Thai Lesson

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Today I was with the baby early again and he was hardly eating or drinking anything. The milk is going straight through him, he can hardly be absorbing a thing. He was lethargic and much more clingy that usual, pushing to lean against me and hanging his trunk concerningly limply. It was a horror to see. I left feeling considerable drained and deflated. That day during my chores, I was noticeably sleep deprived, mixing up the names for fruit and struggling to form whole sentences. I’d definitely left my heart and mind back with the baby. The vets came to see him today and have decided that he is able to have more independence now he is more settled emotionally and that their primary concern in the number of people coming in and out. Therefore, all volunteers have been cut from his care. To be excluded, having become so attached and invested, was hard to accept. However, we were all agreed that as he gets weaker, continuity of care is essential and the girls, now living in with him, have the most experience. I was in and out that day, taking laundry and filling water for the wonderful women in with him, who can’t ever easily leave. I spent the afternoon manually moving manure to the dog rescue shelter so that they can grow grass and treed for shade in their massive enclosures.

This afternoon, our guides spoilt us and took us tubing for working hard and that gives you the best view from the centre of the river, up into the mountains.

That evening we had a thai culture lesson and enjoyed learning a few phrases. In Thai, tone indicates a specific word - not an emotion, so each word has five tones with five corresponding meanings. The closest understanding I could grasp is that it’s almost like a scale for each word. So if you pronounce a word incorrectly you could say tiger instead of man. It was a lot of fun and we got a Buddhism lesson from out guides who are absolutely hilarious. They all drink but pretend they don’t and we all just tease each other constantly, it’s such a great interaction. I’ve got to know so many amazing girls from America who are all 15, it has amazed me how much I’ve related to them, would love to visit them in the States. They make me laugh so much but by half eight, even their company couldn’t keep exhaustion from taking over; this will be my fist full night’s sleep since I got here.



Sleep come soon, from Katie

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