Today was an early start with a 7:30 breakfast and to be at the school for 8 where we participated in a 2 hour dance session. During the session we improved our dance routine in preparation for the dance show on Wednesday. After the dance we went straight to a luxurious swimming pool right next to the beach. We stayed in the pool for about an hour then we all got out and sunbathed under palm trees till we left.
After the visit to the pool we went back to the house and had lunch, then we chilled out for about an hour before we sprung back into action to put all of the donation bags onto the bus before heading out to the orphanage.When we arrived at the orphanage we waited around for a bit for the children to come out to see us. When they did we all broke off into different groups with different activities such as:creating bracelets with elastic bands called loom bands, card games and board games such as UNO and connect 4, teaching the kids music, making Lego and finally creating masks.
When we had packed up all of the stuff we headed outside with the children to plant and water mango trees which had been given to us with a placard saying our names on them to plant with the trees. Once again we returned to the house to change our clothes to visit a Buddhist temple with our buddies. When we got there, we greeted our buddies and went straight to the temple.We had to be very quiet as not to be disrespectful towards monks trying to pray.
Before we entered, we were given different objects such as flowers and scented candles to put next to a statue of Buddha. When we entered we sat down cross legged on mats and waited for the ceremony to start. When it started, we all had to put our hands together as a monk sang traditional songs. The ceremony took around 1 hour to complete and when it finished everybody got up and bowed down to the monk singing the songs.
We waved our buddies goodbye and returned to the house for the last time today. After dinner we had a meeting/ debrief of how the day went. After the meeting, there was a power cut so we all scampered around trying to find lights. Eventually we all gathered and sat in the hallway listening to music till the power came back on.
By Ed Grindley
Very detailed Ed- thank you! Delighted to hear that even more Loom Bands have been put to good use! What a great adventure you are all havingx
Great to hear all your news – we love reading the blogs, keep them coming! And the photos. You’ve all done so much. It sounds amazing! xxx
Well done for the great post Edd, sounds like you are all having a lovely time xx
Another great blog well done. Sounds like you’re all packing so much into such a short time. What a fantastic journey. Keep the blogs and photos coming.
The Craig’s
Well it all sounds like it’s gone to plan so far…apart from the power cut! And soon you’ll be off to the next part of your adventure
By the time you read this you will have performed your dance, hope it went really well! You’ve certainly put a lot of effort in to it!
Will we get to see it?!?!
Enjoy xx