Sports Day at Thawangpha was drastically different from any other celebration I have ever seen or attended. For 2 weeks, the school had half days academically so that everyone could practice sports. By sports, I mean spear throwing, the long jump, running, and high jump etc… The entire school was divided up into 6 different colors. Each color created a massive billboard that framed 50 or 60 cheerleaders…cheering enthusiastically from the misty dawn into the deep afternoon. In each given event, 1 representative from each color would compete. As the day unfolded and the celebration commenced I felt wrapped up in a hallucinogenic Harry Potter Dr. Suess landscape only though stranger, and with much less organization.
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| re-defining fashion 1 purple head bow-tie at a time |
Before people started shooting guns off however there was a morning parade that twisted and winded from the fresh market (located a few Km away from school) to the school grounds. The parade was divided into sections. First the blue team went and then the yellow etc… each team dressed according to their color while wielding odd instruments to show excitement yet send a message. For example, the blue team walked around totting such signs explicating warning of the dangers of doing drugs as well as unprotected sex. The yellow team created a mini moving boxing ring made of string and blown up condoms. In the middle of this mobile ring 7 or 8 students rockin’ dark shades and pink tutus danced in a whimsical iridescent display to the hum of some Martian Korean 70’s hip hop dangling out of a small speaker carried by one of the dancers. This was my favorite.
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| Gangsters |
At one point I even joined in the blown up condom matrix dance part…I mean I had to, it was too good - these kids were just in such a weird authentically wild corner of the universe absolutely getting down to their own unique celebratory creation from start to finish...what gems! The procession of students interlaced with the marching band and the military section then snaked though some back roads and eventually weaved and winded to school around 8 in the am… where everyone gathered around the soccer field to engage in a day of goofy fun. If the “Jungle Book” ever hosted the Olympics it would be exactly what the good folks here at Tha Wang Pha Pittyakhom School put together today.
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| get yo freak on |
Events seemed to happen almost randomly, with teachers and students milling about, wearing brightly colored cowboy hats and shooting guns off at random intervals to signal the start to a race. The Director and his top shelf staff watched on briefly under a shaded tent while I mostly just wandered around in a semi permanent state of awe, confusion, and interest. I would be attending the “teacher’s race” later in afternoon however I had the whole morning and most of the afternoon to just drift around trying to dig into the culture of the event while simultaneously trying to avoid melting under the heavy sun. After a substantial lunch of pad thai paired with green curry over rice it was time to run. The last event of the day was to feature an all teacher relay race with six teachers or so representing their respective colors. I along with 5 other amiable fellows and ladies were yellow, which was clearly illustrated by our yellow sport jerseys we had been adorning for most of the day.
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| team yellow rep-re-sent |
I ran my heart out, but the yellow team ended up finishing 4
th out of 6 teams. After a brief award ceremony followed by some words by the Director the wonderfully twisted hilarious medieval “Tha Wang Pha sports day” had come to a successful close. Right before we called it quits however the Director slipped a quick invite to James and I with regards to spending the night at his resort. With the prospect of delicious somtom (spicy papaya salad), deep glasses of whiskey and a place to sleep looking us at in the face it was not a hard decision to make. So off we went to spend the night at the director’s resort (located about 30 minutes from school) where we would feast on barbecued veggies, and a nice vegetable soup with plenty of whiskey laden exchanges of broken Thai with broken English. The Directors uncle, niece, daughters, and wife were all in attendance and after a couple of hours gathered around the table laughing and eating it was time to rest…James and I awoke early the next morning to the sound of the Director gruffly calling out our names and before long we were riding in the back of his shiny silver truck on our way to start another Tuesday at the one and only Tha Wang Pha Pittyakhom school…
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