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