John on Tour: February 2013

To my knowledge, San Damiano's House Cooking is supposed to be a monthly event where we go down to the river to camp out and eat. Considering this was only my second time experiencing it, you can only conclude that it doesn't hold too much weight in the calendar and can be disposed of with the mere cross of a pen, but for the life of me I don't know why! The boys loved it, I loved it, and the mosquitoes certainly loved it! Last time, I was a late arrival, and shortly after I joined the party it began to rain- party over. This time I was there from start to finish, thoroughly enjoying the time spent with the boys, and trying desperately to prove I'm not just a city white boy who can't chop bamboo (granted, my technique needs improving). But we built some rather impressive bamboo shelters, and once we were done with the hard work, we cooked, played in the river, had a takro tournament (like football volleyball), sang and sat round the fire. It was essentially a Scout camp with a jungle backdrop, which is no bad thing. Well, apart from the mosquitoes. They were definitely a bad thing. They made sleeping difficult, then it started raining at 3 in the morning, which made sleeping nigh on impossible. That's when everyone bailed and took a long, hard 2 minute walk back to the hostel to the comfort of their own bed.

The beginnings of a hard days work.

Some of the boys collecting giant leaves that would later become a roof.

Blue shorts- smallest and cutest 13 year old you're going to find.

The boys having some gentle fun in the river

But things turned violent and sand war ensued. It became a savage battle between the Sabah people and the illegal Filipino immigrants. No racism here at all..

Fortunately both Sabahans and Filipinos found some common ground on which to build up a friendship. It involved burying a helpless boy up to his neck in sand. But they all came together and worked well to give Gianfranco a delectable female physique.

The finished product, a fine bamboo specimen!

A dead bat that we found in the bamboo. Clearly had an absolute mare.

Hey

Fearlessly handling a scorpion. James Bond eat your heart out!

The beautiful game of Takro.

You wouldn't think so but I do actually have a tan. But stick me next to a local like this and I'm still a milk bottle.

I'm definitely not that pale and I do still have a face.

The next day, after not the best nights sleep, we were off to Monfort Youth training Centre for another Chinese New Year celebration (one minus the alcohol). Us San Damiano boys took our moment in the spotlight as we sang a Chinese song, so I'm now claiming I can speak a bit of Chinese without having a clue about what I'm saying. We got to witness the classic Chinese dragons (a bit more dancing that the ones in KK who essentially walked up the road) which was great to watch, and enjoyed a solid meal with a selection of meaty goods. Generally, it was a weekend well spent with our boys; precious days as our time in the hostel dwindles further- just 4 months of teaching left.

As for our Library, I was planning to get some pictures (with me posing with my new Roald Dahl colelction which I'm immensely proud of), but it currently looks so pathetic I frankly couldn't do it. But take my word for it- we've made progress. All we need to do now is actually get a few more books so the shelves don't look quite as empty as they do now...

On stage belting out our Chinese number

I did really enjoy myself, and I took the "keep a smile on your face as you sing" very seriously

Dragon giving us a cheeky pole dance.

I think someone shouted something offensive from the crowd. The dragon heard and spun round on the attack. It wasn't pretty.

Happy posing before the demolition of the orange.

A stunning spread- Chicken and potato curry, battered fish, green beans, chinese sausage, roast pork, and rice, but that's a given.

Two dancing dragons, one sleeping dragon. The sleeping one wasn't so entertaining.

Didn't see a staring competition on the cards but here's the proof. Intense stuff.

Apologies to all keen followers of my blog (Mum) for the lack of blogging of late. Despite a lot happening, there's been a distinct lack of pictures to accompany the tales of my travels, and with pictures being the more interesting of the two, I've been putting this off for some time. However, for fear of forgetting what I've actually done this month, I've decided acting now would be wise.
For those who don't know, February is the month for the Chinese New Year celebrations. As I live in a country with a vast Chinese population, I was setting myself up for a whirlwind of parties and feasts to fly my way, gobbling up 'ang pow' (money given in red envelopes) as I go. With just two days until the start of the Chinese New Year, me and Hugo had no plans, no invitations. Disappointing to say the least. We traveled into the capital, fairly deflated, but hoping to find something interesting to do. We stumbled across a Chinese parade where we observed two dragons dancing to the beat of the traditional gongs, expertly played by children far younger than us. During the parade we were briefly filmed by a cameraman, but I had no idea we were being filmed and continued to stare gormlessly at the dragons much to everyone's amusement (text book me).

Some fine camera skills to snap the dragon from behind..

In the absence of anything Chinese to do that night, we had a night out with a couple of the Monfort students, Saran Rau and Alex, a night where these lucky boys were exposed to the splendor of my dance moves.

Me and the boys at our favourite Shamrock Irish Bar

Next day, our boss Remy saved the day and invited us to his house for a nice, chilled celebration at his house. We ate, we drank, we talked and we played cards. Good night.

Me and my students at Remy's playing China's fancy version of Rummie, 'Mahjong'.

Plenty to contemplate in that fridge.

With the help of Amy and Hatty, fellow Project Trust volunteers, we were then invited to another Chinese celebration a couple of days later. This one had the full works; traditional food, karaoke (Westlife got destroyed), plenty of drink, mini hand-held fireworks (simply a miracle nobody got seriously injured), ang pow and musical chairs, where Hugo literally came alive in the most brutal way possible, barging innocent old ladies off their chairs. He received 50 ringgit for his troubles, but the applause when he got his prize wasn't so generous..

Me receiving my ang pow, absolutely beaming.

Westlife- Flying Without Wings

Doing the old Sumazau dance, an absolute pro these days.

I think that man passed out on the floor shortly after this picture..

Valentine's Day was the next celebration on the list. Me and Hugo devised a brilliant program to have a very romantic evening combining our hostel with the girls hostel next door for a night of ballroom dancing (taught by me and Hugo Du Beke) and love song karaoke. Annoyingly, but somewhat inevitably, the nuns at the girls hostel shot our splendid program down at first glance. Having no girls was certainly going to be a hindrance to our plans, but it wasn't going to stop us. Valentine's Day was to be re-named- 'Gay Night'. It comprised a fierce Waltz competition where the boys tried their best to master the steps we taught, and a Grease- style elimination process ensued until we had our ballroom winners. I didn't spot a John Travolta in the making (although I impressed myself at times, it seems I have a natural flair), but it was something a bit different; whether all the boys took to it is debatable, but it was certainly funny to watch.

Posture is poor but there's a significant height difference, I'm sure Len Goodman would understand.

Top Gay Night

In sport related news, we've been white water rafting for the first time in the Kiulu River, and now we have the taste for it we plan to go again to a more challenging river further south (no pictures I'm afraid). After unofficially becoming assistant manager of the local school team and helping them to cup glory in both age groups at a football tournament, I've now been asked to do some extra coaching at the school which is a great opportunity for me to expand my up and coming John Haswell academy. We've also purchased our bikes for our Charity Bike Ride across Borneo in July. The trip will be in July and will take us maybe up to a month, cycling through jungle, mountain ranges and in equatorial heat. We are doing it for Unite Against Cancer, so quick advertisement, if you would like to sponsor us or find out more about what we're doing, please visit our Virgin Just Giving Page by following this link: http://www.justgiving.com/Hugo-Drummond

or if you would like to check out our facebook page the link is:

http://www.facebook.com/events/466601570067013/?fref=ts

OR if you would like to find out more about the charity, you can check out their facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/UniteAgainstCancer?fref=ts

Thanks for reading!