Volunteer and Adventure

Don’t Give Up

Posted: May 24, 2019

Hello guys, my name is Antonio and I am a community intern in Huay Pakoot, Thailand. I start off this blog by saying; whatever you expected to gain from this trip, whatever you think will be good, just to clarify, it will be better. It is true that there are some hard parts but that comes with what you had chosen. We do have an early start of the day with a stunning hike to the elephants that can take anything from 4-7h, mostly 4-5h but nevertheless, they are worth it. You start off your day feeling that you have accomplished something hard right away, for lack of a better word you feel alive!

Giving back what I can

Huay Pakoot is a small village and when I first came here, the first thing I thought to myself is, what the hell have I got myself into? Then as the days went by I grew to see past all of the formalities that we have back home, for example; most of us don’t have a shower, or a western toilet, or for that matter some ear plugs to sound out the roosters at 3am in the morning. All joking aside, this first week has been splendid; we are encouraged to learn some words to be able to communicate with our homestay families, just simply to give them the gratitude they deserve. They might not have much according to our “normal” standard but they go out of their way to make it feel at home. The only thing I can give back to them is gratitude. it’s a simple gesture, saying thank you and that the food was delicious.

Forgotten luxuries

The best thing is realising that we don’t need all the luxuries we have back home.I still have trouble adjusting to it, but I feel like its for the best since it forces me to realise what things are essential in life and what things are just luxuries. An example of this, is warm water, oh my gosh, that is the thing I miss the most without a doubt. Although the funny thing is, I still have a shower even though I get a huuuuge shock to my body when the cold water hits, but after a long and hard hike there is no better feeling, just feeling that cold water on your body. The next thing is probably a proper bed.

Overall these past 2 weeks have been incredible! I get to find out what my limits are, since I am not the fittest person in the world. I said to myself before coming here, DON’T GIVE UP, no matter what.