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Published: June 14th 2006
So, last you heard we were sitting in the rain in India, no job, no home, no prospects. So we decided sod it, we’d go to Thailand. Bit more sun, bit more relaxed, hopefully a few more job opportunities for me. A week later, following a brief sojourn in Pondicherry where we consumed beautiful french food and wine and got groped by horrible indian men, and here we are in the Land of Smiles! We spent a couple of days lounging on the beach in Kata, Phuket, which isn’t hugely interesting culturally but provided a welcome respite from our previous woes - we worked on our tans, watched the sun set, guzzled cheap drinks, ate steaks (enforced Hinduism has a remarkable way of turning you into a voracious beef-eater) and generally chilled the hell out. Badly needed. I also experimented with Thai massage - significantly more pleasant than ayurvedic, involving the kneading of the body like it was dough and the gentle stretching of limbs, back etc into quasi-yoga postures. Very very nice.
And then it was time to get down to work. I've found a job with the Tsunami Volunteer Centre who are based in Khao Lak, about an
hour and a half north of Phuket in the Phang Nga province. This is the area of Thailand which was worst hit by the tsunami - over 78%!o(MISSING)f the deaths in Thailand occurred here (about 6,000 people, both Thai and
farang -foreigners). In our little town and those next to us, every single building on the coast was destroyed, and the waves reached up to a kilometer inland, bringing total devastation to the meagre cottages and fishing boats which previously dotted the shoreline. The TVC run a number of different projects in this region such as education programmes, housing construction, furniture and boat building, small business development and vocational training. I’m going to be spending four days a week working on a marketing and promotion campaign to try to increase volunteer numbers - as time has passed, media attention has moved on from the tsunami, and the number of people applying to volunteer has been dropping, but the projects still need help. So if any of you out there fancy spending a couple of weeks in Thailand, working on a building site getting a tan, or learning how to make Thaikea furniture (thai-ikea, geddit? yeah, hilarious, eh?), or doing
A very happy Elephant
(we haven't met any real ones... yet)fun educational workshops with kids, gimme a shout! I’m also going to be spending a day each week on the building site, which will be quite a novel experience for me - not sure how construction work will mix with my penchant for manicures, but I hope to find myself adaptable. Thankfully the weather’s way better here than in India, there’s generally an hour or two of rain per day and the rest of the time it’s hot and dry. Dave and I have a little bungalow which is a nice cheap home, and the other volunteers here are great craic, there have been a few sessions already - our local is called the Lazy House, which is just my cup of cha.
Can’t write too much now cos I’m meant to be working, but wanted to keep you up to speed on where the hell we were. Thanks to everyone who sent messages of support when I had my minor existential breakdown 10 days ago - all’s well that ends well. xxx
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Katherine
non-member comment
Hi Clare
Howya Clare, I love yer blog, keep them coming...who's this Dave character?