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Other entries in Chiang Mai

weekend

haven't felt the freedom of a 'weekend' in over a year. and it really wasn't one - just a motobike ride into the city saturday night, then back again sunday AM in time to teach art again that afternoon. but just getting away, being 'me' again for a night, wearing a tank top (bare shoulders - gasp!), eating LOTS of food with meat, splashing out on (too many) gin & tonics, and dancing to d&b was all super fantastic and just what I needed...and even better that I was hanging out with the awesome volunteers: cathrine (aus), jasmine, melanie, tonya, marcos (all germany).

but aside from that night, the past 2 weeks have been 100% school for life. I leave tomorrow and of course it will be gut-wrenching to say goodbye. bummer I can't stay longer to know the kids more, to do projects that take a month to finish, not an hour....but now I feel better about my plans in india/nepal - committing to 2 months at each place there will lead to a richer experience for everyone involved.

in the time I did have here, we made paintings, oil pastels, still lifes, masks, and the elephant project actually worked! (an idea I had for the fundraiser but wasn't sure it could be pulled off). we had the older kids saw elephant shapes out of plywood, then the littler kids paint. the painting day was another once of semi-controlled chaos. had same number of spills as the other painting day - 2 (I think that's pretty good) but no fights, complaints, etc. the kids painted 50 elephants in 3 hours! now they'll get sold at the fundraiser 9 sept. bummer I'll miss the event but feel good I helped in some way.

I also had the kids make books about themselves. it started a week ago with 5 kids helping me make handmade books.  around here, anything you need done, if you just go to a public spot and start doing it, within minutes you'll have loads of peeps around willing to learn and take over. it's pretty cool.  so we created a mini-assembly line: 1) fold paper 2) sew paper 3) tie knot 4) cut open folded paper 5) press the folds. the best part was each step was suited to the age of the kid doing the work. I couldn't have planned it better - it all just happened. we made 30 books in 30 minutes -  would have taken me twice as long. the teacher was the student in so many ways on this day....

on sunday we colored the books. they copied phrases in english and drew pictures to go with ("I like to eat...." "I dream about..." "when I grow up I want to be...."). a group of 3 boys were the best to watch - they couldn't at first get the concept and I was thinking 'shit, this is gonna bomb' but then I saw the exact point the lightbulb went off in one kid's brain, he told the others in thai what we were asking for, then they all start scribbling away. excellent! on the food page they had chickens, fried egg, all the utensils (including a chinese-style spoon), cooking pots, a gun (?). on the 'when I grow up' page were super heros. hmmmm.....

today is my last class (I think - you never know for sure until the kids actually show up). it's bigger kids - talented. last week we did still lifes. today I'll teach them perspective and how to draw portraits. I've been drawing pics of teachers and students whenever I can so it's sparked some interest. biggest challenge is to keep kids from getting frustraed that it doesn't look perfect, but I guess that's probably the same everywhere.

but tomorrow it ends & I hop a train to bangkok. :(    but pretty sure I'll make it back someday. so this is another place I'll say 'hasta luego' not 'chao'.

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