that post was getting too long.
so. sunday:
a long and tiring hot day that started by rolling out of town at 6:30 in the morning to drive into phuket. attended a man-becoming-a-monk party (the now-monk is part of my extended host family), lots of shopping in the middle, and finally rolled back into town around 6:30 in the evening.
note that i climbed into the car while talking to my mom (another weekly ritual) still groggy not knowing why we were heading into phuket or how long we were going to be there. it's the farang (foreigner) in thailand way. we just let ourselves get thai-napped and hope that we'll come home in one piece.
the monk party was more than just eating. the one other monk party i had been to, there was inappropriate dancing by scantily clad girls (pelvic gyrations! booty shaking! a pyramid with a girl doing both at the top!) and whiskey flowing all around.
this monk party served us food, and then got down to the actual rites of becoming a monk:
there was a procession around the wat (temple) with musicians leading the group. [they played the same beat that myself and the other trainees played at our goodbye party in sing buri. i failed miserably at the gong.] the new-monk followed the musicians and we (the friends/family/random farang taking way too many pictures) followed the new-monk. we clutched his robe as he walked. if you couldn't reach the new-monk's robe, you touched the person behind the new-monk who was holding onto the robe. i'm not sure exactly what this symbolized, perhaps connectedness? supporting each other? but ignorance aside, i participated and got prime spot behind new-monk:
we held on like this and circled the wat three times. after which, the new-monk prayed and became official.
thailand blogg
good weekend, part II
16 June 2008 at 7:30 PM
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About Me
I am a Peace Corps Volunteer serving as an English teacher in the south of Thailand. The random ramblings within this blog in no way represent the views of the Peace Corps, its affiliates or the United States Government. They're my random ramblings and mine alone. Mwahaha.
That said, I'm into taking lots of pictures, stand-up comedy, and in general, enjoying life (which may or may not sometimes involve traveling).
That said, I'm into taking lots of pictures, stand-up comedy, and in general, enjoying life (which may or may not sometimes involve traveling).
Quotes
Anais Nin:
"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."
Jenny Kane, PCV 118. From "Recycle Love" article in Sticky Rice magazine:
"The relationships we create in the world, the love in essence that we put out in the world, on any particular day, is what life is about ... Love the pain, the tears, love the work of getting through each day. Love and, despite love, even, love again, and more."
Ralph Waldo Emerson:
"To laugh often and love much... to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to give one's self... this is to have succeeded."
"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."
Jenny Kane, PCV 118. From "Recycle Love" article in Sticky Rice magazine:
"The relationships we create in the world, the love in essence that we put out in the world, on any particular day, is what life is about ... Love the pain, the tears, love the work of getting through each day. Love and, despite love, even, love again, and more."
Ralph Waldo Emerson:
"To laugh often and love much... to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to give one's self... this is to have succeeded."
1 comments:
7:50 AM
i read somewhere that there is a belief that had to do with hanging on a monk's robe to help sprititual transition after death.... maybe something related to this?
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