We visited the Kingdom of Bhutan recently...... okay they visited us actually, now I know your saying to yourself " Oh ya Bhutan.... that's right next to....... ya just above.....I think its near.....Okay I have no idea where Bhutan is" Well don't feel bad we didn't know where it was either, but thanks to our friends at the Smithsonian we found out. Bhutan is located in the eastern end of the Himalaya Mountains and is bordered to the south, east and west by India and to the north by Tibet / China. The Smithsonian Folklife Festival features a different country along with other programs, this year it was Bhutan.
They built a full size replica of a Bhutanese Buddhist Monastery right on the National Mall. You could walk through and hear Monk music.
While this looks like a cool painting look close. This Buddhist Monk is meticulously making this piece of art with colored sand (actually powdered limestone).
They performed some native dances and song for our entertainment. It was very soothing music.
There were archers there, and at first I was like, okay so they play with bow and arrows. Then while standing where I was across from the archer, I looked down range and about 150' and could barely make out the target. It is about 2' tall and not even 1' wide.
There were archers there, and at first I was like, okay so they play with bow and arrows. Then while standing where I was across from the archer, I looked down range and about 150' and could barely make out the target. It is about 2' tall and not even 1' wide.
Here is the Girl watching the archer preparing to shoot, try and find the target down range. I was really impressed. Archery is the only sport that Bhutan participates in the Olympics.
Of course the Mrs. ran and knocked old ladies over when she saw the textiles area. (PS: She knew more than the white Smithsonian volunteers about textiles. Would not have been the case had she spoken with the Bhutanese artists there, but it's all about the small victories.)
She stood and watched this Bhutanese woman skein her yarn. (On a kick-ass handmade swift, she might add!).
I watched this gentleman work for a few minutes and came to the conclusion that my 5 minute attention span would not be conducive to this line of work. If you click on the picture you can see how meticulous the leg is.
And a parting vid of more soothing music.
2 comments:
Nice to see the Mrs. up and about after her surgery! Take care, Elizamac!
This adventure was held prior to her surgery although she is up and about. I'll be posting another post about our post surgery adventure to the Shenandoah Valley soon.
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