Tomorrow will be the first cultural experience when we’ll leave the kids at home, with Pu.
At dawn, 12,600 monks from neighboring provinces will congregate in Chiang Mai to receive offerings of food. A regular part of Thai life includes offering alms to monks in the early morning. The residents of Chiang Mai also have a biannual opportunity to offer alms en mass to thousands of monks. This time, in addition to sustaining the temples, the food will be shared with communities affected by the Thai flooding. We are lucky to have the opportunity to be part of this tomorrow.
Why are we leaving the kids behind? The 6 AM wake up will put them in terrible moods and Kayan has been a real handful lately. Maybe we jinxed ourselves by bringing him to Thailand, where “Kayan” translates to “active”. Upon touchdown at Chiang Mai Airport, our son turned from a laid back boy to a rambunctious wild animal. He bites his sister. He throws stones at his mother. He kicks his father. As long as he is in this crazed state, we have decided that it’s better to leave him and Ava (who are now inseparable) out of things that are intended to be experienced in a somber state.
Speaking of somber states, we visited Wat Doi Suthep today, Chiang Mai’s most revered temple. It’s golden structures shine over Chiang Mai at 1,676 meters above the city.
Kayan ran around, tormented a Thai baby, and refused to put his shoes back on to leave. Luckily, the temple was swarming with visitors, so most of this went unnoticed.
Tomorrow, while the kids are warmly tucked away in bed, we’re looking forward to peacefully experiencing our alms giving to the monks.
Get Kayan a football! Or tie him to the lap of a Buddha for a day
We got them a bouncy ball thinking that would help burn off the energy. He almost smashed the glass door to the terrace with it.