Patrick and his colleagues.
It wouldn't be a Thai party without food -- part of the huge spread!
Hallowe'en is new to Thailand, so it was great to see the creative thought that went into the costumes.
We played games, one of which featured a "Fear Factor"-style eating contest. Rich, pictured here, was a master at eating grasshoppers.
Some of the Thai staff dressed their American colleagues as traditional Thai ghosts. Molly is dressed as "Mae Naak," one of the most famous and feared ghosts in Thailand. According to legend, a teenaged girl falls in love with a handsome young man. They are married and she becomes pregnant. The young man is conscripted for military service, leaving his pregnant bride behind. Unbeknownst to him, she and their infant son die in childbirth ... but their spirits remain. When the young man returns, the ghost of the woman disguises herself and her son as humans. However, despite her best efforts, she cannot disguise her true nature from her husband, who flees in horror. The villagers resort to all possible spiritual means to exorcise the ghost, but to no avail. The young man remarries, enraging the jealous ghost, who terrorizes her husband and his new family. The young man finally flees to a Buddhist temple, where a gifted young novice imprisons the ghost in a ceramic pot and drops it in the river, freeing her to reenter the cycle of rebirth.When Molly walked down the street from our office to the Embassy compound (where we had the party), the Thais on the street -- who knew nothing of Hallowe'en -- were stunned, if not horrified. "Mae Naak! Mae Naak!" they murmured, pointing at her and moving away...
2 comments:
Our Au Pair from Brazil had her first Halloween this year. She dressed up as a Witch and went with (My) Jen and the kids for trick or treating. I have this alien costume that scares the Bejesus out of kids and I stayed at the house for those brave enough to come and get candy.
Halloween was a quiet affair for us. But, we certainly enjoyed the wee little ones who came dressed as batman, little soldiers and firemen, as well as Disney princesses and a precious angel. Four teenage girls were happy to polish off the candy we had left. They were just as excited as we were to give it to them :-)
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