People line up on the streets (either standing but mostly kneeling on mats) with bamboo basket containers of sticky rice and other offerings to pay respect. Our driver impressed upon us to buy only sticky rice from a particular vendor, as this is what the monks apparently prefer, and not from the many other street vendors who were asking us to purchase rice from them.Wedid not understand the logic but we saw postings at other locations making the same request.
The driver set up mats for us to kneel on and provided us with scarves to wrap around our neck and chests (Mickey's was blue and mine pink). The two other guests who rode along with us from our hotel were somewhat unfamiliar with some of the rituals and cultural "dont's" when it comes to monks.
One is that you are NEVER to touch a monk. It is especially serious if a woman makes contact with a monk. Thus, each of the monks and novices carried bamboo baskets to recieve the alms. You use the right hand, not left to offer the rice. Shoulders and knees should be covered; shorts and tank tops are a "don't" and you always sit or stand lower than a monk. Finally, when sitting on the mats, your feet must face backwards; feet are considered the lowliest part of the human body in Buddhism so you don't point them at a monk and especially never at a statute of Buddha.
What stood out most to me during the procession was a family and some individuals who attended and did not bring any offerings at all. Rather,they brought empty baskets or plastic bags. The monks, rather than recieving offerings from these folks, shared from their baskets some of the offerings they had received along the way. They received and in turn, gave to those in need. It moved me.
The Buddhists believe that if you give offerings to the monks, hence to Buddha, you will never be hungry in the after life.
The procession lasted about a half hour with towns people and tourists and tuk tuk drivers and other drivers on call, milling around. Many were taking photographs. (taking photographs is apparently not taboo)
After the crowd broke up, we visited the morning market (as opposed to the night market and the OTHER morning market we visited before our cooking class).
There we saw hoards of people selling the "usual"? Pigs legs(with the fur still on them), live frogs trying to jump out of mesh covered buckets, live fish, eels, live turtles, plucked chickens with legs and claws sticking up in the air, roosters, birds, ducks. None of the live creatures seemed to have "much future". Mickey swore at that moment that he was going to become vegetarian (ask him what he had for lunch..)
Of course, there were also the fruit and vegetable vendors; bread, coconut cakes, sitcky rice, noodles of all kinds, cookies and pancakes were also being sold.
Dogs and tuk tuks were aplenty (it is so crazy that there are so many stray dogs in Souteast Asia and we have not seen even ONE DOG grab food from a market or street vendor in three month's time! Take that Beckham!
Lessons to be learned at home, eh?
The purchase of food is an event and we are ever willing participants!
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