Thread: Northern Monk Initiation

Our neighbour's son is preparing for his time as a monk in the village temple. This is a rite of passage for the male population, to learn about the Buddhist teachings, and make merit for the parents.

The entire village participates in the 3-days event, and friends and relatives travel for the occasion at the host's expense.

It starts with putting up tables and tents, and of course food being prepared, which is an ongoing task for the women over the 3 days:

A fish curry and sticky rice for the kitchen workers:

Chairs and stuff delivered:

The guys cook up some sweet 'cake', made with rice, cane-sugar and coconut:

Served the traditional way:

Washed down with a drop of rice-whiskey:

Cleaning the pot:

..and on with the next delicacies:

The old geezers are carving ornaments from banana-wood:

The Thai way - one is on the job, 3 or 4 watch...

Meanwhile, the women are doing the more demanding cooking:





Washing green Mango shreds to make them less sour for the curry:

The men are getting a couple of pigs for the slaughter:

Nice photo essay Stroller.

On with the slaughter:

Shaving the pig, everything will end up on the table, except the hair and the teeth:

20 minutes later:

The gall bladder has been skillfully seperated and the content adds that extra ummpf to the rice-whisky now:

Some parts being cleaned:

The butcher crew have first pickings:

Originally Posted by stroller

The butcher crew have first pickings:

Always a relief that Asians like to eat the crap, so we can savour the good bits.

I have a feeling they say the same about us honkeys.

One of many little good luck rituals which are to take place, for the parents:

This one involves feeding bananas to the obator and grandparents:







These pics would be perfect for a gif-slideshow!

After a hard days work, it's time to switch on the karaoke, relax and celebrate:



Gaing Hunglay:

The aspiring talent on stage, our local yabba-heads twin daughters and friend:

The lyrics are a mix of folklore, well-wishes and local gossip. People put forward names of relatives, alive or deceased with requests:

The dog seems to like the music, too:

The monotonous drone carries on for hours, creating a timewarp in which forms are dissolved into a lower Buddhist heaven of sound and colours.

Now lets see if this gif works:

Nope, what have I done wrong?

Nah, it moves, I think the delay is very slow, or is it my slow connection?