A Request

One of the sports teachers at my school, Long Serum, invited my co-teacher, Sun Sereyvuth, and me to his house during a certain Bon, or festival. There was going to be a party with all types of games and activities at his local wat. His commune, Tram SorSor, is the next big town about 7km north of my commune, Touk Meas. Both are still in Banteay Meas District.

My Co-teacher told me that we would meet at my house at 6am since I would be riding my bike... peace corps doesn't let us ride motos. So naturally, I think he arrived at around 7am. I knew that I would not get through the day without some coffee so we stopped in a local cafe and I was able to get some liquid energy in preparation for the ride and having to speak a lot once I got there. One thing I have learned is that my speaking skills really go up after the 3rd cup of coffee...

We were on our way. I don't get to ride too much north in the early morning so I stopped a lot and took pictures. Sereyvuth got a little annoyed, I think... he said something about me making us late and I ride so slow... so I said something back, I can't remember now but I'm sure it was very witty and smart. But anyway, we arrived at Mr. Long Serum's house... just in time to wait another hour before going to the festival. So yes, my co-teacher was afraid we would be late to our 'sitting and waiting and doing nothing' time.

We had some Nom Man Jok with curry sauce and I met another sports teacher from Dong Tung District. We opened a few coconuts and had a pretty good time. Long Serum's son was pretty good at English and I enjoyed speaking with him a little bit... it always eases me up when there is another language learner in the crowd because they tend to be more understanding of my language abilities or lack there of. After visiting with his family, the four of us teachers and the children headed to the Wat. The party was really fun and there were all types of games for everyone to play... but I forgot my money so I couldn't play... my favorite game at these types of events is the Throw the Dart at the Balloon game, my least favorite is the Pay Us Money and We Will Give You a Number, and IF the Number is on the Board You Win (DISCLAIMER: IN MY EXPERIENCE THE NUMBER IS NEVER ON THE BOARD)! game. I walked around and then decided to leave before the sun got too hot to bike. I said goodbye and left.

Biking through a new town is always... an experience. People love the new strange person and the kids love screaming the few English words they know... "HELLO BARANG (white person)!!! WHERE YOU GO???" My reply is usually, "WHERE ARE YOU GOING!!!" Slow and steady. On the way out of Tram SorSor, a kid biked up along side of me and started biking at the same speed. He said hi, I said hi. He said my name is, I said my name is. Then he asked if I could help him. I kinda smiled to myself with satisfaction... yet another young student who wants my expert help in learning English... assuming he meant he wanted me to teach him English... "No," I replied, "I can't help you, I am very busy and I live far away." He looked a little confused. "Can you help me?" he asked again. "Please 5 Dollars?" I was embarrassed. Not only did he not want me to teach him English but he called my bluff, here I was being a 'barang' and I only had 35 cents in my pocket... what a failure, haha. My volleyball coach in high school taught me to never assume after I made a bad call on where I thought the ball was going... because "you know what they say about assuming" she said "it makes an ass out of you and ___." Maybe I should have passed that lesson on... but instead I just popped it up a few gears and left the kid behind... I didn't want to burst his bubble that not all barangs have money, maybe he'll have more luck with the other people. Plus I was a little hurt that he didn't want me to teach him, a minor blow to the ego on an otherwise lovely day.