Home Sweet Home...sort of...

Hey!  We're back!  We arrived in Buffalo on March 8, and got back to Bayfield on March 10, but between severe jet lag, unpacking and doing all the things it takes to resume our life in Canada, I've barely been able to think, let alone write.

I'm feeling really wierd about this entry, because I still haven't finished blogging about our trip and about life in Cambodia, and the kids....and by saying 'We're back!', it's like this should be the last page of this blog.  But I'm not done yet!  Messing up the chronological order of the entries is kind of like leaving a story somewhere in the middle, half-finished, and then telling the ending.  A little part of me wonders if my readers will still want to come back to read the middle parts if they already know how the story ends. 

In no particular order, here are things that I miss about being in Siem Reap:
1) Hot weather (We left 37C and came home to 37F)
2) Not having to make my bed or clean my room
3) Not having to do laundry
4) Really good food at really good prices (ditto for wine and liquor)
5) Being able to wear flip flops everywhere
6) Being chauffeured around in a tuk-tuk or just being able to walk to wherever we needed to go.
7) The kids at Honour Village... I miss them big time...
8) The fantastic staff at MotherHome Guesthouse who made us feel like royalty...(to be featured in a blog soon!)
9) Our Cambodian friends, who were all so generous and warm ....(You know who you are....)
10) Free buffet breakfast at MotherHome, and free lunch at Honour Villiage  (I gained 10 lbs in 2 months - OH YES I DID)

What I am so happy to return home to:
1) My family and friends here
2) My own bed and my own pillow ( I LOVE my special pillow)
3) A wardrobe that has more than 14 items of clothing to choose from, (except I can only fit about 14 items right now anyways) 
4) Real decaffeinated coffee...and flavoured decaf... (A big treat for me, although I know you coffee snobs will think I'm a freak).
5) Living quarters at least 10 times larger than we had in Cambodia  (Holy cow!  We are so lucky..)
6) Good, fast internet.  (I promise to upload videos and more pictures soon)
7) My own home...(home, sweet messy home)

 What it sucks to come home to:
1) Two months worth of laundry and cleaning
2) A knee-high stack of mail - ditto for voicemail
3) Last years Christmas presents (and Christmas tree) still not put away - (Wait! maybe this is good... Like Christmas all over again *sigh*)
4) A storm that dumped ten inches of heavy wet snow and broke the top of one of our mature trees (I hope it survives - We braved the elements and went out in knee-deep snow to splint the break and I pray we've given it a fighting chance)

Snow in the back yard
It's melted a lot in 2 days



Heavy, wet snow in the front yard
There's green grass under there somewhere...

5) a 10 lb gain on the scale...OH YES I DID!!...(Weight Watchers here I come with a fist full of money..)
6) Jet lag.. 12 hours time difference, so our day & night is totally backward. 
7) A big repair bill for our car because the brakes seized up again... (Thankfully this year it was only 1/5  the cost of last year's bill...)
8) Winter coats, boots, mitts...

Why I feel so lucky and what I am grateful for:
1) The Japan earthquake & disaster happened 3 days after we got home.  (Another 3 days and it could have been us...)
2) We got to see Preah Vihear Temple only 5 days before fighting broke out there.  Who knows when the next tourists will be allowed to go... (5 days later and we would have been in the middle of the bombing...)
3) We got to see Bokor Palace before the road to the top was completed...(Our group had the place to ourselves.  Once the road is finished, it will be packed with throngs of tourists ).
4) All our wonderful friends in Siem Reap who made our stay feel like home.  You know who you are...
5) Being an honoured guest at a Cambodian wedding... Having our photo taken with the bride and groom as special guests, and dancing the first dance with the bride and groom... wow..
6) Being fortunate enough to be able to go to the other side of the world for two months (and to have the resources to do it)
7) Lots and lots of other things, some mentioned above....

Please, Please, Can We Keep It?...

Yesterday, when I began my work at Honour Village, I was startled to discover a little kitten asleep under one of the desks I was varnishing, so I carried it over to show the other volunteers.  I learned it had wandered onto Honour Village property the evening before, and had apparently decided to stay put.

 It's an adorable little thing, same stubby tail as we see on most cats here, but with one remarkable difference.  With it's pale blue eyes and distinct cream and tan markings, it's likely derived some of its lineage from a Siamese cat. 

Who can resist such a cute kitten?

Chhunly is a big 'softie', and the next thing we knew, he'd given the OK for this kitten to join the big Honour Village family.  In keeping with the tradition of naming the Honour Village cats, she (we think it's a she) has been named O.B. Lucky.  She's lucky to have arrived at a place where she will be well fed, and well-loved. 

Welcome home, O.B. Lucky!  Good luck!  Somnang l'or!

O.B. Lucky

Thai gives O.B. Lucky a squeeze

Chea (L) and Narong (R) petting the new kitten

All tuckered out

O.B. Lucky may soon be getting lessons from OB Happy
on how to sneak some rice & fish from the little ones.

Crash!

As I've mentioned in an earlier blog, the kids at Honour Village have a fairly structured day.  They go to school every morning, mealtimes are at certain times, they get their drink of water at certain times during the day, they have afternoon rest time and meditation time.  But some days, routines just gets broken.  Today was just such a day. 

For one thing, there was no school today, so all the children were home.  In the morning, they played hard, and worked hard, then ate a hearty lunch, but for some reason, they just did not want to settle down after lunch for their afternoon rest.  As I varnished away, I could hear children talking out behind the building, obviously trying to sneak out of their nap.  Somewhere I could hear one child crying, and I could see a few running up & down the stairs to their dormitories.  Then I heard Riem wail, and I watched him climb down the stairs, still bawling his eyes out.  Just about the same moment my can of varnish ran out, everything seemed to go silent.  I walked over to the office, and this is what I saw....



Three-year-old Riem (L) crashed out.
Sek (R) is in that 'teenage-always-sleeping' phase

In another building, six kids slept in reclining chairs

Brothers Rethy (L) and Raphy (R)

Somneang

Little Phanit



Sisters Narin (L) and Narong (R)


Sometimes, no matter how hard you try to structure time for a nap or a rest, it doesn't always work out, but when it happens all on its own, isn't it just grand?

Gordon's projects

When we arrived at Honour Village and offered our services, they were very happy to have Gordon, who is a fantastic woodworker.  Honour Village is still in the growing stages, so there are a lot of things that need to be done, and Gordon is the man who can build just about anything, given an idea and some wood. 

Originally the plan was for Gordon to build ten desks which are like low tables.  The children will sit on the tile floor instead of on chairs, and these tables will also be used for dining. Before Sue left, Gordon made a prototype, which met with great approval. 


Sue and the kids testing out the first of the new tables

Since then, he's made another nine desk/tables and has also built a meditation bench for Sue, a book shelf for the children's books, a shelf unit for Chhunly, and several easels for the children to use for painting and drawing.

Book shelf for children's books
The books are displayed face up

Shelf unit for Chhunly under construction

Easels

In addition, he's cut down five large desks to make them a useable size for the smaller children, fixed doors and windows, and helped to build the clothesline.  He's been a busy man! 

Gordon the builder!

Right now, the crunch is on.  We are coming down to our last few days at Honour Village.  The ten desks and the two shelf units are pretty well completed and all need to be varnished.  Three coats.  That's my job.  I'm the painter.  It's a smelly job, but somebody's got to do it.

Aren't they beautiful and shiny?
I've already gone through one gallon of urethane
and still need more!

 

Flag Day...

Shortly after we arrived, we learned that a very generous donation had been made to fund the construction of the 'centrepiece' for Honour Village, which has been Chhunly's dream.  Over the past few weeks, I've chronicled its construction.  We've watched it go from bare ground, to a hole, to a brick-and-concrete circular structure with four separate ponds divided by four sets of low steps which lead up to a central pedestal.  Eventually lotus flowers will grow in the ponds, and benches will ring the outside so the children will be able to sit quietly and just 'be'.  It will be a very peaceful place to stop and rest, and a magnificent dream come to life for Chhunly and the rest of the Honour Village staff.

As quickly as it began, construction seemed to grind to a halt, and the flagpole laid across the top of the pedestal, waiting to be erected.  Finally, a few days ago, the ponds were filled with water, and the day before yesterday, the flagpole was at long last cemented into the central pedestal. 

Yesterday morning, we arrived just in time to see the spirit house already set in place next to the flagpole.  Chhunly and Sun were tying the Cambodian flag to the lines on the pole.  This was a moment I didn't want to miss, and I ran across the yard with my camera.  The top of the flag was already tied on, and they were just attaching the bottom when I caught these photos.

Chunnly and Sun tying the flag to the flagpole

Chhunly hoisted the flag up the pole.

The flag caught in the lines for a moment,
but then a gust of wind caught it, and it unfurled beautifully.  

We all stood back and admired it.  I told Chhunly I felt like we should be singing the national anthem or something.  I don't know if he thought I was crazy, but he just smiled.  (It's a beautiful song - you can hear it by clicking on this link.)

Later in the day, I caught a glimpse of him standing outside his office, looking into the distance in the direction of the flag and the centrepiece with the lotus ponds.  I knew he was very proud, and I'd like to think that just maybe he was humming the national anthem in his head. 

Haircuts!

As a Canadian living and volunteering in Cambodia, I continue to learn every day, and never cease to be fascinated by things I would classify as typical or mundane back home.  I hope you also find some of these things entertaining.

Every day after lunch, the children at Honour Village go upstairs to their dormitories for an hour or two of quiet time.  I've come to respect that a midday nap is a natural (and expected) part of everyday life here in this hot climate (similar to 'siesta' time in Mexico).   So a couple of days ago when Chhunnly summoned all the boys right after lunch and assembled them behind the new building, I knew something was up.

Somewhere during lunchtime, a barber had arrived equipped with a rucksack full of all the necessary tools of his trade.  These boys were about to have their hairstyles transformed from mop-heads into militia.  Three chairs stacked on one another raised the first boy up to the proper height, and the shearing began, while the next victims looked on with fascination.

Using old-fashioned mechanical hand clippers, a comb and scissors, the barber deftly snipped and clipped, and presto, chango!  See for yourself!

 No electricity needed



The first victim.... er, customer.
Roeurn scratches his head in the background.



Taking 'a little' off the side
To the left, Sopheak checks out the barber's technique.

Riem's new 'do'

Chea looks much cooler

These two little guys needed hats
to prevent sunburn on their newly exposed scalps.

You've got to admit that in a hot climate, a short haircut probably helps, and I'm betting it keeps down the population of head lice too, which is nearly epidemic here.  But still, seeing all these closely cropped (scalped) heads makes me wonder if the words 'barber' and 'barbarian' come from the same root word?

Please, can we keep him?

A few days ago, a little puppy wandered onto the grounds of Honour Village. It could be he was small enough to fit under the gate, or the gate might have been slightly open.  Possibly, one of the kids might have let the pup in when nobody was looking.  (After all, who can resist a puppy?)  The kids played with it for a few minutes, but as soon as the staff noticed, it had to go.  There were a few long faces, but these kids are very accepting, and do as they're told.  Sorry, no dogs allowed. 

In Cambodia, dogs are not treated the same as they are in western society.  I'm sure there are veterinarians here, but the average Cambodian dog never sees a vet or gets any immunizations.  For this one reason alone, I can certainly understand and agree that it's a huge risk for the health and safety of these children to bring a stray dog  on site.

Today, another (full-grown) dog came to the gates of Honour Village.  I'm not sure if he'd noticed the children playing, or if he could smell lunch cooking, but he yelped loudly for attention.   One of the kids must have taken pity on him and let him in.  This dog was SO happy to be among so many friends!  He ran and played gleefully, but as soon as one of the staff noticed him, he was escorted off the property and the gates closed behind him.  He refused to leave.

The kids went up for their afternoon nap, and we adults sat down for lunch.  As much as the staff tried to shoo him, he would not go away.  All through our lunch, he sat on the other side of the fence and whined and cried, and tried everything he could to get back inside.  He jumped as high as he could up the gates, hoping to jump over.  He gnawed at the metal bars.  He tried to dig through the metal track at the bottom of the gate, but he could not get in.  We kept ignoring him, hoping he'd go away, but he persisted for nearly an hour.  I'm sure there wasn't one of us who didn't feel sad for him.  If ever there was a dog who wanted to be around people so badly he would do anything, this was the one.  We wanted to feed him, but knew if we did, he would only return for more food, and we would have to go through this all over again.

Please, please let me in.  I promise I'll be good!

Aw, c'mon... Can't I just play for a little while?

Maybe if I stay here long enough,
someone will change their mind....

Rules are rules.  Sometimes we have to do things we'd rather not do, like say 'no' when we really want to say 'yes'.  (And something inside me really wanted to say 'yes'.)  

One thing I know, if circumstances had been  different, and I could have, I'd have taken that dog home in an instant, because I'm betting he'd be the best pet ever. 

Filling up my days

By now you're probably thinking that all I do is play with kids all day.  To a large degree, that's been the case, but we came here to offer our services in whatever way we could, and I've finally put on a big push to get some work done.  Not that I haven't been working.  As I mentioned in another blog 'On Volunteering', I also serve rice at lunchtime, and help clean up after lunchtime.  Picking up toys for 32 kids can also be a full-time job.....but here's what I've been doing the past few days....

I've hung the curtains in Sue's room...

I've folded hundreds of tea towels.
These tea towels are sold to make money for Honour Village.
If you're interested in purchasing some, let me know.

They have to be folded in a certain way

so that they come out like this...

Then they are packaged in a cellophane bag
and a note about Honour Village is added.
All the towels are sewn by disabled workers, and a portion of the profits
also goes to them, giving them meaningful work.

I've also been painting all the PVC water pipes
to protect them from deteriorating in the UV rays of the sun.
More paint on me than on the pipes!

There are three buildings with pipes at the back going to the toilets.
There are also a few hundred feet of feed lines and a couple of downspouts.
Two coats at least, ought to keep me busy for a while!

New Bike Shelter

Things keep happening at Honour Village.  The latest project is a new, improved bike shelter.  Last week, an addition was made to the old bike shelter, making it a L-shape and doubling its size.  With a new metal roof, the bikes, motos and tuk-tuk are protected from the sun and rain (when the rainy season finally gets here).

Framework for the new addition to the bike shelter
The old bike shelter is in the left background



The new and old bike shelters joined by metal roofing
Doesn't that look smart?



Surprise, surprise!

If you're thinking of visiting Cambodia, and in any way squeamish, get ready for an attitude adjustment.  Any of you who know me, will know that I'm not a big fan of bugs or creepy crawly things, and I've encountered some things here that have tested my mettle.  Considering I used to run like a scared rabbit when I saw a mouse, I've come a long way.  I've had to.

I've blogged here about eating rat near Battambang, though I wouldn't try the fried crickets.  And I've blogged about being served quail's heads and chicken heads.  (I'll admit I left the quail's heads on my plate, but I did gnaw on the necks, which were pretty tasty.)  And I know now that I must have eaten half a chicken's head at Prom's wedding before I figured that the curvy 'bone' I pulled out of my mouth was, in actual fact, a beak. (Surprise!)  Considering I wouldn't eat the quail's heads, I felt pretty proud of being able to eat that chicken's head, but when I looked at the other half, I just couldn't do it, so I fed it to Gordon.
 
A few days ago, I was eating some soup.  It had a lot of green vegetables in it, and a bit of meat.  It also had some (cooked) white things in it that I swear were white grubs.  (Surprise!)  Those I politely left on my plate. 

There are all kinds of bugs here.  Everything from head lice (VERY common here) to huge cockroaches the size of quarters.  I've just come to expect them now.  I've also resigned myself to the fact that I could well be needing a treatment for my own head lice before I leave.  (Surprise!)

Yesterday, I went to lean against the door jamb, and  (Surprise!) I almost squashed a praying mantis...at least I think that's what it was.  I didn't jump, only because it didn't jump at me....but I treated it with great respect, and gave it wide berth just in case it decided to leap.



It was about 4 inches long.

OB Joyful (the cat) has gotten pretty good at hunting.  So far I've seen her with a mouse and a small snake in her mouth.  Just so long as she doesn't decide to present me with her latest quarry, I can deal with it. 

Occasionally I'll see a kid playing with bugs.  To them it's normal.  They carry them around and occasionally pull their legs off.  And I suppose that's OK, just so long as they don't expect me to join in the fun.

I arrived one morning to find Riem playing with these guys....
They're about an inch long....(Surprise!)

Last year, the guesthouse we were in sprayed for bugs occasionally.  We were never really bothered by any, except for one big hairy spider I found in a corner that I had to call the cleaning staff to remove for me.  The cobwebs would accumulate in our room as quickly as the cleaners would take them down, so in the back of my mind, I had visions of spiders lurking in dark corners or creeping across my bed as I slept.  This year our guesthouse room is spotless.  I know they spray regularly, because after the room has been cleaned, I can smell the 'lemon' scent that masks the Raid.  No creepy crawly's this year, not unless you count the little lizard who visited us one evening in the early weeks of our stay.  Oh, these little lizards are all about in the hallways.  They lurk near the light fixtures at night waiting to capture tasty bugs that are attracted to the light, and in the daytime, they hide behind the picture just outside our guestroom door.  But they don't bother me... not as long as they keep their distance.

Sue (the founder of Honour Village) had asked us to design a shopping bag.  She'd purchased a huge roll of fabric for the purpose, and we finally got around to that task yesterday.  And as I rolled out the fabric..... A tiny snake fell out from the folds.  I stood back, breathless.  It didn't move.  It was dead.  Surprise! 

So far, I've been pretty good at handling these 'surprises'... but with almost three weeks left to go, there's bound to be at least one more.  I'm hoping it won't be a big one and if it is, I hope I don't make a complete fool of myself. 

Bubbling good time....

Yesterday, I managed to capture some photos of a couple of little girls having great fun behind the new building.  They'd been sent back to do their laundry, and as kids will do, they'd turned a dull chore into playtime.  Some soapy water and some imagination was all it took.