Thai New Year

The morning dawned with an air of anticipation that you could almost taste. The children ran around after breakfast getting ready: taking showers, doing dishes, putting on bright Hawaiian shirts, packing backpacks of extra sets of clothes and towels. To an outsider it might look like preparations for a day at the beach. But the real answer was on everyone's mind: it was the first day of Songkran!
By about 10:30, everything was ready. Lunch had been made, bags had been stowed in the truck, buckets and cups had been gathered. The truck was soon filled with Thais and their American cohorts. Most of the excitement was contained in the back of the pickup: this was where most of the festivities would take place on the way to town. The first 15 minutes or so of driving were relatively normal despite the excessive excitement: the group was passing through the forest and so there were few others around. Once on the other side of the forest, however, there was the first episode of water-throwing. Up ahead on the side of the road someone sighted a child next to a large water barrel. Evidence of earlier wettings was clearly shown in the darkened pavement across half the road. The truck slowed as the child flung his bucketful of water with all his might, soaking those sitting on the edge of the truck. And so it began.
No one in the back of the truck was spared: by the time they arrived in town all were drenched with water. Some had spots of white and pink adorning their clothes as a result of sprays of colored water. The wet did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm that permeated the group. They piled out of the truck and began to set up. The big barrels were set on the sidewalk, the hose was dragged out and put to work filling the largest barrel, and everything that needed to stay dry was put either in the cab of the truck or inside the building. Everyone ate lunch while waiting for the barrels to fill, and then the real party began.
Armed with plastic cups and bowls, the group headed for the sidewalk where the barrels of water were waiting. As trucks or motorcycles passed full of soaking passengers, the water bearers closest to the road threw water high in the air attempting to drench the passer-byes. Most of the action, however, took place when there were no cars passing by. This was the chance to dump bucketfulls of water on whoever was standing closest to you. An afternoon-long waterfight took place on the sidewalk, including the passing cars in the fun.Eventually, the water began to run low as the children threw it on each other faster than the hose could refill the buckets and barrels. This lack of water gave them time to refill their stomachs on a second lunch or on ice cream from the store next door. Soon there was enough water to continue play for a while, but when the water ran low a second time there was a bigger issue than a slow hose. The town's water tower had begun to run low. Since everyone was pumping water as fast as it would come, the town's water supply could not keep up. Slowly the group accepted the fact that the day of throwing water was coming to an end. After the last bucketfuls of water were dumped on people or cars it was time to head for home. The truck was loaded once again and the homeward journey began. This time, when water was thrown at the riders in the back of the truck they had some to throw back. So the day out was concluded with a friendly exchange of water with the residents on the side of the road as the truck rolled by.
Upon arriving home, the crew climbed tiredly out of the truck and sought out showers and dry clothing. Although the excitement wasn't as palpable as in the morning, you could still feel it. An outsider might not know why so much excitement was still in the air. But the answer was on everyone's mind: the next day was the second day of Songkran!
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ps...day 2 of Songkran was also a success! we spent the time driving around, not stopped in one place like the day before. This was a lot of fun as we got to throw water at a bunch more people. We also saw a bit of the ugly side of the festival: lots of drinking and a bit of dirty dancing and stuff in a couple of the towns we drove through. For the most part though, it was just good clean fun! I think the US should start a holiday that's just a weekend long water fight. :-D