I mentioned a couple days ago (May 12) that the microphone for my desktop wasn’t working, so today, on the way back from examining St. Joseph Church to see how many people we can put in church with physical distancing, I stopped at an audio systems shop to have them check the mic. Determining that the mic is good, I asked them to make a cable with a better connector, and in true Cambodian fashion two guys sat on the floor and each attached a connector to a five-meter cable. ….Then I found out the mic will only work with a battery supply in the setup I wanted to utilize. Bummer.
Cambodia has not had a new case of coronavirus in more than a month, and only one of the 122 positive infections is still receiving treatment. There have been no COVID-19 deaths in the kingdom. The government has closed schools (March 16th) and churches and casinos and spas, but otherwise life is almost like normal. People are on the streets. The markets and shops are open. Fewer people wear a mask.
Then today the Minister of Education announced that the plan is to reopen the schools the 1st of November, a decision that surprised many because the attempt at some sort of online education has not gone well.
This week, today and tomorrow, I am leading an online retreat for the Maryknoll Lay Missioners in Cambodia. We are using Zoom and getting it set up took some doing:
My desktop computer has no microphone but I needed to show a PowerPoint from there so I made one Zoom connection with that computer. (I have an external mic for the desktop but it stopped working.)
Then I used my smartphone for a second connection for speaking and listening to the group.
I needed good background for my presentation so I moved to the end of my desk for the blank wall behind me, and then turned the monitor a bit sideways so I could see it. I couldn’t face the monitor because it put bright reflections on my glasses.
Working sideways on my desk, I had no place for the keyboard and mouse so an ironing board became a credenza.
I added the table lamp on the desk to help balance the light coming from the windows.
Our office wi-fi connection went out so I had to use the data connection on my phone to connect to the Internet. Luckily my data connection here only costs $5 a month.
The setup had its quirks and problems, but in the end we basically got through the two-hour session and hopefully tomorrow it will be easier and smoother.
The economic downturn has hit Cambodia even though the kingdom has had few COVID-19 infections. Many restaurants only serve takeaway orders and that has been a boost for the motorcycle deliver people. Click here to see some of them.
There are about a million different sizes, shapes, and colors for bananas—just not in the United States where Those Who Know have decided that U.S. consumers should be limited mostly to the one type that lives in our supermarkets. One other variation of banana that I had not encountered before establishing domicile outside the U.S. is the twin banana. They probably occur in all varieties all over the world, but probably Those Who Know don’t think they should be allowed to disturb U.S. banana eaters. Twin bananas like the ones above are relatively common here. They taste the same as single bananas but do present a logistical problem because I have to plan to have the second half at the next meal or else have someone with me to eat the twin.
