adventure awaits: The one where everybody throws water (Songkran Festival)

Last week I got to experience my first Songkran festival, or Thai New Year. I experienced my first taste of Songkran a week before it started…I was on an afternoon bike ride exploring yet another side road that led to another cluster of villages when I look ahead to see kids standing on the side of the road with hoses/buckets/water guns. Luckily I quickly stuffed my camera and iphone into pockets where they wouldn’t get wet, because as soon as I rode by they attacked. They laughed, I laughed, and it was awesome because it was so hot outside and it felt great.

Songkran festival included a week off of work and a busy schedule full of celebrating. My community started celebrating two days before the actual first day of Songkran, with a parade, beauty pageant, singing competion, a bunch of speeches I didn’t understand and more brightly colored, flowered shirts in one place than you’ve ever seen in your life. Water is a huge part of the celebration as people pour water on each other all day long and kids wait by the side of the road with buckets and water guns to drench the 5-20 people riding by in the back of pickup trucks (sometimes the pickups have buckets of water in the back for retaliation as well). After they drench you in water they put baby powder on your face (if you want to read more about Songkran check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songkran_(Thailand)). We made several trips to the local wats (temples) to pay respect to family members who have passed away by using plant branches and leaves to sprinkle water on their ashes/bones that are in little jars or containers in front of a bunch of monks.

Around the third or fourth day of Songkran I woke up cranky, determined to have a bad day. I didn’t want anything to do with anything. I accompanied a few community members to a gathering at a house where a few monks were surrounded by a bunch of people sitting on mats on the floor (side note: Thais sit on the floor a lot for a lot of things, and it’s pretty uncomfortable to do for long periods of time. My feet and legs start to hurt and then fall asleep and then I have to try to adjust my sitting position periodically enough so that my legs don’t completely fall asleep. One time I sat in one position long enough that my leg fell asleep and when I tried to stand up I couldn’t walk right for a few minutes and everyone got a good laugh at my attempts). I went through the process of switching my seated position every so often while listening to what sounded like a mix between a song and a chant in Thai, wondering when I’d be able to stand up and sit in a chair again. Then the songs stopped and all the Yais (grandmas) sitting around me took turns tying strings around my wrist and wishing me health, happiness, and good luck for the new year. Needless to say my mood changed instantly as one by one they tied strings around my wrist, wishing the best for me and squeezing my arm and smiling at me. Then we all ate a bunch of food and they busted out a few bottles of whiskey. The men drank, the women danced, and the kids took to the streets armed with buckets, water guns, and buckets full of water.

Overall I really enjoyed Songkran festival and was happy to be a part of so many different events in my community. I wasn’t sad when it ended though, since that meant not changing my clothes a few times a day and being able to ride my bike again (they told me not to during the festival – lots of drunk drivers apparently, and Thai driving is scary enough as it is….I’ll save that topic for a later time).