Loy Kratong was Thursday. This is the special day to give thanks to water. I always enjoyed this special day in the village and was curious to see how it was celebrated in the city. The tessaban (local government) had an event that night, which was what I expected because I knew they had had celebrations there before. On Wednesday, there was a large, pink lotus in the middle of the pond and there were signs announcing the event.
At school on Loy Kratong, the pre-school students celebrated. There was a large kratong in a small plastic pool that was put out for the occasion. Students carried small kratongs around the school building in the morning and then left them in the pool.
On the way home, I decided to stop at the tessaban to see what was happening. It was only 5:30 and things were just beginning, but there were a lot of food stalls set up and ready to sell food. So I purchased a few items for my evening meal—not one of my most nutritious meals but it was good. People started to arrive over the next hour.
Several very large kratongs from different neighborhoods were on display. (The village did this, too, but they kratongs were brought to the event in small parades from the neighborhoods.) A lot of small kratongs were for sale. (Some were for sale in the village, but many people made their own.) I noticed that they were on styrofoam, not the traditional banana tree sections. Banana trees are not abundant and expendable in the city. Hot air balloons were for sale, and a number of people bought them and set them off. (There were only a few of these in the village.)
Some people who were part of the stage program were wearing traditional clothing. When I asked to take a photo of a few, they had me join them and took photos, too.
At about 7:00, I was surprised to see Khun Kwan all dressed up. She was a judge for the stage shows.
The stage show started with the older people wearing traditional clothing. They then went to the pond and placed kratongs in the water in pairs. A man was taking official photos of this; so I guess these were important people.
Other people placed kratongs in the pond off and on. Given the number of people there, I was surprised how few kratongs were in the water. (In the village almost everyone put a kratong in the pond.)
After the official placing of kratongs in the water, I turned around and saw Sister Viphaporn. She and another Sister were walking around. When they realized I was alone and planning to walk home, Sister Viphaporn had me join them and said her driver would take me home. We joined her cousin sitting on a mat for a while. Khun Kwan walked past and was happy to see that I was now with someone. Then we walked around the pond to look at the kratongs on display, as they hadn’t done that yet. I do enjoy her as a person even though I don’t agree with many of her school decisions and I know most of the teachers do not like her.
Sunday we (Khun Dakom, Khun Toy, Khun Teamjan, and I) made our bi-monthly trip to the hospital to renew our prescriptions. They picked me up at 7:00, which meant they left home at 6:00. We had our blood taken by 7:20. Khun Toy had gone upstairs when we arrived to get a number to see the doctor. We ate breakfast and then we waited to see the doctor, who started to work at 9:00. At 11:00 we were finished and went to the pharmacy. The waiting room there didn’t have nearly as many people as it usually has, and we left at 11:20 with our meds. The doctor’s nurse had announced that prescriptions would be given only for 30 days because the supply is low because of flooding in Bangkok and they don’t know what will be happening in terms of delivery over the next month. So we got two prescriptions for 30 days and have to return to the hospital next month to get the second part. But we don’t have to see the doctor then; so it shouldn’t take so long. I wondered if the waiting room at the pharmacy was not crowded because of the low supply of meds.
When we left, I was anticipating lunch at the Chinese duck noodle restaurant, as usual. But after a bit, Khun Toy said we were joining Khun Dakom’s friend. This was Khun Slim, whom I’d met before at the grand opening of his sons’ tutoring schools. Khun Dakom talked to him about me (I think), and he said I can teach English at his school next year if I want to. I had remembered that Khun Dakom has a friend with a school and had thought about asking him about it; so it was nice to have this offer. It is something I will consider, as it could be a good thing to do for a few months until Khun Toy’s retirement. We’ll see.
The lunch was at a restaurant that advertises its shrimp. There is a huge sculpture of a shrimp on the way in. We had a lot of grilled shrimp that was delicious as well as several other dishes. Khun Slim’s wife bought some grilled shrimp to take home. As always, it was really good to hang out with my special friends.
Teachers had a seminar at the school all day Saturday and Sunday. Khun Irene reported that they were at school from 8:00 Sunday morning until 7:00 PM. As always, I’m glad we do not have to participate.
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