19th December

Juz woke up! Writing this entry for 19th Dec 04. Yesterady, all of us had the full day to ourselves, we didn't have to work & was supposedly going down to Chiangrai City to get something for our host family. I chose to stay in the village, getting Renzhen & Evan to get stuff for the family. It's really nice & quiet, calm & peaceful when you have the "whole" village to yourself - not all actually juz that fewer people are left in the village so it seems that I own more of the village.

After bathing & packing, I proceeded to Ashley's place for lunch with Lihui, Shihui, Ashley, Huikeng, & Choon Hong. Choon cooked fried rice for us (nt bad!) & we also cooked instant noodles to fill our stomachs. Our afternoon is pretty simple - have a simple lunch together, playing cards & packing up. Late noon, after the rest bathed, they came over to my place to play cards & snack, all this lasted till the rest of the team came back from the city.

I was happy when I saw them back with the things they bought, so excited to give it to them. Everything was good, we talked, no tension (maybe the letter I wrote to her earlier on wouldn't serve it's purpose anymore). We packed the food neatly & gathered our clothes for them. At this pt I'm having mixed feelings - I miss my home & yet I'm gonna miss this home & its surroundings. But life will still move on. After these packings, we changed to our Oracle shirts. We took pictures with our host family & Na-sor too! Then, thinking we wouldn't meet them for dinner, we gave the stuff we bought to them. I could tell that they were happy yet sad. Me too! Without thinking, Na-sor's mum took a ball of white string & tied it round our wrist, with the granny & dad following suit. It's a blessing to us, such that when we leave Ban Yafu, we'll prosper & be safe. I admit I teared, them too! We become part of the family.

Dinner was at the info-centre that we built. Seeing this place bustling with people feels different & I'm so happy that we're having dinner altogether (we withour host family with the rest of the host's family) under the roof that the team have helped built. A feeling of pride & pure happiness, hoping what we have done will definitely help the village.

A dance was specially prepared for us near the "long-bench". I joined in it's fun. The dance steps started with the simple steps, & it gradually advanced to a pt where I juz followed blindly. We engaged them in the "friendship-dance" too! They had fun. After the fire ceased, the dancing stopped, photos were taken. Ha! What pure joy this is.

Coz this was the last night in Ban Yafu. Most wanted a "Ho-ho-ho" session. Juzcards playing, playing 7-up & drinking. P. Surachay & Tonn were drunk, super high. Very funny too! Had to drink Scotch Whiskey - BLEARGH! After all this fun, Huikeng & I went home to find Renzhen & Evan still awake! We talked for a while more before all of us slept.

Now...after this writing, I'll home to get ready to leave. Mixed feelings - I dun like this feeling.