He gave me a chunk of the rosewood. "You see, it looks bad on the outside, but inside it is still very strong." He put it close to my nose and it smelt absolutely wonderful - a little like a rose, mixed with a rather earthy musk.
"Take this," Amele said. "It will be your spoon."
I have to admit I found the idea of transforming a chunk of wood into a practical spoon a little intimidating....
If there's anything lacking in my skillset, it would be carving; and unfortunately, creating anything that is even remotely useful is way beyond my usual capabilities.
As we returned to camp, it dawned on me that, the 'supermaket' is not only limited to a food section. It also includes a 'household goods' section.
Amele announced plans to make spoons, chopsticks, bowls, spatulas, and everything else that comes to mind from the wood we hoarded. I stood in awe of the wonderful resources the people here have at their fingertips.
He cut the piece of wood down to size for me; shaping it to look a little bit like a spoon (though a rather large one!).
Throughout the day I slowly scraped bits off the spoon. As I did, various comments were made by the other volunteers - along the lines of "That's the largest spoon I've ever seen in my life".
Some said it would make a nice novelty, but a novelty is the last thing I wanted it to be.
Later in the day, I demonstrated that my spoon was far from a novelty. It used it as a fan, fly swatter, fire retardent, ping pong bat, back scratcher, and most often, as a weapon for spanking the behinds of fellow volunteers. Therefore, upon its completion, I will name it 'Spanky'. And if it fails to become a spoon, all is not lost as I will at least have a very big bat that would come in very handy for the purpose of spanking the behinds of illegal loggers.
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