Lisa is taking her class on a learning trip to The Feast of the Hunter's Moon Saturday, and so she invited me to come in as an 18th century re-enactor and talk to her class yesterday. I leaped at the opportunity to teach again!
I began by greeting them in French and then introducing myself.
Then I taught them how to say "My name is..." (Je m'appelle... ") in response to my question, "Comment vous appelez-vous?"
Lisa had asked me to bring in my chatelaine and tell her students about all the tiny ornaments I had hanging from it. I think they may have been surprised that the ornaments were not only decorative but useful as well.
I did not wear my panniers, but I brought them. After explaining that they were something women wore, I asked for a volunteer to try them on.
I got a male volunteer, Ethan C., but he said he was okay with wearing them. (Even though he did not know what they were for.)
His guess was that they went on the upper arms - not a bad guess. But they actually go on the hips.
Why? Because it gave you the appearance that you were "well fed" and thus had wealth enough to buy food, making you more marketable as a wife or giving you more presence as a woman.
He had a little fun playing the part of a female!
And ended up with my hen basket, fan and hat.
It felt so good to be back in the classroom again, and Lisa has a class of sweeties. I also enjoyed putting on my period clothing, something I had not done in years.
