Somehow, we managed to put off our weekly trip to town for two whole days this week. Thursday, Pa was busy with things that he didn't manage to finish until late in the afternoon, so we decided to put it off until Friday. Friday, school lasted much longer than we anticipated, so we put it off once again.
Friday, which we have dubbed "Fun Friday", was just that. Pa had spent several years in Thailand many years ago, during the Vietnam era, and had chosen to live off base with the locals. This enabled him to make friends, and experience what to us would be a rather unique lifestyle. It also enabled him to get some really great pictures!
Friday, the end of our lessons on Thailand, Pa treated us to a fun, interesting, and quite educational lesson. He brought out all the really cool statues, figurines, and musical instruments he had brought home with him so many years ago. He also passed around oodles of pictures, of his neighbors and friends, their children, and of the countryside. We all thought the pictures of the rice paddies were interesting, as well as the market places, and the homes. Lindsay was quite taken with the instrument that resembled a guitar, while I liked the one that reminded me of a violin, and we all thought the Kaen was way cool. The Kaen is an instrument made of a bunch of bamboo pieces, with tiny little holes on either side of the "mouthpiece". Very cool, although I have to wonder how in the world one would manipulate all those holes, especially considering how many "tubes" there are on this particular Kaen. I think I counted 16? It would be fun to try though!
Throughout Pa's demonstration, and again afterwards, he was peppered with all kinds of question. It was near 4 PM by the time school was dismissed for the day. No way were we going to make it into town that day!
This afternoon, after the kids' Saturday morning shows were finished, we got ready and headed into town. First stop was the Library, where we were almost immediately stopped by the Librarians, letting us know this was not Thursday, nor was it Friday. What were we up to?? Hehe. I told them we were just trying to keep them guessing. They laughed, and informed us that they had even talked it over, wondering where we were, amazed we hadn't shown up as usual. Maybe next week we'll really shake things up and decide to go in on a Wednesday for a change...
Fortunately, we managed to leave early enough, that we were also able to make it back home in time for the kids to enjoy the beautiful sunshine. They're having a great time outside, as Pa is heating the charcoal up in the barbecue for tonight's dinner. The cats are also enjoying the extra attention they get when the kids are spending the day outside. I think the cats are probably also getting excited to see Pa messing with the barbecue. They do seem to enjoy that show. I wonder if it might have anything to do with the aromas that are inevitably emitted shortly after he fires it up?
2 comments:
Sounds like a wonderful lesson and a wonderful day as well. Musical instruments are always a great way to dip into another culture. Sounds like your family enjoyed the entire week.
What an absolutely fantastic learning session with the kids! :) First hand experience and I bet they just loved it!!! :)
You all have such a gifted knack to keep learning fun! How important that is!!!!!
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