Singing in the rain

The rain is starting to hit and for the last few days the streets have become massive puddles with about 10cm worth of water, turning Phnom Penh into to a network of waterways. I have discovered that if I go slowly on my bike, and don't stop, I can keep the waves and splash down low enough that I don't get too wet... It's actually quite fun! I've discovered that this is a great analogy for working here in Cambodia.

This week I have had a bit of disappointment in that I had been told by the university on Monday that I could start work and so began to lecture, tutor and plan lecture and course outlines... Just when everything seemed to be getting going it started 'raining'. On Friday night they told me that some of the management were still opposing the employment of this foreigner and that I had to stop. Thankfully I like riding in the rain here and I think that if I just gently push through it will all work out... I have gentle momentum in place from my private work and my research, I've got to keep spinning just fast enough to keep moving, slow enough that I don't make to much of a splash, and with enough foresight that I don't have to stop too suddenly and plant my foot in the river that is the road! Although my first reaction was to eat chocolate (Hershey's cookies and cream) after some time I was able to mediate on what was happening. I (still) feel inherently grateful to be here and so far I feel like I have been able to make the most of every day. Therefore I am determined to go on seizing every opportunity, strong in the conviction that the best is yet to come! No one said it was going to be easy.

Fuel Efficiency

This week I broke out and took myself on a 5 day cycle tour through a heat wave *heat wave echoed in high pitch* and it is probably one of the most epic *epic* journeys I have taken so far... It was well off the beaten track, I saw 5 foreigners on day 3 at a world heritage site and all of them lived in Cambodia!  I ate a lot of chicken and rice because I haven't quite mastered the words for beef and pork just yet... Also I lost my internet connection for a few days and the rudimentary map I had didn't provide much help and so I ended up relying heavily on locals to navigate around back country roads... An irony was that I navigated away from 6th century ruins that were still standing using telephone poles carrying lines that weren't working (surely they go towards the main road). So many times I was deeply gratified by the propensity of the human spirit to connect... Some of them cracked up laughing... Some of them searched my bike for a motor... Some of them clearly thought I was just crazy.... And perhaps I was! *am!* 

Physically, it is one of the most challenging 5 days that I have put myself through. I hadn't intended it that way but because I was by myself I couldn't take the risk of getting somewhere without a guest house. Maybe one in 3 townships that I stayed at were in my photocopied lonely planet guide; therefore, my 80-120km/day goal ended up being 120-160km per day through the heat! *heat wave*. I had to re-learn a few old lessons from cycle tours gone past such as always wear long sleeves, always eat a second breakfast, and always get water when you can. I carried about 3.5 litres at a time and went through about 6 litres per day of water. Still... I think that between the four meals and 6 litres of water per day I am still a lot more efficient than a motorised vehicle. That is to say $8-10/day for food and water divided 130km/day = around 8c/km of totally renewable energy usage!

For those fellow distance junkies here is a map of where I went:

For those who like pictures:

Taking opportunities as they present themselves

Things are ticking over ok and I have gained some good traction with my research project; however, the work situation still isn't flash... There are some great people over here guiding me and keeping me in-line. One of which reminded me about the principle of taking opportunities as they present themselves! So here's how it works: At the moment the receptionist at the private practice is putting one patient per day in my book yet I have to stay there for the whole day and so I take the opportunity to enjoy the airconditioned environment and free lunch to work comfortably on research proposals, The university has asked me to provide two sample lectures for assessing my teaching ability and so I lecture on topics that the students have fallen behind in (because the university won't hire a lecturer), there are three public holidays next week and so I decided to go on a week long cycle tour, I got myself on the wrong side of the Mekong today and so I took the opportunity to go on the new bridge, I got a bit hot and flustered after 140km and so I took the opportunity to hitch a ride in the slip stream of a local tractor (a cruzy 25km/hr), I ended up at an overpriced resort and so I took the opportunity to cool down in their aircon and ask the waiters about a cheap guest house... Pretty much life is good.... High on endorphins and amping for tomorrow's ride... Maybe I should start a cycle touring business!!

Papa

This last week I have been reflecting on the experiences of 'fatherhood'. I've often wondered and tried to get my head around what it means for a man to be a father from an emotional point of view. It sounds crazy but sometimes I struggle to imagine what the point of having children is for a man? In contrast, I have always felt that I can relate to the feelings that a mother might have towards a child. This feeling of a father towards his child has kind of been a bit of a fundamental mystery to me.

Earlier this week I got talking to the parking attendant outside my gym. The shop beside the gym is a fancy motorbike shop and we were watching a shipment of fancy motorbikes being unpacked and put on display. They were white and orange, fast, and had no capacity for carrying passengers. That's incredibly indulgent for a motorbike in Cambodia. He was looking on in disgust trying to get his head around why anyone would buy a motor bike like that when you could get a car for the same amount of money and have far more use for it! I was tempted to tell him about the merits of Frank Snr but instead this lead onto discussion about his deep resentment of the current government and how all of the money was going to the upper echelons of Cambodia while the wages for the lower class were not being raised. He was acutely aware of the fact that while the economy was thriving while he was still on less than $4 per day. He cannot afford to keep his family in town and he supports his wife and 2-year-old in the province. He told me about how when he goes home his baby puts his arms out and says papa... The look on his face, the way his chest puffed out, was really *deep swallow* touching. 

Other daddy encounters this week have been; a father who has been able to adopt when he never thought it might be possible to have a child in his life... His baby holds out his arms and says 'papa'; others of my friends have welcomed a new baby into the family and they dream of him being a super hero (I have no doubt he will be a supper hero by the way Mr and Mrs R); the deep anticipation of the arrival of a new child (damn it, why are all my friends having kids!?); and my own fathers desire to participate in the lives of his daughters.

The way that a father actually feels towards his children is not something that I think I will ever fully comprehend but this week I have been able to get a taste of that emotion that he might feel, and the way that it shapes his being, his work, and his purpose in life. When I put this in the frame of the struggles that exist when the long slog comes, when you are too tired to change a nappy, when the sound of a child pierces the inner chambers of your ear canal, when you search for the answers, and when you explore the process of trial and error that defines life, it all comes into context when that child puts out its hands and says 'papa'.