Hello, สวัสดี (Sa wa dii), Hola

This weekend in Nakhon Phanom it was the fireboat festival, which meant a lot of crazyness and fun! Let me start from the beginning. Friday night after dinner Jess (our field director) showed us a Thai movie, whose English translated title is Mekong Full Moon Party … odd yes but a very good movie! I highly suggest it to anyone who wants to see a portrayal of the culture I am living in this year. But I digress … The movie is about a myth in Thailand about fireballs that shoot out of the Mekong … some parts true some exaggerated … but in any case the festival this weekend was for the full moon in October. These huge boats were built and soda cans were filled with gas and attached to the structures to create ornate pictures that light up and float down the Mekong River … They. Are. Beautiful! … so Friday night we watched this movie and then Saturday morning we left Pla Pak at 7:30 to go to That Phanom Wat (the temple in That Phanom) to watch traditional dancers from High Schools in Nakhon Phanom Province. We legit piled in cars and trucks (yes there were people in the truck bed) with bedding and a change of clothes for each of us. The dancers were gorgeous and the temple is AMAZING. It was really hot so that was kind of a bummer since we were dressed up but whatever. It’s hot here all the time. And there were people in sweaters and sweatshirts! Thais are crazy! But in any case we stayed there till 11:30, then we went to lunch with Rambo (the police man who “is like the moon” because he patrols around us) and the director of Pla Pak Wittaya (the school we have been living with) at a restaurant legit on the Mekong River, where they insisted on getting us all ice cream but apparently we love ice cream! But who wants to pass that up?! It was deliciousss! From there we traveled into Nakhon Phanom City where we dropped off our stuff at on the volunteer’s housing assignment for the year. (Her roommate is a gem and invited all of us to sleep at her house for the fireboat festival) She then dragged us to the parade sweaty and exhausted hahaha … the parade was of these temples made of wax from each of the villages. They were awesome … people were walking along the floats spraying the wax with water so it wouldn’t melt. There were also some dancers and bands … sometimes just speakers in the back of a pickup truck with old guys dancing … hilarrrious!!! Then we walked around through some of the stands and went back to the house to freshen up for the night. We went to dinner as a group at a place called Good Morning Vietnam …. It was delicious! We got make your own fresh spring rolls with chicken, star fruit, garlic, chilies, this delectable peanut sauce, and these dry banana things. We also got this awesome spicy noodle salad and lots of other spring rolls and some fried egg with rice. Yummy! Then we watched the fireboats which was an experience in and of itself … it was just like being in a crowd watching 4^th of July fireworks only it was all Asians in the crowd. There were fireworks with the full moon right above them reflecting off the Mekong. There are no words to describe how cool it was. While stuck in a crowd at one point this little girl bumped into me so I looked down and smiled, which cause her to gasp because I am a white person and she then loud whispered to her family “farang” (meaning white foreigner) so then I was cracking up … it was special. And everyone here calls you beautiful because you are white and they think white people are gorgeous … so my self esteem is really going up here. One especially memorable encounter happened yesterday during the parade when a woman came up to me and said “Welcome to Thailand” (in English) and then she said “You are a very beautiful someone” … yesss!!!! Hahaha! After fireboats we all went out for some drinks and get a feel for the nightlife in Nakhon Phanom City. We went to the previous volunteers’ favorite spot, a place called Duck Pub. Rambo greeted us with reserved tables and whiskey as soon as we walked in. hahaha! We danced and drank all night! It was so nice to get to go out with everyone and let loose! We even found out that Rambos brother owns the bar … they’re a connected family ha ha! On Sunday we woke up and went to Meringue, a favorite hang out spot in NKP that has real bread and coffee , which are hard to come by around here. Then we piled in some trucks and headed to the former District Directors house (a man named Mr. Narong) for lunch. He did all of the beginning paperwork to get WorldTeach in Nakhon Phanom. His house is so nice and the food was delicious and he gave us all his number so we could call him and go to his house this year. He is a very sweet old retired man! We were Thai dancing with a bunch of women at the house as well … so fun! I am currently EXHAUSTED from a crazy fun weekend and gearing up for the last few days of practicum and the move into my house at the end of the week!