Candle Festival part II

Last Wednesday we celebrated the candle festival with the school kids. In the morning we walked around the neighborhood to collect money. This was very interesting because until then I lived in the somewhat protected bubble of the school. The houses are all very simple, some resembling shacks more than a real house. It’s a swampy area and a lot of the houses are built over the water. The water was full of garbage; people just seem to dump their stuff anywhere. Knowing that this is the neighborhood where the kids live made a big impression on me. They always seem so happy, yet when you see what little they have... While we were walking around one girl continued to hug and cling to me the whole time. What surprised me was that she hadn’t really done this before at school like some of the other kids who hug me every time they see me. At one point the principle came up to me to tell me that both of her parents are in jail and she lives alone with her uncle.

After lunch we walked to the temple, which is on the other side of the highway, approx. 10-15 min walk from the school. We walked around the temple three times before entering it. Inside we all sat down and facing the big Buddha statue with ten monks sitting in front of it. They had us sit in the very front so I had a good view of everything, especially the monks. One of the monks started praying and everyone else repeated after him. Since I’m not Buddhist and couldn’t understand what they were saying I silently watched. I had to laugh when I saw two of the monks continually using their smart phones, hiding it under their orange robe. Even they have caught up with modern technology, as old as the monks might look.

After the ceremony in the temple we walked down to the canal just behind the temple to feed the fish. They were huge and sometimes started fighting over the food, thus splashing everyone with the dirty water. At that point I didn’t really care anymore because I was so sweaty and hot.

In the temple after the ceremony with two teachers, An, me, Judy, Thea, the principle and three girls from the school.