Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page
Today, Monday, was my first full work day in Phnom Penh and I spent most of it at DDP, the Deaf Development Programme. It was wonderful to see the students and staff again and we all had a grand reunion.
Then we just talked for a while as we were catching up on each other’s lives. We were lucky we could be in the open dining area because the temperature was 101 degrees,
I arrived in Phnom Penh from the U.S. on Friday afternoon, and Saturday evening I was the priest presider for the English Catholic Community.
It was a joyful reunion with the community. Much has changed in the seven months I have been away,
It’s 4:30 AM and I just arrived in Taipei after a 14-hour flight from San Francisco. The good news is that the plane wasn’t full and I had a whole four-seat row to myself and could lie flat to sleep for much of the flight. The bad news is that as I was at the gate in San Francisco, trying to get a Taiwan visa online, my iPhone stopped responding to any touches on the screen. All the buttons work and the display is there, I just can’t do anything by touching the screen. I’m guessing I’m going to have to find a repair shop in Phnom Penh because I use the phone for so much.
When I left Cambodia last August, I was discussing with Caritas Cambodia, our new parent NGO, about funding for the Deaf Development Programme. But then the border war between Thailand and Cambodia erupted, and Caritas Cambodia went to the border to set up tent housing for displaced people and provide them with food, water, toilets, and other supplies. Our discussions with Caritas were suspended. Now I am heading back to Phnom Penh to resume our discussions. I just flew from Louisville and am in Denver, my first stop on the way. Here at the Denver airport you can see the Rocky Mountains rising on the horizon. It takes about 35 hours to fly from Louisville to Phnom Penh.
This afternoon I took my bicycle out for a short ride to Kroger’s and had my first flat tire. I’ve been anticipating it and wondering about the timing and where I would be. Fortunately it was only two or three miles from my home. I called my super biker brother-in-law who also has a truck and he picked me up and we took the bike to the shop where I bought it because I have never changed a tire on a bike with a motor in the hub. It’s going to be expensive to let them fix the flat but I’ll learn what needs to be done. Mike’s wife, my sister, has a twin bike like mine and Mike called her and she agreed I could borrow her bike till mine is fixed so we went to their house in the truck and picked it up and brought it to Nazareth Home. That’s it above, some funny shade of pink–or is it purple? Or is it….? Whatever the color, it rolls so I’m fixed for a few days. Thanks, Mary!
When my brothers and sisters and cousins decided to buy me an e-bike for commuting around Louisville, they chose a brand-name, high-end model for me. I became more aware of that when I received a recall notice from the manufacturer about a defective part, just like what happens for cars. The notice said that a bolt holding the back wheel can fracture because of a faulty casting process for the bolt and that I need to bring in the bike for a replacement bolt. It turns out they have to order the replacement bolt but won’t do it until I bring in the bike and leave it for the three days required for the bolt to arrive. I asked them to order the bolt and let me know when it arrives but they said they had to have the bike first. For legal liability reasons, they don’t want to appear to be supporting my continuing riding of the bike while there is risk of the back wheel falling off.
This morning Jim McLaughlin and I went back to St. Columba Church where the St. Vincent de Paul Society organizes a weekly food distribution for needy and hungry people.
2
Today was an interesting day. Jim had an appointment in the morning and Roberta goes to an exercise class for seniors on Mondays and I went with her. That was good and gave me some new ideas for exercises.
Late in the morning we three drove to Petaluma, north of Oakland, to visit Bob and Nancy McFarland whom we knew from their visits to Cambodia.
Bob is an accomplished nature and cultural photographer internationally recognized but he has decided that now is the time to conclude that phase of his life. He took us to his storehouse of photos he has been selling and offered to us any that we wished, thankful that people who appreciated his work could acquire some of it before he gives the remaining photographs away. I received some that he had taken on trips to Cambodia. They will go well in my new room with bare walls.
Then Nancy fed us a delicious lunch extended by a lot of conversation. With us was Marie Wren, former fund raiser for the Maryknoll priests and brothers. (L-R: Charlie, Marie, Bob, Roberta, Jim, and Nancy)
Today had a lot of travel but fewer stops.
