Smiles

Thailand is known as the land of a thousand smiles. The reason is obvious. However, last night we had a special Thai smiley face! It was formed from Jupiter, the North Star, and the crescent moon.
Today was more of the usual. After our typical day, we started work on a puppet theatre. We're using some recycled material so it was a little slow getting started as we had to take things apart first. Then I got a little distracted while Nadim went to find some more tools. A group of grade 6 students came up to me, wanting to practise their English. We started a conversation about the school garden. Before I knew it they were showing me patches of earth where they had just planted watermelon, onions, garlic, corn, and lettuce.

They also showed me plants that were already growing or even giving fruit. They showed me chillies, a papaya plant, squash, and some other flowering plant that they didn't know the name of. It's kind of funny how we attract a gaggle of kids wherever we go. It starts with one or two brave kids saying "hello!" and soon we gather a crowd. "Nadim" is a little easier to say, and he's probably more of an attraction, especially for the little boys. We now often hear "Nadim Hello!" as we walk across the school grounds. They always want Nadim to make animal noises. That's what you get for playing animal charades! Chicken seems to be the favourite.

CM