Karaoke B-Day Bash and Building Day 5 (We're Floored)

Greeting UT-GV Fan Club AKA "Udon-heads"

Last night we celebrated one of our teammates, Erica from Carrboro NC, 25th birthday. For such a momentous occasion our Thai hosts pulled out all the stops. After turning off the highway onto a dirt side road that was momentarily scary, we arrived at a great Thai restaurant with our own AIR CONDITIONED private dining room... that was... wait for it... also equipped with a Thai Karaoke Computer (I think it was a Commodore 64 model).

Highlights of the meal included the chicken and cashews in addition to whole fried fish. But the real fireworks started during the meal as we serenaded each other with several Western and Thai-language classics. The Beatles appeared early and often in the set with such sing-a-longs as "Hey Jude" and "Oh-bla-di". JB treated the crowd to a stirring version of the Chairman's "My Way." A girly dance party broke out during Madonna's "Like a Prayer." Duncan describes the rollicking "Bohemian Rhapsody" as "OTT" (over-the-top) and "transcontinental." And the finale of Abba's "Dancing Queen" followed by the encore of the Eagle's "Hotel California" absolutely brought the house down. Erica proclaimed that this was her best. birthday. ever.

Today was our last complete day of building here in Udon Thani. We returned to our main house. The one that we had been working on most of the past week. Our task for today was to work on the floor. See Pat and Steph here (yes they finally did make it here after being trapped in Beijing for 3 days!) doing a great job on the bamboo:

Some of us cleaned out the house while others cut the large pieces of bamboo that we would later criss-cross to make the foundation of the floor. We spent the rest of the day mixing concrete by hand and then pouring it over the pieces of bamboo. We completed the floor for about 3/4 of the house! On Monday we will finish and do the home dedication, while tomorrow we will attend church with the Thai Habitat staff and then visit ancient ruins. Tune in soon for the report on that.