The day went like this. We woke up at 5 am and made it downstairs for a quick snack around 6:30am. We went to the Temple to offer some food to the monks. It was amazing. There were probably a hundred monks and locals from Ubon Ratchitani gathering to offer food to the monks. Monks don’t have money so they are supported by the people. Its the way of the monk.
This event was held outside of the temple in a big grassy field. They had some booths setup where some people were talking on a mic. When we got there two women were chattering on the mic. I was taking a walk around the entire grounds and I stopped to snap a photo and they started talking to me. I smiled back and they were like “Americano is all smiles!” That was pretty funny.
After I did a full loop around the grounds I met with fai and her aunt. We had a nice big bowl full of noodles and some other stuff. We organized ourselves in a two lines creating a row for the monks to walk through. As they walked through we dropped some food into the baskets they were holding. Some of the monks had smaller baskets so they also had a helper accompanying them that had a bigger bag so they could empty the basket to get more good stuff. It looked like they were well taken care of.
The next thing we did was we went down to contraption where were filled our bowl up with water and then we poured the water down a funnel that drenched the Buddha with water. For the Songkran festival the theme is all about water.
We went back to the house for some breakfast that Bandid had made for us, which was very good. We posted some photos of breakfast on Facebook. Eggs, ham, and toast. Great American style breakfast. He is getting better and better each time he makes it too. Thanks for all of the breakfast meals you’ve made for me Bandid. It is much appreciated.
After breakfast we went to the “cemetery” where Fai’s grandfather is buried. As part of the Songkran festival the people go the cemetery and they clean the plots. Fai’s grandfather is buried in a large statue like thing that kind of looks like a temple. Its hard to describe. The base has tiles and it stands about 9 ft tall at its peak. Most people are cremated and then there ashes are stored in these things. We offered water by cleaning the plot. We lit incense. We poured a scented perfume over the plot and we hung flowers on it as well. When we left it looked very nice.
The water that they use is scented like a perfume but they usually don’t wear so it was kind of funny when Fai’s uncle snuck up behind me and dumped a whole bottle of it down my shirt. The rest of the day I smelled like the perfume.
Next stop is the Central Plaza mall for some lunch. We had a huge lunch! We went to Sukiski. I think this is my favorite place to eat at the mall. So far we’ve gone to the mall everyday. Seems the family is in love with the new mall. I don’t blame them. Its a great place to go and its very similar to malls in America. I had steak, chicken, seafood, and 3 sweet lemon iced teas! They are the best!
After lunch we headed back home. We took the long way through the city to get home too. Songkran is starting! As we drove through the streets we could see people sitting in the back of trucks with giant water barrels full of water. People were also lined up on the street with there hoses running. When the people in the trucks would drive by they would throw water at whomever happened to be near them. Noone is safe. You could be on a skooter driving along and you will get a face full of water. When that person on the scooter drives by the guy with the hose he will shoot them with the water. Its very crazy. What was going on now was pretty light. No major water battles broke out yet and only a few people were playing with the water. It felt like it was 5pm, but its only 12pm or so. Still pretty early. Today also marked the absolute hottest day since I’ve been here. It was very sunny and 100 degrees, but it felt like 107 degrees according to Accuweather app. This heat sucks the energy right out of you. Plus we got up super early!
So time for a little nap. And then the fun really begins!
After our little nap we went down to the street. It was time to honor our grandmother and other leaders of our family. So, we go down to the house next store and our friends and family are partying. They have the music playing really loud. The babies are in the pool. They have a water hose and buckets of water. They are shooting cars with the hose and throwing water with the buckets as people drive by. This was so much fun. I got in on the action too. They got me good with the hose and we were dancing in the street. Davey and Maestro will be happy to hear that we have succeeded in making “The Maestro” an internationally famous dance. So we’re dancing under the water hose and one of the guys there was showing me some moves and I hear fai yell “Maestro” so that’s what we did! We did the maestro in the street while getting sprayed with water. This was hilarious. Fai took video so we will be able to share this comical event with everyone when we get back.
At this point, I’m completely soaked from head to toe. But now its time to honor our elders. So this is what we do. Fai’s grandmother, aunt, parents, and relatives are sitting in a line and we go one by one and pour scented water into there hands. Fai’s grandmother blessed me and wished that our dreams come true. We poured water into mom and dads hands, then the aunts and uncles. It was a fun time.
So, now its getting pretty late and its starting to get dark out. We load into one of the pick up trucks and went to a little festival. Now its in full swing. Our family brought some water in a pool with some beer. This is also interesting that we can drink on the street here. I’m not sure if that is just for this festival or if they can do that all of the time. I’ll have to find out. So, we are driving along and they are throwing water at trucks that are next to us that are also throwing water at us. This was a pretty exciting to witness.
We arrived at the festival and we played a game with large dart like things where you try to launch the dart as high as you can and you try make it sick into the side of this giant sandhill. I threw about 6 or 7 darts and I only landed one that actually stuck pretty good. This was fun.
Next we bought some flowers, candles, scented water, and incense. We went to small shrine thing where were lit the candles, burned the incense, offered the flowers and then to top it off we went up a small flight of steps (3 steps) and then poured the scented water down the pipe to offer to the Buddha. Pretty neat stuff.
We saw a thai band play using all thai instruments.
We saw some guys making Thai cookies, these are similar to fortune cookies, instead of small these things are huge and you just break a piece off and eat it. Its very yummy.
Fai got us some drinks too. These are things I had never had before. One was blue, another red, and the other looked like iced tea but all of them are made from a fruit or plants or something. Very delicious. We drank like 4 of them they were so good.
Finally, we head home. Fai is exhausted and is already asleep while I am typing this. She didn’t take a nap like I did earlier. It’s almost midnight on Saturday 4/13/2013. We’ve already been here a week and the time is flying by. We have completely adjusted to the time difference now. It takes a few days to get it down.
I hope all is well there! Feel free to leave comments on Facebook or on this blog.
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