Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. One weekend in May = heat, little work and lots of noise.
Well, much as I love it here this weekend the heat and the noise have really irritated me. Coupled with the fact that the schools are still not fully functioning after their two week break which finished on April 20th! So work has been frustratingly slow and very hard to see people and make plans about our new activities and budgets for the next 12 months.
Friday had been very hot at work – it’s not always the temperature but the high levels of humidity which is so incredibly sweat inducing. We went home at 5pm to find our neighbours had erected a huge speaker on their house but directed straight at ours. For a family ceremony which involved monks chanting and distorted music at a rate of at least 70 decibels! So we had a quick shower and change and go out to meet the other ex-pats at 6pm at the local KFC. Khymer fried chicken and rice for less than $2. The best chicken in town because you get a really crispy coating and a tiny piece of white meat. There was a good crowd and we had a good time for a couple of hours until the wind got up and the most tremendous thunder and lightning and severe rainstorm stopped the electricity and us getting home. At 8.30pm we had had enough, had moved away from the table, sitting in a huddle getting closer and closer trying to escape the showers through the tarpaulin roof and sides of our eaterie. It was getting cooler and the rain had eased so we decided to make our exit plans, some walking, some cycling and we on our moto. Luckily we only had 2k to travel as the flooded roads and the storm meant we should not have been on the road. But we arrived home drenched but safe. Only to find the speakers were still on through the rain and the loud roar of old, poorly maintained generators was coming from all directions. So bed at 9pm in the dark with heavy rain pouring through some of the windows and ear plugs in!
We woke at 5.30 am because of the loud noises coming from the speakers fired by the generator and sore ears from the plugs. Which do not drown out all the noise. Still no elec, so went to the market and made a salad and went to the lake to meet friends and go swimming. Stayed out till 6pm when the light was failing-still no elec. So cooked a meal by candlelight, had a bucket wash and went to bed with the roar of generators again.
Sunday and still no elec. all day, so back to the lake which is so beautiful and cool when you are in the water and spent the afternoon playing board games and talking with another English girl from Sunderland. I cooked in the dark again using up as much of food in the fridge as possible and more bucket showers being careful with the water as we need elec. to pump the water from the well.
Another early night with my ear plugs but sometime in the night the elec. came on. However, as soon as everyone was getting up and about it went off again. There is never an explanation. My theory is there is just not enough to go round so when it is hot we are rationed.
Off to work at 7.30on Monday to find no-one else at work and no elec. here either. No elec. means no fan to make work a little more bearable. Is it a public holiday? On Saturday it was Visakha Bucha day which is a Buddhist special day – that must mean all the people I work with have taken Monday off, but the schools seem to be open? Who knows here? We do have Wednesday off for Royal Ploughing Day and 3 days next week for the Kings Birthday. David and I are off 800k south from here to Sihanoukville to the seaside for 4 nights. We think we can do this in one day going but estimate it will take 17 hours by bus. Coming back it has to be 2 days with a stopover in Phnom Penh.
