This week is slightly different to my usual teaching in school Monday - Thursday. We were all invited to attend the opening ceremony of the childcare centre's new building on Monday. There were a lot of people invited from the village, as well as parents, friends and families of the children and teachers from the childcare centre. It was a momentous occasion as the childcare centre staff, local villagers, monks and volunteers had been working hard to construct this new building for the last six years. So it is wonderful for everyone to finally see it come together. Although, the roof still remains to be finished, they will be well under way to achieve this also, as my housemates have managed to successfully fundraise approximately £2000 through family and friends. Well done Amber, Becky, Louise and Alex!
We went in the truck together, a little more dressed up than everyday, and upon arrival at the childcare centre, we spotted some of the children and their parents, dressed up and full of smiles. First, there was a small Buddhist ceremony given by the monks, in order to bless the building auspiciously before its first use. Then, there was plenty of food and sweet celebratory treats. It was interesting to try these! We were then blessed with string bracelets, which represent luck, by the monks. The ceremony and the lucky string bracelets tradition reassembled the Hindu tradition that I grew up with. We also had ceremonies for new houses or buildings and had important sweet food and lucky string bracelets presented to us by priests. After helping wash and clean up, we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon by cooling down with ice cream. It was a very hot day!
In the evening, we went to the festival/fair in the local park where I normally run. This is an annual event that runs for a week, in celebration of the rice farmers. There was a stage with traditional Thai dancing, a Miss Surin competition and gorgeous Thai children all dressed up and modelling children's clothing. There was also food stalls, gift stalls and games stalls. It was lovely to wander around. After several attempts, unfortunately we were unable to win a huge cuddly toy, by throwing darts accurately at the board, for our coordinator Tuk!
On Tuesday, I went to school and taught my seven and eight year olds about family members. I also recapped animals. It was pancake day today, so in the evening we all got together to toss some pancakes up and enjoy them with various toppings. It was so much fun and our coordinators enjoyed learning how to toss a traditional English pancake!
I was back at the childcare centre on Wednesday and Thursday, as my schoolchildren had exams. It was a different experience and I enjoyed playing and interacting with the children. They are aged between two and four and are adorable. We also help serve them lunch, wash and clean up after lunch and get them settled down for their afternoon nap time. It was Amber, Becky and Alex's last day at the childcare centre on Thursday and it was rather emotional for them to say goodbye to children and teachers. In order to cheer them up, we all went on a road trip to pick up our housemate Steph from the elephant village. Any excuse to see elephants again!
This weekend I will be saying bye-bye to them and welcoming in new volunteers/ housemates. Even though this is becoming a weekly thing now, goodbyes do not get easier!
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