Alleviated Worries

I am feeling chatty today, so will mostly blog here & add a few photos about.
Before arriving here and during our planning stages, we had several concerns that we were worried about.  The weather, the vegan food, appropriate clothing, mosquitoes, housing, no a/c and the work load.  
First let me say the weather has been amazing! Sunny, warm and in the high 80's by the afternoon - just a nice Texas spring day... The humidity is a tad higher, but nowhere near like Dallas or Florida...  The evenings our cabin has been closed in and a bit warm, but by 3am the fans are off, the t-
shirt is on & it is almost cold - in the 60's. The mornings stay cool, about 75* and for us Texans the only time it is really  hot is if we have to work outside in the sun in the afternoon...  So B & I are both coping fine with the weather and the lack of a/c.  Our room has 2 oscillating fans that so far have kept up their job.  And very few mosquitoes or any other kind of bug for that matter. We brought several cans of Off and thanks to Della, some terrific Off Deep Woods towelettes - which worked great!  Some of the tasty young girls got bit, but I guess they didn't go for old and stringy...lol
Some Asian countries have restrictions on what women can wear - no uncovered shoulders and only long pants.  But I finally got confirmation that shorts and tanks were fine for both sexes...  We brought old work clothes that we will donate when we leave here - oh gee, I will have to go shopping...lol
Although our room is the farthest from the kitchens and meeting area and upstairs, it is quite nice.  We even have our own bathroom and the beds are truly beds, not just mattresses on the floor.  B's is actually a double and mine is a twin bed.  The room is larger than some hotels we have stayed in and we are truly comfy.  

Titi, our  "assigned" cat who naps with us

The food is good, but not quite our style.  It is vegan which means no meat and no dairy - we've jokingly talked about ordering pizza to be delivered...lol  There is steamed rice and fried rice everyday for all meals.  There is tempura veggies, egg rolls and some kind of noodles most days.  The sameness is what is boring - we don't like spicy...  Curries, potatos but boiled and mixed with veggies, and soups.  The best has been sweet and sour pineapple - which would be so much better with pork or chicken..lol  B has probably dropped a few pounds and I have eaten more carbs than usual... but we have 4 more meals then we can go to Burger King...j/k lol...  Watermelon is out everyday and is one of my favorite fruits - B doesn't even like it, but has been eating it, as it is recognizable...lol  The Chef is always telling B he made something special and we smile and say thank you...  Tonight is Satay, but not sure how you grill tofu...lol  

B fills water bottle with ice

there is beer and coke zero tho...

The workload is not too bad and they encourage you to work at your own pace.  That meant a couple of afternoons our pace was napping...lol Jobs are broken up into 4 groups and we are Group A.  There is food prep, shoveling poo and cleaning elephant stalls, firebreak and cleaning the park.  We heard from others that the firebreak and park pick up were really hard work, so we usually went to food prep.  It is in the shade and involves unloading trucks, peeling bananas, shucking corn, and making tamarind balls - an elephant treat. B says "it like Aging Gracefully on a Wednesday morning but for elephants..."  It is actually satisfying to fill a bin with shucked corn or a shelf with watermelons.  It is mind blowing to realize this has to be a daily chore in order to feed all 75 elephants... Wow!  So we do what work we can, enjoy the groups company and relax every afternoon with a massage...

loading bananas on shelf

this whole truck needs to be emptied - agh!

G's blue sleeves on right side

making tamarind balls with boiled tamarind and sugar...a sticky business

Joe shucks corn

And more work

"I hate bananas"

all these bananas and Wat

group shucks corn while B peels bananas in back

selfie with my camera - shucking corn

So our days here are almost at an end... We have labored hard and enjoyed the experience...  I will share some more photos later - have a great day today and a better one tomorrow....