Loy Loy Krathong

So Sunday was Loy Krathong again. The sky was lit up with floating lanterns and the river was covered with handmade banana leaf boats.

I started the evening at the schools celebration. I got to see the giant Krathongs the students made and see the girls (and a few boys) dressed up for the beauty contest. They were all beautiful in their traditional Thai outfits. Most of them were wearing the sparkly Thai 'evening' gowns but a few had on more playful costumes.

Then I went down to the river with some of my students. I was on the back of one of the students bikes since mine decided to kill itself on Friday. Getting to the river turned into a playful race as we swerved in and out of traffic...occasionally driving in the wrong lane. We were all laughing and making faces as we got down there...the race wound up being a tie. Then we walked along the river looking at all the different Krathongs we could buy before we all settled on some dyed lotus shaped bread ones.

Once we had our krathongs we snipped off some hair and part of a nail to get rid of our bad karma. Then we got onto a long boat and went to the middle of the river to light the candles and set the krathongs free. The boat ride was frightening and fun at the same time...I cringed and Sai shrieked every time someone shifted which made the boat feel like it was going to flip over.

After making it safely back to the shore we walked around some more. Grabbed some snacks and relaxed until about midnight. Then it was time to go home and get some sleep.

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