Volunteer Coordinators

 Photograph taken by: Maxine Rawson-Rodriguez

I met four volunteer coordinators on this trip. My two VCs from last year no longer work at Elephant Nature Park. Starting from the left is: Nat, Eg and Jack (Chet is not in this picture). They’re all huge jokers but really nice people.

The volunteer coordinators stay at the park and spend every day with us. Not only do they organize our projects and activities, but they also work very hard along side us to complete them.

And of course, they are also in charge of our safety. When volunteers first arrive at the park, we are briefed on rules and safety at the park. (They’re the ones that yell at us when we misbehave.. I found that out when I went swimming at night in the river. haha it even sounds dangerous, doesn’t it? but I thought we were allowed to.. long story).

Every Tuesday, the volunteer coordinators will give a lesson on Thai language and culture. We learn about their customs, what to do and what not to do. They teach us a Thai lullaby about elephants and the actions to the song. We also sing “Bananas Unite” (just a funny song with nothing to do with Thai people). The lesson also covers how to count to ten and common phrases like “My name is..”, “delicious!”, “how much is this?”.

Elephant Kitchen

Photograph taken by: Nicolas Schild

During morning projects at the Elephant Kitchen, we usually wash the Elephant’s food for the day. Our fruits and vegetables mostly come local farms. Some of the farmers use pesticides and some do not. We don’t know which ones use pesticide, so we wash them all.

The soak time, wash time and wash method is different depending on the vegetable. Sometimes we give them a swirl in the water, sometimes we scrub hard with a washcloth. We usually wash cucumbers, watermelons, pineapples and pumpkins. We do not wash the bananas or corn.

In the photograph, you can see the metal shelves on the right. They hold the extra food in the kitchen that will not be eaten that day. We usually unload pumpkins and banana branches onto the shelves straight from the truck.

Photograph taken by: Maxine Rawson-Rodriguez

Corn, watermelon, pineapples, and cucumbers can come in big plastic bags if we buy them from the market. Those are just unloaded and stored under shelves or piled up. Vegetables and fruits that come directly from farmers do not come in plastic bags. They are unloaded into baskets. Sometimes we run out of baskets and have to make a pile on the floor.

Once the bananas have been removed from the branch in bunches, we stack them on wooden shelves across from the metal one. We store them there until they ripen enough for the elephants to eat. Bananas for the babies are hand peeled.

 

This time at the park, I saw white cucumbers for the first time! They were the same shape as the cucumbers last time, but with very little pigmentation. At first, I thought they were squash, but the inside is cucumber through and through! 

Photographs taken by: Maxine Rawson-Rodriguez

Welcome Ceremony for Volunteers

Photograph taken by: Stefanie Sattler

Every Monday is the welcome ceremony for volunteers. A local shaman comes to bless the volunteers. Children from the local village play traditional Thai instruments in the background.

Thai people believe that we have 36 souls. Sometimes, when we feel sad for no reason, it may be because one of our souls has gotten lost or missing. This ritual is to call that soul back to us. Each volunteer or overnight visitor can have a string bracelet tied onto their wrist. You are supposed to wear it for at least 3 days.

Corn Washing in the River

Photograph taken by: Maxine Rawson-Rodriguez

The corn is cut every morning as a morning project for volunteers. After lunch, usually the same group will go down to the river to wash the corn. The elephants eat the corn stalks at around 5 o’clock, after their afternoon bath. Elephants only sleep four hours a night, so we have to make sure they have enough food to last them until morning.

There is pesticide on the corn stalks, so we have to rinse it in the river before we feed it to the elephants. The corn is already tied up in bundles, so we just throw it in the river.

We found that splitting up into two lines is the most productive way. We pass the bundles along until it reaches the end. Then a somebody will hoist it back to the truck. Some of the corn comes in bigger bundles and can be very heavy when they are waterlogged.

When all the work is done, we relax in the river to cool down and rest our backs. Water fights usually break out. The current isn’t very strong, but we will still find ourselves floating downstream a bit. The occasionally elephant watches us from the bank as they munch on leftover leaves that fell out of the bundles.

Photograph taken by: Maxine Rawson-Rodriguez

Kham Pan usually comes to this spot at least twice a day. I can find her here after afternoon chores and also after afternoon feeding time. Pon looks through the stalks to find corn that people missed. He will peel them and feed them to Kham Pan.

Corn Cutting

Photograph taken by: Stefanie Sattler

Every other day, volunteers rotate and go corn cutting in the morning. The stalks are washed and given to the elephants when they are in their shelters at night. We ride on a big truck to different corn fields. Some people like to ride on the roof of the truck head. The driver’s name was Toon.

At the corn field, some of the volunteers are given machetes. We slice the stalk as close to the ground as possible. Of course, we do it to not waste food, but it is also to make the field easier to walk through once the corn is all cut. High cut stalks are easy to trip on, especially if you can’t see where you’re going with a bundle of corn in your arms.

As we are chopping, and putting corn into piles, the “corn” ladies hired by the park tie up the corn with a piece of string. Other volunteers carry the bundles to the truck. As we finish up cutting the corn, the rest of the volunteers also bring corn back to fill up the truck.

When I am on my way back to the field to carry another bundle to the truck, I like to look for corn that the corn pickers may have missed. I can usually find a good half dozen. Kham Pan loves corn. I leave them with the husk on and peel it right before I feed it to her.

We need to wear long sleeves and pants to protect our skin from the corn leaves. Since I wore leggings, the lower part of my leg was exposed. I didn’t feel anything when I worked in the corn field but large welts and rashes developed on my legs that afternoon. Some volunteers get welts on their neck from carrying bundles on their shoulders. I was red and itchy for a week! I had light brown scars to scare the new volunteers on my second week.

Photograph taken by: Stefanie Sattler

After loading all the corn stalks onto the truck, the volunteer coordinators always chop up some refreshing fruit for us to enjoy. I need to work on my watermelon spitting skills for next time!

(I think my shirt is supposed to be shade lighter but it got completely soaked under the long sleeve button up I wore. I didn’t realize I couldn’t breathe under all those clothes until I took it off!)

On the way back, volunteers get to climb up the truck and sit on top of the corn for a windy ride back. The fluff at the top of the corn irritates my eyes and makes me sneeze so I opt to sit in the front with Toon.

Banana Tree Cutting

 Photograph taken by: Maxine Rawson-Rodriguez

It gets really hot in the summer time. Banana trees hold a lot of water so it’s good for elephants to eat to keep hydrated. They are very thick, but surprisingly easy to chop down.

We go to a patch of banana trees not far from the park entrance. We drive a tractor with a little trailer to carry the trees back. It’s hard to fill it up higher than the sides of the trailer because the trees are slippery once we peel off the outside layer.

We need to wear long sleeves and gloves because the banana sap leaves a very brown and sticky stain on your clothes and hands.

Sometimes the dogs will follow us, but these was a bad virus outbreak and the dogs weren’t allowed to leave the park. The dogs at the village weren’t vaccinated and would be unprotected from the disease.

In the photograph, I’m holding a cell phone. It was the first time I was able to receive a call from my mother! (not that she called me many times before, but) We’re usually working and I missed her phone calls before.

Photo Triggered Posts

I’ve done a lot of traveling with my family. My mother made me keep a journal for every trip (that’s probably how I can blog so diligently – sometimes).

When I was young, she pasted photographs into a notebook as a trigger. I had to write a paragraph long caption under each photo.

This trip to Thailand, I barely spent time behind my camera lens and didn’t take any notes. It was a good decision at the time. I felt that I was able to enjoy the full/real experience.

Now, I’m home. The habit of journaling that my mother engraved into me is itching to blog. I have no notes and no photos, so I’m going to go back to the first journaling technique that my mother taught me.

Special thanks to Crossroads, Michael Cahill, Maxine Rawson-Rodriguez, Blair Dack, Nicolas Schild, and Stefanie Sattler for sharing their pictures with me.

Safe Arrival

Everything's gone really smoothly so far. Bus rides were okay. Ferry was okay. Flights okay too. I guess I learned the ropes after doing everything I could possibly do wrong last time (haha ok maybe it wasn't so bad). Even the taxi driver found the guesthouse with no problem.

Oh, only thing that went wrong is I forgot to take my nose medicine an hour before the plane took off. For BOTH flights (maybe I did it on purpose subconsciously, nose medicine is gross). Anyway, going up wasn't so bad, but it really sucked when we were descending. I thought my head was going to explode. My whole face hurt. I was worried my ear drums would tear. Can that happen?

There's no Internet at the park, so I can't use my iPhone. Last time, the staff said they would contact my parents to tell them I arrived safe, but no one did. This time, I decided to get a cell phone so my parents could call me instead. Incoming calls are free for me haha!

When I got to the guesthouse, Eric and his family came to pick me up. His older two kids room at school. It's summer vacation now, but they're working at school so I didn't meet them.

Eric drove us to airport central plaza. I picked out the phone and he handled the rest. It was really easy! I was going to go with the cheapest phone, buut I ended up getting a pretty pink flip phone. Haha

By the way, no protestors here. Not even traffic! Safe :)

My bags are packed

I'm ready to go!

Tomoe Sensei picked me at 8:30. It's been raining all day, so I'm glad I got a ride.

Phonecall to Eric

Today, I called Eric (and actually got through for once!).

It was good to catch up. I can't believe I'll be in Thailand by Friday. That's five days from now. And then another two more until I go to the park.

Eric offered to drive me to the mall so I can get a cellphone. When I get to the guesthouse on Friday, I will give him a call. After I get hooked up with a number, I'll probably get to meet his family.

I found out he has SIX children. I wish I knew earlier so I could have sent them something in the mail. He said he never told me because I never asked. He doesn't look THAT old but I remember that most of the staff at the park surprised me with their age.

Good news. I didn't get Pon's birthday wrong. Eric received the package and he was able to give it to him on his actual birthday. I hope he liked it.

Flight of the Gibbon

I made a reservation for one, with Flight of the Gibbon. I asked for the earlier time slot because it`s discounted and I can walk around Chiang Mai (or nap) in the afternoon. They are picking me up at 6:30 from the hostel. I am so excited! I hope it is as fun as it looks. It is not just swinging around on ziplines in the canopy. We get to walk to some pretty waterfalls and visit a village too.

Now, my major weekend activities are set. The rest of the time will be walking around Chiang Mai and shopping at the markets. First stop, get a cell phone!

Sarah Guesthouse

I booked a hostel with cheap tour packages you can add onto your stay. I plan to do the trek on Saturday. It will be something relaxing to do before I go to the park.

One Day Trek - Sanpathong Area (ref.CM01S)
This one day trek includes all the activities of a trek - elephant riding, rafting and hiking. The trekking area is approx. one hour south of Chiang Mai in the foothills of Doi Inthanon. Ride on the elephants for approx. 1hr. and cruise down the river on a bamboo raft at the end of the day for approx. 1hr. During the day walk to visit Hmong and Karen villages and relax at a waterfall.

i-News article

i-News is a bilingual newspaper in Imabari. I have been asked to write for them two times previously. This time, I volunteered to write because I wanted more people to know about Elephant Nature Park. My article got published in the April/May edition.

i-news73-05 i-news73-06

Zoo San, Zoo San

In January, Hato Sensei and I did a lesson on elephants in Thailand. She asked the students to translate a Japanese lullaby into English. It was the first time I had heard the song.

At Joto Elementary School, my last lesson with every grade is a presentation about elephants and my trip to Thailand. I could hear children singing the lullaby as I walked down the hallway to my next class with the first graders. The teacher had told them what the lesson would be about and the children sang in anticipation while they waited for me to set up the computer.

After the lesson, I asked them to sing the song again so I could take a video of it.

Flights: Bangkok <--> Chiang Mai

Last time, I did a stopover in Bangkok for a couple of days, and then I flew to Chiang Mai. I wanted to do the same this time but the extra flight was so much more expensive. I decided to take the overnight train from Bangkok right after I landed at Bangkok International. It takes 14 hours but it's only around $20 and you get a bunk to sleep in. I've never been on an overnight train before. It would be an experience.

However, the political situation in Thailand has been heating up recently. I'm not so worried about safety. I'm only using Bangkok as a transfer point. But, I AM worried that I won't make it to the train station on time if protests or something is going on. The traffic will already be crazy busy when I land in the afternoon.

I looked up flights to Chiang Mai from Bangkok on budget airlines like Nokair and One-Two-Go. They were much cheaper than the ones I had with Thai Airways, but their flights only depart from Don Mueang Airport. I would have to take a bus or taxi to get there. The trip is not that pricey, but it's a hassle. Plus, I couldn't find flight times on the same day as the ones I had coming from and going back to Japan.

THEN, I looked up the flights on Air Asia. It was (surprisingly) cheaper AND I found some day flights. I won't have to spend two nights on the overnight train, which means I have two extra nights to explore Chiang Mai! It was perfect. I booked ittt.

Depart (Friday, 23 Apr 2010)
Bangkok (BKK) to Chiang Mai (CNX)
Depart Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) at 18:15
Arrive in Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX) at 19:25

Return (Saturday, 08 May 2010)
Chiang Mai (CNX) to Bangkok (BKK)
Depart Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX) at 08:25
Arrive in Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) at 09:35

30% deposit, paid

from volunteer@elephantnaturefoundation.org
date Mon, Mar 8, 2010 at 3:27 PM
subject [#798409] Reservation for Heidi 

Dear Heidi ,

Thank you for your interest in volunteering at Elephant Nature Park. Please find your booking confirmation below.

Name: Heidi
Start Date: 26-Apr-2010
Duration: 2 weeks

Thai Airways

Thank you for choosing ROYAL e-booking to make your travel reservation.You can review your reservation information below. Your flight selection:

Osaka to Bangkok - Friday, April 23, 2010
Departure 11:45 (Osaka, Japan - Kansai International)
Arrival 15:35 (Bangkok, Thailand - Suvarnabhumi International)

Bangkok to Osaka - May 8, 2010
Departure 11:00 (Bangkok, Thailand - Suvarnabhumi International)
Arrival 18:30 (Osaka, Japan - Kansai International)

Birthday Present

Pon’s birthday is March 4th. I really wanted to send him a gift before the week was over. I made a vocab book with all the English we covered using pictures I took at the park. It was a really fun project for me. I used a little book for business cards that I found at the dollar store.

The sleeves were very loose and I was worried the vocab cards would slip out. I found that an elastic band would keep the book tight enough so the cards didn’t move so I sewed a felt elephant onto an ouchless hair tie I had lying around.

I was up until 3 in the morning, but it was worth it. I really liked what I made.

I also made a template thank you card for when I go to ENP in May. I used a plain postcard for the body, note paper with a design for the ear and a sticker for the eye.

Soundwaves Link

Here's a direct link to the BariBari Radio blogpost that I'm featured in. The first recording is the one about ENP. I listened to it and I only cringed once when I said "banana" twice! haha I totally forgot about that moment.

SOUNDWAVES 2-8-10

SHOUT OUT: I just want to give a special thanks to Jeremy, who hosted the show (and invited me!), Nana, who helped us record the show, and of course, Radio BariBari FM 78.9! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to promote and share about the elephants in Thailand.

Bari Bari Radio

Today, I was a guest speaker on Soundwaves. It is a talk show on BariBari Radio FM 78.9, a radio station in Imabari, Japan. The host is Jeremy Carlson. He is an ALT (assistant language teacher) from Vancouver, Canada.

When Jeremy heard of my volunteering in Thailand, he invited me onto the show. It was my first time in a recording studio. I was a bit nervous and frankly don't really remember what we talked about! but I'm sure I only said nice things about the park. It was a great experience. I definitely stepped out of my comfort zone but I'm really grateful for the chance to promote ENF.


I will upload the show when it is available on the BariBari Radio website. I hope to go on the show again before I go to the park in May. I was flustered this time and I'm not really sure what I said haha. However, next time I will be more prepared! I really want to use the opportunity to get people interested about the park and to help the elephants in Thailand.

EhhhhHHH?

I taught at Hiyoshi yesterday. Second last period, I had class with one of the special needs classes. I talked to them about my winter vacation in Thailand. It was good because I had the whole class to talk. Hato Sensei translated everything so I could tell them whatever I wanted and not worry about the language barrier.

I think they liked my stories of Chang Yim, the baby boy elephant, the best. I showed them all the pictures where he was bothering Fah Mai. Which is just about every picture!

The biggest reaction I got was when I told them I usually had 2-5 dogs sleeping in my room every night, and at least one of them on my bed. Then, I showed them a picture of a dog rolling around elephant dung and they went “EHHH”. haha

Let's learn about Elephants

Today, I taught all the seventh graders about elephants in Thailand. I could not share about my experience fluently and fully but it was really exciting for me to tell my students about Thailand.

I showed them pictures of the babies, feeding time and bath time. They were surprised by what they ate. They really liked the photo of Kham Paan with corn stuck to her lip.

They had a mini true and false quiz on our dialogue. “Did Heidi Sensei ride an elephant?” “Did Heidi Sensei sleep with elephants?” and so forth. Then I talked to them about why elephants are endangered in Thailand. I told them they could help if they used MyHashi instead of the restaurant disposable chopsticks. Wild elephants don’t have much natural habitat left and Japan is the number one country of importing wood.

I also told them about the forced breeding programs in Thailand. This was very difficult to explain in simple English but Hato Sensei translated what I said. Yesterday, Hato Sensei was affected when I told her that elephants that were raped often killed the baby after birth. She chose a simple children’s song about the loving bond between the mother and the child for the students to translate.

Here is the song in Japanese. I will let my students translate this song for you. However, It was very hard for the seventh grade to translate. Most of them were able to do the first verse about elephants’ long trunks, but left the part on love without translation.

ぞうさん、 ぞうさん
お鼻が長いのね
そうよ
母さんも長いのよ

ぞうさん、 ぞうさん
誰が好きなの
あのね
母さんが好きなのよ

Phonecall to Thailand

I just gave Eric a call. He had already received the package and gave it to the mahouts. I forgot to tell them not to wear the Kairo directly on their skin so I asked Eric to pass that on.

He said the mahouts told him I gave them a hug before I left and I looked like I was going to cry. I disagreed. (I'm very indignant about this!) For the record, I don't think I looked like I was going to cry. I remember feeling pretty great about the decision to go back. Crazy mahouts haha I bet they were the ones that were sad!

Eric told me that the weather is nice right now. I could almost feel the sun through the phone. The weather will be horribly hot in May but I'd trade that for weather in Japan right now.

My three paintings are still MIA. He said he would help me check up on it but I think I'll either write the office another email or give them a call sometime soon.

Eric also helped me find out the real names of Angelo and Mae Tee's mahout. It's Pon and Pon Sie (or See).

Travel Cuts

I woke up at 4 in the morning and I couldn't go back to sleep so I decided to take the time to call Travel Cuts in Hamilton. Unfortunately, the connection was not 100% with Skype. There was a little lag.

The travel agent had a hard time finding decent prices. She took down my email so she could mail me after she's done more research. I was really banking on them to book these tickets for me. I hope it works out!

JTB

I did a quick search on Expedia for tickets to Thailand during golden week. The average hit was $2000 but I saw some over $4000. USD! I kid you not. The flights were 25 hr long with at least one stop over. I saw this and I panicked a little bit. I had set my heart on going back to Thailand in May but I couldn’t ever justify a plane ticket more than a month’s worth of pay!

I went over to JTB to see if I could get cheaper flights. I’m sure there are cheap flights where I can get OUT of Japan, and then go to Thailand from there. Matsumotosan agreed with me. She thought it would be a good idea to fly to China, and then to Chiang Mai. She tried to look up the cheapest flights, but the fare was not available yet. When she called the office, she found out that fares for May wouldn’t be available until March!

Matsumotosan suggested that I try to get the cheapest tickets I can now and hold the tickets (Is that possible without paying?). In March, she will look for flights. Hopefully JTB will have some kind of discount and I’ll be able to get cheaper tickets.

Back in Japan

I woke up when they started handing out breakfast. I chose to get an omelette with croissant, yogurt and fruit. The flight seemed a lot shorter coming home. Maybe because I slept so much of it.

I couldn't take a picture because of the glare on the window, but the view was amazing as we started our descent. We were still above the clouds. The sun was rising, but not high enough to see. The clouds were silhouettes against a horizontal mix of oranges and reds.

Re-entry was quick. I got there before a long line formed. At customs, I got stopped and my bags were searched. The man was so apologetic about the whole ordeal. He felt so uncomfortable, I felt really bad for him! He tried to help me repack my bags.. but he was horrible at it. You'd think that a customs officer would be pro at zipping up luggage (or pick the ones that didn't look like they would burst at the seams). Poor man.

I found the buses easily. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to go to Osaka station because in Hiroshima, the buses operated out of the bus center. I got confirmation from one of the workers who directed me to platform five. Another work took my luggage and told me to get off at the second stop.

I misheard that the bus ride would be 16 minutes long. It was actually 60. I was low on batteries so I didn't check my email but I emailed ENP about my paintings. I was able to nap for a bit, I didn't sleep much last night with the flight and transfers.

I had a reservation for the 13:00 bus back to Imabari but it was only 8:30 when I got to the station. The next bus was at 10:00. I called my parents to tell them I got back safe. Then, I tried not to cry. 5 months seems too long for friendships and love that's just started. Nowadays, we have internet and cheap long distance calling .. but that doesn't really help me. How do you keep in touch with an animal, or mahouts that don't speak English?

The bus ride was long and uncomfortable. It was relatively warm in Osaka. I crossed my fingers that Imabari wasn't too cold. And it wasn't! I found my bike easily. It wasn't moved but it had advertisements all over it. I was a little unbalanced biking back, but I made it home without crashing into anything.

First thing on the list is laundry and a bath. Then, I was supposed to tackle this blog while everything is still fresh in my mind.. but I got side tracked planning Golden Week.

I can't believe I was still at the park just yesterday.

Day 12 - Last Day

Today's my last day at the park. I planned to wake up earlier so I could pack in the morning but I wanted to stay laying in bed with Duke. He fits so perfectly on my bed, it'll be weird to sleep without him.
Our neighbours soon woke up. They told us an elephant was eating the roof of his shelter! We opened the windows and mist started flowing in because it was warmer inside. It looked really cool but it was too light for me to capture in a photograph. I've never seen it so foggy outside, it covered everything.

Mabel and I exchanged emails. I began to pack when Jesse came in. Tiff wanted to leave today. The Power of One group was leaving at 10 am, so she could join their van. Mabel left to help Jesse pack their luggage.

Poor Duke. Maybe it was just my imagination, but he gave me sad eyes while he watched me pack. As I put everything into my bags and zipped them up, I thought about how many times he's had to go through this. I think he knows what it means when people are packing and that's why he's so indifferent to the visitors here. I'm glad I was here long enough to see that he does care. I wonder if he'll still wag his tail when he sees me next time.

I took Jesse to the kitchen so he could pick up his laundry. We also had to get the pants that the cats ripped up during the introduction ceremony. We paid and took the clothes back. Mabel was massaging Tiff's shoulders. Her back was all knotted up and probably the cause of her migraine.

Jesse and I went to work in the Elephant Kitchen. We washed watermelons with the scourers. Next, we gathered ripe bananas in the baskets and organized the green ones on the shelves. There were so many spider webs. The girl I was working with said she saw tons of spiders as big as half her palm. I only saw small ones but I was so jumpy and I pulled out all the bananas with two fingers.

When we were done, Jesse and I went to find Lek to see if he could get the volunteer dvd since they were leaving early. MAI came back to the room with us to talk to Tiff. I went off with Jesse for one last errand. He had a box of stationary and other things to give to the kids in the village. We gave it to Matt and then waited for the van to pick them up. Mabel and I saw the two off. Then she went for a nap and I went back to work in the Kitchen.

Before Power of One left, they had loaded the wash basin up with pumpkins. As we waited for them to soak, a truckload of cucumbers came in. Right when we started, I saw Kham Paan through the trees behind the Kitchen. I must have had the biggest smile on my face. Lauren took one look at me and she knew who I could see! Haha she told me to go to her. It's my last day and I should be relaxing. I helped with the unloading before I stepped out. There were enough of us to make two chains. We got the cucumbers on the platform in no time.

I waved to Angelo when he came in to get Kham Paan's basket so he waited for me before he started feeding her. Maybe because of what happened yesterday with Lek, he said "Kham Paan playful, no like." I know. I don't think I'd tease any elephant. Who wants to joke with a 4 ton animal that's always hungry!
Angelo took out the figurine he made of Kham Paan. She was all smooth now and the scratching stick was glued in place. Yesterday at the gift shop, I saw that most elephants this size were 550 to 750. I gave him a bit more than that. He was so surprised. It made me laugh for a long time. He was only going to charge me 10 baht, pretty much giving it to me for free. He already gave me the ring as a present. I wanted to buy this from him. You can see the wooden elephant on the table under Kham Paan's chin.
Dam and Mae Tee's mahout came over to sit with us. I saw that Dam had a tattoo on his shoulder. Jodi did his tattoo. It was of Hope. He was his mahout for three years. Hope needs to change mahouts so he won't only respond to one person and wreck havoc on everyone else. Mae Tee's mahout wasn't allowed his tattoo, but it's okay for Thai people.

I had mikans in my bag that I fed to Kham Paan after her lunch. They were so small in her trunk. They fit into her nostrils. I was going to feed her two and save the last one for myself, but she could smell the last one. She searched around and gave us a scare when she wrapped her trunk around my camera strap. I think it scared Dam more than me! haha He yelped and gave frantic instructions for her to let go. I gave up and gave her my last mikan. Then we walked her down to the beach.

Angelo scattered some bananas on the grass to preoccupy her while he ate lunch. He pointed out the cucumbers on his plate and named them. We went through all the food on his plate. He knew rice, but he didn't have the correct pronunciation.

I showed him a picture of my sister. Then I showed him pictures of my family, of my pets, dragon boat, things I crocheted, pictures I took in Canada and in Japan. He kept asking, "more pictures?" until I had nothing else to show him haha. We went through a lot of vocabulary going through the pictures. I wish I thought of that earlier instead of on my last day.

He asked if I could watch TV on my phone. If I could watch BBC. haha We watched Ice Age Short: Gone Nutty, a podcast I downloaded from the iTunes store. I lost track of time and they were already clearing the food when I went for lunch. They still have fried rice (which is what I always get for lunch anyway)!They didn't have anymore pineapple, so I got papaya. I grabbed three mikans on the way out to feed Kham Paan later.

I found Mabel close to the feeding platform. I sat down and ate quickly, it was almost Kham Paan's bathing time. The two of us walked down the beach with her. I was disappointed that the sun hadn't warmed up the day yet. The water was really cold and it seemed really muddy too. None of us wanted to get that wet. It was amazing to see her spraying water on Wednesday. Maybe she'll want to play in the afternoon.
Hungry Elephant =) They always get fed bread after bath time.
I usually try to omit visitors in my photos but I love how this turned out!

This dog was rolling around, scratching his back with elephant poo. The worst part is that I'd still let him sleep in my bed after seeing this! haha
Mabel and I got popsicles from the ice cream man. I dropped off the figurine in my room because I was worried about the scratching stick breaking off. The afternoon project was.. CORN HUSKING! It felt weird that I did it all last week and this was the first shipment this week. I was really slow peeling the corn because of all the blisters on my hand but we had almost 10 people helping out. I couldn't believe how fast we finished all the bags.

We finished just in time. The VCs collected everyone to help with the elephant rescue. They wouldn't be back in time for 5, so I couldn't go with them. I helped Michelle sweep up the Kitchen, then I bought a lime drink and relaxed on the feeding platform. I played with mookie and took pictures of the elephants hanging around.
The babies were also playing by the platform.
Laurel and Dr. Pack talked about a paper she wanted to write about. Then they went out with Matt to shoo the babies off the log.
Doggies
A mahout was working on an elephant to sell at the gift shop.
Derrick, Lek's partner, driving a tractor.
I couldn't see Kham Paan and only at 3:45, I realized that Angelo must have kept her near the beach for me. When I got there, they were already waiting with the basket.

I fed her for the last time. I tried to imprint everything into my memory. The way the watermelon squished under my thumb as I bring it to her trunk. How she'll spray water everywhere when she's eating them because they're so juicy. Her tail flicking away the flies. The trunk curling around the food. The kissing noises she makes when she eats. How her skin feels soft and rough at the same time. I tried to remember it all and each moment seemed to last forever.

Finally, it was hot. Once we were out of the shade, the sun felt strong on our skin. Kham Paan sprayed herself with water. Left, right and above. I laughed every time the water hit me. It's like she rained kisses on me. Mae Tee's mahout told her to spray me. I'm not sure if she would have done it, Angelo stopped her because I had my phone on me. I would have thrown away my phone! haha It would have been fun to be sprayed.

She scratched herself all over with the poles. Watch this video! You'll love it, I promise.

I followed her to the shelter. She scrounged around for snacks under the feeding platform. Now I know why she always rushes off to the shelter after scratching herself but takes so long to get to the shelter!

I got my luggage from the room. I saw Angelo locking Kham Pann up. I dropped off my bags in the van then I ran back for a hug. Angelo said Kham Paan and him won't leave until I come back. I saw Mae Tee's mahout and I hugged him too haha.

I slept in the van. I woke up when we got to Chiang Mai. I was the last one off so it felt like I was awake longer than I slept. I got dropped off at the office. The plan was to pick up the two volunteer DVDs and get driver to the airport but the second disc wasn't ready yet. At first, I was told it'd take 30 minutes, then it got extended to 45 (but it really took an hour haha). I offered to take the taxi to the airport, but the driver took the van for a wash then waited with me.

I went over all my pictures at the park while I waited. The girl from Singapore that I saw on Monday was there too. She left the park at 2pm today, but was at the office to play with the dogs. I had some memory left so I tried to take a video of the dogs with my camera to test the quality.
The driver took me to the airport. He asked me if I wanted to be dropped off at the domestic flights entrance or international. I was flying to Bangkok, so I said domestic. At the entrance, I had to put my bags through a scanner and go through security. At the check-in counter, I was told I could check in all my flights at the International counter because my final destination was in Kansai. Fortunately, International check in wasn't far.

I got a C.I.Q. sticker. I didn't know what it meant. The closest thing I could find on google was "Customs Immigration Quarantine"? Up the escalator to the International Lounge, I had to go through another security check. The guard gave me a thumbs up for my omiyage squid snacks. haha

At my gate, I went to the bathroom to put on leggings and jeans under my skirt. Then I went to the café and bought a tuna turnover and a black sesame turnover for 35 baht each. The cashier heated it up for me and I ate it at the tables in the café. It was so hot, it burned my tongue. The lounge was cold though. I put on my wrap, long sleeve t-shirt and windbreaker too.
I snacked on strawberry wafers (the last pack from New Year presents exchange with the village school children) while I waited to board. The flight was delayed a bit, but nothing too long to make me miss my transferring flight. I got THREE mosquito bites while I waited. Two on my left foot and one on my right. Good thing I had After Bite in my backpack!

On the plane, I fell asleep even before take off. I almost missed my snack! We got a slice of banana bread. It was so good. I went back to sleep and woke up just in time for two small sandwiches and jello. Upon landing, I suddenly realized that I forgot my three paintings in the room back at the Palace. .. I know, right.

We walked down the stairs onto the tarmac, then boarded a bus to the terminal. I had to walk soo far to gate D8a. It was the farthest gate possible. I went through two security checks before I got to the waiting area. I didn't have to sit long before our flight was called.
An attendant gave me an extra blanket. Then I found out that I had all three seats to myself. So I actually had FOUR blankets to use! I only used two though. I stretched out and slept most of the flight. It was awesome.

Day 11

Kham Muen died during the night.

It rained all night but the sky was clear by morning. The park had the same feeling as yesterday. We had a doughy chocolate pastry for breakfast. I tried one, but I didn't eat anything else.

Tiff and Jesse didn't show up for breakfast or morning chores. I checked up on them. Tiffany had a migraine so I took Jesse with me for morning chores. We could chose between poop shovelling or the Elephant Kitchen. They already shovelled yesterday, so we chose to work in the Kitchen. We dumped eight baskets of pumpkins in the wash basin. We did watermelons and pineapples too.

It was my first time washing pineapples. You just let it soak for 5 minutes. Then you swirl it around and put it in a basket. It was fun. I also noticed that the pineapples here aren’t as spiky as they are back home.

I remember the first time I fed Kham Paan pineapples. I was looking in the basket, picking out the next piece of fruit when the green leaves of a pineapple head dropped into my lap. I laughed so hard. I was really surprised! She only ate the sweet and juicy part of the fruit. I watched in fascination as I fed her top after pineapple top.

I love watching Kham Paan eat pineapples. Sometimes she will hold the green and chew off the fruit. Sometimes she will bite off the green and spit it out, then pop the fruit in her mouth. If the fruit part is sliced too thin, she might throw it away. Then Angelo breaks off the head of leaves for her.

Our afternoon project is teaching English to the school children at the village. They piled us all into a truck, flipped up the gate and locked it. The ride was really fun, almost like a rickety roller coaster. Burm was a great driver. Got us there all safe!

We were split into 8 groups (there are 8 grades). The kindergarten kids were the most popular. There’s not much teaching involved. You just get climbed on!

I volunteered for something really special. I went with Caitlin to get a foot massage! The girls are taught how to massage, as early as the age of 7. Since the girls are not certified, they didn’t charge us but we donated 100 baht each.
The masseuse I got was 11, and Caitlin’s was 12. We taught them some English and they tried to teach us some Thai (haha). Halfway through, the overnight visitors came to visit the school and some also joined us for a foot massage. One man was from Holland and he was really tall. The massage lady had to keep moving her chair back to get to a comfortable position with his leg stretched out. We all had a long laugh at that.

After the massage, I joined other children and volunteers in the school yard. Lessons were over and it was bustling with activity. Here’s a game of volleyball.
Lauren was popping flowers with children by the hedge. They showed me how to do it and I got it on the first try! You pick a flower, making sure the inside is clean (of flower guts?). It should be a hollow tube. Hold one end while you’re blowing in air. Trap the air with your other hand, then POP!
The school is divided into two buildings, each with two stories. Here are two classrooms.
Older kids playing table tennis.
There was a snack counter.
I bought 5 different jello cups and two bags of car chips, ketchup and seaweed (Mai translated for me).
Here’s the truck we ALL came in.
I didn’t want to miss feeding time. I tried to find Burm to ask if I could walk back to the Park. It took forever to find him. He said I might have missed it already. I hurried back, passing the overnight visitors. And.. I didn’t miss it! but she was done half the basket already.

You could see a tractor digging a grave for Kham Meun in the distance. The mood was sombre again. We didn’t talk much. He worked on a carving of Kham Paan (Mahouts carve wooden elephants to sell at the gift store. All the money the elephant makes goes to them) as I fed her.

When she was done, I went to wash her basket and he went to get lunch. I walked down to the river to cool my mosquito bites. This is the little slope that Kham Paan stands beside when Angelo eats lunch on that chair. Sometimes he’ll eat on the observation deck with Dam and Mae Tee’s mahout.
Sometimes he’ll eat on this little platform further along the slope. Mae Tee’s mahout ate there today.
It was gloomy all day. The sun wasn’t out and it drizzled on and off. It was perfect for pictures actually, and I took tons. Everyone turned out great because there were no shadows.

I like taking pictures of her face.
I love her trunk.
She always seems to be scratching herself!
Or has a stick in her trunk.
This is her favourite place to scratch with her trunk.
I don’t know why she was doing this but it made me laugh. She’s leaning on the slope with her trunk.
I love the way she stands sometimes.
Look! This is how I stand. All the time! Seriously. If you knew me, you would know what I'm talking about.
Hello Beautiful.
She walked away and I could only get pictures of her bum, so I put away my camera.
One last shot. Mae Tee and Mae Kham Geaw. The two old ladies on the beach.
Mae Tee’s mahout was by the fence, looking out at the river and the mountains. I showed him the pictures of Kham Paan that I took. This one is my absolute favourite. It’s the same one I used as the banner.
I went to sit by Angelo and I showed him the pictures I took. We talked a bit, but mostly just sat side by side. It was nice. Slowly feeling better and even laughing as we watched Kham Paan’s silly antics.

I had lunch with Lauren and Sarah. Then it was bath time. I noticed that Mae Tee’s mahout had a tattoo on his leg! He had his pants rolled up and there was a gap between his pants and the boot. I couldn’t see what it was, but I’ll ask him about it later.

Wet Kham Paan. She's darker and her markings are more visible.
Water droplets on her leg.
For people that wonder why there are two random upright logs by the mud pit.. Kham Paan will demonstrate for you. Haha
First the sides. Right and Left.
Then the bum.
Next is the head. Up and Down. Behind the ear and in front.
Last is the chin.
Angelo told me that this younger elephant is supposed to be part of Mae Kham Pan’s family, but I don’t see them together often. I also forgot what his name is..
Bye Bye! See you for afternoon feeding =)

Bye Bye Mae Tee!
Dam made a trail of bananas to lure Mae Kham Geaw. Here’s Baumi taking a treat for himself.
Bye Bye Mae Kham Geaw!
Jungle boy is eating bread after bath time. His mahout uses the bread to get him to stand up and walk back into the field.

The bulldozer is finally still. I think the grave is finished.
I stayed to watch the babies bathe. Here they come!
After the older elephants push the babies out of the water, they roll around in the sand. As always, Chang Yim annoys his sister.
The mahouts sit around and laugh at the little ones.
I headed over to the volunteer area to see what the afternoon project would be. We had three choices: clean up the tool shed, clean up the volunteer area, organize the bookshelf upstairs, or throw out the rotten food. I decided to do the latter.

I hopped onto the back of the truck with Kate. Burm drove us out. On the way, we passed by Mai and she jumped on too. During the ride, we couldn’t stop staring at how gross the rotten produce was. Their was a basket with half a watermelon stacked on top of half a pumpkin and they were both soup bowls of fermented liquid grossness. It made us sick, but we couldn’t look away!

All of a sudden, Mai said, “Worms! Go back!” At first, we didn’t know what she was talking about, but then I saw these little white dots bouncing around in my vision. As I focused my eyes, I saw they were teeny tiny green worms that curled up, then sprang into the air. They were exploding from one of the baskets! We were all screaming, and then laughing. None of us had seen something like that before.

We soon got to the field. Burm came out to see what all the commotion about. He had a completely straight face and went to pick up the baskets and empty them like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. We were too girlie for him. Haha

On the way back, a mad bull chased us along the fence until he couldn’t anymore. Then he gave a loud roar. Mai said he likes to jump on people’s backs. haha What a crazy bull.

When we got back, I showed Jesse the worms. Then we went to check on Tiff. She still wasn’t feeling very well. We joined the others waiting for a shipment of pumpkins to come to the Elephant Kitchen. It never came. I think their truck broke down and we were using ours so we couldn’t go to them.

An elephant broke one of the logs of the fence and climbed over. It wasn’t anything scary or dramatic. He was pushing at the log for a long time before it snapped. His mahout gave orders to move back and he would, but every time the mahout turned around, he would approach the fence again.
One time, his mahout left and he climbed over the fence. He moved very slow so he didn’t get very far.
The mahout ordered him to stop and the naughty elephant had to go back.
We brought the food baskets to the platform and the shelters.
To my surprise, Kham Paan wasn’t down by the observation deck yet. I hung out with Dam and Mae Tee’s Mahout for a bit. I fed them, but for some reason, it’s not as engaging as feeding Kham Paan.
Here are some close ups of Mae Tee. She came to the park at the same time as Kham Paan.

Jesse came by, I invited him to feed Kham Paan too. He was surprisingly shy about it. Maybe because she wasn’t behind a fence and he wasn’t on a platform. Lek came by to film us.

Lek grabbed a banana to feed Kham Paan but she eats slow sometimes because she has no more teeth. I guess Lek was a little bit impatient. She laughed and tossed a banana at Kham Paan’s face. All of a sudden, Kham Paan turned and pushed Lek with her head and the top of her trunk. The force lifted Lek a bit, and then she fell onto the ground. She missed the mud pit by inches. Angelo yelled at Kham Paan and got hold of her ear to make sure she didn’t advance any further.

Lek got up quickly. I rushed towards her asked if she was okay. She only complained about her bum hurting but I’m sure there was some mental trauma in there too. I was really scared when Ratree grabbed me. Sometimes, you forget how strong they are. This is why you can only be with an elephant if their mahout is there. I never go close to Kham Paan if Angelo is getting her basket, or getting lunch. I hope I never forget how dangerous it can be.

I wasn’t mad or scared of Kham Paan. It wasn’t really her fault. The situation was understandable. However, I let her eat out of the basket for a bit before I started feeding her again. I didn’t want her to think I was teasing her with Lek, or I wanted to take her food. Jesse didn’t feed her again. I think he was really scared. I told him that Kham Paan eats slow and he might have more fun with the elephants at the platform. They would be feeding soon. He agreed and went off.

Seriousness aside.. Look how skinny she is in this shot! Haha
When I take pictures of her eating, Angelo always tries to get her to open her mouth and feed her directly there. I think it’s because tourists love it. Maybe I would love the pictures too, but she’s not very good at it! haha She never opens her mouth wide enough. You need to shimmy it. Sometimes, she’ll close her mouth so you can’t get it in further and then use her trunk to push the rest in.

Chrissie came back. She was back to visit again. It was nice to see a familiar face from last week. We caught up for a bit until Kham Paan was finished her food.

I asked Angelo, “Bath time?”. He said “Yes.” and we walked down to the beach. I never ask him, I don’t know why I did. But guess what? Kham Paan put ONE foot in, decided it was too cold and then headed back to the shelter. So there was no bath time after all. She was dry every except the right front leg where he splashed her. Her decisiveness and his inability to persuade her made me laugh the whole time I washed her basket.

Angelo didn’t work on the wooden elephant during the afternoon feeding time so I thought he might be done. I checked the gift store but I couldn't it. I was hoping I could buy it from the gift store because then I could leave extra money for him. I’m not sure about the culture here and giving money. Maybe he wouldn’t take it from me if it was in person.

I went by the shelter to see if he was there. No mahout was. I just saw Kham Paan with a silly piece of corn stalk on her head. She only eats the leaves. She doesn’t like the skeleton-y top (I don’t know what it’s called. It’s the stuff that’s on her head) or the bottom of the stalk. Sometimes she’ll eat the middle of the stalk.
Mabel and Jesse were watching the babies. I stayed to watch Kham Paan. When Mabel left to watch the documentary in the conference room, Jesse joined me. We ate the jello cups I bought from the village school children this morning. They were so good! Two each wasn’t very satisfying. We decided to go to the village to get some more.

I brought him to the store that I went to with his mother just yesterday. Along the way, we met up with Aaron (a student from the Power of One) and Alissa. They picked up some snacks and left, but Jesse and I sat down and had our snacks. I bought him a sprite, some jelly cups, a chocolate soccer ball and also a pack of lozenges (He’s been coughing a lot since yesterday). I got soy milk in a glass bottle. It’s probably my favourite drink to get in Thailand.

Jesse recognized some mahouts that came by. They were wearing Power of One t-shirts so I was doubtful if they were really mahouts. Later, I found out that all mahouts and staff were given a shirt.

We went back to find Mabel. It was slow going the whole way. Jesse tried to kick the same rock the whole way back. We had to cross some grassy areas, barbed wire and even a bridge (he said you’re allowed to pick it up in some circumstances)! The documentary was still going at the conference room so we went back to watch Kham Paan.

A lot of mahouts were standing around. I don’t usually see them after five o’clock, but everyone was invited to a performance by the Power of One group tonight. They yelled Nani Nani at us because Jesse was wearing a Manchester United shirt.

I told Jesse that “nani” meant “what” in Japanese. I taught him some Japanese words, like good morning, yes, no and thank you. He learned really quick. Young minds are the best. In the middle of our impromptu lesson, we heard the dinner bell. He was so hungry, he ran off ahead of me to get in line for food.

We found Mabel in line for food. The documentary just ended. We ate quickly so we could bring food to Tiff and shower before the performance.

The show was really great. Everyone from the Power of One group performed. They did choreographies to many songs (ex. Thriller, Zombie), they did a skit, traditional dances, story telling, individual song writing.. It may not have been very well rehearsed because they only had a week but they were so enthusiastic!

The VCs and Lek did the Elephant song. They sang it faster and faster until only the Thai people could sing along with them.

One of the massage ladies is actually a professional dancer. She was a treat to watch. I loved her costume. She reminded me of a peacock.
The best was a surprise guest appearance by the mahouts. Some of the mahouts dressed in traditional costume. They tried to show us many different tribes. They even wore women’s costumes. Lek helped them translate so we could appreciate and understand how much they were doing for us.
I wish I took a video! I forgot that I could use my phone. This is a bad picture because of the huge post in the middle (The performance is traditionally done on the feeding platform every year), but it is of the first song. There are four dancers facing each other. On the floor is a tic tac toe grid made of four bamboo sticks held by four people. They would move the sticks in and out, tapping them together or on the floor to follow the beat.
The dancers had to jump left, right, or diagonal but sometimes there was miscommunication and they would jump into each other! That made the audience laugh quite a bit.

The first song was just one mahout chanting. The second song had more people singing and a variety of musicians.
You can see Angelo in the back. He’s sitting on the fence. haha He was so shy! He wanted to take pictures on the side but Kat dragged him into the middle with everyone. She wanted all the mahouts to be on stage.
At first, a mahout in costume was on the plastic makeshift drum, but he was too slow. An older mahout shooed him away and took over.

I think the teddy bear was an inside joke. I have no idea why it was a part of the performance.

Two Thai students asked for my email. I thought it was so funny. I didn’t spend that much time with them during their week here because the group was always together doing their own thing. I don’t think they’ll be emailing me. They’re at least five years younger than me! Haha

During the performance, I saw Duke go up the ramp to the conference room. Mabel took Jesse back to his room and I went upstairs to get Duke. He was asleep on one of the chairs. He looked so cute! I don’t normally prefer this type of dog but he’s really grown on me. I guess that happens when you sleep him every night (because he sure doesn’t acknowledge me during the day! To be fair, he is less cold to be during the day now. I see his tail wagging sometimes.).

I saw Angelo and I flagged him down. I asked him if he gave the sculpture to the gift store yet. He said no. I asked him to bring it tomorrow because I wanted to buy it from him. I think we understood each other. Then, Kat came and started translating for us. She told me that he’ll show it to me tomorrow.. ? There was obviously some kind of miscommunication now haha but I left it at that. I’m sure it’ll be okay.

Baumi was in front of Chris and Emma’s old room again. He followed us into the room. This time, a light coloured brown dog with a white patch on his back came in. The three of the dogs didn’t really get along. Then there was this power and submission thing where one dog growled and the other whimpered and all of a sudden Baumi and this dog were best friends.

We shut the new dog out because we didn’t want fights in the middle of the night. He went off but when he came back, both Baumi and Duke left our beds and went back the door. Duke was there to guard our room. When I opened the door, it was clear that it was not the same for Baumi. He left to be with the new dog.

Both dogs stood by the door. I think Baumi wanted the other dog to be able to come in too. They would wag their tails when I told them to come in, but they were hesitant because of Duke. He kept growling at them. I had to carry him to bed. We left the door open just in case they wanted to come in, but they chose to sleep together outside.