songkran

Every year E's school does a big shindig for Songkran (Thai New Year). This year Eliot's class performed, so we were obligated to attend. Before you judge us for feeling obligated, it's outdoors and the temperatures in Bangkok right now closely resemble a sauna...on the face of the sun.

Wearing their Burmese/Thai clothes and throwing sand at each other. Frenemies through and through or maybe, crenemies. 

 It turns out that there is a medical reason for Vi's incessant tantrums (besides being two). The heat is hard on toddlers, especially ones who sweat like an overweight man, like Violet. It's also hard when you insist on going down the slide head first and for some reason it ends poorly.

 In keeping with Buddhist tradition, there were monks at the school accepting food donations. Buddhist monks eat only one meal a day, supplied by food donations. We picked up some food the night before, but after my friend had some and then got horrible food poisoning,  we decided our gift to the monks would be to come empty handed.

While living in Thailand, I have gained great respect for the Buddhist religion.

 After the donation, the monks give a blessing to the donors.

According to traditional Songkran, the students paid respect to their elders by washing their hands.

Somehow this has evolved into modern day Songkran, in which Eliot is carefully planning out a surprise, multi-phase attack on Rocky early on the morning of Songkran. I believe it starts while he's sleeping with a bucket of cold water to the face, followed by a squirt gun to his eyes, after their open, of course. I believe there is a follow up phase with water balloons grenades that Violet has been recruited for.

I'll be sleeping in an undisclosed location, wrapped in several towels, with a loaded water gun in my hand. We are clearly held in great respect by our children.

When I woke Eliot up the morning of the performance, she rolled right over and went back to sleep. When I told her, today was her dance, she shot straight up and immediately announced she had better get moving, she was not supposed to be late.

She told me when she got to school and saw the dress she would get to wear, she was so excited, she fell over.

Her class did a "fun seaside dance" and she had a smile on her face the whole time.

She was surprisingly good at dancing. Rocky and I are still not sure where that is coming from.

Happy Songkran!