Romeo and Juliet- Lao Style

On Saturday I had the pleasure of enjoying a play put on by the literature class of the Lao-American college. Here are a some pictures and videos. The crowd responses are my favorite. And also, in true Shakespearean style, the role of Juliet was played by a dude.

Sabaidee Pi Mai! 2

I had so much fun on Monday, the second day of Pi Mai, at a street party with some Lao friends. It's much more fun flinging water at passing trucks and motorbikes than being the one having water flung AT you.

The boys were arming themselves with little plastic bags filled with yellow-colored water (yes that is water, no they're not water balloons). These things have sharp corners and leave welts and bruises.

This dude had amazing aim. He would hit his target in the face with a water bag almost every single time. And he was encouraged to do so!

This guy, however...I call this one "Almost Got 'Im".

I call this one "Got 'Im".

 

So much fun. I'll definitely be celebrating this way again next year!

That Luang Festival 2

The main part of the That Luang festival took place early in the morning on November 28th. Monks from all around Laos come to receive alms from people who come from many different provinces. The alms are given in order to store up merit for rebirth into a better life.

That Luang Festival

The official days of the That Luang (Taht Lou-ahng) Festival are two days before, the day before and the day of the full moon in November. This year it falls on the 26th, 27th and 28th. For the past two weeks, though, there have been festivities in the huge parking lot outside of That Luang.

The Ferris Wheel was definitely my favorite part this year. It was good to feel a bit removed from all of the insanity happening below and be able to observe it all from the air.

A Lao Funeral

Last Wednesday my school director's husband died. On Thursday and Friday there were Baci ceremonies (mentioned here) and the funeral was on Saturday. When we arrived at the temple, the monks led the procession inside. The young male family members joined them by shaving their heads and wearing orange robes. The older male relatives wore either black or white and came next in the procession 

After them came the nuns. This included female family members and close friends. They all wore white which is the color of mourning.  

After the nuns came the truck that held the casket. A rope was tied to the front of the truck and held by every member of the procession to signify the monks and nuns leading the body to the temple. 

After we were all seated, the story of his life was read and the monks chanted. Then we all put incense sticks and flowers on the casket. The casket and body were burned at the end of the ceremony.

A Boat Racing Video and GIF

It's amazing how fast those boats were! While we were there, it was fun to see this helicopter with a giant Lao flag hanging from it.

 

Vientiane Boat Racing Festival

On Wednesday afternoon, a friend and I joined the thousands of people by the Mekong to watch the boat races. This festival signifies the end of the rainy season and the beginning of the cool*/dry** season. 

*cool = upper 70s
**dry = less than 100% humidity

Mekong Lights

One of my favorite celebrations in Laos is the night before the Boat Racing Festival. While the main downtown streets are insane with thousands of people and super loud music, the banks of the Mekong are a bit more peaceful. People light lanterns to send to the sky and candles on banana-leaf boats that they send down the river. It's such a beautiful time!

Refreshed

Yesterday we took a drive about 45 minutes outside of Vientiane to celebrate Hong's brother's brother-in-law's house-opening ceremony. It was so good to get away from the dust and pollution of the city into the freshness of the partially-jungled parts of Laos.

Sumo loves bananas.

End of Term Concert

Last night was our end of term concert! I absolutely cannot believe that it's the end of the school year already.

 Another teacher and I were the MCs. We had a student translate for us.

When I wasn't on stage, I had to look after my 5th graders, so I didn't get any pictures of the performances. But I did get some backstage pictures of some of their costumes.

 There were melancholy girls in flowers,

 silly boys in spots,

 beautiful ballerinas (these are my girls!)

and some kind of shiny reptile-like costume. There were over 20 performances. Our school director believes it is important for every student to be on stage performing, and there are almost 800 students who attend the school.

At the end of the concert, everyone who was left got on stage for a big group photo.