Remarkable Memories

Time moves so fast without coming back, but it leaves a lot of memories. When I look at my old pictures, I miss my time in my hometown, especially with my grandparents. My parents and I lived in the center of Battambang city, Cambodia, and my grandparents lived in the rural area with my uncle, my place of birth. It takes about two hours to drive by car to another district, and the rest we can’t drive because of the clay roads. It rained a lot in spring, and some roads were flooded. However, we have two options for arriving at my grandparents house. In this season, boats are the most popular transportation than cow carriage because it is faster and easier, it takes about one hour. Battambang is a big city that is close to the Thailand border in the West, and most people in this city produce rice and agriculture. It’s a quiet city compared to the bustling capital city of Phnom Penh; furthermore, it has the colonial buildings in the center of the city which is a popular destination for travelers. In September during the long school break, my parents, siblings and I went to visit my grandparents and my uncle for one week. It was the most enjoyable trip that all my relatives came to visit grandparents during the holiday season at the same time. I remember everything as it happened recently because it has given me the experiences in life and was full of fun with many activities.

Homeland is a place that gives me warmth with colorful forests. I’m very happy to see all my relatives, especially my dear grandparents. They have a lot of land and a big ancient house that is close to the river and farm near the mountains. My uncle and his wife were good cooks, and they had their own special ingredients to show us. We enjoyed our dinner and talking at a beautiful cottage that was built on the water in the middle of the big pond. The romantic natural countryside makes me feel happy and warm with family reunions. I can play with all my relatives and my grandparents. I can admire the beautiful scenery in the backyard like a nice view with a lovely garden, many colorful birds, frogs, locusts, fishes, lotuses flower on the lake and green rice fields extending to the foot of the mountain that is adorned with palm trees and many small forests. In the morning, my uncle and my grandparents brought us to visit his neighborhood and his achievements. He took his lovely classic Rolls Royce “cow carriage” to welcome me because he wanted me to remember them when I saw a cow carriage. My uncle always sings a song when he drives, and I was thrilled when he taught me how to drive the cow carriage. I didn’t expect that I could do it. It was really complicated to control the cows with a leash for the steering wheel and brake. I was so excited when I did it. Moreover, We have a picnic party at my grandparents’ farm that is close to their house. I help my grandfather roast chicken in a metal container by putting it into the ground and burning straw on it, and I also help my grandmother to grill sticky rice in bamboo and sticky rice in fragrant coconut. It was really fun and delicious with all that food; furthermore, I helped deliver the fresh fruit that my uncle picked in the farm, and we tasted them a lot. Then, I ran and played with my siblings and relatives, and I shared my knowledge that I know how to make locusts, birds and mats from coconut leaves. In the evening the weather was so good with the clear sky, and we had a fun time with the kites at my grandparents’s backyard, it was spacious and beautiful. My uncle taught me how to fly the kite “Kleng Ek Khmer ” that my grandfather made from bamboo and paper, he learned from his father. This kite is bigger than me, and it looks like a giant eagle with a long tail. This is the original kite in my country, and it has a voice when I fly it “ the more we flew higher, the more we heard.” It’s very impressive, I have never flown and seen a kite like this before. My siblings helped me hold the kite line because I did not have enough weight to hold it; we didn’t know that my uncle tied the kite line with a stick and stuck it to the ground for safety. It was really fun and memorable.

In the autumn there is a lot of rain; therefore, most of the rice fields are covered with water. People enjoy attending traditional festivals on the water, and 99 percent of the people in the villages are very good at swimming, including childrends. Boats are the most popular transportation in this season, and people have them the same as cars.My grandfather had a big engine boat that fit for us, and he gave life jackets to everyone who was not good at swimming, especially childrends. After we went to the pagoda to provide food and drinks to the monks and do some ceremony activities for dedicating to the relatives that were dead, we went to celebrate the traditional festival at the big lake “Tlat” that is 30 minutes from the pagoda. It has so many boats and kayaks from other villages around it, and it had a lot of men, women, young and old participating. People drew funny faces, and they sang and danced on the boat with funny actions. They had  big subwoofers, and they turned up the volume like a concert.They have fun with a lot of popular games in the water, such as some people race kayaks, boats, play ball, swimming and diving contests and other popular traditional games. Some people jump into other boats for fun, especially to sink women’s boats or men boats; they usually play with small boats and young people. However, they didn’t play with the engine boats who had children and old people. My boat is full of newcomers from the city; therefore, they didn’t play with us. I was so excited with all the activities because it was my first time. I love watching them, and I am proud of them for playing on the water just like ducks. It was a wonderful day with sunshine, and the weather was a little bit hot. We stayed here for a couple hours because my uncle had a wonderful place to surprise me. He drove the boat to another place which had so many water lily flowers covering the whole lake with a beautiful pink color. My mom and my uncle’s wife picked them to make traditional Cambodian food “Sour Soup”; however, I was interested in professional old school fishing with my uncle; I learned all his techniques. When I got a fish, I screamed and jumped on the boat. We stayed here for a couple hours fishing, and we got a lot of fish that are good with Lily sour soup. In the event that we were late for lunch time, but we weren’t hungry because we ate non-stop fruits and snacks on the boat. Then, my uncle drove the boat to another place that has shallow water with big three shades and the flooded Sesbanias three. It was a good view with Sesbania flowers covered full of yellow color; furthermore, it is good vegetables that everyone eats with Cambodian traditional food “Teuk Kreung.” We rested and had lunch there. Moreover, I jumped into the water and played with all my relatives and siblings. We were so happy and sprinkle water on each other. I learned to swim from my grandfather so I could come back and have fun with them next time, especially to have a strong confidence with water that can help someone as well as myself. We were so happy and never said we were tired when my grandfather asked.

Overall, It was a  wondrous time in my homeland that I will never forget, and it gave me so many real life experiences that I have never met. All these experiences, I have carried them until now, and I use them every time, especially fishing and swimming. When I go to visit my uncle in Cambodia, I always roast chicken in a metal container for him. He really likes it, and I still get a thumbs up with his smiling face. Furthermore, it has given me a good relationship with all my relatives. We always talk about these remarkable memories when we meet. We saw the pictures that we took were so funny, and everyone could not recognize themselves because of the sunburn, it looked like people from Africa. I miss that time and miss them, especially my grandparents who no longer live in this world.