Water Fight!

Preparing to throw water on anyone that passes

Eiad and J starting the party, but Eiad’s gun is not so much intimidating.

A water fight is an understatement!  Every year for three days our city and country shuts down for a city-wide water fight.  It is quite a surreal event.  Young children, teenagers, moms and dads, and grandparents celebrate the new year in a major way.  April is the start of the new year for the people of our country.  They do celebrate it in January with the rest of the world, but they have a second celebration specific to their country in April.  All businesses are closed, so you must stock up on groceries and everything you will need for a week as most people begin celebrating a couple days early. 

Stand selling water buckets, water guns and all kinds of supplies necessary for a good water fight!

Some people wear masks to cover their faces from the cold water.  Quite scary, really!

If you don’t want to participate in the water fight, then you must lock yourself in your house for three days.  The moment you walk outside you are an open target, especially as a foreigner.  L is definitely one they look out for because she always tries to look put together when she goes out.  That is a “BIG” no-no during this time of year!

People ride on the back of trucks and throw water everywhere.  Be prepared!

People sell water guns of all sizes on the side of the road for people to buy.

This celebration has a lot of meaning to it.  It is a fresh start to a new year in all aspects of life.  Many people go to the temple to make merit with the monks and golden idols.  There are many make-shift altars/temples set up around the city for people to come and pour water over the golden idols to be cleansed of their sin.  People also spend hours meditating in hopes to purify themselves.  So there is a fun aspect with the water fight, but deep down all the water throwing is a ritual they do to become cleansed of their sin and bad karma.  When we actually think about the meaning of the holiday, it opens your eyes to the true darkness we are surrounded by every day.  The evil one is very alive here and is daily deceiving the people of this country.

Another strange thing they do is put powder on people’s faces as they walk by them.  We don’t really know why.

We have our buckets ready!

Kids always seem to have fun.  They even push you into the lake.

Water is thrown from the street, back of trucks, everywhere you can see, so watch out!

They set up stages all around the city for people to hold concerts.  People dance and sing all day long for three days straight.

Take a look at the road!  It is a lake.

J finished off our water supply by drenching everyone around.  We think he had a little too much fun!