Peace Corps Volunteer Becky writes: The "Nation-wide water fight"



"the reason for the title is because of the Thai new year called Song Kran... It goes for around 5 days in April, the hottest month in this country, and it really is a nation-wide water fight, I personally "len nam"- ed(literal meaning "play water") with the two kids I live with on 4 different days and it was fun, and of course you could get arrested in the states for throwing water at a passing motorist on a motorcycle, and i had a flash back to when i was younger and some kids in the back of a pickup truck sprayed my mom with a watergun as we were driving past... needless to say my mom popped the minivan into reverse and went and told on the kids to their mom, and they got in trouble... but not only is it OK but the kids and I were inside playing a game and the mom of the family actually came in and told us to go outside and play, so anyway all of the water was accompanied by a old fashion community activity day complete with egg toss and potato sack races (apparently both are universal worldwide) and of course that day I was dripping wet for about 5 hours because EVERYONE (and I mean EVERYONE) thought it would be funny to throw a bucket of water on the farang (foreigner), and now I have a wicked cold..."

Peace Corps Volunteer Becky writes: The "Nation-wide water fight"

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

The "Nation-wide water fight"

the reason for the nickname is purely because I have a horrible memory, my meh from training grows cucumbers to sell at the market and i took me about 9 seperate times of them telling me the word (over a span of about 2 weeks) for me to remember it... so in order to be "funny" they decided to call me that, it started out as a joke and now it has stuck and even followed me to site, I walk through the market with random Thais yelling Dang-qua at me, and they arent trying to sell me cucumbers either

the reason for the title is because of the Thai new year called Song Kran... It goes for around 5 days in April, the hottest month in this country, and it really is a nation-wide water fight, I personally "len nam"- ed(literal meaning "play water") with the two kids I live with on 4 different days and it was fun, and of course you could get arrested in the states for throwing water at a passing motorist on a motorcycle, and i had a flash back to when i was younger and some kids in the back of a pickup truck sprayed my mom with a watergun as we were driving past... needless to say my mom popped the minivan into reverse and went and told on the kids to their mom, and they got in trouble... but not only is it OK but the kids and I were inside playing a game and the mom of the family actually came in and told us to go outside and play, so anyway all of the water was accompanied by a old fashion community activity day complete with egg toss and potato sack races (apparently both are universal worldwide) and of course that day I was dripping wet for about 5 hours because EVERYONE (and I mean EVERYONE) thought it would be funny to throw a bucket of water on the farang (foreigner), and now I have a wicked cold... but i wouldnt trade it for the world, it was a once in a lifetime experience and i had fun, I feel like a real member of there community, since they invited me to participate in community activities and i feel very honored, especially since I havent even been here a month
alright i have to go play with the kids (luk-ett, 13 and guay, 9)
I love and miss everyone

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: April, 2006; COS - Thailand; Directory of Thailand RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Thailand RPCVs; Humor; Holidays

When this story was posted in December 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:




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