Mikes Thoughts

Out to coffee today

Well maybe today and tomorrow. Today my friend Russell is up for coffee at the place we met. The wonderful Time Coffee by the river. We used to meet almost weekly and just spend time talking about life, Cambodia, and finally his desire to leave. He did leave for Vietnam and found this spark of life he felt was missing here. Then though family called him back to the UK. For months he stayed there but he let me know on WhatsApp he would be returning. So he did. He was always this person that anything could be said to, that had feelings about being here, and had a wonderful self expression and desire to share it. I knew after our last meeting last year, it would be awhile to see him again.

I think he will probably go back to Vietnam again. I don’t think he’s particularly happy here and life’s too short to not be doing a thing that matters. I’ll find out at 10am what he is thinking on. More to come later.

July 4th comes

So does coffee with Sean. We meet weekly or so for coffee and talking. I enjoy the times just having a few people to meet with. I’m not a big expat person so going to expat places never works for me. I guess it’s also 4th of July here. I’ll just let this blogpost go by until tomorrow and combine all kinds of crap in here.

Back to today and the river

Such a beautiful day today spent talking life and living. Russell has been the only person here to just talk to about all things. We went on for hours. I guess the river is always a fitting place to just sit.

river coffee

The morning threatened rain which never happened. Now blue skies and a last stop for coffee. Then go home and think on our words. Each time I find pearls amidst the vowels and consonants. I’m thankful for that. Our lives are completely different and perhaps that’s what makes the conversation so significant.

I’ll wait and include coffee tomorrow since it’s a thing too.

Other little things

It’s morning with coffee at home. Last night rained good and of course our roof leaks a bit. It was already supposedly fixed last year. Now it just leaks differently. Getting that fixed is not a thing so I just think on how this house and the people here do things differently than my last Cambodian landlord who volunteered to fix things like a small leak at one window which bugged him. He came in and redid the window caulking and fixed it all up. That was way before the current crop of owners who can talk well. Like my mom would say,

talks cheap. Its takes money to buy a car.

She was a never-ending fount of advice and sayings about life and living. Here I would guess she would say talk is not cheap. It just happens all day long in lieu of actually fixing things that maybe should have been looked at weeks ago before rainy season really kicked in.

Anyways, it will be time to go to see Sean at another favored coffee spot. La Latte coffee offers a nice little eclectic mix of coffee and fun. It’s mostly a khmer place although I have shared a table with tourists. As in all places, all are welcomed warmly. I have been going over a year now so they know my order. The owner is an engaging young Khmer man who loves to greet everyone in whatever language. So after my momentary lapse about the sorrowful condition of whatever leaks in this place, I will henceforth type of actual coffee events and walking today. It is the 4th of July here. A nothing holiday. It used to be bbq and beer, fireworks and fun. That seems like epochs ago. I remember some of them but thankfully some things just don’t come back. Now is music and waiting to be able to leave here and go there.

La Latte coffee on tap

Here’s the deal. Every week we meet at some different spot for coffee. Once a week. One week Sean’s choice. Next week mine. I just send him a google maps link to a place whether I’ve been or not and we just go there. I always end up after writing about it because like the talk with Russell yesterday promises even different discussion about things. We both enjoy both coffee and talking. Most of the time about life in Siem Reap but often we reach other things. I’ve told him a bit about just how life is here for me and he’s told me some about some challenges he faced here.

So now I wait until about 915am so I can walk over to La Latte Coffee. Its a nice little place just far enough from here.

la latte coffee

The three hours of talk covered so many places and things. A new place for Sean to see and going back to a favorite place for me. We talked about life here, his life in Canada and the US and then how it all changed when he made the change.

Now I’m done with the meeting people for awhile. Coffee alone for awhile and new places for me to try.

So that’s the day. A nice walk after in this kinda mixed up cloudy and almost rainy and beautiful blue sky and warm day. Then a stop for some fresh mango cut up with chili. One of my favorite things to stop for when it’s hot and I’ve been doing the sweating thing. Home to dinner thanks to my wife forever cooking wonderful meals for me and time to wander the words more.