Week 4!

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So here is what ive been up to in my last week at the Panda Centre...!

Sunday 21st March: (Still in Chengdu!)

I hadnt slept very well on Saturday night because i was stressing about the news of the Fiji cyclone Tomas and the beds in the hostel bascially didnt have a matress to lye on! We got up at 9am and had a free ''english'' breakfast in the hostel - scrambled egg, 2 slices of toast and jam/marmalade! It was nice not to have a chinese breakfast of either noodles or yet more rice for once! After breakfast, the two Helens, two Canadian guys we met at the hostel and I went to the ''People's Park'' in the centre of Chengdu. It is a large segregated piece of parkland in the middle of the busy city. There were lots of different areas to the park including a childrens ride area, Tai Chi/dance practice area, bonsai tree area, a kareoke area (chinese singers dont seem to be the most tunefull!) and a huge lake that you could go boating on 😊 ! Helen and i decided to go on the (childrens!) mono-rail ride which was quite fun and you could choose between 5different music tracks to listen to on the way round! We headed back to the hostel at about 2pm and after saying a tearful goodbye to Mel and Andy, Teddy and I caught the bus back to Ya'an/Bifengxia panda base after having to wait several hours in each place!! I wasnt too happy by this point as i was sad to say goodbye to Mel and Andy, was tired because i hadnt slept, was worrying about the Fiji cyclone and was feeling homesick! By the time we got back to the hostel we had missed dinner and so the owner to the hostel quickly cooked up a bowl of egg-fried rice each which i was very pleased to get inside me! Teddy and I then went and introduced ourselves to two new volunteers who had arrived at the weekend whilst we had been in Chengdu. Rachel, 28 from Kent and Lily from Japan seemed very friendly and happy to see us because we could explain to them how everything at the centre works and explain all the little things (like how the shower works) that they hadnt been told when they arrived! After this i went to bed and luckily slept a lot better than the night before!


Monday 22nd March:

I woke up feeling a lot more positive about everything and i wrote a list of ''things to do'' and decided to try and tick them all off within the next fews days just so my head was a bit more organised! Work in the morning was the usual routine b ut i met the new femal panda Chiang Ka that had been swopped at the weekend for our male panda xi Meng. He was taken so he could breed with other females at the centre and she was brought to us because she had just been mated (and artifically inseminated afterwards to try and guarentee a pregancy) and she needed somewhere to stay before her scan in a few months time to see if shs is actually pregnant! When i wasnt working i spent a lot of time in the office trying to sort out hostels and tours in Beijing (as i will be staying there from next Monday to Thursday after i have left the panda base)! At dinner, we met a Danish couple who were volunteering for a few days . They had lived in Notting Hill for the last few years and spoke very good english which was handy as none of us knew any Danish! During the meal, i got a phonecall from Sophia explaining that from Tuesday onwards i would be sharing my room with a volunteer she would be bringing to the panda base the follwing day. Although i hadn't had to share my room since i had been here and i had spread all my belongings out (and therefore needed to squish them back into half of the room!) i was actually quite happy to share my room because it meant there would always be someone to talk to and get to know - not that i had been lonely before! Whilst i was tidying my room i realised my Ipod speakers weren't working properly so Teddy came in and fixed them for me - he loves gadgets and has screwdrivers etc with him at all times so he is pretty handy to have around! They now work perfectly! 😊


Tuesday 23rd March:

Today, 3 new volunteers arrived with Sophia...Ellen, Anne and Jesse. I am sharing a room with Ellen from now on which should be good fun 😊 . It is really good to have more volunteers around the place because everyone did seem to be leaving and the more volunteers there are the more food we get 😊 ! Work today was as usual but in the afternoon my keeper wanted to watch the panda YoYo's behaviour to see whether she has a different way to eating bamboo than other pandas or if she has different ways to wat different species of bamboo - for example leafy and non-leafy! Some pandas prefer to chew with one side of their mouth rather than the other or strip the bamboo with one side but munch with the other and they can also be left/right-handed! We stood for about an hour watching her munch away and decided that she doesnt have a preference to which side of her mouth to eat with or a paw she prefers to hold the bamboo with and she eats both leafy and 'bald' bamboo in the same way... it all just gets shoved in as quickly as possible!! After work, all the volunteers went to watch a danish couple washing the young pandas on old leopard mountain which was lovely...they made lots of little squeaky noises and only sit still if you give them something to eat and concentrate on! Although the couple tried quite hard, they didnt seem to get too clean but it did look like a great experience! In the evening all the new (and 'old') volunteers met in my room to get to know each other over some lychee wine and sprite and i told them all about my experiences so far and what they should except from staying here!


Wednesday 24th March:

This morning there was no running water which is annoying to say the least and cant have been a nice introduction to life at the hostel for the new volunteers! After breakfast, we said goodbye to Teddy and Jorgen who where both leaving the project and going to Chengdu. Again, this afternoons work was quite interesting becuase i got to watch a training session where the keepers were practicing injecting the pandas. The basic training is done in the same way and the panda is encouraged to sit/lye down/hold onto the bars in order to recieve a treat but at the same time there was another keeper pushing a needle into the pandas arm/thigh/body like he was giving it an injection or taking blood. This is done so that if in the future the panda does need treatment or a blood sample needs to be taken, that it is used to getting into the correct positions and the feeling of the needle going in! Like humans, some were a lot less happy to be jabbed than others! After this, all of us went to ShangLi ancient village again as i had recomended it and could show them around. I bought some gifts for my keeper and Sophia to say thank you and also made them cards when we got back! We also bought lots of food and drink for my leaving party on Friday night. 😊


Thursday 25th March:

Today i woke up with a very sore throat and had completely lost my voice! I sounded bad but i didnt actually feel too bad which was good 😊 Work was as normal in the morning but during working/lunch and afternoon breaks i started to gradually feel worse and worse and ended up in bed during the afternoon becuase i felt physically exhausted! The others went on the waterfall walk i had gone on a few weeks before and had recommended to them which they seemed to enjoy! The rest of the day was spent in bed and trying to get better and stay warm because i really didnt want to miss out on anything on my last day (the next day)!


Friday 26th March:

I woke up feeling very sorry for myself but was determined not to miss a minute with my beautiful black and white friends so i got on with everything as usual! Everyone but Jesse and myself went to Leshan to see the giant buddha so it was very quiet with just the two of us all day! As it was my last day i did as much as i possibly could and cleaned the enclosures extra hard, fed them as much as i could and took lots of pictures and films of the pandas i work with but also the babies in the kindergarden 😊 . I said thank you and goodbye to my keeper after the last feeding (he had been great all project and taught me SO much) and then i went to hand in my volunteer pass card and uniform 😞 . It was very sad to know that i wouldnt be back again any time soon but it was an amazing experience and i loved every minute working with the pandas. I am very positive about the work they are doing at the centre and for the future of the panda in general which is great and id love to come back in the future and see the changes and progressions in the conservation for them all here 😊 . The panda centre gave me a certificate and badge for volunteering for them which was lovely too. Unfortunately, after all the goodbyes Jesse and I went to dinner and were very disappointed as we had COLD chips, plain rice and some spicy meat... we went back to my room and ate party food for dinner instead! Earlier on in the day my shower had been sparking so i used Jesse's and then we both ended up reading magazines lying in bed (to keep warm) waiting for the others to get back from Leshan so we could start the party! They didnt arrive back until nearer 10.30pm and by this time i was feeling quite unwell again so i went to bed and they partied in another room! Although it would have been nice to be at my own leaving party, i wasnt too upset becuase i knew i had to go the Chengdu the next day and try to get better as soon as possible!


Saturday 27th March:

I was up at 6.30am to finish packing before leaving the centre and travelling to Chengdu with Ellen (who was also leaving). We were hurried along by one of the staff that was driving us to the bus station so after a quick and tearfull goodbye we were in the minibus and on our way. Once at the bus station we swopped onto a coach to take us to Chengdu. Unfortunately, on the way i had a panic attack due to stress thinking about all the things i had to do now id left the centre and how organised i needed to be to find my way around Beijing on my own and fly to Fiji in a few days time etc... it all got a bit much but thankfully Ellen was there to calm me down and remind me to breath and once back at the hostel in Chengdu and reunited with Helen and Helen (and a lovely surprise of Mel and Andy too!) i felt a lot better and it didnt seem so scary any more! Mel and Andy had decided to stay on in Chengdu for another week as last time our 'party night out' didnt quite happen (i found out about the cyclone in Fiji that night and wasnt really in the party mood!) and they were determined to put it right! I washed my clothes, had a nap and then we all got dressed up and went out to a lovely Italian restaurant and we all gorged ourselves silly (we were all so happy not to be eating rice and noodles for once!) and then we went to a bar afterwards until the early hours (4amish)! It was a great night and it was so nice to be back with them all again! :D

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