Dizzy fish and frisbees December 31
I’ve pretty much decided to go with “the bicycle gang” to Pakxe to celebrate New Years. And for visa extensions and email.
I dropped one of my journal pens through a crack in the floorboards, and now it’s lost forever. Bugger.
I really, really want to see a blacksmith, and as there’s some between Pakxe and Paksong, and possibly some between here and Pakxe, it’s another added reason to go.
Plus I’ve really been enjoying the bicycle gang’s company.
I had a lie in hammock day yesterday, till mid-afternoon, when I rode my bike up to the next waterfall.
I found two boys from the village fishing. Or rather, one was catching fish, and the other was unhooknig the fish, and putting them on a stick for safe keeping. Which meant one was fishing, and one was lying on the bank, waiting for the other to catch fish.
When he’s catch a fish (usually only a few inches long), he’d vigorously swing it around in a circle over his head, so it wouldn’t come off the hook. Only sometimes it did anyway, and went flying across the river. Which they both found extremely funny.
When I came along, it was my job to unhook the dizzy fish, and Paets job to put it on the stick, which only added to the labor inequality.
Then later, I got out the frisbee, and played a rousing game of ultamite frisbee with a bunch of the villages kids and Medde, one of the Swedes. We couldn’t really explain the rules due to language barrier, but I explained them to Medde, and then we simply correct when they did something wrong. We didn’t have to correct much after 5-10 minutes. It was amazing how quickly they picked it up. Even when we were playing catch, the girls were not into it. They’d run screaming when you threw it to them, and the few that would give it a go seemed to be under big social pressue to stop. Plus, while the boys had it down in usually about 5-10 throws, the girls had a much harder time conceptually with how to throw it. It would be really interesting to study child development here.
Apparently, ever decreasing size of handwriting is a sign of Parkinsons.