Songkran (AKA Nationwide water war)

Hello! Like all holidays in Thailand, there is a fun side and a religious side. The religious side is always difficult for me. During Songkran, people will go to temples and clean the Buddha images, bring sand (because they want to replace the dirt they took away from the temple over the past year), and take care of their loved ones graves. These pictures are my friend's family watching people place a new tombstone over the bones of his grandfather. My friend is a Christian, but the rest of his family is not. The bones are in a tiny box in the cement base. The rest of this is simply to decorate and honor them. This particular one costed 8,000 baht. My rent for one month in a studio apartment is 5,500 baht. Some of my friends live on 5,000 baht plus bills in one month. It is another way for them to make merit.



This is my friend's grandmother looking at the new tombstone. She is over 80, but can still walk, even though she is hunched over. She is the cutest woman :D. She liked talking to me, even though she speaks another language. I needed my friend there a lot, but sometimes he couldn't even understand her. Nod and smile, nod and smile haha.

Now for the fun part! It is literally a nationwide water war. If you go outside during these 3 days, be careful because you are fair game and could get soaked! As you can see, waterguns work a little bit, but the best weapons are pickup trucks with trashcans filled with water and buckets to throw on other people. Here is one example.
The other people you have to watch out for are those on the streets just waiting for a pickup truck or an unsuspecting person to walk by. They will also put HUGE blocks of ice in the water so when it hits you, you cringe at the shock. Even though it's super hot outside (this week has been about 110), it still makes you shiver and you want to warm up immediately!

This was the second day we went to celebrate Songkran. In this entire sea of people, I only saw one other foreign girl for about 2 seconds haha. Needless to say, I got more attention than anyone else. Everyone wanted to put the powder/water mixture on my face or douse me with water. Some of them weren't sure how I would react until I soaked them with a bucket of water. :) I was made for this holiday!!!!!!!
My Thai studies are going pretty well and I'm trying to talk with friends more. One of my friends from Chiangrai was here a few weeks ago and she said my Thai had gotten a lot better. However, I still have a long way to go. Please continue to pray for this.

If you ever want to experience Songkran first hand, come see me next year :D.