The Cambodian space project played at my friends wedding so it was with much excitement & anticipation I awaited their performance one Friday night recently when they came to play at a guest house & bar just around the corner from my house.
I enrolled my assistant, J & her visiting daughter, my work colleague's wife Sb & a kiwi nurse from the local university to come along with me.
It was a slightly complicated affair for my assistant as her father initially gave consent but later said he would lock her out of the house at 9pm & she could not use either of the families motos to get in from her village to town. Being a flexible & adaptable ex-VSO volunteer I made up my spare bedroom & arranged lifts for her instead.
The set started at 9pm so beforehand we all met up at my friends cafe & had a meal consisting of such delicacies as goat's cheese & hummus. There were mixed reactions from the Cambodians.
My assistant who is a good khmer 'girl' was persuaded to have a Pina colada & eventually succumbed to a can of beer too. If you can't capacity build them then corrupt them - is my new development mantra.
Sb's family are wedding entertainers so after the intermission she got up on stage & sang a song with the band. She, like her whole village, had viral conjunctivitis hence the shades giving her a slight hint of gangster. I loved that she could just get up & sing with no preparation or rehearsal on a dare from us all. We were all very proud to be her friend & as her husband texted me the next day - "S told me that she had a big blast with you last night that she's never had the great day like this since she was born."
Below is a video of her performance.
We all had a big blast - L & I staggered home just before 1am which may seem modest by western standards but is ridiculous late in Cambodian culture.
I enrolled my assistant, J & her visiting daughter, my work colleague's wife Sb & a kiwi nurse from the local university to come along with me.
It was a slightly complicated affair for my assistant as her father initially gave consent but later said he would lock her out of the house at 9pm & she could not use either of the families motos to get in from her village to town. Being a flexible & adaptable ex-VSO volunteer I made up my spare bedroom & arranged lifts for her instead.
The set started at 9pm so beforehand we all met up at my friends cafe & had a meal consisting of such delicacies as goat's cheese & hummus. There were mixed reactions from the Cambodians.
My assistant who is a good khmer 'girl' was persuaded to have a Pina colada & eventually succumbed to a can of beer too. If you can't capacity build them then corrupt them - is my new development mantra.
Sb's family are wedding entertainers so after the intermission she got up on stage & sang a song with the band. She, like her whole village, had viral conjunctivitis hence the shades giving her a slight hint of gangster. I loved that she could just get up & sing with no preparation or rehearsal on a dare from us all. We were all very proud to be her friend & as her husband texted me the next day - "S told me that she had a big blast with you last night that she's never had the great day like this since she was born."
Below is a video of her performance.
We all had a big blast - L & I staggered home just before 1am which may seem modest by western standards but is ridiculous late in Cambodian culture.
The follow morning I woke up with the monks banging the drum & despite the lack of sleep & moderate hangover I was still feeling on a high from the 'blast' the night before.
Whilst I was outside on my veranda hanging out my washing my landlady looked up & told me bluntly "The dog is dead", L heard & came out to find out what was going on. We discovered that Scabby dog had been hit by a moto 3 days prior & had been bleeding for a day & had just died that morning. No one had told me she was hurt & the morning before I had wondered why she had sat mournfully under my hammock just letting her puppies eat the food I was offering her also.
I was very, very upset.
The landladies son buried scabby dog by the banana plants at the side of my house.
The landladies daughters cried all day.
I had plans to go to the Pagoda to offer the monks a meal with my Cambodia mother (S), J & L so I went as planned, lit a candle, burnt some incense, offered a lotus flower & sat through a lot of buddhist chanting whilst my lower back went into spasm & my legs grew totally numb.
At one point S offered a plate with money on it, J & I were instructed to touch her whilst everyone chanted. With my lower body in spasm & excruciating discomfort & my right palm placed firmly on the small of S's back I suddenly felt overwhelmed by loss & as they say here the "tears dropped down".
Life is suffering, this too shall pass, everything is temporary.
S was delighted & beaming to be at the Pagoda offering the monks food & money. Her joy made me feel even more bereft. How could I ever leave here? I thought as I felt S's solid presence against my hand - joy & people both have a limited time span.
When I went back home the 3 remaining scabby puppies were laying on my porch waiting to be fed. The next day R helped me give the 2 more approachable ones their anti-parasite injections. After scabby puppy girl squealed, yelped & struggled through her jab, R looked me steadily in the eye & said "So Esther, now you will feed, inject & love these puppies until they get hit by a moto & die prematurely also? Is that your plan?"
Yes Mr R - ask your 3 year old daughter who cried at the Disney film I gave her - its called the circle of life!
Or as Billy Bragg would say - in life you have to take the crunchy with the smooth.
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