My last full week

This week has been my last full week of work here in Thailand! I can’t believe how fast three months has gone. Although it feels like ages ago since I first arrived, the time has flown by and it’s a strange thought to think that this time next week I’ll have been back at Carrubbers! This year I haven’t been counting/worrying about the lack of time I have left, I’ve just been really enjoying it. I think that’s mainly because this year I am looking forward to being back in Edinburgh and excited for the coming year whereas last time I really really didn’t want to come home.

I have had a lovely week. We did two volunteer organised activities this week and two trips too. I have tried to do at least one trip a week since being here. On Wednesday we organised messy play! It is so much fun, I think us volunteers and staff had as much fun as the staff. I was so tempted to completely soak Alex, but he got away with just a bit of tapioca starch down his back and a spray with the hose. So, of course, we were super organised with planning and went shopping for the stuff we needed on Tuesday night! We bought baked beans, tapioca starch, two different sizes of tapioca balls, some shaving foam, iced jelly and then we had spray can ribbon stuff. We didn’t have time to cook it that night though so we went into work armed with all our ingredients hoping to be able to cook it after we’d had lunch. But there was no plug for the electric boiler they had so we had to go hunting for one. Eventually the staff found one and we then got on with pretending we knew how to cook the tapioca balls. Basically they start off really hard and dusty and then you boil them and they become soft and incredibly gooey!! The kids had woken up form their nap and so were very interested in what we were doing. We coloured them all bright colours with food colouring too.

Looking like we know how to cook tapioca balls ;)

End product of the large tapioca balls...a big plate of very gooey mess

The children waiting (amazingly) patiently for messy play to stary. All credit has to go to P'Bim for this though!!

We had a great fun afternoon of getting very wet and messy with the children. It’s a good afternoon activity because we get four older, more difficult to manage children, but who are all quite happy to mess around with water and everything else we had.

 

Great fun!

Lotus with tapioca hair.

 

Me, Alex, Kara and P’Nan took Sua, Tee and Biw on a trip to soft play and then for food afterwards. It was great fun. The three of them really really enjoyed soft play. We got lots of smiles and laughs from all three of them and Tee didn’t cry or moan which was amazing! He clearly just loves going out of the orphanage and loves the one on one attention that he gets on trips. We had P’Nan with us and she very kindly took us in her car which was great.

The gorgeous Tee looking happy.

Sua enjoying the balloons

Biw and Sua got playing with two girls. Biw started it by doing his usual chucking balls/everything at them. It was great to be able to let him enjoy throwing them without having to tidy them up afterwards. It is really lovely when we see interaction between our kids and other children.

Tee loving his food

Sua enjoying his too, but he was soon fed up and went for walks pushing the buggies. But he enjoed himself which is the main thing.

 

Thursday was a normal day at work but afterwards eight of the volunteers from Sirin house (where we live) came and helped us take six children on a trip to get food and ice cream. So there were a lot of volunteers. We were able to take out two children who don’t normally get out, Gob and Nielle. I knew them from two years ago, but only one of them is now a CCD child and she doesn’t come all that often. So it was great to be able to take them out. Gob loved his fish nuggets and chips and ice cream. He is a very bright boy, more than able to communicate what he wanted or didn’t want. It was fantastic to see him changed from on the ward being a solemn faced child to him having this beautiful smile! We were pretty tired after that but Alex and I come back and got some photos printed and made a board of photos for the staff and children at work.

 

Our photo board

 

Just as we were clearing it all away I heard something rattling at the back door and turned round to see a massive lizard/gecko climbing up the inside of the mosquito netting. It then crawled along the wall to the kitchen cupboards. We tried to do something with it ourselves but we were all pretty terrified so we took a picture and went to the security guard at the end of the road. But he sent us three high/drunk Thai men from the end of our road to our house. They stank! They went around banging cupboards but couldn’t find it. But it made another appearance at about 11.30! We still don’t know where it is.

Our giant gecko!!

The random Thai men who came to try and get rid of it!

 

Friday was such a lovely day. We had planned an activity for the morning. Three boys from Rachawadee boys came and joined us for some epic music therapy. Alex and I had to get up and do some random actions and then do one last song for them. Then we played pass the parcel with a parcel and baby powder as the forfeit. Then we got out face paints, balloons and bubbles. The children had a great time. They particularly enjoyed the bubbles. We had almost all our children out in the morning so it was very busy but such fun! And it took up the whole morning which was great. It was Alex, Kara and I’s leaving do in the afternoon.

Alex and I doing a song with Art helping with the actions

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Biw got theforfeit of powder!

The legend that is P'O doing music!!




 

I think  for the first time it was held at Fuang Fah. So we were sent away for lunch and came back to the daycentre having been decorated with loads of bunting, balloons and it looked so lovely! It made me emotional as I cycled up and saw how much effort they had gone to to make it really special for us. The children were all sitting in front of the TV. Lay was particularly excited by it all. Then the Rachawadee girls volunteers arrived with some girls and the volunteer co-ordinator arrived and then we got under way. We watched a dvd of pictures of our time here and then were given a picture of us with one of the children.



Facepainting

Our leaving 'party'

All getting a bit emotional and Jew gave me a funny look.

Big group photo

The three of us were surprised with the photos we got because we had had a ‘photo session’ on Tuesday and had expected those photos but they weren’t the ones. It hadn’t felt real until this afternoon that I would be saying bye to the kids very soon. I think because I am looking forward to Edinburgh again I have been  focussing on that positive. So it took me by surprise when I go upset as they were giving us the pictures. And then afterwards as we were giving the children snack I was just thinking how hard it really is going to be saying bye to the children and staff on Tuesday. I love them all too much. And not knowing when I will be back is difficult. So it turned into a pretty emotional afternoon. But it was Alex and Kara’s last day and I think it was more than a little bit tough for them both. So we went to cheer ourselves and Emma up with a yummy ice cream. So I have Monday and Tuesday morning at work before I fly out at midnight on Tuesday. I am planning on going to the other orphanage to say goodbye to Solasak and Fah on Monday so you could pray that I won’t find that too hard, and again for the goodbyes I will be doing on Tuesday.

I might try and do a short blog on Tuesday afternoon if I am organised enough. We’ll see. So I’ll see a lot of you soon.