So I am soaking wet. Why you may ask is water dripping from Kellie's clothes and hair at 1:30 in the afternoon on a Monday? And no, it is not because it is raining…
The kids in my village decided to start Songkran early this year. For those of you unfamiliar with the Thai holidays/festivals like I was before I came here, Songkran is the traditional Thai new year. It officially starts April 13th and goes until April 17th (the Thai government just extended it by a day) and is celebrated by "blessing" friends by sprinkling water on them, but everything gets out of hand and water ends up flying everywhere.
So today, I got on my bike to ride to the nearest restaurant (about 2 K away) and what do I see? But children with "water booths" set up by the side of the road. They had anything from big barrels (you know those big oil barrels) filled with water to water guns to hoses and were throwing water on anything that happened to pass by (myself included). I did not get as wet as I could have because a coworker was riding with me on her motorcycle and told the kids to leave me alone.
Luckily, some of the other PCV's (Peace Corps Volunteers) gave us "newbies" some advice:
- Make sure that your phones/cameras/electronic equipment is either left at home or sealed in a plastic baggie.
- Ladies should not wear white shirts during this time.
- Expect to get soaked as the children take great pleasure in soaking the farang (foreigner).
Well, it looks like I am in for a couple of interesting (if wet) weeks. If you would like to come and visit during this time next year let me know because I hear there are some pretty crazy celebrations in some of the larger cities…if you're interested!?!
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