Ay yi yi. I have fallen behind in my blogging! Shocking, I know. Brief recap of noteworthy (and otherwise) events of recent days.
Birthday celebration: All 10 of us ETA’s went to the Sky Bar on top of the State Towers last week to celebrate a birthday in the group. After surprising Marie with a ice cream cake decorated with blonde angels (something was lost in translation, we think) us 10 girls (yup, all girls) piled into taxis only an hour behind schedule. We arrived at the hotel and took the elevators up to the 64th floor. We stepped out and were immediately awestruck at the view. Bangkok from that elevation is breath-taking – you can see wats mixed in with skyscrapers next to dark neighborhoods. The view certainly gave us yet another take on Bangkok and its beauty that can be hard to discern at times on a micro level.
Talk on Buddhism with a British monk: Last week Fulbright arranged for us to go to a wat and listen to a monk speak about Buddhism and education. He was a tall, gangly chap with a clipped accent. Despite his orange robes, his height and white skin made him rather conspicuous in and around the temple. He has lived in Thailand for 14 years, speaks the language fluently and is deeply entrenched in the culture. But his background as a “Westerner” provided us with the perspective we sometimes need to bridge the gap between American and Thai culture. But the most thought-provoking segments of his talk were about Buddhism itself, a religion I have only a basic grasp on. He spoke of defining acts as “wholesome” or “unwholesome” as opposed to good and evil, and of the flexibility inherent in the religion in that an individual gets to decide for him or herself what comprises those two categories. Several parts of his lecture struck home with me particularly, possibly because I’m hoping to absorb some of the peace and serenity that seems to characterize tenets of Buddhism and Thai culture. I feel I don’t have an adequate grasp of Buddhism nor do I possess the appropriate vocabulary to properly explain his ideas now, but perhaps at a later date I will feel more adept and delve into it here.
Grand Palace: Last weekend a group of us went to the Grand Palace – the most famous tourist destination in Bangkok. A huge complex encompassing hundreds of buildings, the compound was teeming with foreigners and Thais alike. I’ve included some photos of the most impressive buildings. The former monarchs of Thailand lived in the magnificent palace and prayed in the ornate temples that dot the sprawling compound. Characterized by diverse styles that span centuries (all of which seem to be covered with intricate exterior designs as well as by detailed murals depicting ancient epic tales on the interior walls) every inch of every structure was uniquely beautiful. The main temple, Wat Phra Kaew houses the famous Emerald Buddha, which is teeny and almost gets lost in all the glittering gold decorations. Three times a year the King (or the Crown Prince) changes the clothes on the Buddha to suit the three seasons – hot, rainy and cool. I had been looking forward to this particular tourist destination since arriving here (I’m a history nerd, what can I say?) and it certainly did not disappoint.
Wat Pho: After the Grand Palace we headed to Wat Pho, home of the largest reclining Buddha in the world and the largest collection of Buddha images in Thailand. The Reclining Buddha is 138 feet long and 45 feet high. Yeah. He’s big. The feet are decorate with mother-of-pearl inlay and display images of the Buddha throughout his life. You wait in a long continuous line to enter the room housing the Buddha and slowly wind your way around the massive figure. After sufficiently ogling the Reclining Buddha we wandered around the grounds for a bit. We came across a small temple in which a ceremony was taking place. A guard ushered us in and showed us where to sit. An elderly monk was sitting with his back to the crowd gathering around the entrance of the temple, chanting into a microphone. In front of him was a table covered with flowers, containers and other glittering objects. A handful of people sat in a row of chairs near the monk with their hands firmly pressed into pious wai’s. On the monk’s other side, sat a row of four or five monks. After the elderly monk finished his solo, they joined in with him, and the effect of the group chanting rhythmically was enchanting. It was music. I sat and enjoyed it for a while. Very peaceful.
Wat Arun: After Wat Pho we took a water taxi across the river to Wat Arun. Built by King Taksin shortly after Bangkok became the capital of Thailand in the late 18th century (the previous capital, Ayuthaya – see Homestay entry – was sacked by the Burmese and the survivors moved to Bangkok), the temple is named after the Indian god of dawn. It has a huge tower (which was built later) is decorated with small, broken pieces of Chinese porcelain. We arrived and were excited to climb the steps to the top of the temple to check out the sunset. Then we saw the steps. They were steep and narrow. Maybe a foot and half tall and six inches wide. Great. There were steel handrails (thank goodness), but it was certainly intimidating. On the way down, I was delayed by a young Japanese couple who were standing partway down the steps. The girl was squealing and gesticulating with her hands while the boy wrapped his arms around her and tried to convince her to continue the descent. It was oddly adorable, really. After we left the temple, we headed for a small hole in the wall restaurant that had been lauded in a few of our guidebooks and enjoyed a delicious Thai meal. Yay.
More to come...
Holla,
Ali
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