Friday Flowers - Sacred Marigolds

Marigolds are a sacred flower in Buddhism. They are used in offerings and garlands for Buddha.  These were for sale in a market in Luang Prabang.

Banana lady

Banana stalls (wooden  trailers) line a section of Khouvieng Blvd, the main road from my apartment to school.  This lady had stopped to inspect the products before buying a bunch for 10,000 kip (approx $2.00).  The banana variety changes with the season and the quality is also varied.  These bananas would be imported from Thailand, although there are banana plantations in the north of Laos.

Mother Tongue Day

Yes that is the title of the event - It is not about your mother's mouth - but language.
VIS has a strong mother tongue program to support student to learn their own language and get credit in the IB program.  Today we celebrated the diverse program.  Lao food, Thai candy, Danish Lego, Norwegian vikings, Japanese origami, French pin the flag on the Eiffel tower, Korean games and costumes, Chinese puzzles, and more. 

The German's didn't have beer and the Spanish stand didn't have Rjoca or Sherry, the French lacked wine, and I the Vientnamese were there but without food or drink.

My contribution was to use the words "Bonza", "Gidday" and "Mate" a lot in advisory - but the students were less than impressed.

What are they advertising?

Phones?

The shop below?

Travel to Eqypt?

Not sure?  Ideas welcome.

Monks Sweeping

I featured the brooms on the weekend - today its the young monks in action with the brooms busily completing their morning chore of sweeping the courtyard.

Another buddhist ceremony

There was considerable action tonight at Wat Simeuang - the temple near where I live.  So I went in to investigate. A sea of white clad devotees sat filling the grounds of the temples - all connected by white strings.

I loved this lady's hat/beanie and the fact that most of the young people were attached to their devices as well as the sacred strings.

Everyone- young, old - male, female, were dressed in white and tied together by white strings, sitting listening to chanting and lectures and preparing offerings of flowers and candles.  Some statues of Buddha were also wrapped in white cloth,

White is a color of purity and longevity in Buddhism.  The strings link people in common prayer.

 I am not sure what the ceremony was for  (google suggests Nirvana Day) but it looked like they were staying the night as they has pillows and blankets.  

Still life with brooms

I visited a temple last week where the monks were busy sweeping the temple grounds.

Once finished they placed the brooms against the steps ready to use later in the day.