Three in a row

Parties are rather like the buses on Fulham Palace Road: when you're desperate for one to come along there's nothing in sight and just as you're about to give up all hope, 3 come along at the same time.

Thursday night, her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II turned 21 again so the British Embassy threw a bit of a bash at the Intercontinental Hotel in Phnom Penh. All the volunteers received fancy embossed invitations and were expected to ditch the flip flops for the Lounge Suit dress code. And what a party! Fish 'n' chips, roast beef with horseradish, union jacks, the national anthem, the Olympics promotional video playing in the background, the royal crest and ice sculptures of some of London's landmarks. I've never thought of myself as the least bit patriotic nor one to feel much in the way of national pride but the sight of so much red, white and blue and the sound of so many British accents in one room made me feel quite sentimental!

Friday night, Sandra (volunteer based in Mondulkiri) caught up with me by turning 29 and starting with happy hour cocktails at the FCC we merrily danced the night away. It was great to hear some proper DJ-ing and familiar 'Western' music. We seriously bopped til we dropped!

The third party was Saturday night in Battambang on my way home, by which time I was pretty much all partied out! It was fun though and the hosts had organised some Khmers from the circus school in Battambang to perform which was excellent to see.

So, returning to Sisaphon on Sunday, I was very tired (I think I'm getting old!) but it had been just what I needed. The previous few weeks in Phnom Srok have been a bit tough. My fantastic VA (Volunteer Assistant) resigned so was working out his final weeks, the evening English classes have become too much so I'm feeling a bit like a pathetic failure, and a young man decided to completely lose his grip on reality and was subsequently tied up outside my house and bundled in a taxi to Battambang psychiatric hospital.

Also, very sadly, Mr Sophan's father-in-law died suddenly so all work plans were scrapped as Soroth and I attended the immediate 2 day funeral which followed. I found the funeral fascinating to say the least and observed many differences to the 3 year funeral I described in 'Good Grief'. The speed at which the whole of the neighbouring community pitched in was astounding: the women turned up and cooked continuously for 2 days so that all the guests would have something to eat, while the men put together the wooden coffin and cut out fancy shapes from shiny paper to decorate it with. Soroth was great at explaining all the different parts of the rituals and customs of the ceremony as we watched and it was great to have a running commentary.

Photos of Embassy party will follow...