Fool Me Thrice

It was a tricky day at Wat Pa Pao today, when students were asked to create their very own mosaics of scenes from The Trickester and The King, a traditional Shan folktale. Once we'd said our hellos and danced out our jitters P'Cee captured the attention of the students with her story telling skills.

The students kept their eyes on P'Cee as she told them how the Trickster tricked the King three times and what became of the fooled king. Every now and again an excited student would chime in with part of the story before P'Cee. Laughing ensued as the end of the story rolled around and then silence fell again (but not for long) when colorful squares of paper were passed out and students began designing their own individual scenes from the story.

It's amazing to see the diverse talent that each of the students hold. All took to the page like naturals and were able to come up with many different variations of the same (or different) scenes.

The students multitasking abilities were also impressive. While working on their project with one hand they were able to reach over and help their neighbor with the other. And once the rules were explained the volunteers of ARI realized the full extent of the children's curiosity, chatting and answering questions the entire time. Ranging from "Where do you come from?" to "What is your favorite color?" The hour long class was filled with conversation, laughter, and the occasional friendly prank.

At the end each student presented their new piece of art and explained what scene they had chosen to recreate. Put side by side it was clear that the children of Wat Pa Pao had created their own version of The Trickster And The King. They created a colorful puzzle of squares that didn't have to trick anyone into believing their story.