Water Hope's Tracy Tomkovicz - Trip to China - Last day at the school

Sorry I didn't write last night, but I was just too tired and had to go straight to bed. We worked all morning wrapping up our various projects. Ali, Eva and I painted the last wall in the Dining hall. Steve, Carlos and JimBo made a plastic box to go over the water filtration system to protect it from the dirt and smoke in the kitchen. Scott, Randy, Tensen, O'yang and Steve (the other Steve) hired a backhoe to dig a trench and the men laid pipe. Next spring Scott will put in a box by a natural spring up the hill. The pipe will bring the water directly to the water tanks in the kitchen. The poor water boy will have to find a new occupation but they will have a constant source of water to the water tanks and filtration system. It was a stinky job. They had to skirt by and old, abandoned outhouse. Oh  my lord you can guess how much fun that was.

The trench got all dug and the pipe got laid. Next we had a photo shoot. Scott brought his friend Jacques who is a professional photographer. Jacques set up all of his camera equipment and a back drop near the wall of the monastery and photographed each of the workers with props unique to what we did when we were at the school . It was a blast. We all teased each other and the smiles were genuine. Scott brought the cooks new kitchen pots, pans, and tools along with 2 Toques (chef's hats). Jacques took pictures of the 2 of them in their new hats. They were so shy. They kept giggling and covering their faces. It was very cute.

We said our last, very sad goodbyes to the cooks, the teachers, the water boy, the monks and of course the beautiful children. I had  a weird mixture of feelings going on, sadness to be saying goodbye to the new friends we had made, joy to be heading home and dread of the three day drive back to civilization. This was when I really wished I had a pair of those damn ruby slippers Dorothy had. "There's no place like home."

Paijai treated us along the walk home to go inside some of the more private and sacred temples around the monastery.  They were awe inspiring. Covered with amazing murals and filled with gilded Buddha statues in all of his many forms to was breath taking.

Steve, Ali and I made dinner for the crew. Pasta Fagioli soup and couscous with sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms and parmasean cheese over a wood burning stove.  We even had a cocktail of rum and coke for a toast to our last night. Maybe that is why I was too tired to write?

Talk to you all soon!