This story takes place on a Sunday. No class today at BCDO school, I can take my time : do my laundry, paint a little bit, take a good bucket shower… and go to town for the breakfast.

As the other volunteer is not there, I seat at a huge Cambodian table with Sopheap (thé school director. Not that I know any of his friends but this way I won’t make the owner use a big table just for me. So here I am, having breakfast among Cambodian men. I don’t have a clue what they talk about but it doesn’t matter, I’m checking my e-mails on my phone. People come and go around me, the table empties slowly until Sopheap goes away. Just before starting his motorbike, he turns to me :  » Oh, Charlotte, I forgot to tell you, the guy who was next to you paid for your breakfast. You’ll just have to pay for the drink ».

Huh? So ok, for my last day a guy I don’t know offered me a breakfast and he was gone long before I could thank him. Sounds like a good start, no?

Then, I go to the market where one of my students helps me to buy bananas (for my 7 hours minivan trip planned for the next day), and I go back to the school to help Nalice in the kitchen. We have lunch together, she prepared me some sort of local gambas : sooo delicious ! and most of all? She peels them for me, like a mummy (I think she found me too slow at peeling them myself). I start to really enjoy this day 🙂

She leaves me early to bring his lunch to Sopheap on the working site. I finish my lunch, clean up a little bit and head to the working site. It’s lunch and/or nap time there. So I just seat with everyone under the neighbors’ house. The lady of the house says somethings to me but I still can’t understand Khmer… Sopheap translate for me : she says she’s sad you’re leaving tomorrow. Yeah, I’m sad too. Let’s enjoy the most of this day then !

And to celebrate, they have me try plam wine. It tastes almost like beer. Hummm : that’s good.

We are short on plastic bottle bricks on the building site so no job for me right now… And Sopheap supervises the contractor’s work on the party wall. I end up doing like everyone else : I look at the contractor building a wall with real bricks.

But I never stay long without doing anything so I take out my sketch book and start some drawings. The neighbors want to see the result of my previous drawings, they heard I’ve sketched their house. So I shaw it to them. They are so proud, they call everyone around to show it ! They want to see more, so I show them the papaya trees, the hat… they are happy to recognize details from their life. But every time I try to sketch someone (the guy sleeping in the hammock, the mother peeling mangos… ) the son goes to see the person and they move. Grumpf, still-life is so much easier!

Anyway, I stop drawing to welcome a new bug eating adventure : boys come back from the forest with a sort of hive and everyone gathered around to take the larvas out of their holes.

Even the neighbors from across the street come to help. So they show me how to do it and I help. They show me how to eat it raw and I try.

And in the afternoon, they will cook it in a spicy salad and I will try again.

Soon after that, the older son and his friends take place on the table (yes : on, not around) with a bottle of… home made alcool (I can’t find an other name for that) and some fish. They turn to me and offer me a drink and food. It feels like the start of a true farewell party.

The youngest son of the family is the only one working on the building site. Until he decides we should prepare the chicken wire, so he comes to seek my help. Hey, this way I can be useful even on my last day ! And this way I won’t end up drunk at 3P.M. so let’s go.

Ouch, it’s a long and painful job that’s waiting for me there. But, lucky me, the girl from the other side of the street comes to look at me working and soon she understands what it’s all about so she helps me as much as she can. Thank you girl!

I can go back to the sitting spot under the house then !

The older brothers’ friends keep offering me alcool and food. So happy that I try it without complaining. I show pictures to my co-working girl and she wants to try and pause for some.

Then she give it a try and take her own pictures.

Janet comes back from her week end, the boys offer her alcool and food : she will party with us. She also show the girl how to make selfies.

I go back to the building site where the boy fights to fixe the chicken wire. Until he sees me, smiles and hands me the stapler. So that’s the last thing I will learn on this building site : how to staple chicken wire in the wood. It requires all my strength to make it tight. But I do it and when I leave the building site the boy and Sopheap start to cement the wall. I’ve finished my work here…

I go to see how the bugs’ salad is going on in the kitchen and they offer me salad plus… crabs!

Nalice has gone back to the school to prepare our own dinner. I take a last picture of the table. Admire the generator they brought to listen to some music (when you don’t have running electricity, you manage as you can). Say a warm goodbye to every neighbor I shared time with those last 2 weeks and I head back to the school.

Is it because it was my last day that this day was so awesome?

I miss you guys, thanks for everything and most of all : thanks for all your warm smiles!