An Experience I Will Never be Able to Stop Talking About

The moments that will stick with me most from my experience in Thailand will definitely be from the two weeks I spent at Ran Tong Save and Rescue Elephant Centre. Every day we were immersed into the lives of the elephants and shown that there is no need to be afraid of these gentle giants. We were able to build relationships with them, especially the newest member of the Ran Tong family, the four month old baby named Harry Potter. Now, don't take "baby" the wrong way, he is more like a 400 pound puppy. While trying to clean his pen he would try and play with us by pushing us around and trying to take our tools and hats. He would grab our hands with his little trunk and teethe on them gently.
Not only did we get to experience the elephant's world, but we got to experience the villager's world. During our project we had the mayor of the village, the head of the village, and the former head of the village, helping us the entire time with our construction. They were incredibly kind and welcoming and taught us as much Thai as they could considering their English was quite poor.