the old-school guestbook archives
my amazon wish list... my favorite astrologer... my favorite artist... yerba mate revolution! erowid: a travel guide for interior journeys... no more war: MoveOn.org United for Peace and Justice True Majority seek the truth: Common Dreams Unamerican Activities The Nation people I adore, diaries I read: rev.raikes ariana cubiclegirl epiphany glitter333 laurakay wammo the music: the asylum street spankers backyard tire fire blue highway bill camplin wendy colonna freedom tribe joules graves guy forsyth band hamsa lila hanuman libby kirkpatrick leftover salmon pamela means medeski martin & wood the motet the nice outfit nickel creek open road rose polenzani railroad earth south austin jug band string cheese incident taarka tha musemeant the devil makes three tim o'brien band trolley wild sage keller williams yonder mountain string band |
sabaidee pii mai! ~ April 19, 2003 - 10:12 p.m. pii mai was wonderful, a good time all around. it's a three-day holiday. how come america doesn't have three day holidays? just another reason why america shouldn't get to rule the world. so for three days, everyone got wet. everyone. pii mai is a water festival, symbolizing life and cleansing and renewal. so everyone throws lots of water at everyone else. people carry high-powered water guns and buckets and hoses and water balloons. pick-up trucks stuffed with kids and teenagers cruise around town, drenching and being drenchedby passersby. and the lipstick. and the flour, and the talcum powder, and the colored water. for three days you walk around soaked and decorated in various ways. there's just really no avoiding it. my neighbors would ambush me as soon as I left the house, and by the time I'd walked ten blocks, I'd be soaked three or four times more. luckily, it's hot as all hell. that's part of what makes it all so much fun. and everyone's partying, everyone's out on the street, the energy is high and fun and everyone's just out to have a good time. music playing everywhere, laughter, drunkenness, and water. and water. and water. I spent most of it with johanna and valleska. we went to a couple of temples and helped to wash the altars. that's the religious part of the holiday, but it's fun too, everyone trekking from temple to temple with buckets of perfumed water filled with flowers, cleansing the altars, the buddhas, each other. johanna and I got saffron strings tied to our wrists by the monks as they blessed us and wished us happiness and prosperity in the new year. housecleaning is part of it, too. I'm embarrassed to say that I am still somewhat in the middle of my new year's housecleaning, which should have been finished a week ago. I've been lazy. I've been on holiday. you know... valleska went back to thailand on tuesday, and then on wednesday, johanna and I went to a basi, which is a very lao ritual. because lao people are buddhist, but also somewhat animist, basi is something of a blend of the two. there is a ritual altar, and offerings, and monks with prayers. then everyone ties strings to each other's wrists, offering blessings. the idea is that everyone has a crowd of spirits that hang around them and help them out with various aspects of their life. the strings are tied to ensure that all of your helping spirits are with you. basi is done at various times, to celebrate various holidays and major undertakings. most lao people wouldn't consider making a big journey without a basi before hand. so now I've had my first basi. the strings are still around my wrists, saffron from the monks and white from the basi. it makes me feel more a part of things, since any number of lao people you see at any given time will be wearing basi strings. they are to be worn for at least three nights, and they are not to be cut. they are like a reminder to me also, with my aching and tender heart, each one whispering you are loved, you are loved, you are loved... after the basi came the party, and it was incredible fun. people kept trying to feed me alcohol, and were somewhat baffled by my non-drinking, but it became a joke after a while. and maybe I wouldn't have danced, except then the host asked me, and there was no way I could politely decline, and so I did. lao dancing is all in the hands, and I had no clue, but it was fun, and we laughed, and the men sang drunkenly, and a thunderstorm came and poured down around the tent where we laughed and danced. lao men ask you to dance by holding their hands in prayer position, eyes twinkling, and it was impossible for me to turn down, so I danced and danced and danced. I don't know that I've ever been to the kind of party where men ask women to dance. delightful. the host happened to be one of the tuk-tuk drivers I recognized from namphou, and entirely too attractive, considering the fact that he has a wife and a little girl. oh, but I do have rules, alas... he was a great host, though, always making sure that the farang girls were included and having a good time. everyone was just so friendly and sweet, complementing us on our terrible lao (they are impressed if you can say anything at all), and trying to get us drunk. when we left, the host, pan, smeared our cheeks with talcum powder and said mournfully I no want you to go... the music stops, then you can go... good fun. and I've been needing it... like I said, my heart-- it's been a bit tender. I think I'm getting to the point in the expat experience where you get over how new and different everything is, and find yourself wondering just what exactly it is you're doing in lao... and I miss having a lover, it's true. I'm walking carefully right now so that I don't fall into something dumb out of loneliness and wreak all kinds of havoc. things are so sticky when you're living in another culture where you don't know all the rules... but life is good, really. johanna and I have been running around together and having a good time. she's missing her boyfriend back in germany, so we commiserate a lot. I've got to run, they're about to cut me off... you'll get more from me soon.
(((rings))) |