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Published: November 26th 2007
On Sunday I went over to Thaitong/old camp to see Mr Tong as I'm trying to help his son Hor out with something, and to show Mon that I was wearing the bracelethe'd made me. I'd managed to take a clasp from a necklace that was broken and it works brilliantly. I spent some time chatting to Mr Tong using the usual combination of a little Thai, a little English, quite a bit of miming and a little (hmm, probably quite a lot if I'm honest) dictionary. We manage to understand each other most of the time! I still haven't managed to get his grandaughter to say a word to me or smile, she just looks at my white skin with fear and mistrust. Then I went over to Mon to show him the bracelet, I think he approved. I also went bearing gifts - well some mango with chilli sauce - but they all got called out to do a ride. So after sitting there by myself for a minute I felt like a bit of a lemon and went back to the studios. In the evening I went out with the volunteers for something to eat at Patrick Swayze's
restaurant....I should explain that.....I went when Louise and Paul were here and Louise is convinced that one of the waiters looks like Patrick Swayze - a rather camp Patrick Swayze! I can't see it myself but the place will always be called that now! We had a beautiful dinner, I had an amazing fish and, after my fishing expeditions with Mrs Noi I no longer freak out that it comes with it's head intact and is looking at me as I carve into it. When we got back to the studios I decided to do a bit of work on the computer as there was something I wanted to finish. I was woken up a few hours later by Arnon, slumped over the computer!!!!
This week at the elephant camp we've had people arriving and leaving at different times and eventually ended up with 4 volunteers for the week, with me, Ao and Arnon to look after them. The elephants working with volunteers were Cam Gow with Michelle, who is on her 2nd week, Su Da and Birdie with Tessa & Jodie who are here for a week and Sam Roi with Donna who was starting the first of two
weeks. On monday as we were walking around I was told that Kammoon, the pregnant elephnat, had 'escaped' from the forest overnight and had eventually been found near the temple near the top of the hill! After the initial training with the elephants I watched Nin making rings from the elephnats tail hair. I had a go myself but Diao pulled it apart again and took over! They also showed us a 'trick' with the rings that had been worn - I wear 2, one from Surichok who I worked with at Thaitong and one from Chan Dee - where they put the ring on a pen or something and it moves along the pen, or whatever - in this case a razor thing. I did it myself to make sure they weren't moving it and it worked. I didn't move at all and the ring slowly started moving along the handle of the razor. I'm sure there must be some element of trick - or are elephant hair rings magic??
On Tuesday after the 1st walk/ride around the forest with the elephants we went to a nearby school to help the children with their English. We've been trying to
set something up for a while and on Monday we'd called on the way back from camp just to have a look and the children were so excited to see us. The 'lesson' we did on Tuesday for 10 year olds was a bit of a shambles - we were shipped into each room and weren't really sure what we were doing, but we bungled through with a few renditions of 'head, shoulders, knees and toes' which disappointingly they already knew - probably from the age of about 3! After being in one class for about 30 minutes we were moved along to the next one. Good job too, we were getting to the stage of looking at each other going 'what next?'
On wednesday we went back again and this time were a little more organised as I took some cards with me that I've been using to learn Thai with fruit, colours and verbs on them. There were just 3 of us that went along so we worked in different groups then swapped cards every 20 minutes or so. The children are lovely, very polite and seem to really enjoy the interaction. I'm not sure that we're actually
teaching them anything but I'm sure it just helps them to practice.
We didn't stay at camp on Wednesday as Tessa and Jodie started at camp on Tuesday and so had only ridden their elephants once. We decided to stay over on Thursday night so that they would be more experienced and confident for riding to the forest to take the elephants to their overnight resting place. Jodie is working with the baby elephant Em and his mother Birdie. I'm so jealous!!! I have to try and get a video of Em when he walks around the camp, he swings his trunk around like a baton, just twirling it around and around. It's funny watching Jodie ride past too as all the other elephants are really stately and graceful but Birdie, being only a young un herself at 20, almost gallops past. I think Jodie's got used to it now - she may be working with the fastest elephant in the east! Em is attached to Birdie all the time - they stay together until the baby is 3 - and he runs around, under Birdie, around her......charging around like a baby elephant!!!
On Thursday morning Arnon rode up on
his motorbike and said lets go to the school again. Only problem was he hadn't asked the volunteers if they wanted to go. And they didn't. Understandably they wanted to stay and work with their elephants, especially as 3 of them had only just started and had already missed 2 mornings by going to the school. I think it was also a little of not knowing what we would do with the children if we kept going so often. Unfortunately Arnon seemed to hold me personally responsible for the volunteers not wanting to go. It took a while to realise this though. I went over to him after lunch to ask him a couple of things...and he just turned around and said 'I have nothing to say to you' ............ 3 days and counting and he still hasn't said anything to me! I'm guessing that he had promised the school that we would go again on Thursday, although I did tell the teacher that I would see her 'next week' and feels that he has lost face - not a good thing in Thailand, they are very proud - but I'm still struggling to see why it's my fault.
Staying
at camp on Thursday was good as always, although Arnons mood was a bit of a dampener - we hardly saw him for the rest of the day but knew he was sulking somewhere, and when we did see him he didn't speak to anyone. Going to the forest on Thursday night Nin, Duans mahout, was trying to get me to ride her (this is the elephant we can't approach - is he trying to tell me something?) I had to try and explain to him that I couldn't as I had to take photographs for the volunteers. Ao had gone back to the studios with Michelle and Arnon wasn't excatly being communicative. He tried again coming back from the lake on Friday morning, this time I had to try and explain that not only did I have to take photographs, I was also carrying shoes. We did make a deal though that I would ride her on Saturday as the volunteers would have already had their pictures taken at the forest. Got back and started to reply to some emails for bookings for the project - including a group of 15 students aged 16/17 years, I am SO looking
forward to that! - only to find that Arnon had changed the password to the email accounts and wouldn't tell me what it was.
We usually just do a 1/2 day on a Saturday but this week was the Loi Krathong festival to celebrate the end of the rainy season so we were staying at camp tonight to take part in the festival with the mahouts and their families at camp. The main part of the festival is that everyone floats a small round 'krathong' made of banana leaves and flowers and containing a lit candle and incense on water. You're supposed to put a small amount of money in the krathong for financial luck, along with a lock of your hair and a piece of your nail. The idea is that by floating the krathong you are letting go of problems and sins committed over the previous year and welcoming in good luck and fortune for the following year. It's a beautiful festival and after taking part last year in Bangkok amidst razzamatazz and with lots of people that I didn't know I was looking forward to taking part this year with the people from the camp in a
smaller group. As Michelle, Jodie and Tessa are ready to leave the project they had their closing Pa-Kam ceremony in the morning. More eating of pigshead! I don't think they all did, luckily it's not compulsory - except maybe for me - I did manage to find a quite edible peice (I NEVER thought I would ever write about finding an edible piece of pigshead!!) which I smothered in chilli sauce....which set my mouth on fire. The mahouts were also trying to get us to drink the whisky that's part of the ceremony. I don't think we had that much, but I also don't think we were walking in a straight line on the way to market for lunch!
We spent some time in the afternoon making krathongs with slices of banana tree and the leaves - they seemed to take so long to make but maybe that was just our/my western inadequacy! Luckily we had some professionally made standbys and after the volunteers had taken their elephants to the forest we set off for the lake. I was supposed to be riding Duan to the forest, and was really looking forward to it, but Nin left without me. Boy
Bua the ladyboy cat
causing an obstruction as we were ready to leave did I give him a hard time when he got back! Still it did mean that I got to have a shower in daylight.
Once the volunteers were back we walked down to the lake, lit our candles and incense, and floated our krathongs on the water. They looked beautiful. On the way back we did an impromptu, or so it seemed, stop off at someones house that was playing music. I'm not sure if anyone actually knew the occupiers but we had a bit of a dance with them anyway. Then back to the camp to continue the celebration! Unfortunately Arnons mood was no better.
On Sunday morning Tessa managed to make it to collect Su Da from the forest, unlike her mahout Tia who had probably celebrated too much. Again I was offered a ride on Duan, but this time I had to turn it down because I didn't want to leave Tessa on her own at the lake waiting for him. We headed back to the studios after breakfast (I say after breakfast but we'd eaten all the bread the night before - beer munchies) and the volunteers set off for the beach. I've ended up spending
the whole day at the computer sorting out photographs and doing bits of work. I've just tried to talk to Arnon as I can't stand the atmosphere anymore. Not very successful so I'm going to try again. Wish me luck!
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