I tell you, I am currently trying to savor the “busy” moment and need to remind myself that when it is June, too hot to function, and bored out of my mind to reminisce on these past 3 (4?) weeks. After being busy with the events at school, my host family then took me to a very special event at the pagoda. In the month of November, Buddhists celebrate Kathina (កឋិន-Kathun). This celebration is during the rainy season to bring gifts to the monks such as food, gifts, and also new robes to start the new year off. In Cambodia, different pagodas have different weekends dedicated to Kathina, and so my weekend for our pagoda was the one that happened to be after all of the other festivities! We got dressed in our white shirts (a tradition to wear to the pagoda) and then our bright colored sampots. Of course the sampan I wanted to wear was too big on my hips and so as a little side story, I had to put a safety pin to hold the skirt up, but then the safety pin fell off so one time I went to stand up and I almost lost the skirt (but don’t worry we went to someone’s house and my host sister was able to sew and fix it). We went to first pray with the family and took photos at the pagoda. We also saw some people doing a small procession and then dance around a plate where you donate money for the pagoda. Then we ate some food at the pagoda and hung around before then starting the Kathina procession. We walked around the pagoda/surrounding neighborhood with the umbrellas and gifts. You put the gifts box on your head to carry and so everyone in my family was passing around the gift box to carry on their heads. Once that was finished, we then went back to someone’s house to relax and hang out. I then got a message from my school director that we were starting the basketball court at school so I had to ask for my family to take me home so I could go see the progress of the court!
The Procession
Then after being at the school for a couple hours, I had to hurry home to change for a wedding to go to! My host sister said she was invited to two weddings, so I thought that she was just going to choose which one we would go to. But no, her plan was to send me to go to one alone and she go to one alone, which is tough for me because I usually know no one at weddings! So I asked if my little host brother could go with me to the wedding and he was happy to go (until he threw a small temper tantrum when I wouldn’t let him watch my phone at the dinner table).
Host Brother and Sister
Family Photo
The people dancing around the plate for the donations
Short post for today, but nonetheless I am looking forward to it being calm and boring for a little bit! (After this I also was invited on a Khmer family road trip to the beach and that was a LOOONNNGGGG time in the car, a story for another time!)
At the wedding
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