All the banana leaf folding (and then lotus petal folding) was for a good cause. 70 men became monks at my temple this weekend. Some for the day, some for 3 days, some for the week, some forever.
The coolest part was that one of the guys becoming a monk was wearing a shirt that said "You say I'm a Bitch like it's a bad thing." Those Thais and their t-shirts! They love anything with English and most can't read it anyway, so they get some pretty crazy things on there. Often times they have really sexual shirts. Which reminds me of a story.
The beginning of my 6th grade English text book has an example for the word 'over' that goes like this: "The girl lies over the boy."
WHAT?? Yes you read that correctly. I sent a text message to my friend Natalie about it. Text messages are a way of life here. If I don't send/recieve 5 or so it's been a slow day. So Natalie texted back, "What happened to good old Missionary? Kid's these days..."
The monk ceremony was great. But it was a hot day. The monks got to stay cool as they were 'showered' by about 200 people each. The day before they had all their head and facial hair (including eyebrows, but not eyelashes) shaved. Then they sat in a long row in their shorts and held their hands in prayer position as people walked past and poured a glass of water on each of them in a cleansing ritual.
There was also a parade w dancing in the streets. And the monks dresssed in white dresses (well robes really) with doilys on their head. Just like what a baby wears at a baptism! Only these were grown thai men.
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