Connie and her friend Kristen arrived two days prior to Songkran .It was my first friend from home visiting, and I was more than excited to see a familiar face. We began their visit with a fun cooking class. Our cooking instructor took us, along with five others to the market where he pointed out the different ingredients used in common Thai dishes. After a fun and informational tour we were brought to a small cooking school. Each of us were given a piece of paper with different meal options. I chose green curry, mango sticky rice, cashew chicken, and coconut soup. We all gathered around a large table with a set of cutting boards, knives, and ingredients. Our instructor talked us through each recipe. We cut, chopped, fried, stirred, and prepared all of the meals individually. After every dish, we sat down at the dining table and ate together. When the meal was finished we returned to the cooking table to make our next dish. By the end of class we were so full we could barley eat our last two dishes. The instructor ended the class by giving everyone a cookbook with the recipes of the dishes we made, along with a few others. We left feeling happy, full, and eager to use our new cookbooks.
The next day the Songkran festivities began. Although Thai new year is officially the 13-16 of April, it begins a day early in Chiang Mai. We realized this when we woke up the next morning to the sound of music blasting, water splashing, and kids screaming with laughter. The new year was traditionally celebrated in temples where water would be sprinkled on peoples foreheads as a cleansing for the new year. But more recently, in the last decade it turned into a country wide water fight. Chiang Mai is said to have the second biggest celebration of the Thai new year. Although it is celebrated through out the city, the most concentrated part of the celebration,as well as the craziest, is along the moat where we live. We were told that Songkran was a crazy celebration, this is an understatement. We were completely blown away by its insanity. For four straight days we were soaking wet from the moment we walked out of our apartment, until the moment we walked back inside. We participated in the mayhem by buying cheap water guns and buckets, soaking anyone and everyone; kids, adults, elderly, people in taxis, no one was forgotten. This same rule was followed by everyone else. If you were outside, you were guaranteed to get drenched. No one had immunity from the festivities. The outside road bordering the moat was the craziest. Thousands of people lined the side walk with tubs of ice water, filling up their buckets and water guns to splash anyone walking or driving by. The roads were jam packed with pickup trucks. In the bed of every truck was a group of thai kids and adults crammed together with trash bins filled with ice water. With buckets and guns they would drench everyone they passed. The people who didnt have access to the bins of ice water, like us, were throwing buckets into the moat,filling them with water, and pulling them up with a string. In the center of the moat food vendors lined the streets. They key was finding a vendor that was a bit more hidden so your food wouldnt get soaked as you were eating. The options for food were endless. There were vendors selling pad thai, coconut icecream, fried tempura, you name it. Near the food, was a large stage with a dj and dancers. This was the craziest area of them all. Thousands of people gathered in front of the stage dancing and screaming with laughter.And as if the celebration couldn't get any crazier,on both sides of the stage were bubble machines. This was my favorite part! Every hour for fifteen minutes ,the machines would go off, filling the street with bubbles. The madness never stopped. Around 6pm when the sun would set, we would seek shelter at a nearby restaraunt. Dinner time was the only time we had dry clothes; as we stepped back on the streets we were drenched. It wasnt until we were back in our apartment that we were safe.
The
first few days we had a great time walking through the streets and
wandering through the massive crowds of people, but on the last day of Songkran
we spent most of our time hanging outside the THC Rooftop Bar. The
owner of the bar put a large garbage bin out front and kept it filled
with ice water. When the ice would melt, someone would come out with
a fresh block. The bar also had a DJ playing reggae and EDM.
Everyone at the bar stood out front filling their
buckets and water guns, and attacking anyone who walked by. At one
point a group of people across the street counted down from five, ran
over, and soaked everyone outside the bar. From that moment it was an
all out war between both sides of the street. We would fill up with
ice water, they would fill up with ice water, someone would count
down, and we would all charge to the middle of the street. When our
guns were empty and our pales were light, we would return to our
sides of the street and repeat. This went on all day! The amount of
people who partook in this event blew my mind. There were hundreds of
thousands of people gathered in the street and on the sidewalks
splashing, spraying, and soaking everyone with water. The best part
was everyone was filled with joy. I have never in my life seen so
many smiling faces all together. It was a beautiful experience being
around so many smiling faces and happy people Without a doubt Thai
people have the best New Year's celebration in the world, and I am so
grateful that we were able to experience it.
No comments:
Post a Comment