It's been well over a month since I've seen an elephant, much less been privileged enough to give one a bath or say butter-butter-butter to one. This blog has been very good to me in that it has caused me to re-live my memories in detail and to record them in a way I'll be able to re-visit for years. And it's also been so very good to see on my "Stats" that there have been about 2000 views of this thing--some of them I'm sure by accident--since its inception in March. And some of you have been so good about commenting--thank you so very much.
I've been working with Jack and Jemma to see if there is some way to get some more of the little wooden elephants carved by the mahouts in case anyone here would like one. We still haven't learned whether that's feasible. I thought it would be good to sell some to people here so that the mahouts could make some extra money and the Project could have a little emergency fund too. Jack told me how they were offered an elephant for $7500--apparently not a bad price for an elephant--but they didn't happen to have that much on hand at the time. Shortly later they learned that the elephant had died of neglect.
If any of you feel moved to help the Project, there is a place you can donate on their website, which is at http://www.elephantvalleyproject.org/
If anyone feels like they might to go to the Project and has any questions, please either email me or leave a question in the comments section of this blog, and I will answer them promptly.
Another thing I need to say is this: when I told one of my friends about this trip I was planning, and she learned that Scott was not going, she said "Oh, no, is something wrong with your marriage?" I was stunned to hear her ask that. Scott has been so unbelievably supportive of this whole thing, despite his very real reservations. I would never have had the nerve to go without his reassurance and devotion and selflessness. I once read that one sign of a good marriage is whether you find yourself able to do important things you would not have done on your own. This trip has taught me that I am fortunate enough to have a REALLY good marriage! Thank you Scott!
Thanks for reading!
And here's a BIG good-bye from the girls.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Miscellany Part 2
While going through the videos I took, I found this one of Buffy trying to steal sugar cane from Easy. Sugar cane is a rare treat for the Big Four, and they love it! Each elephant had been given a piece the size of a piece of firewood, and Buffy, having finished hers first, thought she'd help herself to Easy's. Easy declined to share, however, so Buffy had to make do with a multiple-itch scratch.
One day when Meagan and I were out with the mahouts and the Big Four, I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye of what appeared to be a tiny brightly colored whirling umbrella. I thought it was either: A. An alien spaceship on a mission to the elephants of Mondulkiri; B. A hummingbird, or: C. A hallucination resulting from dehydration or something or other. Wrong on all counts! Here is the photo Meagan got of it. Wish we could have gotten a shot of it while it was in flight.
A world class bug!
And the last miscellaneous photo I'd like to show you is something that arrived at home the day I got back. It was from my dear friends The Inalienables welcoming me back from my huge adventure!
One day when Meagan and I were out with the mahouts and the Big Four, I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye of what appeared to be a tiny brightly colored whirling umbrella. I thought it was either: A. An alien spaceship on a mission to the elephants of Mondulkiri; B. A hummingbird, or: C. A hallucination resulting from dehydration or something or other. Wrong on all counts! Here is the photo Meagan got of it. Wish we could have gotten a shot of it while it was in flight.
A world class bug!
And the last miscellaneous photo I'd like to show you is something that arrived at home the day I got back. It was from my dear friends The Inalienables welcoming me back from my huge adventure!
Just one more blog entry after this!
Monday, September 5, 2011
Miscellany
It's hard for me to end this thing. I've so enjoyed remembering the details of the trip, and I think this blog will make those memories clearer and longer-lasting that any I've acquired in other trips. And those of you who have been reading along, and especially those of you who have been commenting, Lynn and Marc and Kathy, have really enhanced the pleasure I've gotten from this blog! Thank you so very much!
So. When I review my photo album, I find several pictures that somehow didn't fit into previous blogs, so I going to post them not, even if they don't fit into any particular chronology. Here goes:
This is the genocide museum at the Killing Fields. I thought this tree was so beautiful it almost neutralized some of the horror.
What is there about those who commit genocide that makes them such meticulous record-keepers? Wouldn't you think you'd want to destroy all the records? What on earth could make you think you'd be well-thought-of by the future?
But no, the Khmer Rouge kept incredibly detailed records of all the people they arrested, tortured, and killed--mostly all the well-educated people of the country, doctors, engineers, lawyers, writers, journalists--roughly 1/4 of the population. The records they kept included photographs, of which these are some.
Apparently when the Vietnamese finally rid the country of the Pol Pot regime, the bodies of people who had been tortured to death were found at the downtown prison named S-21. Photos of the victims were displayed in the very rooms the bodies were found in, together with some of the devices of torture used.
These lovely little Buddhist shrines are all over the country, complete with little incense sticks for passers-by to use to pay their respects.
But this one, right on the grounds of S-21 seemed TOO ironic for my tastes.
There were an awful lot of beautiful temples and palaces in Phnom Penh. I wish I could tell you more about them, but I was too hot to do anything more than take a picture.
Jemma was JUST telling me to look out for this type of plant when I slipped on the clay and reached out to catch myself on--you guessed it--one of these! Can you SEE the size of the thorns on this tree? Stuck my thumb good and hard and gave me a use for some of that terrific antibiotic cream I'd brought.
This sign at the Elephant Valley Project says everything that needs to be said. This photo, by the way, was taken by Jill.
Even sad-eyed Happy Lucky looked content when she got to eat banana leaves. In the background you can see the sign marking the sometimes impassable driveway into the Elephant Valley Project.
You met Granny at the wedding. Well, this was the little house at the Project she had. She watched the little kids who are children of the mahouts and the other staff. Every time you'd walk by, the kids would shout "Hello! Hello!" and "Bye-bye! Bye-bye" interchangeably. Even so, their English was incomparably better than my Bunong. This is a pretty typical Bunong home.
More later!
So. When I review my photo album, I find several pictures that somehow didn't fit into previous blogs, so I going to post them not, even if they don't fit into any particular chronology. Here goes:
This is the genocide museum at the Killing Fields. I thought this tree was so beautiful it almost neutralized some of the horror.
But no, the Khmer Rouge kept incredibly detailed records of all the people they arrested, tortured, and killed--mostly all the well-educated people of the country, doctors, engineers, lawyers, writers, journalists--roughly 1/4 of the population. The records they kept included photographs, of which these are some.
Apparently when the Vietnamese finally rid the country of the Pol Pot regime, the bodies of people who had been tortured to death were found at the downtown prison named S-21. Photos of the victims were displayed in the very rooms the bodies were found in, together with some of the devices of torture used.
These lovely little Buddhist shrines are all over the country, complete with little incense sticks for passers-by to use to pay their respects.
But this one, right on the grounds of S-21 seemed TOO ironic for my tastes.
There were an awful lot of beautiful temples and palaces in Phnom Penh. I wish I could tell you more about them, but I was too hot to do anything more than take a picture.
Jemma was JUST telling me to look out for this type of plant when I slipped on the clay and reached out to catch myself on--you guessed it--one of these! Can you SEE the size of the thorns on this tree? Stuck my thumb good and hard and gave me a use for some of that terrific antibiotic cream I'd brought.
This sign at the Elephant Valley Project says everything that needs to be said. This photo, by the way, was taken by Jill.
Even sad-eyed Happy Lucky looked content when she got to eat banana leaves. In the background you can see the sign marking the sometimes impassable driveway into the Elephant Valley Project.
You met Granny at the wedding. Well, this was the little house at the Project she had. She watched the little kids who are children of the mahouts and the other staff. Every time you'd walk by, the kids would shout "Hello! Hello!" and "Bye-bye! Bye-bye" interchangeably. Even so, their English was incomparably better than my Bunong. This is a pretty typical Bunong home.
More later!
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