Rain, Water, and Moon

As I've wrote before..rain here is no joke.. It's a both a blessing as well as a total disaster.  

Time to walk in the rain ahem ahem I mean sewer water...

So as you can imagine it's a great relief when the Monsoon ends. First there's the Kathina Festival  followed by the Water Festival.

Traditionally, there are boat races (similar to the dragon boat races in China) and carnivals along the Tonle Sap Lake or rivers throughout the country. But ever since the disaster accident in 2010 in Phnom Penh the country has been in mourning and no "official" celebrations have been held since.

Although, what is interesting is that there is a lot of controversy surrounding over the accident. Many activist organizations and even monks are acerbic towards and brutally excoriate the government over this issue; putatively there may have been some conspiracy act committed and that certain details of the accident were shrouded away. Cambodia's mendacious and fraudulent government (and shockingly overwhelming ex-Khmer Rouge politicians holding office including the President) has been a sore spot for the Cambodian people as well as been an big reason for the hindrance of economical growth. Many of the monks who are on Facebook use pseudonyms for the sole reason of expressing their criticism towards the government. I digressed but in any case, the Water Festival holds a dark meaning for the people here in many ways.

Nevertheless, other traditions are still intact. On the full moon (on Friday), many homes had am-bok parties in which family and friends take their wooden pestles to gather to mash sticky rice in a stone mortar to make sticky rice cake. It is then mixed with coconut and bananas and then offered to the moon with prayers. This tradition has a striking resemblance with the Moon Festival in Japan - I am not sure of the historical origins of the two but it always makes me happy each time I find similarities between the two cultures.


東南アジアの雨はすさまじいので雨季が終わるとさまざまな祭典やお祭りが行われます♪
今週末は水祭り。国中の湖や川沿いでボートレースが行われて、縁日のようにお店がズラーっと並ぶそう。ただし2010年の大惨事以来正式なお祭りは自粛されているとか？

でも各自家庭での祝賀行事は変わらず行われるそうです。生徒達との片言の英語とクメール語での会話なので詳しいことはわからないのだけど（汗）、なんとなく日本のお月見に近い行事だということが発覚。日本と同じく杵と臼で餅をついて満月の日にお供え物をするそうな。もっともカンボジア版のお餅はココナッツと一緒に頂くようです☆　カンボジアと日本、一見縁がなさそうでも実際は細かい所でいろいろと共通点もあって、なんとなく嬉しく感じます　（＊＾＾＊）