The Rain

The Rain 091008 3:59AM

So I was sleeping well for at least the 1st six hours of the night, I’ve been awake for an hour and haven’t been able to fall back asleep, so I thought I’d write. (yes… Will is sound asleep.)

While a lot of the things I’ve encountered here make me wonder and think how similar things are here as they are to my mom’s home country of the Philippines…tonight when the rain woke me it made me wonder what it was like to be in the jungle during the Vietnam war, during the rainy season.

About 9 years before my father volunteered to be in the Peace Corps, he volunteered to be in the Marine Corps and served as an infantry soldier in July of 1969. He started out as a math major his first year of college. He didn’t feel it was right that he was in school while other men were getting drafted to fight in a war that he believed in. I sometimes forget how close he was to where I am now; and how similar the landscape probably is here to where he was. Actually I think we were looking at distances while I was back home, and Phnom Penh is only some 350 miles from where he spent one year of his life, working a small area of the jungle.

Anyways--- the rain has awakened us the last 2 nights in a row, and it did the same tonight. Last night there was REALLY, REALLY loud thunder and bright lighting. The lightning was really close. You know when you do the 1-one-thousand count after you see the lightning to see how far away it is? Well yea; it was right on top of us because as soon as you’d see the flash of light an enormously loud crash of thunder would shake the whole house and rumble throughout the dark sky. It was quite the storm. Kind of cool, maybe a bit closer than we’d like, but definitely a good storm.

Tonight however it wasn’t the thunder and lightning that awoke us; it was the wind and pouring rain that came through the side window in our room and drenched Will, me, the mosquito net and rice mat that we are sleeping on. We were able to get the shutters closed quickly and I handed Will the micro-fiber camping towel I brought along so he could dry off, then we re-arranged the blankets and of course, Will fell back asleep right away.

Back in the states, I think some nights I’d be glad when I got 6 hrs. of sleep. I’ll be fine tonight too- and maybe I’ll still crash, but sheesh. It’s not fair that some people are able to fall asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow.

Anyway, when my head hit the pillow, I sat and listened to the rain pour down. I do like the sound of the rain; there is something so nice about it. But then, that was when I began to wonder how much it must have sucked to be sleeping (or maybe not sleeping) in the jungle during the rainy season while in the war.

I mean really. First, you’re in a war, and having that constant fear all of the time which I’m sure was exhausting to an unimaginable point already – but secondly the rainy season? I’m sure it was cold wet and dirty and really must’ve just been awful. (Dad – I hope it’s okay that I’m writing about this, let me know if there is anything that you want me to remove OR if you have anything you’d like me to add). Anyways- there are many times I wonder how you dealt with all of it. …… I guess you just deal. Other questions that came to my head were, did you try and catch rain water into your canteens? Was your poncho enough to keep you dry? Because it sure does pour down really hard here.

Anyhow . . . those were a few things that the rain brought to my head.
So yes. The rain didn’t last too long tonight but it’s also amazing what you can hear during the night. It’s like a whole other world at night. All of the animals, bugs and creatures sing this (oop hold on, Man—I just heard the 1st rooster crow… is it that time already??? Damn. It is. Sigh.) – anyways- ALL of the creatures sing in this chorus of noises, the chirping crickets, the birds, and there is this new noise tonight that I believe is maybe frogs croaking? Or maybe it’s all the geese that are sad b/c they are sopping wet. (Both Will and I have agreed that the neighbor’s geese are probably more of a ruckus than they are worth. They are so darn loud squawking all the time. And they don’t taste Nearly as good as chickens or other foul. I have daydreams where I envision sitting upstairs stealthily perched next to the window with a sling shot, knocking them down one by one, just to have some peace and quiet. Bun Thon, our host dad back at training village has a sling shot that he uses for the stray cats that come near his house) sorry. Tangent. But yes the geese are loud).

Back to the nighttime. Yes soooo many new noises and sounds. It’s almost sort of loud. I guess maybe it’s just a heightened sense of awareness. Just another one of the small things that are all a part of this experience.

Okay, it’s 4:23am now, and I just heard the sound of the first big truck drive by the house. Sigh. Maybe I’ll have some Pringles (have I mentioned that you can buy Pringles in this village? ALSO you can buy nestle chocolate ice-cream bars. It’s a spendy snack, but it’s sooooo worth it).

Anyways, maybe a snack and then maybe I’ll try and catch a few more zzz’s before we head into Siem Reap for tomorrow.

. . .

Ha, Will just woke up and said, “Maybe you should try and get some sleep Stephanie.”

I sigh and say, “I’ve already tried babe.”

Over and out.