New years

Recently, both Laos and I have celebrated new years. April 13-15th (and a bit beyond, for good measure), the country celebrated Pi Mai Lao (the Lao New Year based on the Buddhist calender). Like all good celebrations, this one involved a bit of the sacred and the profane, as well as a few days off from work and school. Traditionally, based on my observations (I haven't researched it as I'd intended), the coming of the new year is a time of starting afresh, so people visit up to nine temples to wash the Buddhas and other statues with a special water and to receive blessings. Some people travel to all 9 temples in one day-- a marathon that my host family undertook. Other people, like the teachers I went with, visited several one day and made it to more the next day if it was possible. Aside from these religious celebrations, there was general revelry which involved a lot of water and music, food and BeerLao.
It is the hottest time of the year, so it is admittedly a good time for a water fight, but I have never seen a whole city (or country, since the fun continued outside of the city and in other towns) so committed to one activity. People waited along the roadside with buckets or hoses or or waterguns or bags filled with water to splash or spray passing motorists. Trucks loaded with people and the means to splash traveled around soaking the roadside partiers, other truck-fulls, and passerbys. I enjoyed the three days of energy and coolness in the midst of a heat wave, but was careful about what I took with me when going out and a little intimidated to ride my motorbike. I also thought the colored water, baby powder, and greasy face paint were less fun weapons for the fight, but was not hit by these things too often.
I spent one day of Pi Mai in Luang Prabang with a friend, Annalise, alternatively getting soaked and trying to dry out; the next day I watched the festivities in Vientiane, walking through some of them with my swimsuit under my quickdry clothes, which never got a chance to prove themselves as they were constantly rewet; finally, I went out to the countryside for a day, for a riverside carnival, a slow meal of grilled fish, papaya salad, sticky rice, and lettuce wraps with relatives and friends, and a long wet ride. School was still closed for a day or so, so I took some time to rest up and dry out.
A week later, it was time for me to celebrate another new year as my birthday came along. I joyfully receieved wishes from home, was fed a dinner and cake by my MCC family, and partied with teachers from the school-- once taking them cake and snacks to share during our morning recess and later that day being taking to a riverside restaurant for dinner and more cake. I felt well-loved and hope to continue this my 24t year with similarly good community, food, and adventure.