Full Circle

Goodbye beach!  The bus rides back to school took 13 hours.  I usually buy my tickets from Capitol Tours, but they were closed, so I used Sorya.  I asked for a ticket to Mongkol Borei, and after some confusion and discussion among themselves, they gave me a ticket with the destination of Banteay Meanchey which is the province where I live.  When I arrived to the bus station that morning, there were four buses, and only one was going in the direction I wanted, which was Poipet.  I checked with the bus driver who assured me that this was my bus. 

It was a long ride, my butt was numb, and it was getting dark.  I kept looking out the window for recognizable landmarks.  All of the sudden, I  saw the bus station where I usually get off.  The bus kept going, heading to Sisophon.   It occurred to me, in a rather panicky way, that I ought to alert the bus driver.  I grabbed my purse and laptop and ran to the front and said, "Chob!  Chob!  K'nyom Mongkol Borei!"  By this time, it was pitch black and there were obviously no guesthouses around.  He looked uneasy about letting this moronic white lady off in the middle of nowhere, but I kept insisting.   He finally opened the door and let me out, probably just glad to get rid of me at that point.

I donned my headlamp and walked the roundabout and called Sophert who picked me up and drove me back to my apartment.  Along the way, I could see the fireflies and the village families huddled together in their huts.  It felt good to be back home.  I called Gogo's name, and he bounded down the stairs, gave me lots of kisses, and raced into my apartment.

Word spread quickly that I was back because children were knocking on my door at 8 a.m. the next morning.  I was not quite ready for that, so I pretended to be asleep.  Of course, they returned a couple hours later when they saw me hanging clothes outside on my drying rack.  We greeted each other with tremendous glee.  I pulled out all the new books which I bought specifically for first graders since we are really lacking in that area.  They loved them!   

They read, colored pictures and entertained themselves while I did two weeks worth of laundry.  It was nice to hear giggling in my apartment again.  I kept going outside to hang clothes to dry, and sometimes when I would return, the place would appear to be empty, but I would could hear snickering.  They thought it was pretty funny hiding under my bed, behind my bathroom door, and even behind my refrigerator (where there are a bunch of dead cockroaches).  I would pretend that I couldn't find them and call their names, and then reach out and grab one of their arms and say, "Aahhhhhh!" 

 

After a couple hours, I told them it was time to go, so I could rest and read.  When I went outside again to check on my drying laundry, I noticed that all the classroom windows had been opened, and my panties were hanging on them.  Great.  As if my underwear wasn't on display enough before.   Now, they were all spread all across the school for everyone the enjoy.   I collected them, saw the two culprits, and said, "Very funny."  They just looked at me.  There was no giggling.  That was when I realized they were not playing a joke.  They were trying to help me.  This silly barang had her clothes all bunched up together on one tiny rack.  They know better.  They see their mothers spread their clothes out, so they dry faster.

Later, I heard some rustling outside my door and opened it to find Gogo eating a dead bird on one of my bath towels.  He gave me a proud glance, as if to say, "Look what I found!" then wildly began tearing off all the feathers.