and so 2 weeks of a nice comfortable bed and 2 weeks since my shoulder has stopped hurting from the plank I was sleeping on, ah bliss!
The dust which is more like a layer of garden dirt , is relentless and impossible to keep a clean surface for longer than 24 hours. For me this is constant cleaning and I really do have to stop worrying about things that I can't fix at the moment. It will get better once the garden at the front is finished and the dust literally settles!
Most things are unpacked, a couple of extra shelf units purchased and the study starting to look like a work area. It is so nice to have all the mod cons at hand and not have to run down to the printers for the smallest job.
Khmer New Year has come and gone with Siem Reap being lit up like Blackpool. Lights everywhere from the authorities lighting up the temples to the streets having lighting erected and the local folk decorating their homes. parties everywhere, this is a big family reunion time and people travel from one end of Cambodia to the other by any means that they can to reunite. Last year was apparently the first time that the government has made a spectacle of the temples with the illuminations , the concerts, food stalls and family entertainment. Last year around 150,000 visitors. 200,000 expected this year. Nak invited me to go over one night for some photography and the traffic coming in and out of the area was incredible. Seeing the temples at night was another experience all together and amazing clambering around by artificial light. Bayon was extraordinary. It usually costs $20 a day for a temple pass, free entry for locals, but after 5.30 it is free entry for everyone and probably the best time to go! Between us, Nak and I took around 300 photos which had massive editing of course, but it was fun.
I did think that with so much closed and no work or volunteers around, that it would be a very long dull time but I was mistaken. I kept so busy in the garden, just doing what I can do with clearing, sweeping, getting rid of old bricks etc. I dug out a couple of shrubs that had such intertwined roots that the afternoon disappeared and I had a very sore back. Decided this was the right time to head off for a massage and give myself a new year treat! A scrub, a massage and a facial, fabulous! It was 7pm before I knew it and decided to have an Indian meal in town. This place is very good and it would have to be to entice me to be anywhere near Pub Street, particularly at this time of year. It really was incredible with the noise and the seizure inducing strobe lighting! I have never eaten so quickly and been so happy to get home!
Nakk the young man who works for me has returned to his homeland to see his mother for a few days. He fortunately got a ride on a motorbike otherwise the only was to have got there would be In a shared cab, 2 hour journey, $5 or $10 bucks and had the pleasure of sharing with 10 others in a Camry. Can you imagine that?
Friday night, just before the holiday I had the pleasure of dinner with Peter Norden. He was here as the tour leader of a group or responsible travelers from the Uniting Church. Anyone who knows Peter would see the irony of this! We had a very pleasant evening at Haven which matched his travels as it is a restaurant which trains young Khmers from difficult backgrounds. Met the responsible criteria!
Young Nakk returned from his homeland a couple of days early and being the good young fellow he is, decided to let me know that he would come and work with me Friday as he was going to a temple on the Thai border for some celebrations on the Saturday. We worked solidly (but with a siesta imposed by myself from 1-3) from 10 - 7 and I had to force him to leave! We dug, we swept, we cleared, we had a fire as all good Cambodians do. This was the point that he stopped becoming Nakk and became fireman Sam. Nakk is a bit of an arsonist, like most young men his age, the higher the flames are leaping the broader his smile! So we are pottering away when the security guard next door comes over and they are chattering away in Khmer. Nakk downs tools, strolls over to the river bank, strolls back, picks up his I rake and continues working. What was all that about I ask, Oh he thinks the tree is burning. Well is it I ask. Yes he says! No jumping up and down, no fear! So what are we going to do? we can't leave it! We need water. The hose doesn't reach. The ladder! We set that up and up he goes. The bucket is too heavy so I find a smaller bucket and a jug. I' m the only one who sees the crisis and am panicking as most people would, but they are Khmer and they have seen and experienced worse, this is nothing!
A spark had ignited leaves that were sitting in the hollow of a branch and the BIG branch was smoldering away on this very big and very dry old tree. All I could picture was coming out onto the balcony and seeing the whole of the Siem reap river bank burning!!! Anyway, a few buckets of water later, emergency over and Fireman Sam was born! back to work and fire doused! But needless to say when I return from work today, he has it burning again! I just want the ashes for the soil that I am mixing but that is another story!
So Sunday morning when I am feeling ever so slightly delicate after dinner out with Samuel which due to his terrible time keeping was more drinks than dinner, the phone rings, it is 8 am. Nak (with 1 k) Hi Lynn I am here to help!!! Oh my goodness, have I got the energy?
Nak, come up, I'm having breakfast, would you like a cup of tea? No I want that coffee you made me last time, I love it!!! Good coffee here is a premium, not the coffee so much but the way it's made! I have the Italian style stove top coffee maker, some great Puerto Rican coffee and fresh Thal milk! I made one for Nak last week and he is hooked. He says the best coffee he has ever had in Siem Reap and he means it and stands over me while I make it!
We head off to Route 6 as Nak knows of a good plant nursery. We locate it and there are 2 hectares of tropical plants, amazingly healthy and such a good price. We literally load the car up and head home stopping at the local pottery works which just happen to be right behind my property! Incredible to see what they make there, massive water pots and every shape and size of plant pots.
We spend the rest of the afternoon digging and planting and Nak scales a couple of trees to cut off the dead branches. What a difference!
Even though I have these 2 lovely young men assisting me I do have to say that my best friend is the high pressure cleaner and I have to wrestle it off Nakk if I want a turn! If has made life so much easier as the walls get badly covered by black mould and need regular cleaning.
My other activity for the week was a visit to the local curtain shop. Pleasantly surprised by the service, the price and the selection. I have found the black metal curtain rings I need and have ordered a 50 mm metal Venetian for the kitchen and a roller blind for the bedroom. They will make my drapes for me for $3 a meter with me supplying the fabric and tape etc. which is pretty good, just waiting for the rods to go up then I can measure.
So the "what I thought was going to be a quiet week " turned into a busy productive time and now work looms!
Holiday is over and the new term at Grace House commences. The ride there is so much simpler on my bike, less peddling and more distance covered by the bigger wheels, not to mention the gears for the hill leading up to the ring road bridge. The first 2 days of this week are pupil free, time for cleaning and organizing and for me to familiarize myself with the job and where everything is on the computer. 2 massive cases of books and stationary items have been donated by a school and brought over by a Canadian family, takes 3 of us 2 hours to put it all away. I have 3 bags of goodies here at my place that need to be delivered also, a gift from 3 Australian visitors that I showed around last week. Actually had a good morning with these girls as after we had visited the empty school, I took them to Wat Athwea which is close to Grace House, to discover the whole community there celebrating New Year and making offerings to the monks. A lot of the kids and families recognized me and came over to say hello, it was wonderful.
New Year celebrations over, work has begun and routine to be established. My life is going to be very full but I am sure very rewarding also.
My first visitor, Kim, arrives from Sydney on Friday and stays for a week, we first met in 2011 when we were volunteering with Globalteers. It will be lovely to have her company.
Sure there will be so much more to tell in the next blog.
P
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment