Songkran

In April, Thailand celebrates Songkran. This is the Thai new year and water festival. It is a several-day event where the entire country participates in a mass water fight, dressed in colourful flowered shirts and having a great time.
We had a day of Songkran festivities at school last week on Thursday; it was a fun, busy day with traditional ceremonies and a big water fight at the end.

Here's me in my swell Songkran shirt (with Ryan being creepy in the background). Don't worry I didn't pay any money for that hideous thing, I salvaged it from the trash. Ha ha.

Ryan's shirt was equally...nice.

Offerings were given to monks and their apprentices (boys who are training to be monks) who came to visit the school. One of the monks was a former teacher at Lertlah, and several of the apprentices were students.

White powder is applied to the face, either haphazardly or in pretty designs. One of the Thai staff used a comb to make beautiful starburst patterns on people's faces.

There was a water-pouring ceremony where senior staff members had water poured over them by other staff members and by the students.

...and then there was the water fight!
On Friday, Alisa, Stephanie and I went down to Khao San Road to check out the Songkran action there...it was SO busy and I couldn't believe how many people were around, all joining in the water fight. No pictures from there- I didn't dare risk exposing my camera to the water and the powder!
Songkran is an incredible holiday. It's amazing to see so many people having a great time; it's like there are no strangers and everyone is having one big party. It's almost overwhelming though!
Until next time,
Heather