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A Taste of Monsoon Rain...
February 2010
The sky has finally broken. The dry, dusty, dehydrated streets of Battambang received a wonderful storm this afternoon.
I hadn’t heard the sound of rain for so many months that it lulled me into a peaceful sleep for an hour or so. When the rain stopped, I woke up and decided to bike over to CCT.
The bike is just a tiny little red kid’s bike that was left at my place, which requires about 5 pedal rotations for every 1 on a regular bike. But, nevertheless, there’s still nothing quite like a scenic bike ride through Battambang at dusk.
I took the route, turning right out of my place, along the river and across the new bridge. Observing village life, from the relaxed, gentle speed of a bicycle, Cambodia does seem like a truly enchanting place. During rare occasions like that I remember why it was that I fell so hard for Cambodia in the beginning....
The air was cool and fresh but thick with the smell of rain. A smell so sweet and earthy and yummy I reckon I could almost feel the Actinomycete spores floating through the moist air and into my lungs, washing away the dry dust that has been building up in my respiratory tract for months. The setting sun lit up the foreboding cumulonimbus clouds with a radiant silver lining, which faded into a soft lilac and then into the most brilliant crimson across the horizon. The river, which already seems to be flowing with more life and vigour, was reflecting the myriad of colours in the sky and the plants, trees and flowers were all sparkling with little droplets of water.
I turned into CCT’s street and rode past several families, all out enjoying the fresh, post-rain air and playing friendly games of badminton. To my surprise several of them called out to me by name - “Tara! Mow bi nah?” (“Where’ve you just come from?”). I don’t really know how they know who I am but that’s the other plus about being on a bike, I’m not so cut off from everyone and everything around me.
I rode past a herd of goats and thought nostalgically about Noam Chomsky (the little Kid I nearly adopted) and then through a cantankerous gaggle of geese, who crossly honked at me as I passed by. Although it was definitely a nice change to be honked at by geese instead of traffic!
I arrived at CCT and was greeted by a bunch of very surprised kids who hadn’t heard me pull up. I spent some time hanging out with them all, enjoying their company and laughing at all the cute, funny and silly things they do.
Life is good.
Tara x
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