Songkran festival: explained

Hello, all!
   Today i find myself in the comfort of my apartment, the air conditioning running while the world outside melts. Okay, not exactly. Although if we want to talk about global warming, we might say it is. Anyway, the point is that it is really hot in Thailand right now; go figure, it's dry season.
   Last week, at the hottest time of the year, the Songkran festival took place all over Thailand. Chiang Mai is apparently the place to be for many people from Southeast Asia. Needless to say, traffic was as heavy as it's ever been and the amount of people in the city was evident wherever you went.
   Songkran began with a small water ceremony to pay respect to one's elders. The younger people would collect water that had been poured on the Buddha at the temple and gently pour it on the elders' shoulder. Now, many many years later, Songkran is a fun water war. Here is what i witnessed.

Water guns: almost everyone has one, the sizes varying from a tiny one with about a 10cm reach to a super-soaker that reaches across three lanes of traffic. If you were carrying around a water gun, no matter the size, you would get wet (actually, if you stepped outside your apartment you would get wet). Every type of water gun you can imagine, we had them. A water gun with a convenient umbrella for protection? Have it. A minnie mouse water gun? Have it. A batman super-soaker? Yes. A water gun attached to a water BACKPACK? Oh, yes.

Buckets: sometimes, water guns don't fully get people wet; thank goodness for buckets. Every size you can imagine, but the most common were the one- to 1.5-litter buckets, which conveniently came with a small rope tied to it so you could throw it in the mote to refill it any time you pleased.

Concerts: stages (of course, with fire-department like water hoses) were set up at every central location in Chiang Mai (at each of the four gates, the mall, etcetera) and loud music played, or bands, or people got to go up and dance to the music. As i hear, many of my friends were in that third group of people. To each his own, i suppose.

The mote: Chiang Mai, which literally means "new city," has an area that is called the Old City. Many historical facts can go here, but i can tell you those in person as they are irrelevant for my Songkran story. The Old City is a perfect square with four main gates, each with their own name and cool plaza. The mote surrounds the Old City with beautiful trees on it sides. I don't know where the water comes from, probably from the Ping River, but there's always water in it. A few days before Songkran, however, the mote was getting higher and higher in water content in preparation for the festival. Yes, that was the water we were being thrown--let's not address the health concerns just now. The cool thing to do if you have a pick-up truck is to go around the mote with buckets of water in your car and throw water at the people walking, or at other cars driving by you :)

From the back of a truck: The coolest part about being in the back of a truck is throwing water at the people on motorcycles. I'm laughing just remembering it. Danielle and I rode in the back of her family's truck for a whole day of Songkran. We started in Doi Saket, our village, and had to be on the super highway in order to get to the Old City. Little did Dee and i know that people would already be at the side of the road waiting for people like us. The thing with the people who sit and wait of the side of the road is that they have incredible aim when throwing a bucket of water at a moving vehicle...and they're strong. So by the time we made it to the Old City, we were drenched and hurt. Water really hurts. Later in the day, i would discover just how much more cold water hurts. We were driving at a decent speed, i was facing the front of the truck, standing up, and other cars where going the opposite direction on the lane next to us. All of a sudden, something really hard hit my face and i felt the pain and the coldness simultaneously. I had just been hit with a cold splash of water, so hard that i couldn't open my right eye for 20 seconds and immediately the right side of my face turned red and began to swell. Some of you know how sensitive my skin is... The cool thing was that you could see exactly how the water hit my face, and that was fun. I survived, clearly, and the swelling went down eventually (although my eye was still swollen the next morning).

Cold water: the last paragraph might have made you wonder about the cold water. The water from the mote was pretty okay, kind of cold, but it actually felt refreshing since the heat was so extreme (Songkran happens to take place in one of the hottest weeks of the dry season). But some people, actually, most, wanted to be nice and really refresh you. So, in many places around the city, you could purchase HUGE blocks of ice (i'm talking as-big-as-a-pillow size here), which people would place in your water container. Needless to say, it really made the water cold.

Staying dry: impossible. My underwear was my swimming suit for three whole days, no big deal. On the day that i went out to take pictures, which was the first official day of Songkran (people got carried away and began drenching people one day before), i carried my fancy camera in three dry-bags and my phone and wallet in another two. Surely risky. But don't worry, my camera survived and only got wet once!

     And that is all that i can remember about Songkran. I hope this painted a good picture for you. But if it didn't, try pairing it up with the pictures on facebook :)

As for everything else that isn't Songkran, here are the two main things i'd like to share.

Meeting my host sister. During the time that i lived with Mae Nhi and Paw Noi, i would hear stories about my host sister and how she lives in New Zealand and works there and has been there for six years. We'd talk about her sometimes, especially whenever she called Mae Nhi and i was there. She was just stories to me until this past week. Because Songkran is such a big deal, my sister Pan and her boyfriend Luke came to Chiang Mai. Just one day after their arrival in the city, Mae Nhi called me, eager to have us meet. We went out to dinner and it as wonderful. She is so energetic and funny and wanted to know everything about me (as i wanted to know everything about  her). She's 29, but actually looks 22. No kidding. She is also one of the most physically beautiful people i have ever met. She's kind and very playful. By the end of the night, she was spanking my butt and teasing me. She was quite impressed with my Thai, which showed in very welcomed compliments. A couple of nights later, Danielle and I went out with Pan and Luke and two of Pan's friends from college. We went to a nice vegetarian restaurant and shared lots of food and stories and good conversations. It was incredibly refreshing to hang out with new faces and OLDER faces. We had a beautiful night with them and they really treated us like their friends. Pan and i really bonded, so it was a weird experience to say goodbye to her at the end of the night (she left the next day) because i am quite certain the odds are that i'll never see her again. But i really like her! Anyway, let's not let this wonderful event turn into a sob-story.

Leaving for Oceans! Today, in about 1.5 hours, i leave to go learn everything i can about the oceans. We are going to the south of Thailand and studying the Andaman Sea; we are learning about islands, reefs, and mangroves and will be studying each one in detail (by snorkeling each!). We'll also be staying with a Muslim village, which is incredibly exciting for me. The things that are different from our last courses and that i am concerned about are: 1) we stay in homestays alone, no doubling up; this means i have to be on top of my game when it comes to my Thai language--yikes; and 2) there is a lot more science involved, and we all know how bad at science i am. We are also dividing in two groups again, which i know makes sense but is also a weird way to end our program (because my semester ends one day after i return from this trip).
   On the other hand, i am incredibly excited to be going to the ocean in Thailand and kayaking it (did i mention we'll be sea-kayaking for days?) and learning by being IN it. I can't wait.
 
    Well, the time to leave is getting closer and closer and, although i have finished packing, i need to get some lunch and clean my room--maybe even pack for real!
    I will communicate with you all once i am back from this course.
Thank you for all your thoughts and support--i can feel the love over here!

Receive MY love, too :)
~ Lourdes