MIkes Thoughts

Its Sunday

Morning time and this morning like usual, I go to see the puppies and I’m attacked. They both will start wanting the attention but soon they get jealous. If I pet one, the other starts attacking me or the other. I enjoy their company I guess more than some humans I know here. I started working on this little thing for the blog the other day. Got it wrong more than right. That’s my way I guess. Finally was able to have it working kinda how I want. What I’ve figured is that I am never done making it look or do different little things. I added in some little notes things here and then created a new RSS feed for them in the unlikely event you may want to even read more of my nonsense.

The fun part always is getting it wrong. Figuring out how layouts work. How liquid works and making it do just a little more after being wrong so many times. Then getting something almost right is a happiness! Now I know how to do a few things because of this.

I also added in little things I wanted to the blog like related posts and search even works. I would never ever say “done deal” and walk away and not try more things. I guess this is the never-ending project. Which is a weird but satisfying segue to this next thing I have been feeling like saying here.

living here is not difficult

I’ve watched this one person on YouTube and I feel for her with the mistakes. People would then think life in Cambodia is difficult or hard. It isn’t. In fact, many things are simpler than in any western country. People sell food on bicycles and motos driving by the house. Stop them and they will make fresh noodles or sell pastries or whatever. Even ice cream. Day to day life is not hard to do basic things. My wife takes care of a few things now but I did for them years. Water, wifi, power. Whatever. None of them is challenging but just different. Getting around when you want none of motorized vehicles is even easier. Call a passapp or tuktuk and they will take you. My regular tuktuk driver will wait for me and then take me on to the next place if I need. I pay him more.

Here’s where the things get difficult. When a person makes decisions that they think will just work like living in a hostel and then seeing it doesn’t work for them after two days. Or trying to rent an apartment or room sight unseen. Best way here is to apply common sense to what it is you want. Why move around to three places when it’s just easier to get a hotel room for a week and get settled. Hotels are common sense things to give you some runway. Cheaper things are guesthouses and I’ve had decent experiences with them. They are not five star places but its not what most people look for when they arrive. What’s needed is some stability getting here for the first week or two. Give yourself a chance to see little successes and not stress and failures. Spend the money.

Most of all get an apartment after looking at some with a realty agent. They never charge the renter. Get the visa taken care of because it will take the passport away and you cannot do much of consequence without it like bank accounts.

Life is not challenging here and you don’t need to be some rare breed to make it. You can just arrive, look at things, decide to take some time doing the things. I lived here in Cambodia for years before I met my wife here. Life is easier with a Khmer partner for sure but its not some easy path. End up trading one set of things for a more complex set.

So that’s my message so far this morning. I will be going to the usual coffee place (wherever that is) to sit and let the Siem Reap morning come over me. Yesterday was a long day it felt. Some days are just not enjoyable even with the puppy bright spots. Mostly I guess it is people and their needs and expectations. I don’t like any of that. I just do the things silently or not. So I’ll get this show on the road this Sunday. Finish the coffee here. Take my markdown for a walk and sit somewhere. Its Sunday dammit. Take a break and do nothing. I do that mostly.

Coffee on a Sunday

Just down the street for coffee. An easy change on a Sunday. Finding things that make no sense or that I never will understand here. I’m not supposed to though. I’m just a barang. I don’t know all the deep stuff in Cambodian people. It never is a case where I feel I have understood another. Sometimes feel they show us just what they want us to see. Maybe on very rare occasions you get that glimpse. One time with my ex wife I did after 23 years of really not getting it. I saw one scene and somehow little pieces clicked. I did not see her sum total. I did see more. When I left after lunch with my son I exiled myself when I told him it took almost 25 years but I finally grokked some of her. Enough to realize she was also damaged. Much later I told my daughter after years of silence that all the things that happened after with her mom and life and decisions was this strange wikilink of life. How it all connects. The path leads back to adultery. Perhaps why the bible says not to do it.

All this is a Sunday if things dredged up. Pieces of things that came and went. Life here and the choices. Never really getting anything here. It’s easier here to just live along side of it. No Cambodian person questions. We are barang. We are different.

That’s the Sunday way of things.

☕️☕️ 6 min read

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