Day 9

Today’s Tuesday! Waffles are served on Tuesdays =) I missed it last week and I didn’t want to miss this week’s. I didn’t have a problem waking up because Baumi woke me up at 6:00. He jumped off the bed and I went to open the door for him. He used to lick Melita’s face to tell her he wanted to be let out. I didn’t want him to lick my face!

I forgot to charge my camera last night so I did that before I jumped back into bed. I wasn’t tired so I just lay in bed and pet Duke until I had to go.

I left him in bed and got to breakfast at 7:05. There were no waffles. They offered banana fritters and that was pretty good. Ninja, Baumi and Maddy followed me around so I fed them some bread. I found Tiffany and Jesse and I sat with them for breakfast.

I went back to the room to check on Mabel to make sure she would get some breakfast. She was already up and almost ready to go. She went to get breakfast but I stayed behind to wait for the battery to charge longer.

I left at 8:15 but I was still able to do morning exercises with the other volunteers because they were running late. Then I went to the feeding platform to meet up with Lisa and Matt.

After going to the medical centre to check in, Lisa and I went to the Kitchen to pick up a basket of food for the elephants. It was so heavy! I’m such a weakling haha.

The first thing they showed me was how to treat Ratree’s wounds. We used a syringe to soak the wounds in iodine. Then we used gauze or tweezers and scissors to pick off the scabs. If the scab was too fresh, we would leave it alone. Next was a saline spray (though we often had to use a syringe because the spray was temperamental). We had to dry the area with gauze and then put on a yellow cream on the hurt area. I learned a lot. Both Doctor Pack and Lisa were very good at explaining things to me. Their teaching provoked me to ask more questions, and in turn, learn more.

A big pot of sticky rice arrived with 4 students from Charles Sturt University. We made rice balls to feed Kham Meun. Each was the size of a softball. It was a slow going process. The rice was freshly made, so it was very hot. We could only scrape the top layer to make rice balls. The rest was too hot for our fingers, and also too hot for Kham Meun’s mouth.

When he had enough, we began to treat his wounds as well. Doctor Pack and Lisa handled all of these ones. We held the containers for iodine, refilled syringes, gave them gauze, tweezers and scissors. Sue feed him green bananas because he had a diarrehea problem.

After Kham Meun was done, two girls went to get the treatment basket of food from Michelle at the kitchen. Some people helped to feed other elephants while they were treated. I went back to making rice balls. Ratree was to get the rest of them.

I thought it was so exciting to be making rice balls and feeding them to elephants. Who would have thought that I’d be doing this as part of my volunteer duties? I didn’t know elephants ate rice, let alone a common Japanese dish. I was feeding elephant onigiri (it just means rice ball) in Thailand! haha The thought tickled me to no end.

I was at the side of the centre, feeding Ratree. I brought over two rice balls, once in each hand. I fed him one with my right hand, then I waited for him to swallow. Yesterday, Kham Paan was fed too fast and she spit it all out in the end.

Suddenly, Ratree grabbed my arm with his trunk and pulled me. I was slammed against the side of his body. Doctor Pack and his mahout immediately told him to stop. He let go and I stepped back. My ear was a little sore but I wasn’t hurt. I put the rice ball in my right hand and I put it in his mouth.

I think he grabbed me because he was ready for his next onigiri. I was facing him with my right side but the onigiri was in my left hand. However, the elephants that we work with have all had a hard life before coming here. It’s not unreasonable for them to act out for no reason. I think it’s understandable to act out of character if you were abused for 50 years just because you were born strong. We have to be really careful when we’re with them.

We waited for Sri Nuan to come get treated. She was supposed to be due an hour before. I saw Kham Paan walk by ages ago and I was getting anxious that I would miss feeding time altogether. When it was past 11, I asked Lisa to be excused because she had more than enough help for one elephant.

Kham Paan was feeding by the beach. When I saw her, I laughed and laughed. She had orange all over her mouth and lip hair. I could tell that she just finished eating pumpkin. When I pointed it out to Angelo, he laughed too.

She was only done half her basket, so I could tell they had tried to wait for me first. I apologized to her and him (for she must have been hungry and pushed him for food). I pointed to the medical centre and explained that I was working there today and I saw them walk by earlier. I was late because Sri Nuan was late for her appointment.

I found Tiff, Jesse and Mabel for lunch. I didn’t eat much, just fried rice and pineapples. I’ve been eating small portions this week ever since I got back from Chiang Mai. I’m not really sure why. Just not that hungry, I guess.

I back to the beach after lunch. The three old ladies, Mae Tee, Mae Kham Geaw and Mae Kham Paan were standing around by the observation deck. Dam and Angelo were hanging out on the deck above them.
Mae Tee’s mahout soon came by to sit with them too.
Mae Tee’s smelling the air after he goes up the stairs.
Three big elephants, standing in a row (say it with the rhythm of “Three little monkeys, jumping on the bed” haha).
Mae Kham Geaw spraying dust over her body. The mud and dirt they cover themselves with acts as a sunscreen and also keeps bugs away.
Flappy Ears!
Kham Geaw's an itchy one.
Look at the scratch marks on her body! I think it’s made by the concrete part of the observation deck support stands.
Gotta get that dirt under the toenail.
Trunks and Legs.
Looks like Mae Tee can smell something interesting.
I think it’s food. Let’s go up the stairs! haha
Dam checks on his elephant.
Kham Geaw has a lot of loose skin.
And who does this lovely face belong to? S2
Must open your mouth for a good ear scratch.
Kham Paan has no more teeth, but she can still eat a pumpkin with no problem!
Dam’s luring the two old ladies into the water with bananas.
Some table graffiti. The first three words to the elephant song.
This is my favourite picture of Angelo.
I got so wet at bath time today! Kham Paan was done in the water, but some day visitors came so we used bread to lure her back in. I walked in in front of her with the bag of bread to keep her in the water while they splashed her. It was really fun. I got to feed her the whole bag.

After the afternoon project, I went to feed Kham Paan. Angelo got her to pose with her head up so I could take pictures. She looked so beautiful, but the sun was too bright. It threw shadows all over her face. I had to explain to him that none of the pictures would turn out any good.

I went to Kham Paan’s shelter to watch them eat grass. I pass by all the time but it was my first time really watching her during the corn stalk feeding time. I noticed that she likes the leaves the best. She strips them off the stalk in such ingenious ways! I should take a video of her next time. It was very entertaining to watch.
She’s the trunk that’s stealing another elephant’s food!
It works out though because this elephant likes the stalks more. He always holds two in his mouth before he eats them.
I found out Mae Kham Geaw is the same! haha
I went by the babies’ shelter to watch Lek sing to Faa Mai. Here’s Chang Yim being naughty again.
Baby hair is so precious.
I took a shower before it got too cold. Number One and Two came into our room and slept in the corner. They like to come in the late afternoon and lie in our room but they don’t come to sleep at night. It’s a shame we can’t keep them in our room until night time. Mabel and I had to shoo them out before we went to dinner.

After dinner, Tiff and Mabel both got a massage. Burm and I played cards with Jesse. First, he taught Jesse a magic trick, then we played crazy eights. We started crazy eights countdown, but we only got to 6s before it was Jesse’s bedtime.

Duke was asleep on the pillows. I had to wake him up. He was so sleepy at first, it was really cute. Baumi was waiting by Chris and Emma’s old room. It provides a really good view of whoever goes up either sets of stairs from the main road. Baumi slept on Mabel’s bed and Duke slept on mine.