Not in Kansas anymore

Well, here I am in Thailand, completely way the hell out of my comfort zone. Cold showers, no real plumbing, no shoes indoors. A bit of culture shock, but in a good way. The Wildlife center where i am staying and working is absolutely beautiful, and the other volunteers are super chill. Lots of europeans, some new zealanders. So far the work is hard(i mean elephant shit is heavy, right?) but rewarding. The animals here have all been rescued from places where they were kept doped up and used as tourist attractions or kept in tiny cages and not fed enough or the right food. And there's a vet here, so i've been buggin him to let me sit in on the stuff that he does around the center.
I spent this morning(every day starts at 6:30am) cleaning up bear poo and feeding them tons of fruit and veggies. Then cleaned and refilled the water buckets for the gibbons, which is more challenging then it sounds. They are wicked smaht and their arms are long and when swinging they can move up to 30 miles per hour in their cages. They like to grab and pull and scratch. But it keeps you on your feet i guess. good times. Then back to the bears and then helped the vet with a two hour leg amputation on one of the local dogs. Oh, and in the middle of the day we froze some coconut milk around peanuts and gave it to the gibbons to play with and keep them entertained. There are always things going on here and activities to get involved in. Took a swim in the lake too near the eight gibbon islands across from the center. At night i only get two hours to walk to the village, go online, and buy stuff i need, which is why i can't email everyone individually. started this instead. Soooo, its good here. Lots to get used to, but i seem to be getting more comfortable to the way of life. Really excited for my first day off so i can see what thailand is like outside of this place. Pictures soon. Miss you all very much. I could really go for some Doughboys right now....alas...