09.03.2008 Saraburi

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Funeral and Wedding

Yesterday K and I went back to Ayutthaya in order to accompany K's dad to a funeral in Rangsit. It wasn't on our schedule of course but we fit it in. One of his school friends has died and we were asked to come. No pics from this event for I didn't want to take any. I would have felt like a tourist and I didn't want to bother the mourning family.

A bit weird really, a few hours ago I attended this funeral and the next morning K and I are already on our way to a wedding. In my understanding you dress up for a wedding so I put on my dress. I also put on make up for the first time since my arrival in Thailand. Both seemed to be a bad idea. When we arrived I felt stared at. I realized that everyone was just in their everyday clothes and therefore I felt totally overdressed. My make up wouldn't have been a problem I guess, if it wouldn't have been so hot. We were sweating badly and there was no way the make up would stay where it was supposed to. K kept taking a napkin and making sure I look good (K: thank you for that).

At first we entered a house where the freshly wed sat next to each other connected by a thread fixed to crowns they had on their heads (hope I explained that right, just have a look at the photo). We had to cue and when it was our turn we were given a bowl with holy water and a white thread. First we had to pour the holy water over their folded hands and give them our blessings and withes and then put the thread around their wrists. After that we were given a gift. I was a bit confused about that part. After we left the room K explained to me that all the guests receive a present in order to thank them for coming. Shouldn't I be the one showing appreciation for the invitation?

Anyway we sat down at one of the empty tables and were soon joined by K's former colleagues and staff. Like me, he has quit his job one week ago and the bride is one of his former staff. His colleagues were really interested in me and asked me lots of questions. It was nice communicating with them although they were struggling with their English and well... you know about my Thai. Yet again they said that I look really beautiful and like Nathalie the ex Miss Universe.

Soon food was served. They started to bring one platter after the other. I hardly touched the food. Not that I didn't want to because it really looked good and I was amazed at just how much these slim people can eat. But I just had breakfast before we left and it was so incredibly hot that it simply seemed impossible to eat. I haven't managed to eat more than two meals a day since I got here and those of you who know how much I usually eat will understand that that is a reason to worry 😉

The party was entertained by a group of girls dancing, accompanied by two singers. Later on the guests were asked to come on stage and do some karaoke. K said that Thais are crazy about it and they had no trouble finding volunteers. Fortunately they didn't ask me to sing (for their own good) but they wanted me to join a bit of dancing. One of the guys just took my hand and dragged me up front. He started to do some funny moves. I was rather confused but thought what the heck just copy whatever he does. He kept saying something to me in Thai, doing more moves and I had no idea what he wanted from me. I really didn't feel at ease for I knew that many of the guests were watching me. I had already noticed it when we started eating. People would look at me and sometimes when I turned around I could even see one or the other quickly hide their mobile phone or camera with which they had just secretly taken pictures of me. And now I guess they wanted to see the foreign girl dance. So here I was, a great dancer as anything (I wouldn't even consider myself as a good dancer back home) not knowing what the guy kept telling me and feeling watched wondering whether they were laughing at me behind my back. I was about to give up when K came to help me out and started translating. Having him around and explaining everything made me feel a lot more comfortable and I think that my Thai dancing wasn't so bad after all *hope*.

We left the wedding at 1 pm. I wondered about our early take off and K told me that it's about over anyway. I was a bit surprised about this but I guess that's another difference to a Swiss wedding. We rather celebrate in the evening than morning.

In the afternoon we went to look at a dam which is one of the projects realized by the King and after that we went to a cave that was not really that special. A monk opened the gate for us and we walked down the stairs where we found a series of Buddha statues. K explained to me that there's one for each day. After that we headed back to Ayutthaya where we were going to spend the night.

In the evening we opened our presents after we came back from having a drink. We got towels with really nice embroidery on it. That is a really useful gift. I got a blue one and K's was pink. He insisted on changing but why would I want to have a pink one? Eventually I gave in the next morning and let him have mine. No matter how much I liked it I had to face the fact that the space in my backpack is very limited and that I really couldn't afford the luxury of having two towels.

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