Tents plunked everywhere ...
It’s Sunday afternoon and we’re still bursting with joy. Voleak and I spent the best part of the weekend in Phnom Penh’s charming chaos with 2 bubbly Khmer technicians to finalize the ‘technical’ details of our project before it's printed. As per usual, plowing through the traffic in PP, Kevin compared it to the reversal of the *Tonlé Sap analogy; where some streets are blocked with congested motorists, with monstrous ‘lexus’ cars, motorbikes, cyclists, tuk tuks, manually pulled two wheel wagons, you name it and the clogged traffic is stationary. Resembling the Tonlé Sap River’s high water volume, once the plug is eventually pulled out, the water flow is released, in the same way that the traffic flow is released when the light turns green and motorists are back in motion. And , for the more adventurous motorists, some with whistles at that to make a statement, who dare to charge forward, on side walks and alike, with some maneuvering here and there, can ‘sketchily’ bypass the slow moving traffic :)
The month of January was very busy indeed, excitingly busy filled with a constellation of this and that …
In early January we celebrated the opening of Callum’s new restaurant and relished an abundance of food, drinks for a mere $2.00. It is now cassava season and cassava trucks, excessively jam-packed, with heavy bags of cassava, are now being shipped to Vietnam. On our way to Phnom Penh, one of the cassava trucks toppled to its side on the winding highland road because it was overloaded with cassava; luckily no one was hurt. ‘Tis also passion and mango fruit season and, there’s ample fruit to be had - yummy! Talking about yummy food, our community down below is still alive and well, and they (landlord/landlady) continue to bring us food to our apartment; likewise we have done the same. Next door, the communal family (siblings, husband and wife with baby) has also hopped on the bandwagon to share their meal with us. One of them had prepared a special coconut desert with fruit and some type of bean that we did not recognize, and, because of the language barrier we were unable to decipher what it was.
It’s Sunday afternoon and we’re still bursting with joy. Voleak and I spent the best part of the weekend in Phnom Penh’s charming chaos with 2 bubbly Khmer technicians to finalize the ‘technical’ details of our project before it's printed. As per usual, plowing through the traffic in PP, Kevin compared it to the reversal of the *Tonlé Sap analogy; where some streets are blocked with congested motorists, with monstrous ‘lexus’ cars, motorbikes, cyclists, tuk tuks, manually pulled two wheel wagons, you name it and the clogged traffic is stationary. Resembling the Tonlé Sap River’s high water volume, once the plug is eventually pulled out, the water flow is released, in the same way that the traffic flow is released when the light turns green and motorists are back in motion. And , for the more adventurous motorists, some with whistles at that to make a statement, who dare to charge forward, on side walks and alike, with some maneuvering here and there, can ‘sketchily’ bypass the slow moving traffic :)
The month of January was very busy indeed, excitingly busy filled with a constellation of this and that …
In early January we celebrated the opening of Callum’s new restaurant and relished an abundance of food, drinks for a mere $2.00. It is now cassava season and cassava trucks, excessively jam-packed, with heavy bags of cassava, are now being shipped to Vietnam. On our way to Phnom Penh, one of the cassava trucks toppled to its side on the winding highland road because it was overloaded with cassava; luckily no one was hurt. ‘Tis also passion and mango fruit season and, there’s ample fruit to be had - yummy! Talking about yummy food, our community down below is still alive and well, and they (landlord/landlady) continue to bring us food to our apartment; likewise we have done the same. Next door, the communal family (siblings, husband and wife with baby) has also hopped on the bandwagon to share their meal with us. One of them had prepared a special coconut desert with fruit and some type of bean that we did not recognize, and, because of the language barrier we were unable to decipher what it was.
It’s been a month where weddings are now in full swing
with a number tents and loudspeakers plunked in the middle of roads everywhere
in town, blocking and redirecting traffic on the opposite direction. The
loudspeakers of course is set up high up either on trees or tent tops for everyone to hear the pounding 'loud' music
and to take part in this unique experience or shall I say, a special occasion? :) Equally special, wedding
invitations are forever beautifully adorned in colourful Khmer glitter letters
wrapped with ribbons, sequences; typically a reflection of the bride and
groom’s attire. And yes; we were invited yet to 4 more weddings and this
time we attended them all. Around that same period, we visited with
Robin, a former Cuso/VSO volunteer who told us that weddings in many parts of
the world, are usually communal affairs, where anyone and everyone is
invited. We also went to a 100-day funeral where mourners brought
offering for their deceased relative. It’s been officially
confirmed that the police can now pull anyone to the side of the road, can pull
any vehicle to the side of the road, charge them a fee and keep 70% of the
profit :)
January was a month where we had the Annual Congress Conference at the education complex to review the progresses made over the school year, address the challenges - the concerns and the next steps. Over the month, we also did a number of follow-up visits in the village schools where roads have now turned to powdery red and tricky to ride on.
We now have a new visitor within our midst. Kermit the ‘champagne’ frog hides in the toilet tank with his head stuck out by day to keep cool, and by night, he reveals himself on the bathroom wall :)
On that delightful note, we wish you happy reading, lots of laughter and a safe, wonderful, exciting February!
More later …. :)
*‘The annual fluctuation of the Mekong’s water volume, as a result of the monsoon ,causes the unique flow of the reversal of the Tonlé Sap River.’
January was a month where we had the Annual Congress Conference at the education complex to review the progresses made over the school year, address the challenges - the concerns and the next steps. Over the month, we also did a number of follow-up visits in the village schools where roads have now turned to powdery red and tricky to ride on.
We now have a new visitor within our midst. Kermit the ‘champagne’ frog hides in the toilet tank with his head stuck out by day to keep cool, and by night, he reveals himself on the bathroom wall :)
On that delightful note, we wish you happy reading, lots of laughter and a safe, wonderful, exciting February!
More later …. :)
*‘The annual fluctuation of the Mekong’s water volume, as a result of the monsoon ,causes the unique flow of the reversal of the Tonlé Sap River.’
