Fritters of Time

Don't ask me what I mean by the title. I just liked the sound of it.

Actually, it's vaguely related to what we've been doing. Our time here in Pattaya has absolutely been flying by. Neither of us can quite believe we've been here for four weeks already! The only sense we get of time passing is the changes we see in the little ones: babies on wobbly legs when we first arrived are now inveterate walkers, and as the older babies are graduating to the toddler room, wee infants are moving into the comparatively rowdy baby room. Our little friends are beginning to know us on sight. I don't think there's a better feeling in the world than the one you get when a baby's face lights up at the sight of you; certainly there's no better sound than his or her unbridled laughter.

Our time with the older orphanage children has also been rewarding. Our classes definitely keep us on our toes! This week, we participated in the Primary 2-4 weekly cooking class; the students make a simple snack (with a little help from the grown ups) and sell it to anyone who's lucky (or unlucky) enough to be on the orphanage property at that time. This week, we volunteered a recipe for apple fritters -- Canadian enough for you? We had to find a recipe that was simple enough to be made by children, in a wok, cooked over an open flame, and of easily-found ingredients.







The fritters were a hit! Deep fried apples -- how could they not be? I suspect we could have deep fried horseshoes and they would still have been tasty. I know I would have still eaten them.

I have also been commissioned to teach 'self defense' at the Drop-In Centre, a hilarious endeavour when you consider that many of those kids have come off of the streets. Still, they have humoured me and have come to two classes. Nice kids, those.