At 9:15am our bus left, bound for a Christian church nestled off a main road in Pattaya (not sure of its address). I was under the belief that we were spending the morning with the children, but they were no where to be seen as we took our shoes off and entered the church. The group was a little confused; the entire service was in Thai. Despite the fact that not many of us are religious or practicing any religious customs, it still was nice to experience something a little different, and we were all looking forward to seeing the kids!
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| With the 95% of the Thai population Buddhist, a Christian Church is a rare sight |
Through the service they suddenly arrived! The kids hustled in, found a seat, and couldn't contain their excitement. A few boys in front of Kate and I couldn't help but turn around and steal a couple of cheeky glances. A few songs and they were back downstairs, and Kate and I were following shortly after. I won't lie - I was falling asleep. I did enjoy the singing, but everything in between... I obviously couldn't understand it.
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| (Photo courtesy of Lisa) |
Luckily Emma managed to get us out of singing a song during the service. The song we had chosen was "Home Among the Gumtrees" and would have been totally inappropriate without the kids, especially because we had planned on doing the actions to the chorus! So the song was saved for after lunch (which was aroy, aroy - delicious, tasty!), and it was a hit for the audience, who requested an encore of the chorus!
Following lunch and dessert, it was time for the kids to head back to the orphanage. It was such a hard goodbye! I think I would have preferred to have ended our contact at the orphanage yesterday and left it on a happier note. I was also shocked and heartbroken to see most of the kids climb into the back of a taxi, and a lucky few got to ride in the back of a not-so-crammed ute. This was a very stark contrast to Pattaya Orphanage and their donated bus, and for me raises the issue of transport safety...
It was then our time to leave the church and we were taken to view the new land that is awaiting development of the new orphanage. I didn't catch much of what was being said and after a quick look on the internet I found some information regarding the new project.
Housing project
- Late 2010 saw the beginnings of a project to construct a purposed-designed facility to accommodate more than 100 children due to Baan Jing Jai's expansion
- In March 2011, a suitable site for the home was purchased with money previously collected plus a bridging loan
- The new site is approximately 6,750 sq. m.
- Situated approximately 1km from the junction at the School of the Regents, off Highway 7
- The initial building will contain:
- Bedrooms for 40 boys and 40 girls
- 20 cot nursery
- First aid room
- Library
- Art room, music room and leisure room
- Offices
- Kitchen and maintenance areas
- There will be space for a large playground and garden areas
- Target of 18,500,000 baht to complete the project
- 10,783,116 baht raised so far
- A committee has been established to organise and raise funds required to build the new orphanage and oversee the construction process
- This committee is completely independant from the day-to-day fundraising for the Home which continues as usual
Source: www.baanjingjaifoundation.org/project.php
A 2-hour nap was enough to recharge the batteries and we were out again. Dinner was at the same restaurant as yesterday, and this time it was seafood spaghetti - amazing! We had tickets for a 9pm show at Tiffany's which I had been so excited to see (probably the only thing I actually wanted to do while in Pattaya!). It is the original transvestite cabaret show in Pattaya and is in its 38th year. Tiffany's is voted number 4 in the top ten best transvestite shows to see around the world (after Moulin Rouge Paris, Siegfried & Roy Las Vegas, and Mysters Las Vegas). The show was truely incredible and I was mesmirised by the stage sets, sparkling dresses and huge head pieces. Well worth the 800 baht! To top off a good night, a few of us popped down to the bar at the Holiday Inn and enjoyed a mojito.
Nothing had changed my opinion of Pattaya though: hot, seedy, loud and lit-up; bars filled with women in tight short shorts and crop tops, swaying around poles, completely expressionless; as seedy men sit around glaring up at them, yet still noticing us foreigners walk past and wasting 5 seconds of their time to yell out at us. "Where are you ladies going by yourselves?" *cringeworthy* Maybe a few more days would have allowed for further exploration, but for now, I was happy that it was our last night in this uncomfortable tourist beach-side city.
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