Notice the water colour difference between our pool and the flood? Yummy!
Previously on our Jenny Asks series we addressed our location in PP and shopping, then our neighbourhood and church, then traffic and walking, then getting to school and what we eat, then cultural miscommunication and friends, and what we do for fun and surviving the heat. On this final post we share about flooding and fixing.
Jenny: I've heard that your street floods quite a lot in the rainy season. Why is that?
Sam: The first reason is that it rains a lot; frequently and with a large amount of rain in a short period of time. The second reason is that the drains are not well designed to move the water away and can also get blocked. The third reason is that our housing complex was built 10-15 years ago, so as more roads and buildings are built in the swamp land, dirt is added to make those areas higher, and the water flows to the lower area. This is also why the Phnom Penh Bible School floods, though it floods more frequently and for longer than our street.
At the end of the rainy season this year we had the two deepest floods we have seen in our 7 years living in Cambodia. The deepest had water right up to the top step at our front door. When cars drove past, we had waves washing over the top step into our lounge room.
Jenny: You've recently had some issues with a broken light in your kitchen ceiling. How do you think getting that fixed may have been different to getting the same task done in Australia?
Sam: I was told by a missionary when we first arrived to be careful changing light globes as they can give off an electric shock. So, I have always arranged a handyman to come and change my light globes. Unfortunately, the new fluorescent globe in the kitchen didn't work, as the light fitting was old and broken. Between the handyman and my house helper they decided to call in a third person to replace the fitting. Rather than replace the fitting, the electrician just put a globe onto the hanging electrical wire. When the electrician told my helper how much this would cost, she said it was too expensive. I heard him reply that, as a foreigner, I would be able to afford that price. Once the job was completed, I paid the money asked, and the 3 Cambodians remarked that, yes, this globe was lighter than before.
In Australia I expect that changing a globe will not give me an electrical shock once turned off. I also suspect that light fittings would not break every time a globe needs to be replaced. And that if a fitting does need replacing, it will be replaced by the home owner/landlord. The cost would be determined by the task at hand, not by the colour of my skin.
Hope you've enjoyed this series as we share about what its like to live in PP.
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