Skipping School – Day 59 April 4

Skipping School – Day 59 April 4

I suppose everybody has a conscience.  An internal audit of things they should do (individually or severally) linked to a mechanism for discomfort if they aren’t carried through.  Something like that.

Well Jo and Taran and I had a bit of a struggle with ours on the evening of our planned departure from Koh Kood.

Here’s the text I sent to Juan (who has visa problems that have forced him to leave the country twice and re-enter).

“Hello Juan in Cambodia (or is it Thailand or Vietnam!) Sorry to hear devilish complications around your passport and visas. We are loving Thailand and want to stay until Sunday. We don’t want to upset Sova though and he is expecting us on Friday. It is a long way to come for just three lessons and then a weekend that we would love to spend here. We can do the other work and networking he wanted just as well from here and over next week. Can we talk this through tonight? You know him best. Do you think Sova will be upset?”

Kelty Caston

By the time I had my conversation with Juan, and later Sova, Jo and  I had extended our room hire and provisionally booked the next day diving so it was all about the discomfort side of the equation.  Just wanting permission to feel better.  Which was duly granted.  Slightly shoddy to ask really.  But a useful chance anyway to go over the work we are going to do with them.

It is often Taran who is the loudest voice of duty in our group.  Our group conscience. But of course he doesn’t actually have to enact, pay for or nuance the upright choices.  “Dad have you tipped her?”. “Did you turn off the bathroom light?” “ How many beers have you had?” “Stop! We should pick up that plastic bag” and “We haven’t actually been that much help in the school have we?” It is’nt just lip service either.  He needs to be taken through the whole discussion for it to be alright or “I cant enjoy diving if I think we have let down Sova!” 

He is keeping us honest.  I like to think we would be anyway but he is definitely a vote holder who reads the manifesto carefully.

It is such a lovely Island!

We rode our motorbikes 15km to the far end and got caught in a rainstorm.  We sheltered under a pagoda and played Exploding Kittens. Jo went out early.  I won in a dramatic last card show down with Taran.  

 

Then we walked around a very picturesque fishing village.  Got back and went for a sunset snorkel swim off our local beach.

Conscience more or less clear.