June 2014
I get up Monday morning and before I know it Sunday has come around again. Where does the time go?
I have routine in my life in as much as I go to work Monday to Friday 8.30 - 4 with Wednesday mornings free. Well not exactly free as that is the day that I put by for my weekly architect meetings for which they are invariably late and we rehash the same things that we discussed the week before and they forget to change in the plans. Extremely frustrating at times! I have to really keep my eye on the ball as there are many things that they overlook that I believe would be their job to see. The latest plans seen at this stage to be in order, I have selected my preferred contractor and now just negotiating with him as some costs seem exorbitantly high and their maths are not too great either!
Then the mad rush to get to work by 12.30 in time for teaching and check the emails.
I am enjoying the work at Grace House, the responsibilities are varied and at the moment growing but that will change from the end of this week as Bridget is returning from the UK.
Winter has been with me for over 4 weeks now and it has been good to have another body around to share my thoughts with and he has done a lot of the hard and heavy work in the villa yard/ garden that would have been really difficult for me on my own. Also nice to share life and eating out and lazing around the pool!
The major trauma for me last week was that the Victoria Hotel had closed its doors for a month of renovating. The staff told us July so a month out there! Disappointing as I loved relaxing there on a Sunday. Am going to have to find somewhere else to take a break from the heat apart from the supermarket!
Having Winter here has also prompted me Into doing a bit of cooking and attempting some of the local recipes. A great Khmer curry and several green mango salads and he has become a lover of noodle soup which he eats whenever he can. He has even been out with Nak on a few occasions and eaten at the local restaurants. Yesterday he spent the Princely sum of $1.50 on a plate of beef lok lak, rice and vegetables along with a large coconut water in the shell. He said it was really good! If only I was that brave!
He has also been to the project and helped sort out the computer room, taught some dance steps in my Monday afternoon dance, sports class and done a lesson planning seminar with the staff. They love him and he is so irreverent and makes them laugh and he has so much energy!
We have had our 2 days of temple visiting which were great. We went to Angkor Wat for sun set and stayed for a couple of hours followed by a 5 am start the next morning for sunrise at Angkor Wat which unfortunately was spoilt by cloud so not a great view. The rest of the morning took in Ta Prohmo, made famous by Lara Croft Tomb Raider, Bayon and another called Preak Kahn. A full day followed by lunch and a collapse in the afternoon. It is the carvings of the Apsara dancers that I love and the carved friezes of everyday life.
We invited all the Grace House staff around for a meal and drinks last night, it was a lot of fun and we cooked pasta, Cuban chicken and rice, black beans, mango salad, we introduced them to California rolls and followed up with fruit salad, ice cream and a very rich and delicious chocolate cake from Blue Pumpkin. This simple meal turned into a full blown Khmer party with dancing around the table and a lot of very loud music. He had a lot of fun! The 3 current volunteers also joined in so it was quite a mob of people!
Another 3 weeks have passed, more work in the front yard, regular visits from the architect and builder but still going over the same things with no resolution in sight. My patience is wearing thin. Things have slowly been progressing in the house though. The kitchen has had some fans installed along with extra power points. The painters have started the exterior wall painting, and the never ending battle with the dust and ants continues. I think I could plant potatoes with the amount of dust under the TV table and I have discovered that if a beautiful crunchy fresh baguette is left out on the table for longer than a few minutes one returns to see the baguette practically moving across the table and writhing with the wretched ants.
My new food stuff love is smoothies! I get so excited about them. Fresh fruit, ice and a touch of sugar as the absolute coldness removes some of the flavours. Banana and mango with mint. Watermelon with lime and mint, strawberry (only frozen at the moment but good enough) and mango. The left overs get frozen and eaten as an ice treat!!! Winter has discovered some of the fruits that he is familiar with from Cuba and even he doesn't know the names but he has been using them. He also likes to put some milk or yogurt in but I find a bit of banana adds the creaminess. Drooling at the thought of having one now! Makes a great brekkie!
We had been nurturing a wild melon plant that had been growing through the cracks in the concrete, no doubt some seed that I had spat out that had germinated! So we have this baby melon that we visited everyday and decided on Winters last day that we would eat it. Come home from work to discover that the electricians had got to it before us and the skin was discovered in the garbage! It doesn't matter here if something is on your property, it is not sacred to you, if somebody else comes in, they will take it! Same with discretion, if they have knowledge the whole village will soon know your business and it will be spoken about quite openly. Nothing is yours, nothing is private! The owner may lease the property but they still think they have a right to enter when they please and still have a right to the fruit on the trees. We have new padlocks here!!!!! We have new locks and keys on the doors!
I am back on my own now, Winter has returned to the USA after a 5 and a half week stay that went really well and it is very quiet around here without him. I have a volunteer Nancy coming to stay for 3 weeks arriving on Sunday followed by Mark, Sasha and Jessica who are sensibly staying at a hotel with a swimming pool. A busy few weeks coming up.
Well I will close by saying that by next week I am hoping to have definite dates and news on my project but until then, le hi!!
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