All in a day's work

It rained yesterday.

Yeah, it's rainy season, and yeah, it rained more than normal yesterday. Still, nobody really commented on it, and we were surprised last night to find water six inches deep on our drive home. It worked out, though. I figured today would be a good day to bring a camera en route to school, in case there was still flooding.

I was right.

On our street, the water had subsided considerably. But the farther we drove, the deeper the water got. The term "water" is used loosely - I spotted or felt lots of garbage floating in it, as well as plant matter and toilet paper. And while I didn't see them, I know rat corpses were there too, because they normally litter the streets.

I heard there were even fish from nearby lakes. Quote of the day from Sarah's class: "This morning my dad went fishing in my grandma's house!" Her teaching assistant saw people using fishing nets in the road.

When we saw a broken-down truck just ahead, we knew we were in for it, but turning around would've been just as difficult.

Having successfully navigated about 1.5 km of flooding, we succumbed in the final 1/2 km. We knew we were in good company - most people around us had also started walking their vehicles. But when we reached higher ground, we were in trouble. Most people around us were still able to start their motos, at least using the kick-starter. We were not so fortunate.

We called Dean, the elementary principal, for advice. It was just before 7, so we weren't sure he knew how bad the flooding was. "Our moto broke down - do we really want the kids driving in this? Could we maybe delay school?"

"You'll be fine. Just keep pushing it and try to kick-start it every few hundred yards. The kids might be late, but flooding's no big deal here. This is Cambodia!"

We walked it about a kilometer, mostly submerged about 6 inches deep. It was slow going. Everyone was laughing at us as they drove past us in the comparatively shallow water. When we reached a cafe we knew, we decided to leave it there and have them lock it up for us. Then we both caught motodups (motorcycle taxis) to school.

We arrived at 7:35, over an hour after we left, just in time for staff devotions. At least I hadn't counted today on last-minute photocopying or planning...for once! I ended up going straight into first period without even having rinsed off my legs and feet. My students all seemed unconcerned about the flooding. But a Cambodian co-worker said this might be the biggest flood she can remember.

After school, Sarah and I left early to take a motodup back to the cafe and pick up our moto. But Suorsdai (her name is also a common greeting) and her adorable little sister saw us walking away from school and offered us a lift in their tuk-tuk. We were so grateful. Their camera-shy brother Solomon, in Sarah's 1st grade class, was enthralled to have us aboard. He *loves* attention from teachers. "And we can tell EVERYone about this, right?"

At the cafe, the guys outside tried to help us kick-start the moto again. After 20 minutes and four of them, they concluded it was a futile effort. They advised us to take it to a repair shop, so we set off, pushing it through the still-flooded streets to new waves of laughter.

We were concerned about finding a moto repair guy who spoke English, but the first place we stopped had a Cambodian guy from Philadelphia! (Cheltenham, to be precise.) It was a great answer to prayer. He and his co-workers quickly set to work. The giant battery they used to jump the moto...at least 10 times...is labeled "BUS." Yeah, did I mention this repair shop doesn't normally serve motos?

They used bare hands to touch the stripped wires to the contact points. Sarah, whose brothers spent weeks in the hospital following an electrical accident, couldn't bear to watch.

Though we described how high the water had been, they acted absolutely shocked every time they opened something and water flowed out. This happened about 5 different times. Notice how the oil and water that poured out together separated into a Yin-Yang shape. That has to be symbolic, though I'm not sure how.


These five guys dropped everything to help us for 2 1/2 hours. Note the one with his shirt up - that's very Khmer, only he doesn't have a beer belly like most of the old guys that do this. The one in the striped blue and red shirt is the Philadelphia resident.


90 minutes later, five guys had multiplied to 10 - with at least 3 onlookers on the right (not counting Sarah or me). By that point, they could successfully jump-start it and were hopeful about it starting on its own. They tried to fix it, reassembled it, tried to fix it, and the cycle continued.

Meanwhile, we were nervous about leaving after dark. We asked if we could leave it overnight, feeling SO grateful that we trusted them enough to consider it. But they kept reassuring us that they were almost finished and just had to reassemble it. We dilly-dallied for an hour, then called our trusty tuk-tuk driver, Mop. By the time he arrived, the moto was consistently starting, but they were worried that a drive home through the still-flooded streets might be overly taxing. So we paid our $8 (oil change included) and headed home sans moto.

Tomorrow, we're taking a tuk-tuk to school. But in the afternoon, we'll be back for you, moto dearest!

Oh, and did I mention it's been raining for hours again today?