Ang Thong Province: On a Friday morning we all travelled up to this province about an hour and a half away from Bangkok. We went to a high school/college that was attended by children who were not wanted by their parents. The orphans put on a show for us, including Thai dance, a Thai song, and martial arts. We were then able to talk with them individually, a little in English and a little in Thai, about basically anything. We helped them with their English and discussed what their lives have been like and the differences in our cultures, etc. Following the few hours at the school, we went down the street to where the child orphans were and fed them lunch. Each of the children had their own metal, reusable trays that they constantly carried with them. We were responsible for serving their lunches. With the food already provided ( rice, cucumbers, ice slushie drink, and ice cream ), we had to dish out the rice from huge vats (wooden containers) and serve the rest of the food as they filed by in a line. *Pictures to come* After feeding the orphans we were on our way to Ayuthaya ( See June 13th Entry ) to attend a Buddhist Retreat at a wat (temple).
Buddhist Retreat at Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon: Everyone in the group, all 35 of us, are enrolled in a class called Thai Buddhism. Led by our ajarn (professor), Venerable Dr. Mettanando Bhikku ( a Buddhist monk), we were required to attend a retreat as part of our class. Our accomadations were not as we expected. As the girls slept 4 to a bungalow, the guys (about 20) slept in a large conference room on the floor with a simple mat, and tiny pillow, with just a few blankets for all of us. We were supposed to be given the robes that the monks wore, but they did not have enough, so most of us ended up wearing the same clothes for 3 days in a row. The first day consisted of lunch and a meeting, followed by the Venerable teaching us how to meditate sitting in a chair, and instructing us on the morning chanting that will take place the following day. The next day we woke up at 6am. At this time, all of the monks go out into the community on their alms round to collect food and water that is placed in their bowls they carry. In Thailand, Buddhists believe that they ge to heaven by performing good merits, and, therefore, give to the monks, including flowers and other decoratons. So we followed the monks around and helped them carry the food while we walked behind and watched. After breakfast, we went to the meditation hall and performed the chanting rituals with two of the monks followed by sitting meditation. We were then taught how to meditate while walking. Later in the day we had to meditate for 3 hours in the afternoon, either sitting or walking meditation. That night four monks and four nuns, including the head abbot and head nun, from the monastary came to our meeting for a question and answer discussion. The following day, we woke up again to follow the monks on their rounds at 5:30am. After breakfast, the guys went with the monks (and the girls with the nuns) into the temple in order to chant with all of the monks that live at the temple ( about 40 of them). Following the morning chanting, we meditated and then had another meeting before waiting for the much anticipated arrival of the buses to take us home....This temple is a very popular tourist attraction, and yes, there were many tourists there while we were doing all of our activities and I'm sure they were pretty confused as to what we were doing as we meditated and chanted with the monks. On the second day, there was a huge festival and thousands of people attended the wat because a teenager was getting ordained into monkhood. I hope to get pictures up soon from this weekend.
