Vassa

I'm not going to be able to post anything again until next week, since I will be away from my laptop...

BECAUSE:

Although I've been taking a lot of weekend trips around Thailand (yes, I have been doing chemistry work during the week, don't worry!), my program friends and I will be taking a BIG trip this weekend to Chiang Mai, which is in Northern Thailand!

This weekend in Thailand is a 4-day holiday (Mon. and Tues are public holidays), so we decided to take advantage of this free time in order to do bigger-scale traveling!

So, what is this holiday that we're talking about? I'm super excited about Chiang Mai, since it's supposed to have a very different culture (Northern!), climate, food, arts+crafts, etc... but, I figure that it's only right that I should learn a little bit about this public observance, called Vassa!

Vassa:

Begins on the first lunar waning day of the 8th Lunar Month, and is basically the Buddhist version of Lent, which lasts for 3 months from July until October.

Thai families with sons believe that their sons need to become monks (for whatever period of time they feel is just) in order for their parents to be able to go to heaven.

So! On Vassa, or, the first day of the Buddhist Lent, many men (including someone from my lab, and even a brother of the graduate student I'm working with!) enter the monasteries to become monks for that 3 month (give-or-take) period.

So, this coming weekend is (I think?) typically spent having parties/preparations for the sons, who will shave their heads and eyebrows, dispose of all material posessions, and then enter the temples on Mon/Tues.

I've never really been religious, and when Thai people (knowing that I'm part Japanese) ask me whether or not I'm Buddhist, I honestly tell them how when I go to Japan, I pray at my family altar and tomb for my grandparents and other ancestors, and attend Buddhist ceremonies. But, for me, it's more of a cultural aspect, or even, a sign of respect for my grandparents and other Japanese relatives that have passed.

I wonder, though... if Vassa is like the Thai Lent, should I give up something for these next 3 months, just as some men are briefly leaving behind their normal lives to experience the ways of the Buddhist monks??

The first thing that comes to my mind, is how my friends at home typically give up candy/cake/other sweets for Lent. Which brings me to something I now look forward to finding after work...

LT^3BMD - VIII

Thai icecream in BREAD!

That's RIGHT. I was first very skeptical of having icecream in a bun (rather than the U.S. typical cone or cup), but! Having this for the first time... and few times after that... have been heavenly~

The icecream flavours are typically: coconut, chocolate, chocolate chip, and pandanus leaf.

Toppings you can put on: chocolate syrup, peanuts, sliced kabocha, coconut jelly, and other interesting Thai iced-dessert-toppings

And the bun? Puffy and slightly sweet, like Hawaiian bread rolls.

I've never really been TOO big a fan of icecream sandwiches (a la Klondikes and other thin-cookie-sandwich types), but... these real bread sandwiched icecream wonders... oo!

SO GOOD. SO SIMPLE. And at only 10 Baht each? What a winner.