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!
On the third day of Pi Mai Hong and I traveled about 45 minutes outside of Vientiane to Nong Paen village.
When we arrived, Hong's sister-in-law prepared meatballs for lunch. (In Lao, meatballs are called luk seen = meat child)
Then the water 'playing' began. It was way less intense than the water fights we had the day before. Most of the time, the water was lovingly poured down your back while the person doing the pouring said some kind of blessing.
However, they also very much enjoy taking you by surprise. I should have known from this lady's expression that something was up.
The water was freezing cold! But that day the temperature was in the upper 90s, so I couldn't complain.
Hong's cousin and I bonded over three things: our awesome shorts, our matching water guns, and our love of shooting each other in the face when least expected.
Then we played lots of games! I didn't get any pictures of the water games because I participated in those ones. But there was also musical chairs...
...and a game where you need to pass rubber bands to your teammates using only straws.
Hong added another obstacle to the game- he went around blowing baby powder in people's faces while they tried to concentrate. I could not stop laughing.
After that, all the guys played football.
And we knew it was time to go home when a herd of cows stormed the field.
It was so much fun to spend time with Hong's family during the second and third days of Pi Mai. On Day 2, we split into two trucks with trashcans full of water. We rode around for about an hour and a half getting into water throwing fights with other trucks full of people as well as people having parties on the side of the road.
I SO wish I had a waterproof camera. There were some excellent moments I wish I could have captured. Maybe next year!
After we were all tired of driving around, we walked down the beach to the Mekong river.
We took goofy pictures...
...had a sandcastle building competition...
...and played in the water.
One of my favorite things about the Mekong is how beautiful the sunsets are.
Stay tuned for Lao New Year day 3! (Coming soon as long as the internet holds out!)
I went to the local minimart yesterday with the intention of stocking up on food so I wouldn't have to leave the house for meals (we're in FULL ON New Year water fight mode!) however I didn't have any specific plan, so I ended up buying a strange mishmash of things.
1. Baked beans- I got these home and immediately wondered why I had bought two. Then I wondered why I'd bought even one.
2. Seaweed Pringles- One of my students brought these to our Lao New Year's party on Thursday. I hadn't tried them before because I don't really like plain seaweed, but they're actually delicious!
3. Whole Wheat Joma bread- Mmmmmm. Love me some Joma bread. Now I can make my famous baked-bean-and-seaweed-pringle sandwiches.
4. Footsee socks- Seriously? I have no idea why I picked these up. I think it's strange, though, that the brand is 'Golden Legs' and they're made in Thailand where only the whitest of legs are beautiful.
5. In Time- Don't judge. I was in need of entertainment and it was between this or Final Destination 5. And what could be better than Amanda Seyfried AND Justin Timberlake in the same movie? Answer- almost anything. It wasn't terrible, but within the first 10 minutes I was wondering how it could possibly have a satisfactory ending. Answer- it doesn't.
6. Bik Kuri- I bought this drink for two reasons:
a. the smiling ice
b. this special message.
It tasted like a mix between Pedialyte and Red Bull.
Today it's supposed to be 97 degrees! This afternoon I'm going with Hong's family to join in the water fighting. We'll ride in the back of Hong's brother's truck and throw water on passers by. It should be excellent.
Happy Lao New Year!! Today is the first of three days of water fights in the streets, extremely loud music, and general merry making.
Last night Hong and I went to That Luang to enjoy some water-free activities. There were lots of things for sale as well as a few carnival-like games. Hong chose a shooting game.
It looked fun so I decided to take one of his 5 shots. Success?
Nope. I have no idea how to shoot any kind of gun. Hong laughed a lot (he's still imitating my sweet straight-armed technique) and I'm sure that guy in the brown shirt was laughing on the inside.
Hong ended up shooting one down and he got an energy drink as a prize.
There was also a "Miss Lao New Year" competition taking place that night.
The winner received the title of Miss Lao New Year 2555. She also gets to ride around town on this buffalo on the first day of Lao New Year (today!) while people throw water on her.
As we were admiring the buffalo, the competition began.
These two came out in a cloud of smoke accompanied by the theme music of Star Wars. No joke. I tried to take a short video right after the music started, but I think it was accidentally deleted. So I typed it out for you. I hope you can follow along (I know that one person's DAH is another person's DUN).
DAAAAAAAH! Dadada dah. Dagga dah dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun DUN DUN DUN DUNNNNNN!
Dun dun dun DUNNNNNN DUNNNNNNN dun dun dun DUNNNNN DUNNNNN dun dun dun DUNNN DUNNNN da da da DUNNNNN.
Tomorrow is the first day of Lao New Year. The actual holiday lasts for three days (this year it's the 13th 14th and 15th) but Vientiane has been gearing up for it for the past 2 weeks.
This being the last day of school before our break, we had some special activities.
First we had a Baci ceremony (you can read more about these here) to welcome the new year and ask for blessing.
I was blessed by two of my girls with strings from the Baci tree. As they were tying them on my wrist, they said "I hope you have a long life and that you will teach at KIS forever." They also gave me this decoration to put on my motorbike to keep me safe.
After that, the entire school took part in the biggest pre-Lao New Year water fight this side of the Mekong. (Not that there would be any pre-Lao New Year water fights on the other side...)
