Now the 25th November; it’s amazing how quickly the time goes and yet we seem to be pottering about not feeling that we are doing very much to further the good work carried out so far.
If you have read the previous blogs (and if not, why not!) then you may have changed your opinion re: poor them living in such conditions. Before you fully make up your mind let me point out a few other ‘issues’ for consideration.
Yes, the house (on stilts) is really homely with great views from the terrace. However, this should not lull you into a false sense of “pahh they’re in luxury those two” comments.
Our room is joined to the main building but not in it! Jan describes it like camping. There are gaps in the wooden plank cladding and believe me when it rains, it really rains! Thus one evening we were baling out our room trying to avoid too much water under foot and to find places to store clothes, shoes and the like. I thought at one stage that we needed a life raft rather than a bed! In true Khmer resolve one comment was “well the bed wasn’t under water”, ever the optimists, there’s always a positive (although it didn’t feel like it at the time).
Generally darkness settles in about 1730hrs, all year round, seasonal changes don’t affect this much. We retire at the alarmingly late Khmer time of early o’clock e.g. 2000hrs or if we are feeling really naughty 2030hrs – what rascals we are! BUT, most nights (unless we are getting used to it) we are rudely disturbed by a cacophony of the cockerel choir chorus calling to crow all other flightless avians! Colin, the lead rooster as we have called him leads these time challenged cockerels, feels it his ‘raison d’etre’ to utter his call whenever he feels the need. However, he must be an apprentice as he begins well belting out at full throttle then seems to ‘choke’ and it peters out into what can only be described as a strangulated cough or as if he’d been smoking the local baccy for some time. I use the word choke intentionally, because that’s what I would like to do to him if I could be bothered to extracte me from my bed and find the little b . . . . . d!
That’s not all! This, then triggers of another domesticated set of next door neighbours – the duck gang (fifteen in all), as then have been called, with the associated quack, quack, bloody quack. How quaint I hear you say, not at 0400hrs! Wait we still haven’t finished, then the pigs, yes pigs, start squealing. I’m not sure why but its either immense pleasure, alarm or just to ‘pig us’ barangs off. You might have noticed that the paranoia is back again with animals purposely collaborating to keep us awake – the swine! Strange how some things get to you! Oh, one final one to conclude this section, our resident gecko, Len, who lives in the wooden plank panelling and has the amusing habit of striking up a conversation with what seems to be an extract from Treasure Island sounding like Hot Arrrr, Hot Arrrr (imagine a ‘pirate like’ accent with the Arrrr bit, it helps!) repeated many times at god knows what time, ‘cos by then I’ve given up trying to sleep.
So, being in the twilight zone of neither asleep nor awake the alarm goes off indicating it’s time to get up and ready ourselves for work. When you visit I’ll give you a guided tour of the immediate environs and show the graves of said creatures who will have popped their clogs, or more accurately their claws, webbed feet and trotters. They (the animals that is) seem oblivious to the fact that Xmas looms and we are sourcing meat products in order to celebrate the usual festive gluttony (however, it looks as if we will be at work on the day – Khmers, being Buddhist, don’t celebrate Xmas, mind you they don’t seem to need any excuse to have a party).
Stop press – we have just received an Xmas pudding via another volunteer Elaine, who works in our beloved Kampong Cham, who has just returned back from the UK after ‘overseeing’ the birth of another grandchild. Jan, that long suffering marvellous woman, had the presence forethought to request this as a possibility and here it is! This also means that we shall probably have at least one house guest for ‘our’ Xmas, in my opinion a small price to pay for the ‘pud’ (mind you anyone who live in K’Cham deserves a good feed and respite at any time).
As yet we haven’t decide on the Xmas menu but I’m sure any adversity will be swept aside in our goal to distend our stomachs and then a good kip before the queen’s speech (I might even download the pod cast and play it as a nostalgic link to good old blighty). And so, my next task is to find some sprouts, put them on to cook as there’s only five weeks left and they must be ready in time. (The image is of our resident gheko - best suggested name wins a prize!).
If you have read the previous blogs (and if not, why not!) then you may have changed your opinion re: poor them living in such conditions. Before you fully make up your mind let me point out a few other ‘issues’ for consideration.
Yes, the house (on stilts) is really homely with great views from the terrace. However, this should not lull you into a false sense of “pahh they’re in luxury those two” comments.
Our room is joined to the main building but not in it! Jan describes it like camping. There are gaps in the wooden plank cladding and believe me when it rains, it really rains! Thus one evening we were baling out our room trying to avoid too much water under foot and to find places to store clothes, shoes and the like. I thought at one stage that we needed a life raft rather than a bed! In true Khmer resolve one comment was “well the bed wasn’t under water”, ever the optimists, there’s always a positive (although it didn’t feel like it at the time).
Generally darkness settles in about 1730hrs, all year round, seasonal changes don’t affect this much. We retire at the alarmingly late Khmer time of early o’clock e.g. 2000hrs or if we are feeling really naughty 2030hrs – what rascals we are! BUT, most nights (unless we are getting used to it) we are rudely disturbed by a cacophony of the cockerel choir chorus calling to crow all other flightless avians! Colin, the lead rooster as we have called him leads these time challenged cockerels, feels it his ‘raison d’etre’ to utter his call whenever he feels the need. However, he must be an apprentice as he begins well belting out at full throttle then seems to ‘choke’ and it peters out into what can only be described as a strangulated cough or as if he’d been smoking the local baccy for some time. I use the word choke intentionally, because that’s what I would like to do to him if I could be bothered to extracte me from my bed and find the little b . . . . . d!
That’s not all! This, then triggers of another domesticated set of next door neighbours – the duck gang (fifteen in all), as then have been called, with the associated quack, quack, bloody quack. How quaint I hear you say, not at 0400hrs! Wait we still haven’t finished, then the pigs, yes pigs, start squealing. I’m not sure why but its either immense pleasure, alarm or just to ‘pig us’ barangs off. You might have noticed that the paranoia is back again with animals purposely collaborating to keep us awake – the swine! Strange how some things get to you! Oh, one final one to conclude this section, our resident gecko, Len, who lives in the wooden plank panelling and has the amusing habit of striking up a conversation with what seems to be an extract from Treasure Island sounding like Hot Arrrr, Hot Arrrr (imagine a ‘pirate like’ accent with the Arrrr bit, it helps!) repeated many times at god knows what time, ‘cos by then I’ve given up trying to sleep.
So, being in the twilight zone of neither asleep nor awake the alarm goes off indicating it’s time to get up and ready ourselves for work. When you visit I’ll give you a guided tour of the immediate environs and show the graves of said creatures who will have popped their clogs, or more accurately their claws, webbed feet and trotters. They (the animals that is) seem oblivious to the fact that Xmas looms and we are sourcing meat products in order to celebrate the usual festive gluttony (however, it looks as if we will be at work on the day – Khmers, being Buddhist, don’t celebrate Xmas, mind you they don’t seem to need any excuse to have a party).
Stop press – we have just received an Xmas pudding via another volunteer Elaine, who works in our beloved Kampong Cham, who has just returned back from the UK after ‘overseeing’ the birth of another grandchild. Jan, that long suffering marvellous woman, had the presence forethought to request this as a possibility and here it is! This also means that we shall probably have at least one house guest for ‘our’ Xmas, in my opinion a small price to pay for the ‘pud’ (mind you anyone who live in K’Cham deserves a good feed and respite at any time).
As yet we haven’t decide on the Xmas menu but I’m sure any adversity will be swept aside in our goal to distend our stomachs and then a good kip before the queen’s speech (I might even download the pod cast and play it as a nostalgic link to good old blighty). And so, my next task is to find some sprouts, put them on to cook as there’s only five weeks left and they must be ready in time. (The image is of our resident gheko - best suggested name wins a prize!).
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