Thursday Yaowawit’s marching band performed very well! They had the honor of leading a parade. Within the parade various Thais were competing with their costumes and some kind of bamboo contraption that is carried by about 20 men. I don't really understand what this was but it was really beautiful and cool. There were also some Indian individuals in the parade, their ensemble included two elephants and Indian women in saris and men playing drums. I'm not sure what else this was simply because I couldn't fully understand the Thai descriptions. I did enjoy the show though. Very colorful and beautiful!
Friday I was expecting to go to the fair about 4:00 pm but while I was lounging in my room at 9:00 am, a few of the teachers came down the hill on their motorbikes yelling my name... apparently some of our younger students were competing in a traditional cooking exhibit. They make sweets and wrap them in banana leaves or palm leaves (I forget which) and then steam them. One of these is a delicious peanut butter sticky ball (YUM!) and the other was a sticky rice and bean mix stuffed into one of the folded yellow and green leaves. This tasted grate as well.
This lasted a bit so towards four of the other teachers and I walked from the market area (where the fair is being held) about a block to one of the local hair dressers. My hair's been driving me nuts so I got another hair cut. (80 baht for the curious ~ $2.50). :-) I realized what the problem is... my hair does not like this climate and it basically curls the wrong way and fluffs out and looks like crap. The Thai women have beautiful long straight hair and don't have to use any gels to make it look good. Hmm... I found out why. They pay 1000 - 2000 Thai baht and have it straightened about every 1 - 2 years! Cool.
Anyways, afterwards we found out that Yaowawit placed 3rd with the treat competition. I think there may have only been 4-5 schools though! One of the others was students from the class I teach at the local primary school. It was fun seeing them again. I won't see them until "next term."
By the time we got back I was exhausted and crashed for a few. I was also pretty dehydrated! The last couple of days have been a lot warmer and there's been a lot less rain as well. I think I missed the sun. I've been less mopey this week so maybe the weather was part of it! And I'm getting to enjoy some of the other teachers and people here too which I think makes a huge difference.
Friday we hit the fair again at 8:00 pm for the dancing and singing competitions. We had two groups of girls performing and I found out that the cook Thui (the one who generously invited me north for part of the holiday) was singing. Thui was incredible and ended up winning a huge trophy. One of the older girls also did a solo in a gorgeous evening gown. Our dancers performed really well. I'm not sure if they got prizes or not. Again, if the video clips are short enough I'll post them.
When someone performs, friends and people in the audience that enjoyed the performance will often come up to the stage and give the performer(s) flowers. For this event a large number of plastic flowers were strong on ribbons and Yaowawit teachers were in charge of organizing and "selling" these. Once the performer(s) received their flowers (an honor) the plastic flowers were then brought back to be re-used for the next contestant's admirers. The flowers inevitably would be quite tangled within the 5 minutes they were used and would need to be regrouped. One string of flowers cost 10 baht.
After a bit I disappeared into the fair market area. It reminds me of what I think a small town fair in the US would be like. A huge number of vendors selling things, vast quantities and varieties of things to eat (unfortunately there is no bratwurst to be had here - SO sad)! I bought a couple sweet things and then walked over to where a movie was playing - yay for me - it had English subtitles. There were booths where people could shoot things and win prizes. There was a booth where you could "fish" out what looks like a bottle cap but has a note inside designating your prize. There was also a huge inflatable play thing that the kids were having fun on... sounds like your normal fair, eh? Although I didn't see any animal exhibits. I DID see some fried bugs though! "You like?" There was also Thai boxing (which I briefly saw before I had to get back to the performance) as well as a drinking area and stage for dancing. (Looked like the typical beer garden minus the ropes). :-)
I went back to the fair this afternoon with Uncle Jew, Thui and her son Wasin, Than (the other cook, and a couple of gals I know but can't remember their names. We just walked around - they bought stuff - I bought melon bubble tea (CHARLENE - yes - it's the same flavor as the S. Korea popsicles! I'm in heaven!). I didn't buy much. Not much in the way of cool souvenirs.
All in all... a fun fair and it reminded me in some ways of home.
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