A Story for My Grandchildren

POP-POP’S LITTLE STORY BOOK FOR ZADIE AND MALIK

 

Last Saturday night, Mima drove Pop-pop to BART. He took the train to the airport and at midnight, got on the plane to go to Bangkok, Thailand. It was a looooooonnngggg plane ride. But when he arrived at his friend’s house, this was waiting for him.

 

Every day after teaching at a school, Pop-Pop swam lots of laps. He even went down the slides! And every time he thought to himself, “I wish Zadie and Malik were here!!! They would love this so much!!!” And it made him think that maybe they should all take a trip to Bangkok some day.

 

After one day to rest, Pop-Pop taught kids at a school— songs, dances, music on xylophones. It was hard to tell who was having more fun— the kids or Pop-Pop!

 

During the next two days, Pop-Pop taught teachers who worked at a lot of different schools in Bangkok. The teachers came from many different places on every continent. Can you find each of these places on a map? In Africa,Uganda. In North America,Dominican Republic and Idaho. In Europe,Germany, England and Russia. InAsia,Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, Philippines. In Australia, well, Australia. There wasn’t anyone from South America or Antarctica.

                                                                                    

Many times, Pop-Pop went out to dinner in beautiful restaurants overlooking a river and ate amazing food like this! Yummy!

 

On Saturday, Pop-Pop had a “day off” and went with his friends on a little boat trip on the river that goes through the city. We passed many houses where people lived, stores, restaurants and people selling food from their boats in an area called “The Floating Market.

Just as we were lazily floating down the river, the tour guide shouted excitedly, “Look!!” There was an enormous creature that looked like a snake swimming right beside us! It’s called the monitor lizard and this was about 8 feet long! (Pop-Pop could only get a picture of his head). Later on we saw a smaller one. It was a little scary! But apparently they’re harmless.

 

Thailand is a Buddhist country and we stopped at a big temple and got off to visit some famous Buddha statues so Pop-Pop could say hi to his friend (Buddha). J

                                                            

Pop-Pop enjoyed the river tour so much that he thought he would like to be a tour guide someday. 

                                                                                    

 

Pop-Pop loved every day of his trip— and seven more to go! But he kept wishing that Zadie and Malik were with him to see the sights and smell the smells and eat the food and meet the wonderful Thai people he knows. And of course, to swim in the pool and go on the river to see the lizard!! 

 

Hopefully someday. The world is a big, beautiful and surprising place. Pop-Pop is so grateful that he and Mima got to see so much of it and then see more with Kerala and Tita and now hoping to see yet more with Zadie and Malik and Ronnie too!  

 

                                -THE END (or THE BEGINNING!)