Sorry it's been a while!! I've recently taken up aerobics with some of the other volunteers which happens in our local park at 5pm every eve, making it very difficult to come on the internet! We've all decided that constantly eating rice with no exercise is not going down very well, so we're attempting to lose some of the weight we're all putting on! I even went for a run yesterday before aerobics, those of you who know how awful I am at running will realise what a big deal that is!!
So the last few weeks have been pretty good. The new volunteers have arrived so there's a nice big group of us again, and everyone is getting on really well. The only down side is that this month everyone has been split up into small groups and go to separate locations for volunteering, meaning we don't get to see them much unless it's in the evenings. Myself and Sarah have been joined by a nurse called Alison in the clinic and she's great, but we no longer have Ake (pronounced Egg) our favourite translator so it's not quite as fun!
At the clinic we get to go and see patients in their own homes as well as those who come into the clinic for treatment, and it's mainly adults with strokes or RTAs (Road Traffic Accidents). Although, yesterday we saw a 3 year old blind boy for the second time who is completely uninterested in anything and therefore is severely delayed in his development. We managed to discover that he enjoys being tickled, so we spent over an hour playing with him and tickling him to get his muscles working, and his Mum was so happy with his progress she said she'd never seen him that happy and well before!! It was so awesome to actually see how much she appreciated our help and how well the kid is improving!!
Last weekend Sarah and I went to stay in Ake's house in a village about an hour away, so we could experience real Thai life. His Mum was so welcoming and so happy to see us, she'd told the whole village we were coming! So throughout the weekend we had locals turning up at their door to have a look at the "farangs", I've never heard that word said before so many times, literally every person we saw on the street was asking Ake why he had 2 farangs with him! His grandma was also so excited about seeing us, she had walked halfway down the street (she couldn't get the whole way as she can't walk more than about 3m at a time without needing a 5-10 minute rest) and was sitting there waiting for us to arrive. We had a huge feast the first night, with all the family round to meet us, and they gave us a welcoming ceremony wishing us good luck like we had previously at the school party. Several of the aunts were also asking us if we would marry their sons as we are apparently "beautiful"!!
The next day we went and spent the morning in one of the family's rice fields, helping to cut the rice. Sarah hadn't brought any long trousers with her so had to borrow some of Ake's dad's, and we were both given long tops and a towel and hat to put over our heads to protect us from the sun, we looked ridiculously funny (photos will follow when I can upload them)!! Several of the Thais found it hilarious to see 2 farangs dressed like Thais attempting to cut rice, although apparently we were pretty good at it! We then got to explore the village a bit more, and found a beautiful lake where we watched the sunset. In the evening his Mum gave us traditional Thai skirts to wear to dinner at his Aunt's house, again with the whole family, and they were all telling us to stay longer, and make sure we go and visit them again soon. They were all so lovely, we've adopted his Mum as our Thai Mum for whenever we're over here!
This weekend is the famous elephant festival in Surin which we're going to, and we're all part of a huge parade which takes place tomorrow. Apparently it's going to be aired on Sky TV (no idea which channel!) but we all had fittings for traditional Thai outfits today, and will be walking 10km in a parade for everyone to watch us. We even have to get up at 7am tomorrow morning to go and get our hair and make-up done professionally! So if anyone has something like Sky World News, it's possible I may be on there dressed as a Thai! We're all really excited about that.
The festival goes on all weekend so we'll be spending most of our time with elephants this weekend. We've even seen quite a few more farangs in Surin who have travelled here just for the festival so it's a huge event. I'll try and get on the net sometime next week to update you all with photos from last weekend and the festival.
Much Love xxxxxxx
So the last few weeks have been pretty good. The new volunteers have arrived so there's a nice big group of us again, and everyone is getting on really well. The only down side is that this month everyone has been split up into small groups and go to separate locations for volunteering, meaning we don't get to see them much unless it's in the evenings. Myself and Sarah have been joined by a nurse called Alison in the clinic and she's great, but we no longer have Ake (pronounced Egg) our favourite translator so it's not quite as fun!
At the clinic we get to go and see patients in their own homes as well as those who come into the clinic for treatment, and it's mainly adults with strokes or RTAs (Road Traffic Accidents). Although, yesterday we saw a 3 year old blind boy for the second time who is completely uninterested in anything and therefore is severely delayed in his development. We managed to discover that he enjoys being tickled, so we spent over an hour playing with him and tickling him to get his muscles working, and his Mum was so happy with his progress she said she'd never seen him that happy and well before!! It was so awesome to actually see how much she appreciated our help and how well the kid is improving!!
Last weekend Sarah and I went to stay in Ake's house in a village about an hour away, so we could experience real Thai life. His Mum was so welcoming and so happy to see us, she'd told the whole village we were coming! So throughout the weekend we had locals turning up at their door to have a look at the "farangs", I've never heard that word said before so many times, literally every person we saw on the street was asking Ake why he had 2 farangs with him! His grandma was also so excited about seeing us, she had walked halfway down the street (she couldn't get the whole way as she can't walk more than about 3m at a time without needing a 5-10 minute rest) and was sitting there waiting for us to arrive. We had a huge feast the first night, with all the family round to meet us, and they gave us a welcoming ceremony wishing us good luck like we had previously at the school party. Several of the aunts were also asking us if we would marry their sons as we are apparently "beautiful"!!
The next day we went and spent the morning in one of the family's rice fields, helping to cut the rice. Sarah hadn't brought any long trousers with her so had to borrow some of Ake's dad's, and we were both given long tops and a towel and hat to put over our heads to protect us from the sun, we looked ridiculously funny (photos will follow when I can upload them)!! Several of the Thais found it hilarious to see 2 farangs dressed like Thais attempting to cut rice, although apparently we were pretty good at it! We then got to explore the village a bit more, and found a beautiful lake where we watched the sunset. In the evening his Mum gave us traditional Thai skirts to wear to dinner at his Aunt's house, again with the whole family, and they were all telling us to stay longer, and make sure we go and visit them again soon. They were all so lovely, we've adopted his Mum as our Thai Mum for whenever we're over here!This weekend is the famous elephant festival in Surin which we're going to, and we're all part of a huge parade which takes place tomorrow. Apparently it's going to be aired on Sky TV (no idea which channel!) but we all had fittings for traditional Thai outfits today, and will be walking 10km in a parade for everyone to watch us. We even have to get up at 7am tomorrow morning to go and get our hair and make-up done professionally! So if anyone has something like Sky World News, it's possible I may be on there dressed as a Thai! We're all really excited about that.
The festival goes on all weekend so we'll be spending most of our time with elephants this weekend. We've even seen quite a few more farangs in Surin who have travelled here just for the festival so it's a huge event. I'll try and get on the net sometime next week to update you all with photos from last weekend and the festival.
Much Love xxxxxxx
Wow Anna, it sounds like you are having such an incredible time and experiencing some amazing things! From now on we shall expect a monthly rice harvest. Much love, Emma x
ReplyDeleteHi there Anna. Have just been talking to your Mum and so glad you having such a brilliant time. What amazing experiences you are having - very jealous. Lovely to look at your pictures.
ReplyDeleteAll OK here, lots of love from us
Di and Graham xx