Well. We've been so busy doing things in and around Chiang Mai that we have not had any time to post to our journal. So, here is a brief snapshot of one thing we've been doing a lot of.
We've been visiting lots of wats. That's kind of a joke because wats rhymes with lots...get it? If we haven't explained earlier, wats are buddhist temples, and they are usually quite amazing. Wats here are kind of like churches in the U.S., in that there are thousands of them throughout the country. Here in Chiang Mai, you can't go two blocks without walking by another wat. (Thailand is 90% Buddhist)
Wats usually have many buddha statues, ranging from several stories tall to the size of your thumb. People walk in, drop to their knees, put their hands together, and do a short, silent prayer. Many times there are monks around, wrapped in orange/gold robes (and you will sometimes see a few nuns--in white).
People will go to the monks for blessings, and they'll shake some water over your head with a wooden whisk-thingy. Early in the morning you can witness the monks receiving their alms. This is when someone gifts them (usually with money, sometimes with food) and then they immediately drop to their knees before the monk while he says a chant over them. This is usually done as the monk walks around in the community, but it also happens at the wat. Sometimes there are several monks receiving alms as once and their chants are beautiful.
Sometimes there is a monk sitting in a temple to tie a plain white string around your wrist and do a little chant or prayer. We both have two strings on our wrists right now from monks. The monk this morning said, "Good luck, ok. Good luck, ok," while he was tying our strings.
Usually, wats are pretty quiet places of solace. However, this morning, we went to Wat Doi Suthep (outside of town on a mountain overlooking the city) and it was a freaking madhouse at 9am, and was looking to get much crazier through the day. Chiang Mai is really hopping right now because there is a huge flower exhibition going on that people are coming to from all over Thailand. Seems like while all these Thai folks are here, they're also doing a lot of touristy things, including coming to this particular wat. There must be tens of thousands of people visiting that wat every day. Totally crazy.
It's funny too, because we're used to certain types of places of worship, and the rules that go along with them. For example, you probably wouldn't take photos in a church or synagogue while services were going on. In those places, you usually go to pray for a set period of time--like a few hours on Saturday or Sunday.
Wats are not like that. You can go pray at a wat anytime (day or night). They seem to be more incorporated into everyday life. So, people are walking around, taking pictures, talking on cell phones, just hanging out. Yesterday, we were at a wat, a Thai family bowed in front of a monk, he did his chant thing, splashed them with water, and as they were getting up, the dad immediately took a cell phone call. And no one took offense. It was totally normal.
The only rules you really are supposed to follow in wats are: take your shoes off in the temple areas; wear proper clothes (no shorts or revealing shirts, etc.); and women can't touch the monks. There are some others, of course. But these are the basics.
Culturally, going to wats has been a great experience. They are simultaneously highly spiritual, reverent places, and very day-to-day.
We'll write about more of our Chiang Mai experiences soon (including riding an ELEPHANT!!!).
