Weaving, wats and woodwinds

Today we took a field trip to a neighboring province to see a silk weaving shop, a collective of woodworkers making handmade instruments and a Buddhist temple. On the way we stopped for lunch at a cafeteria-like set-up. There was also a 7-11 nearby so after lunch the WorldTeach volunteers made a much needed sweets run. I actually found some chocolates made in Thailand but they tasted a bit waxy, so the search to satisfy my chocolate cravings continues….

Here are pictures from the weaving shop. The looms were gigantic and the women working them were incredibly talented:

Silk Weaving Looms

Loom with shuttle and fabric

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then visited an ornate Buddhist temple, or Wat, which was located in the same village as the weaving shop. There were many Buddhist monks around the site but none seemed too keen on getting caught in range of our cameras.

Buddhist Temple

Temple grounds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our last stop was a village collective of woodworkers who were making traditional Isan instruments. The instrument I am holding below is called a khaen (pronounced “can”) The khaen is really fun to play, but I quickly realized it was nothing like playing the clarinet!

Playing the khaen

 

 

Overall our field trip to a new province was great, minus the cattle herd traffic jams we got stuck in on the way back. Other highlights from the past few days include the onset of our introduction Thai language and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) classes. Just don’t ask me how to say banana in Thai yet. It is dangerously close to another word for a part of the male anatomy and unfortunately my novice ears do not yet pick up on the differences in pronunciation. I’ll have to be very careful at the market when fruit shopping!