Monday, March 16, 2009

Entering the temple

With my landlord's family at the temple.

My neighbor's baby who they nicknamed "Joe."

Dressed up in formal wear inside the main temple.


View from our room. Each room has two monks and we sleep on the floor. Each morning we would wake up at 4 a.m. to pray for about an hour followed by walking for alms.



Hanging out before breakfast. This is right after we walked around the neighborhood asking for alms. Most people come out and put a scoop or two of rice in our bowls and some people give food that is eaten with rice. This is all taken back to the temple and eaten first by the monks and then by the lay people who come to pray with the monks each morning.




Sharing a few laughs as we're trying to shoot mangos off the tree with a slingshot.



Blamaw, my co-teacher's son who became a monk at the same time as myself. We spent a week together at the temple.

Relaxin' by the window watching some kids swim in the pond that surrounds the main buiding at the temple.


During the ceremony to become a monk. It's usually a two-day process. The first day is the shaving of your head and eyebrows and then the next morning entering the temple to have your "lay" clothes removed and replaced with robes. If you're wondering...no underwear.

This is the outfit you are dressed in for the 24 hours before entering the temple. At this point, Thais consider you a "Nak" which is not yet a monk but higher than a lay person.


Shortly after shaving our heads and wearing our "Nak" uniforms.











1 comment:

Melissa said...

Can:t wait to hear all about the temple! Also can:t remember where the apostrophe key is on this Japanese keyboard....