King Narai Festival

Apparently February is King Narai month in Lopburi.  I guess that he lived in the palace in Lopburi and was a pretty well-loved king during the 17th century.  In celebration, the students wore traditional Thai clothing for the past three weeks.  It's really fun to see them in clothes that aren't their uniforms and the traditional Thai clothes are very colorful.  The culmination of the celebration was a week-long festival held at the palace.  There were lots of clothing vendors, food, and shows throughout the week.  Anuban was sponsoring a small stage and our director, Ann, had to go for a few hours each night.  We were told that she wanted one of us to go to the festival with her each day and they would dress us up in traditional clothing.  I got to go this past Tuesday.  After lunch I was wrapped in some thai silk to make a skirt and then wrapped in some pink lace cloth for a top.  Then I had lots of make-up applied, a hair ornament added, and was adorned with jewelry.  Then I was told to wait for two hours until we left school...  We finally get to the festival and I have to wait around some more until Ann shows up and we get on stage.  I mostly just had to smile and nod and agree with things that she was saying, even though the majority of people watching would have no idea what I was saying.  There were five different performances that we introduced, a few dance rountines and a traditional Thai band.  Then I had my picture taken with over 100 different Thais, they do love their pictures here.  Overall it was a good experience, but a very long day!

On stage at the festival

With Ann and someone I was told is "very important in Thailand"

Nearing the End

Yesterday everyone in the Mini-English Program went on a school trip.  P1/2 went to an aquarium, P3/4 went to a museum in Bangkok, and I went with P5/6 to a National Park.  We got to school early and settled in for a 2.5 hour bus ride to the park.  Then we split up and I went with some of the P6 girls and a trail guide.  Now none of this trip was in English, but I still enjoyed being outside and seeing some different scenery.  It was a tiring day and we made it back to the school around 6.

Our final exams have been scheduled for March 1st and 2nd, so only 2 and half more weeks of teaching!  It really has gone by quickly.  I'm excited for some traveling before I go home.  My friends Brie and Mel are coming to visit this weekend, so we're going to try and make a tentative schedule for March and April.  Also, Brie bought the same ticket back to NYC as me so I'll have some company for the flight!

Not much longer now, I'll have to bring my camera to school a few more times and make sure I get lots of pictures of all my favorite students! Like Jeans...