My final time at San Damiano

My pictures are off the wall, the office is barren, the desk has been cleared (although a thick layer of dust remains), and it's the end of the road. Leaving here will be the hardest thing I have to do this year, and saying goodbye to the boys is going to tear my heart apart, however I can always look back at my time here with nothing but fond memories, and my final two weeks here has epitomized everything I love about my life here.

 It hasn't exactly been the usual routine in these last two weeks. Formal tuition practically ended, and apart from some English related games with the morning boys, my class was no more. However, there's still been plenty going on. A lot of preparation was done for the local Harvest Festival celebration, Kaamatan, between the boys and the girls hostel. Choir rehearsals, dance practice, decorative preparations, it was all going on. Even though we've been living here for a year, we could play little part in preparing for a traditional Dusun celebration because at the end of the day, we're still a couple of white boys, but there was nothing stopping us from entering the singing competition. Me and Hugo decided to learn our favourite Dusun song called 40:40, which is essentially about a girl who used to be slim and pretty, but is now fat and has a waist size of 40, a blunt and quite cruel song that is accompanied by a jolly little beat! As we prepared for this cheeky number, we were oblivious to the seriousness of the competition, and when we were told on Thursday that we had auditions to get to the final in just half an hour, we realised just what we had got ourselves into! A bit of good impro dancing and being white got us through to the final; we were just pleased we had a role in the celebration so we could leave our final mark on Kiulu.

Other than the singing, I played my part in some of the food preparation as well. I didn't have any intention to kill anyone so I didn't actually cook anything, my job was far more enjoyable. One afternoon one of the boys, Rahul, spontaneously invited me out to his kampung to go and collect some fresh water snails to cook for Kaamatan. These snails make a delicious soup called siput, cooked with garlic, ginger, onions and some seasoning. It's a bit of a local favourite, one that I've certainly taken to! As if I was ever doubtful to go, he clinched the deal when he told me he had two pet monkeys at home! Rahul, Fredron, Chel and I began our hike into the interior, crossed a couple of rivers and eventually reached his home at the top of the hill overlooking the rest of the village. Rahul then revealed his surprise leaving gift for me as he unveiled the entire jaw of a jungle pig. I had to decline the kind offer as it was a little too big and might be a little difficult to smuggle into the UK, but he wanted to offer something, so out came the hammer and out came the teeth of this jungle pig jaw. So as of now I'm the proud owner of 4 jungle pig teeth, and I'll forever treasure each and every one of them. Then it was off to the river to collect these fresh water snails! It was a good haul, but I was just happy to be enjoying my afternoon with a few of my boys swimming in a beautifully tranquil river, embracing my surroundings and company. It was the same the next day as well! Not another trip to a kampung, just at our own river, but we had loads of fun collecting some more snails, skimming some stones, and watching Rahul attempt a front flip in the water. It was great to have such quality time with the boys, exactly what I wanted. The evenings as well have been filled with chats late into the night, assisting them with some Maths here and there, simply enjoying our last moments together.

About to hit Rahul's river and find some snails!

Rahul and Fedron after a good snail shift

Down at our river with Marcellus

Rahul's attempt at a flip. Literally inches away from the ground

All the snails!

On the Wednesday we had Part 1 of our leaving celebration. Slideshows, cake and music was all great and had me in high spirits, but a couple of speeches from the boys had me in floods of tears. It was such a beautiful evening though with the boys saying some really touching things and presenting us with little gifts of appreciation. Part 2 this Wednesday could well destroy me.

Our banner at the farewell party

Just about stopped crying at this point

All the lads

Another highlight of my week came out of absolutely nowhere. It was Tuesday afternoon and I was playing sepak takraw like any other day when these two guys arrived at the gate and wanted to speak with me. Once I'd finished my game i went to have a word. It turns out that they heard about a white guy that was living in Kiulu who plays football like Michael Carrick. On the back of a fine season from Carrick, I took this as a massive compliment, and was extra pleased that word of my footballing ability had spread further than I thought. They invited me to play a friendly game on Thursday at the next village called Melinggan. This sounds like a normal request, nothing too special, but this was a big thing for me. I've been cycling and bussing it past the field at Melinggan all year and I've been desperate to play on it as it's one of the best pitches I've seen in the area. So this was an opportunity I had to take! I only found out on the Thursday that i was actually playing for Kiulu FC who play in the KK League, and they're no mugs! Ex- state players, warm ups, the lot! We won 8-1, and my contribution of 5 assists seemed like a good shift. I was just so thrilled to be able to play a proper competitive game of football at long last. It was knackering but it felt so good, and reassured me that I hadn't completely lost it!

"Smile Van Persie!"

Finally onto the main event, Kaamatan! Jason, Barney, Hatty and Amy all came to join us as well, and we all had a great day. Me and Hugo managed to get our hands on some traditional Kadazan Dusun costumes, so we looked the part (minus my white trousers) (*Hugo's white trousers). It was everything you'd expect from a Sabahan celebration- singing, dancing, eating, with some extra additions of arm wrestling, some acting and even a cheeky raffle. As for our performance, it went down an absolute treat! I was really nervous, maybe because for some it was to be our parting memory, so I wanted to end on a good note. Musically, I'm not sure a good note was ever achieved, but it was at least a bit of a crowd pleaser.

Barney and a couple of tribal warriors

Winning the crowd over with my cultural dancing

Congratulating my competitor, Ben, for first place, while I had to settle for 4th

Me and Hugo looking sharp

Me, Hugo, and the hard working prefects that made it all happen

So now it's my second last day, and this time next week I'll be cycling through the jungles of Borneo, riding closer and closer towards the end of this epic year. These last couple of weeks at my project are something I will remember predominantly as a happy time and not one of melancholy and heartache. Of course at times it's been hard and it's horrible to think it's all coming to an end, but when I look back on my time here, I've got nothing but fond memories and great friendships to reflect upon, and I can't look upon it with anything else but a positive outlook. My time at San Damiano is up but there's still one big adventure to go before I'm back. Wish me luck!

A Project Trust family holiday

Another month has sailed by and once again I'm left wondering where it went. The end of May at Project saw the final product of the Countries Project that we ran with the students which went down a treat (with the gold and silver going to my class! Sorry Hugo...), and after that it was time for our final holiday before finishing our project. The other volunteers from West Malaysia decided they wanted to fly out and see the better part of Malaysia, so it was our responsibility to show them round as we are now your common residents (not quite in skin colour). We essentially had two weeks to fulfil any burning desires that we had regarding the many adventures that are dotted around this beautiful part of the world, and this was really last chance saloon, so we had to make the most of it.

Practicalities meant that the first couple of days were spent in and around the capital, but as the capital is horrendously boring, we jetted off to the islands just 20 minutes away and had a good old catch up with the others, swimming in the sea and playing football with some locals on the beach. On the 28th May, the others had a certain mountain to climb (jealous), meanwhile me, Hugo and Barney had to avoid becoming illegal immigrants, so it was another visa run to Labuan and Brunei, a trip that was almost identical to our previous visit in nature, but luckily this time no passports or cameras stolen, and we escaped with all belongings in tact.

Having a moment out at sea

The hat's not mine I swear, but cute family picture on the island

On the speedboat heading back to the mainland

Visas updated, it was time to party Sabah style! The end of May is a cracking time to be in Sabah as everyone comes out to celebrate Kaamatan, the Harvest Festival. We went to the KDCA centre, just outside the capital, the hub of the celebration. It was a real festival atmosphere; plenty of music, plenty of food, and of course, an abundance of alcohol. We were easily the largest group of white people walking around and thus attracted a lot of attention. We danced the traditional sumazau, drunk the local rice wine and Hugo and I even managed to maneuver a lunch with one of the Head of States in Sabah, just because us whites are practically royalty. I certainly wasn't complaining, free food served in bamboo shoots and Tiger beer all round, absolute win! As much as we were being treated like Kings, I felt like a real local as I kept bumping into people I've known and met in kampongs over my time here. But this also meant that I was getting dragged into one drinking session after another, and they wouldn't let us leave without downing our beers! So, as you can imagine, once those drinking sessions were completed, I was naturally in the mood for some karaoke! We absolutely bossed one of the local songs, twice, and received a warm reception for both word perfect renditions. We all had an absolute ball, and it was great to experience probably the biggest celebration on the Sabah calendar in such style (although I'm still gutted we missed the beauty pageant..).

Some traditional Sabah beats

Me and Hugo with some important people...

And with some not so important people

We entered June hungover and had an amazing time riding on a bus with ridiculously cold air con for 8 hours to the East Coast... When we eventually arrived, it was, however, great to see some old friends that we made the last time we visited Sandakan back in November. They own the only hostel in Sabah that has beanbags and duvets, and had marmite and toast ready for us for breakfast, which all together made me one happy backpacker! It was hard leaving such luxuries behind but for where we were going, it was worth saying goodbye. We travelled south to the famous Kinabatangan River, home to a whole host of incredible wildlife and untouched jungle riding high along its banks. As soon as we got on the speedboat that was to take us to our lodging by the river, my inner Nigel Thornberry took over and I started what seemed to be a perpetual gaze up into the trees in the hope of spotting any crazy creatures up in the canopy. There were times where the relentless staring brought me to insanity and I was genuinely seeing things that weren't there, such was my desire, and even a leaf falling had my antennae firing. We were fast approaching our lodging until the boats suddenly slowed up and dreams started to come true. We stealthily floated towards an overhanging fig tree where, to my sheer amazement, a female orangutan and her baby were feeding on the figs! Everyone and everything fell to a complete silence, as if the world had stopped to witness this beautiful sight. We'd seen orangutans in the sanctuary just earlier that day, but it just doesn't compare with seeing it in its natural habitat. It is a sensation like no other, a pure thrill that chases away any negative thoughts or feelings. You're simply caught in this moment, observing one of nature's finest creations, feeding, even howling, and it just takes your breath away. The buzz as we pulled away to continue our journey was incredible. I don't think anyone stopped smiling the rest of the way.

As if that wasn't enough, when we arrived at Uncle Tan's lodging, they only had a cheeky jungle futsal court! I had no idea life could be THIS good! Straight away, it was tops off and game face on as us white boys took on our jungle guides! We had an extra man and we made it count, picking them apart slowly but surely. It was a great introduction, and I had immediately hit it off with the main instructor, Lan, who was also a major football fanatic. Our lodging was a basic hut with mattresses on the floor and mozzy nets, sat in the middle of a swampy marshland with the sound of macaques howling and birds chattering all around us. Perfect. We had a cracking meal, and I made the mistake of getting out the rice wine I bought from Kaamatan to share round at dinner. Lan massively appreciated the gesture, and said he would repay the favour the next night, which is why my gesture was a mistake... So we went out for our night time cruise with a slight drunken glow which only enhanced our joyful mood. We saw many amazing birds- owls, kingfishers, all with beautifully bright colouring. We even caught a glimpse of probiscus monkeys sleeping high up in the trees, but we were told we'd see them in action the next day. Crocodiles do inhabit the waters but the water was too high to see any of them, and the high water also put off any jungle cats like the clouded leopard from making an appearance which was a shame, but it was still a good haul. I feel obliged to say that there are also pygmy elephants but we never had a chance. Life just isn't that good.

Our first boat ride to the lodging

Cruising along the Kinabatangan River

The unbelievable moment when we saw the wild orangutan and its baby. Breath taking.

Adorable baby

A blue-eared Kingfisher on the alert

The nutty neighbour to the Kingfisher, not impressed at all.

The next day we went out early morning. And what a morning! After the thrills of yesterday I was on red alert, and my own little Eliza, Amy, had a serious knack for spotting all the creatures hidden in the trees. We made a great team. A water snake trickled past our boat, we saw eagles and hornbills spreading their great wings in the distance, pacific swallows, more kingfishers, hawks, but the big Daddy was of course, the probiscus monkey. They come in packs, or harems, so if you see one, you could see about 20. Every harem has one alpha-male that leads the group, but there are regular battles among the males for that number one spot. To my sheer delight, we were lucky enough to witness such a battle as we watched these fat bellied, big nosed primates leaping from tree to tree in an enthralling chase after the alpha- male. Simply stunning. They jump ridiculous distances, sometimes falling up to 20m just to catch the next branch, and I can  tell you it makes great entertainment. Another rewarding cruise session. When we got back, we had an intense game of futsal where me and Lan were linking up to great effect. Unfortunately we let our lead sleep and ended up drawing 12-12. We cooled down by jumping in the river, but not for long as our morning's work was not yet done. Time for jungle trekking! We learnt some great survival tips, all about the types of vines, which plants are poisonous, which ones you can eat, all vital information that I can use all the time when I'm back home in London.
In the afternoon we went fishing which just ruined everything. I was doing everything right! My casting was second to none, my worm was juicy, but nothing. To add insult to injury, every girl on our boat caught at least one fish, while me and Hugo got nothing, leaving us feeling utterly emasculated. This is when the rain started to fall heavily, which I do believe is known as pathetic fallacy. However, the rain had greater repercussions. This put our sunset cruise up in the air, as it had the potential to change the course of the animal we were going out to see, the flying fox. Luckily, Lan took the decision to give it a go, just for us. In the absence of rain jackets, we got suited and booted in bin liners, and head off. Don't ask me how, but the rain was penetrating our supposedly full proof bin liner plan, and we were getting seriously wet. After we'd seen another group of probiscus monkeys, the other boat decided to head back, as our chances of seeing this giant bat were becoming slimmer and slimmer. We battled on however, and of course, patience won the day as after a long time sitting and waiting, the first flying fox flew from right to left over our heads to the sound of applause from a boat of very wet tourists down below. But that was just the start, soon they were coming out in force, and we must have seen about 60 of those monsters while me and Hugo made countless Dracula references like really cool kids. We were thoroughly satisfied, and turned to head back. We were at full speed, powering through the rain, when suddenly, as if just to make our day, a kingfisher flew out of nowhere and passed across our boat like a blur of colour against the grey, cloudy backdrop. I don't think any of us ever imagined being so excited at the sight of a kingfisher, but we all let out a massive cheer as if we'd been waiting for that moment our whole lives. At this point is was clear to see we were all nature-heads, and any animal just fuelled our overwhelming sense of joy.
We spent our final night drinking a bit too much, but Lan just topped off the whole trip for me by presenting me with an Uncle Tan's football shirt and asked me to play in the Kinabatangan Cup at the end of the month with his team. Whether I accept or not remains to be seen, as leaving the boys prematurely is not an option I particularly want to opt for, but the shirt will forever remind me of 3 of the best days of my life.

Absolutely in my element

But I'm looking in the wrong place. A cheeky water snake slithering by our boat

A male probiscus monkey preparing for take off...

Yolo

Left them all behind and neatly slotted it bottom corner. Lovely stuff

Next on the list was white water rafting in the Padas Sungai, which translates as 'spicy river'. The rafting base is only accessible by the only steam train to run through Sabah, so the journey there was an experience in itself. There were no 'mind the gap' warnings or awkwardly standing up with your face buried in someone's armpit. The sides were open and we were able to let our feet feel the breeze and watch the jungle fly by with the rapids just below. Definitely my favourite train journey ever. The rafting itself was spectacular. Padas makes the Kiulu river look babyish (which it is really), and there was a touch of anxiety as we hit the water with a fear of the force of nature beginning to mingle with our thoughts.
The first rapid we hit set the tone. As I was at the front, the rapid hit me directly, and while everyone else remained comfortably in their perch, I went flying into the middle of the boat, much to everyone's amusement. We got to witness the other boat capsize, which we all found hilarious, but when it was our turn it wasn't quite as fun as it looked. It was just scary. I was gasping for air but was only gulping in more water, getting trapped under the boat, getting chucked about by the rapids like I was a toy. Fortunately we made it out of the rough patch and caught sight of the instructors calling out to us telling us to swim with more rapids fast approaching up ahead. We fought against the current and marginally avoided the wroth of the forthcoming rapids, and as soon as I was pulled up to safety all panic dissipated and turned to laughter, and once again I was able to enjoy myself and I could then reflect on our little excursion under the water as nothing more than a bit of fun rather than the life threatening moment I had it down to be while it was happening. What a day, the perfect way to celebrate Hugo's birthday!

Steam train to the Padas River

Dangling our feet off the train, looking out onto the raging river and the beautiful jungle

My face doesn't show it but I'm having a great time!

Me and Helena at the front taking the hit for the team

That's one spicy river

Powering through the rapids!

And then this happened. Literally being tossed about like a toy by the rapids, but what an experience!

The other volunteers had to go back with their last memories of me chundering in the toilet as the river appeared to be a bit too spicy for my taste. I was also exhausted from all the travelling and just needed to wind down. As luck would have it, the prefects from the hostel were having a little camp that weekend, the perfect way to relax and unwind. The comfort of having my boys with me again soothed my upset stomach (along with some pills), and we went fishing (nothing again), had a BBQ, played some games, sang karaoke and watched a film. The perfect end to an outstanding holiday.

A more simple form of entertainment- blindfolded people feeding us bananas

Pretty unfair that they got a cake I thought but there you go.

I'm back at project now enjoying my final few weeks here, with further Kaamatan celebrations to look forward to, as well as our own farewell party, which I'm not looking forward to quite as much. There's still lots to do in these final stages, but I'm loving every second of it. Great holiday but good to be home.