The lack of Blog writing this week has been sown to yet another failure. I spent ages writing an update of my weekend and day on Monday, only for it not to save. So I have been building up the courage and working out new tactics since then, so here goes.....
I had a really nice weekend last weekend. The party of Friday night was a complete success. Everyone had a really good night, made better my the Michael Jackson Thriller tribute dance! (I got some great pictures of everyone dancing in our small bar)
There were a few of us travelling down to Bangkok on Saturday, which was nice and I managed to find a girl to share a hotel room with to make the night's stay cheaper. It was really good to have a change of scenary, some air conditioning, a hot shower and food that wasn't rice or noodles. We found a cafe where I had a cup of PG Tips and Marmite on Toast. Complete highlight of the weekend! (Lauren, I'm afraid I might be dragging you back in there when you arrive as it would have been another 2 weeks since my last cuppa!) Silly to think i've come all this way and I have tea and toast, but there are only so many days when you can have rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner before you get board.
I met up with Gemma and her boyfriend on the Saturday evening. The other girls went clubbing but I was happy just to sit chatting. We found a bar on Koh San Road that was showing Wimbledon, so we sat in there for a good few hours.
I negotiated my way safely back to The Twin House on Sunday evening. It felt like I was arriving home! But I returned to an empty room as Erin and Anna left on Saturday so it felt a bit strange and lonely. New people arrive every sunday though so I have managed to find others to latch on to and have spent the week floating in between groups of friends.
This week I have spent the week doing The Community Project. The current project is focusing on building a house close to one of the other volunteer houses. It was originally being built for the parents of one of the men that drives the volunteers to the orphanage. However, within a week of the project commencing, the mother died. Then 2 weeks later his father also died. So sad for him to lose both his parents so close together but I get the impression they were both elderly and perhaps the stress of the mothers death caused his fathers heart attack. They are continuing with the build anyway and the driver is going to live there instead.
So my first day began with plastering concrete onto the walls that had been built in order to seal them. The foreman spoke no English what-so-ever, apart from "ok!", so I was taught by the power of charades! There was a co-ordinator with me too, who could speak more English so she was able to translate some of the time.
I was the only volunteer on the project on Monday but was joined by two dutch girls on Tuesday, so then after just one day of plastering I had to teach them how to do it! It just completely baffled me that I- Miss "have never done any DIY in my life" Street - was plastering the walls of someone's actual house that they were actually going to live in. How could I be trusted to do a thing like that?! I got completely covered in cement (which Im sure Muzzy can believe after seeing me and the kitchen after i've baked a cake!) but I really enjoyed myself. Maybe I've discovered a new career path....
The Foreman said to Kong (the co-ordinator) that now I can go home and tell my parents what i've done and i won't have to pay for anyone to do my DIY any longer as i'd be able to do it myself! As you can imagine, I laughed 'till I cried at that thought! Can you imagine Dad letting me do that?!?
Wednesday brought new challenges; Wall Building. We built the walls for the bathroom and finished off one of the outer walls. Again, I was completely and utterly stunned that I would be trusted to build a wall, let alone a wall of a HOUSE!! Admittedly, the standard of building isn't as high over here as it is in the UK. My new mate, the foreman, just said "ok, ok" when i showed him a little bit of a wonky section. Apparently mistakes are covered with cement. What is it Grandad used to say..."the art of a true craftsman is being able to cover your mistakes", so that I did. Talking of Grandad, I have been thinking about him all week this week. I could just imagine him laughing his big chesty laugh at the thought of me building and playing with cement. I really wanted to phone and tell him...I'm sure he knows anyway.
I also have a new found understanding of Uncle Dez's dirty hands. I have had constant dirty hands and nails for a whole week. It's impossible to keep clean when you're just going back the next day to get dirty again, so I gave up. However, a trick of the trade out here is to use the juice from these fruits that look like limes, but aren't edible to clean the cement off of your skin at the end of the day. Works a treat and you can't get more organic than using the fruit straight from the tree!
We have had another relaxing weekend this weekend. Pool in Sing Buri yesterday for a few hours, although the weather hasn't been great this week; lots of rain and thunderstorms and cloudy most days. It was still nice to go for a dip though. Today I have just been at The Twin House. I have a new roommate, finally! It is a girl who I volunteered with for my first 2 weeks, Emily. She went off to do the Hilltribe project and is now back at the orphanage for another week. Im really pleased that I have got someone to chat to and that it's Emilt because we get on really well.
Tonight a few of us are going to a Thai Boxing fight in Sing Buri. One of the coaches that I met when I went to Thai boxing training is fighting, so we're going along to cheer him on. Im slightly worried that I won't like seeing him get hurt, but it'll be an experience (my new favourite saying!)
I'm going to go back to the orphanage tomorrow as it is my last week, which means it's only just over a week until Lauren arrives. I'm so excited!! More fun to come....
