Spirit houses

In many countries in Asia people believe that there are spirits everywhere. If the spirits like you they are kind to you. If you upset the spirits they may cause bad things to happen to you.

When people build a house, they do not want the spirits to live with them so they build a little house just for the spirits. If the spirits are happy in their little house they do not come into the people's house. To make sure that the spirits are happy people often bring food and leave it for them to eat. And they burn incense so that it smells nice for the spirits. Usually when they come back home the food is still there.

The spirit house you see in the picture belongs to my neighbours, Uan's family. They often leave fruit and vegetables for the spirits when they go to work.

One day I saw the monkey on their verandah. It was eating a banana. 'Where did she get that banana?' I wondered. 'Did someone give it to her?' But there was no one home.

Another day it was carrying a sweet potato up to the roof and once again I wondered where it had got it.

Then I realized—the monkey thinks the food in the spirit house is for it. When the family come home they see that the food is gone and they think the spirits have eaten it. They don't see the monkey because they are out at work or school.

Maybe that is a very clever monkey and it goes to spirit houses in many homes in the village. Perhaps that is why it is a little bit fat.

I hope the spirits don't mind.

love from Grandpa

Visitor

There is a kid who lives next to my house who is about two or three. His name is Uan. His big sister has taught him to say 'hello' in English. So, often when I am on my verandah I hear Uan's voice calling 'hello'.

I say, 'Hello Uan,' and then I talk to him a little bit in Khmer.

Sometimes when I am in the yard I hear a voice call 'hello'. It sounds like Uan but somehow it sounds a little different. I can't see him because I have a high brick fence. I wonder if he can hear me because he can't see me either.

A few days ago I could hear this voice and I thought, 'That doesn't really sound like Uan.' I took a good look and there on the roof of Uan's house was this monkey.

And yes, this monkey really was calling 'hello'. I answered it but it didn't say anything else, just 'hello'. I've never heard of a monkey that could talk before but this one really was making a noise that sounds just like 'hello'.

When I got my camera out and pointed it at the monkey it didn't seem to like it. Do you remember my camera has a long lens? Maybe it thought it was a gun. I don't know if it knows what a gun is.

For a long time I couldn't get a picture. Whenever I pointed the camera it would go away.

After a while it must have decided that the camera was safe and it came back and sat on the roof. So I got some photos. Later it came down onto the verandah rail. There was no one home at Uan's house so I guess it wasn't afraid.

I took many photos. Then I had some things to do so I set about doing my work. After a while I heard my dog, Dingo, barking. The monkey was on my fence. I could get fairly close to it but I had put the camera away inside so I couldn't take any more photos.

I got Dingo to protect me in case someone bad came into my yard. I was thinking maybe of a big person. But here was this monkey, much smaller than a kid, and it climbed down into my yard. Do you think Dingo would chase it away? No, Dingo was afraid and ran to me to protect her. So much for my guard dog.

But it didn't matter, the monkey climbed the fence again and then went off into a tree in Uan's yard.

I think the monkey is a girl. Do you think her hairstyle looks cool?

Maybe she'll come to visit me again.

love from your Granddad

Gecko battle

Hello

The geckos can climb on my wall because they have sticky feet. One night I saw three geckos high up on the wall. Two of them were biting each others mouths. I thought they might be kissing. But one grabbed the other by the neck and would not let go. The one that was bitten kept wriggling around but couldn't get away. I thought perhaps one would kill the other and the dead gecko would drop onto my pots and pans below. They stayed like this for a long time. After I took some photos I went away and when I came back they were gone. There was no dead gecko in my pots and pans. I guess it's still alive. Maybe it still has a sore neck.

love from Grandpa John