Category: Uncategorized

People working in the home-shop houses or working in different parts of the informal economy spend a lot of time waiting for customers.  Earlier we saw pictures of those just staring or sleeping to pass the time.  Here is another way some shopkeepers wait.

I’m currently in southern Cambodia with all of our Deaf Development Programme staff from three provinces, for a staff “retreat,” a chance to talk about some of our values and policies and at the same time allow the staff to meet and enjoy each other.  I have a good Internet connection in the building I am in at the Catholic center, but for some reason my efforts to log into and change my website have been stymied since I arrived–until just now when I found I was able to start creating this new post.  I’ll see now if it goes through, and if it does then I can post some new pages.

Apologies for the long absence!  I arrived back in Phnom Penh Friday morning after a rough trip.  In all the airports I was in (eight of them) I could connect to their free wi-fi but could only get an Internet connection in three of them and two of those were at the beginning and end of the trips.

Then in the US I was hampered both by the unavailability of both time and wi-fi connections.  I have not ever before been so unconnected to the Internet and out of touch.

But now I’m in Phnom Penh and back on a regular schedule so postings should be daily now–unless a glitch reoccurs that for two hours this evening–kept me from being able to log in to the website that hosts this webpage.  We’ll see!

Many of us are familiar with the old nursery rhyme and counting song that sings: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief.  That’s the American version.

Here in Cambodia, we still have tinkers but now they ride motorcycles hung with all the metal implements of their trade.

Yesterday I came back from Bangkok and was planning to post about Day 2 in the city there but when I got home there were a multitude of disruptions that prevented me from getting to this website.

The same happened again today.  I was preparing this evening to start work on a post here and Mother Teresa’s sisters called and asked me to take a mass for them across town early tomorrow morning.  That meant I had to prepare a homily so that shot the website again.

I’ll get something posted tomorrow, though!

Yesterday I promised a post here, from the guest house in Bangkok, if everything was going OK.  Well, it’s not going OK so I’m going to have to leave it at this short notice and hope the new guest house tomorrow has better wi-fi.

Tomorrow I have a meeting of all the Phnom Penh priests in the morning and then head from there to the airport for a trip to Bangkok for a medical exam.  If all goes well, I’ll be able to post here tomorrow from the Bangkok Christian Guest House where most Maryknollers stay.

Mother’s little helper.

Tinkers are part of the American tradition, the men (I never heard of any women tinkers) who traveled with their load of pots and pans and metalware through the rural areas of the country.  Cambodia has literally tinkers (although the metalware today is made of plastic) but there are a plethora of other itinerant vendors, too.  This man sells brightly colored sheets and blanket and pillows and bolsters.  I’ve often wondered what life is like for these individuals on the road from dawn to dusk and perhaps not selling anything all day but still needing to put gas in the motorcycle and provide something for the family to eat that day.