Songkran.

Oh. My. Songkran. It's the Thai New Year. A tradition that can still be found in every village, town and city in Thailand between the 13th and 15th of April. It used to be, and still is for many Thais, a time to visit family and friends and pay respect to elders. The throwing of water originated as a way to pay respect to people, by gently pouring a small amount of water on other people’s hands or over a shoulder as a sign of respect. It has turned into a huge water fight among Thais and foreigners alike, as a way to escape the 100+ degree days that April brings in Thailand...
My first taste of Songkran was in the bus with the kids, we were on our way home from an outing and driving up the mountains. There in the middle of nowhere kids had a huge barrel of water and threw buckets on the bus. The joy they got out of it was infectious. You can't help but smile at these kids having such a good time beating the April heat and celebrating their new year. The school was set to take the kids down into town for an afternoon of Songkran, so we headed down the mountain on the 13th. There was a wat processional gearing up, basically a parade of Buddha statues on trucks from various temples in town all decorated beautifully and soaking wet. We walked down the street to our place to watch the processional, staying dry for all of 2.3 seconds. We were prepared with buckets and squirtguns of our own, and soon set up shop to have some fun. The kids really enjoyed it, as did all of us staff. The afternoon wound down and we walked back to the bus to go to dinner. Our drive around the moat to see more of the festivities took us around two and a half hours, a drive that should take 10 minutes. The traffic slowed almost to a stop, as everyone is piled into trucks and on motorbikes soaking and getting soaked. Safety isn't exactly a priority...
The next day I was set to meet up with my CIEE partners in crime to celebrate, as it was my day off from camp. I knew this would be a little different from the day before but had no idea what I was in for. My friend Kara that lives in Chiang Mai had a friend with a truck... so 12 of us, including her parents, got in to start the madness. We had two barrels in the back with us, filled to the brim with iced down moat water (which we used to keep the beer cold... yikes) tons of buckets and water guns. We spent the afternoon riding in the back and walking beside the truck in the same stalled traffic as the day before. It is like nothing I have ever seen before. We made it about halfway around the moat and around 6 we called it quits to take showers and get ready for dinner. I spent the night in Chiang Mai to meet a friend from school the next day. The waterfighting continued and we spent the day away from the moat sticking to cleaner water up by a mall in town. Streets were shut down, stages were set up, dancers, singers were abundant, and get this... even a foam party enticing the hundreds of people there to enjoy Songkran. It may be a different version of the tradition it once was, but I had an awesome time celebrating. Maybe I'll be here for another round next year...