Day Seven - Last Free Day!!

This morning we met Sylvia, who is in charge of the centre. She talked us through some more about what to expect during our placement – and told us a bit more about Ceria's background. He came as a baby and was so weak he had to go on a drip – his name means happy, as they were hoping he'd grow up to be happy and healthy. Not sure how often we will see Sylvia, as she's pretty busy, but we can go to her with any major problems we might have, or with ideas for the centre. She seems really friendly and her English is great!

Then late afternoon we had organised a tour to see the fireflies. We were picked up by the tour guide and taken to a small village around 20 minutes away.

The woman in the passenger seat had one of the fattest children I have ever seen – she handed out sweets along the ride and always had one in her mouth herself. She would sing along to the radio and wave and laugh – for some reason she found Melissa hilarious!

Once at the village we sat down and had tea with steamed banana (yuk!) and these little wobbly jelly type things with flour and coconut – they effectively tasted like a coconut pancake. They were quite dense, but I really liked them and managed to eat four! We then went outside and were taught a local game called 'three sticks'. The aim is basically to take a ball (made from taping up paper and plastic bags) and throw it at the three sticks that are propped up supporting each other. If you knock them down, the objective is to run over and get them set up again, but all the while the other team is trying to hurl the ball at your team and get players out, making it hard to get a clear

run at the sticks. It's a bit like dodge-ball meets bowling. The local children were really good at it, so we watched them play for a bit and then we had a go ourselves. It was good fun actually, but no one wanted to play too long in the heat!

Next we took a short stroll through the village before we hopped on a boat for a trip around the mangroves. We saw macaques and a baby crocodile (apparently) on route, and it was crazy how quick the sun went down. Then, on our return journey, the hunt was on for fireflies. And we were in luck, there were several trees along the bank that were filled with hundreds of them. Now they aren't the sort of thing you can capture on camera, but it effectively looked like a summer Christmas tree full of twinkling fairy lights. They all light up at different times to communicate. Truly a sight to behold.

Then it was back to the village and the B&B for dinner – which was a buffet of potato soup, rice, noodles, various curries and papaya (which I discovered I hate!). Then it was back to the rest house and an early night before our first day of work tomorrow! How surreal it all still is!