Haaallllooooooo!!!!!!
on Phnom Penh Pal (Cambodia), 28/Nov/2012 10:43, 34 days ago
Haalllooooooo!!!!! Not so much in Phnom Penh, but in the rural areas, you will be cycling along a dirt road and a little kid will wave his hand and shout Haallllooooooo at you. As will his siblings and friends. Your role is to wave back just as vigorously and reply in the same manner.What is strange about this little conversation is that rather than saying hello in a way that would be normal, you find yourself imitating their style and barking Hallooooo back at them with a hand wave nearly as manic as Paul's in the opening credits toThe Wonder Years. Sometimes, they will feel brave and ask for your name or how you are. Obviously, we're not speeding past like Bradley Wiggins or Chris Hoy so there is generally time for us to answer. However, if we do and then ask them the same question, this usually results in them running away - about as fast as Paul in the opening credits to The Wonder Years.This time, they weren't so scared of the lanky white boy and I ended up with two kids sitting on my rear wheel rack.In Phnom Penh, foreigners are all a little bit more common, so this happens infrequently. But when it does, you get that little feeling again of happiness that you live in a country where people are so happy to see you that they scream at you. And if you scream back, it makes them even happier - with a little tinge of fear at the crazy white people on bikes.Except one slightly chubby kid in Phnom Penh. It is rare that you see naked kids in Phnom Penh, but cycling home one night, I was passing (slowly) this unusually chubby kid who was naked, and maybe slightly too old to be naked - about 5 or so. Sitting in front of older siblings, he raised his hand and bellowed haaallloooo at me. Slightly unsure about this one, I tentatively replied hello rather soberly. At which point, he showed me one of his bare cheeks, slapped it and blew a raspberry. The next time I passed him, he tried it again, but this time there was not even a hiya in return to his shriek.I'm going to post this before another month passes without me writing a blog, this despite me having so much more to say than just hello. But anyway, I always think it's nice just to say hello.Take careChooks