November 14

A sound for you… it’s rain falling at Wat Oport. This sound is brought to you courtesy of my Zoom H2, to celebrate the official end of the rainy season (marked by the Water Festival, or Bone Om Touk, which especially marks the turning of the Tonlé Sap river; as the lake rises, it eventually changes its course and flows back south until the level lowers again, and the next rainy season begins to fill it up once more.)

Silence, please, for one minute of rain:

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It’s 8:30 pm, and the kids (about 12 boys, crammed onto 6 chairs) have just left after watching “Toy Story”. It got a big “thumbs up” – and I’m thrilled that I’ll be able to show them “Toy Story 2″ when I get back from Battambang. Again, all thanks to David!

When I return, I’m thinking of asking the rattan-man down the street to make me about 10 little stools. They would come in handy not only for movie nights, but also for singing and playing sessions. They’re cute, too – short stools, about a foot high, hand-made and stained. He charges about 15 dollars for a 6-foot high shelving unit, so how much could he ask for the stools?

I’m in the middle of preparing my two-week absence. While I’m excited about learning Vipassana meditation, I’m also having some “heart pinches” about leaving the kids. The world will turn quite well without me here, but I’ll miss them!

There’s not really much to do to get ready, aside from packing and trying to leave the place as welcoming as possible. As a gift to Wayne’s friends, who will be coming for a few days next week, I’ve stuffed candle wax and soap into Mr. Rat’s hole as far and as hard as I could. It didn’t hold him forever last time, but maybe this will last until I get back and can find a more appropriate way to block up the hole. He’s not really much of a nuisance after all, but it’s still disconcerting to find him wandering around in the evening. I’m getting used to him (not to his “leavings”) but people who haven’t traveled much will have enough adjustments to make without having to deal with an unwelcome guest.

I’ll have an unexpected extra day in Phnom Penh tomorrow, as Arun and I will be going in in the morning and taking the bus early Sunday morning. I’m glad for it, as any extra time on my beloved Internet makes me a happy camper – especially when I know I’ll be going 10 days without it.

A word of warning – there will be NO news, NO contact until further notice! Wayne will have some idea where to reach me if necessary, but unless it’s a matter of life or death, the center prefers we have absolutely no contact with the outside world.

I may spend a day or two after the course in Battambang before heading home. There are a few things I’d like to see in the area, including a circus school I’ve heard about, and some temples in the mountains. Deb and I went to Phnom Sampeu in January, so I won’t go back there, but there are some other places that are highly recommended.

Or… I’ll just take the first bus home and be glad to be back! Who knows. It’s so very nice not to have to decide…

This morning, we had our first “team leaders” meeting. I’m calling it that, but we didn’t come up with any official name. But I had suggested to Sary that the people who are responsible for working directly with the children get together to talk. The main reason for the meeting was Ponlork – I wanted him to meet everyone, and everyone to meet him. Another reason was trying to foster more communication in general among the people that do projects with the kids, and between them and the center as represented by Sary and Wayne. Dany and Huet were also there (Huet the art teacher and Dany the kid’s schoolteacher here at the center) as were Wayne and Arun, to translate.

It went well, and I think everyone feels good about what each person is going to be doing here. Ponlork is going to start in December, and he has announced that his first project will be “dealing with the garbage” – joy, joy. Sorting, composting, educating everyone as to how to make the most of what we don’t want or need any more. Wayne suggested adding the garbage we clean up from the Wat every Saturday morning, rather than burning it. We should be able to come up with industrial quantities of compost!!

A productive morning, and as the weather was lovely all day – cool and breezy – I’m feeling pretty up about everything.

By the way, if anyone who knows about these things can help, I’m curious about something. The kids can sometimes be seen playing with funny seeds that, as soon as they get wet, pop apart and startle everyone. Wayne says that it’s a miracle of nature’s engineering magic – the seeds stay dormant in the dry earth until it begins to rain, at which time they pop open and release their (spores?) They look something like really elongated mouse poops (no, I’m NOT obsessed!!), dark brown in color. Ponlork will probably know what they are, but he won’t know the name in English. Maybe in Latin… Meanwhile, all researchers to your stations!

I’m also still trying to find out what that odd animal is that is reputed to have a long snout and big teeth, live in our roof, and eat our chickens. It sometimes tortures other creatures it shares the roof-space with too… we can hear odd bouts of squeaking and running, and then silence.

The night demons outside have departed, and I’m sad. We sold the geese. I must admit that, once I knew what was making the noise, I kind of enjoyed the nocturnal dog-and-goose night fight racket. It was long past time for them to go, though; they were getting nastier and nastier, and sometimes it was impossible to come near them without being threatened by their nasty honking and long, reaching beaks (that hurt when they bite.) I hope someone enjoyed a lovely meal…

Ah, lights off already, and it’s only 9:10. Oh, well, I should get to bed early anyway, as I’ll have to finish packing before breakfast (which is at 7.)

A demain…

B