Grandpa’s Ceremony

Grandpa decides he’s going to have a ceremony. So all the old people visit his house, and upon meeting him again, give him some money. The eldest monk at the nearby pagoda is also coming to chant and pray for him. I made sense of this ceremony as a “getting old cermeony” or “retirement fund ceremony,” where he gets to gather everyone who’s close to him in the neighborhood, and far fromt he neighborhood, to visit and have Cambodian noodles, give him some money and accept his kind prayers too, and then hang out later for watermelon and lots of Coca Cola. I didn’t know I had to give him money when I came so I just sat down in the lake of grandmas in my white top and traditional, itchy, hot skirt, with legs folded and hands praying and listening to the chanting. I did politely bow to him when I greeted him though.

Later, he was doused in cold water, as well as his closest blood relatives! Pretty much hsi son and daughter, and his son’s family. It was interesting and awkward to take a shower photo. The family members had got some soap and washed him too before the monks came into the picture, and wishing him long life, etc, too. It was very different. I’m used to just seeing one individual get a shower from monks in a sarong, from feeling ill or unlucky lately, but this was a a flight of steps with a family, and more than 1 monk showering lots of water. Very different!