Night of the Fireballs

Last Friday, on October 26, I went to see the Naga fireballs at the Mekong River. According to my budget, I didn’t have a lot of money. If I went by my car, it would be late, there would be too many people, and we would have to buy more gas, which is why going by motorbike is the best option.

I called my close friend name Aloun, who is dark and tall. We have been close friends since we studied at Primary school. While the cell phone rang, my friend answered, I told him about the details and our destination. Eventually he said “yes”. So, it made me feel relieved because I want to see the Naga fireballs very much.

The new day came, Friday October 26. It is a full moon night. My friend and I drove the motorbike to the temples next to my house. I glanced at many people going to the temple in the colorful dresses, in Lao traditional style. Some went with their family, their friends, their boy friends and girl friends. However, mainly I saw adults or old people. Why do they go to the temple? The reasons are that they want to worship the Buddha. This time of the year is in honor of Buddhist lent, after the Buddha came from the heaven after three months meditation. Which is why Buddhist people celebrate by going to the temple with food, candy, cake, drink, fruits, flower (lotus, the symbol of Buddhist religion)…and make offerings to the monks.

After that they give alms. Some teenagers will go back home; only some teenagers and adults still stay at the temple. They will go back home until monks finish giving the speech. So for us, we listened to the speech about ten minutes, then we drove back to my home. Tonight there will be “Loitkathong”, and Naga fireballs at the Mekong River, Pakgreum Village, Borlikhamsay Province, across the river from Nongkhai, Thailand.

“Loitkathong” means you make something that looks like the bow, made from banana tree and banana leaf, decorated with yellow flowers, together with candles. We took these to the Mekong River in order to worship the nagas, and the Buddha footprint under the Mekong River. Before you take the Kathong in to the river, you must wish what you want to get. Then, do it.

to be continued …

11:08 AM ICT Permalink | Comments [2]

Secret under the River

The Mekong River is the longest river in Laos. It also passes through Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, and China. The Mekong River has given many advantages to Lao people for many centuries, since Lao people moved from northern China. We use the river for many things in our daily life. For example, we grew food on the banks of the river, we can catch fish, and we use it for cleaning. These are some of the benefits we get from it. However, there is something mysterious which makes the Mekong River different from other rivers. What is this mystery which has stayed with Lao people’s minds for along time? It is the nagas that they live under Mekong River.

The naga is the sacred mythical animal which looks like a snake. It is long and powerful with green scales. Nagas were sacred snakes who protected the Buddha since 2500 B.C. Because of one part of Buddhism, Lao people and the people in the Isan region or Northeast Thailand believe that Nagas are still alive. Why? Should I believe them? Yes, because I have seen it with my eyes, which is why I want to open the secret together with you.

Let’s go back to the history. Nagas are half sacred spirit and snake, which means if you are people who live in this world, you always do good things, help people, believe in Buddhism, you always do meditation. Then, before you die, you wish in your heart that if you die, you wish to born as a Naga. Later when you die, your good behavior will not die, and it will lead you to be reincarnated depending on what you wish.

Like snakes, nagas can live on land and in the water. It is a sacred animal, which can be human sometimes, and then it will change to snake again. So, this is why humans can’t see it with their eyes. These sacred animals can see only people who are enlightened in nagas and believe in Buddhism, or who live near the Mekong River. This happens especially after Buddhist lent during the full moon in October (according to the lunar calendar, it could be October or November). At this time, many people in Laos and Northeast Thailand will prepare food, drink, and money. Then, they will travel to Mekong Riverbank to see the famous naga fireball.

In Laos we can see the naga fireball at Pakgyrem village in Borlikhamsay province. It is about 30 km from Vientiane on South Highway 13. Pakgyrem village is the place where the Gyrem River and Mekong River meet each other, which is why you can see two colors of water, in green and orange. So, every year many people go there. For instance, some go with their family, girlfriends or friends to see the naga fireballs.

Why do nagas burn the fireball during the full moon of October? Because once there was a naga who was enlightened in Buddhism. So, he came out of the cave under the Mekong River to the land where humans lived. He changed from a big snake to the handsome man and went to a temple in order to ask the Buddha to be a monk. It was permitted and he became a monk. Then, one day he slept, and his body became the snake. Finally, he had to stop being a monk because he was an animal.

The naga cried and told the Buddha that he was enlightened in Buddhism, which is why he did like that. Therefore, the naga said: “If I can’t be a monk, please take the name of Naga into Buddhism. Furthermore, after the Buddhist lent in October, Nagas will burn the fireball in order to worship the Buddha every year.” In other words, they are happy that the Buddhist monks gets out of long meditation, which is why we can see the incredible fire balls only October in full moon night. This is history.

During the celebration after the Buddhist monks finish three months of meditation, on that night many shops sell foods and drinks spread along the Mekong riverbank. Moreover, there also have fireworks, and the villagers will make a boat made of a banana tree that looks like the naga, which is decorated with candles and flowers to worship the Nagas.

Then, villagers go to the river together to float these little boats and welcome the nagas. Under Mekong River the nagas will create the fireballs. Suddenly, about 9 PM, you will see the naga’s fireball in red with a little pink. About 2, or up to 20, fireballs come out of the water and fly up to the sky; and then disappear. This celebration last until midnight, then people will stop and go back home.

11:10 AM ICT Permalink | Comments [1]

Seasons Change

The sun rises very quickly early in the morning. I wake up and have breakfast with my family. I look around at my neighbors, and I see that they hurry to go to work because today is Monday. The day is busy; some people have an argument, some people scream at their children. “Oh, it is so crazy,” I think. Even though Vientiane is a small city, many people from other parts of Laos, in order to get a job. Me, too.

The world changes every day. The price of food and drinks is increased, which is why we have to work harder and harder in order to survive as humans. Sometimes, it all makes me bored and I try to escape from this world, but I can’t.

Why? Because I have a duty to take care of my parents, who get older and older. Our family is still poor. So, it’s just only me who has a chance to study and am able to help them. I would love to be private and stay in the forest near the river where it is peaceful and silent, with animals and kind people. Anyway, I think one day I will have a chance to live there. However, now, I must do my duty first.

While I drive my motorbike to school, I see a crowd of people driving their cars, motorbikes hurriedly. When I reach my school I walk toward the school board quickly to the study schedule. I take a pen in my bag and write it down on a piece of paper. Then, I go back home. Today is very sad to me: nothing happens. I sit on the chair outside my house while the sun sets. Everything around me changes quickly. I notice that the yellow leaves on the trees fall down to the ground and into the pond that is in front of me. The fog is falling and the moon appears on the sky; suddenly there is wind and together the sky becomes dark. Children around me stop playing any activities and go to their house to have dinner with their family. Later, the weather changes automatically. I feel cold and colder. “Oh I see, the seasons change from rainy season to dry season.” It’s the same with people.

“Lar! Come to have dinner. Everybody is waiting for you now,” my mom calls to me. She is fat and has short brown hair. So, I walk into the house and have dinner with my family. For dinner, it the same style as yesterday; there is bamboo soup, which is the national food of Laos. Anyway, if you want to know more about bamboo soup you can take a trip to Vientiane, Laos, and ask Lao people about it.

After we finish having dinner, my family goes outside to the same table. We discuss what we will buy, and make food to the temple for the “Khao Sa Lak” festival. This festival is held during the Buddhist lent in the full moon, according to the Buddhist religion. At this festival, Lao people will cook food, and bring flowers and fruits. After they prepare it they will go to the temple and give it to the monks to make a merit during the Buddhist lent. Therefore we have to prepare from today until this Wednesday morning. After we finish discussing, everybody goes separately to their bed rooms and takes a good sleep. I went to bed eventually at 10 p.m.

06:36 PM ICT Permalink | Comments [1]

Naga Legend: Truth or Fiction?

The legend of Nagas under the Mekong River in Laos; is it true or not? What can explain the mystery of the pink and red rockets that shoot out from the Mekong River into the sky after the Buddhist lent?

The incredible and supernatural things still exist in this world. You will read more about it soon. I will take you to open this secret in October.

03:47 PM ICT Permalink |

Adapting to a New City

After one week, I able to adapt to the new environment. My family bought a small piece of land and built the new house, which was also made of wood. After we finished, we moved everything from my cousin’s house to our new house. We also had a ceremony called “Baci.” This ceremony is a Lao custom and tradition, which we must celebrate in order to bring good luck to the new house.

The next day came and I woke up quickly and looked around my house. I glanced at children playing on the street. Some ran, some played the game “hide and seek.” Moreover, I saw many people going to the market in the early morning, I heard a noise, which was the birds singing the song.

After I finished breakfast with my family, my parents took me and my sisters to school. The first time that we reached our new school, we felt shy and scared because of the new environment. I saw many children who wore a new uniform and looked very clean. Unlike me and my sisters; we looked so dirty. Therefore, I thought that we might not have any friends. However, there was a one teacher who is tall and smiled pleasantly and took us to the class and introduced us to other classmates. Everyone said hello to us and welcome us politely. So, it made us felt better than before.

I studied there for five years, and then I moved to Xaysetha secondary school. When I studied at that school, many things had changed in my life. For example: when I finished Primary school, my other sister had stopped studying because my parents didn’t have enough money to support all of us. We were so poor and lacked money to keep going to school. So, my sisters had to stop studying and went to work in order to help the family.

Me, too. I became a seller; I sold vegetables at the market every day. Eventually I finished secondary school. Even though I faced a lot of problems while I was studying, I was happy and open-minded. I thought in my mind that if today is dark, tomorrow there will be sunshine. So, I looked at my mother again and again to encourage me to study harder. Later, I had a good chance from my uncle to study at the Lao Youth Development Centre, which was part of a Japan association called JICA. I went there to study English. The first time that I studied English, it was so hard and very difficult for me, but I tried because I knew that no one is perfect. So, I kept practicing how to speak, listening, and how to pronounce the words correctly. Moreover, I also went to Don Chun Beach, an area where many foreigners live, to practice my English accent with them when I had holiday time.

I am not shy person. Everything I do is from self confidence, and I think that everything I do is based on an international style. Mainly, Asian teenagers are shy to show their ideas, but not me. Because of self confident attitudes, and English studying, I won a Scholarship to visit Bangkok and Singapore for two weeks in 2001. The idea behind this scholarship is to change the new ideas among Asian countries. Up until now, those experiences still stood in my mind.

Now, I study at the Lao American College as a year four student, but I will not stop my dreams. I will continue to set new goals until I die. I will not stop because my duty is to take care of my old parents, who raised me after I was born. So, I will try to be a good son from now and forever.

02:23 PM ICT Permalink | Comments [1]

Beginning of a New Life

On the journey to Vientiane I went to sleep many times. I would wake up quickly, and knew that I was aware, but I didn’t know where I was. Suddenly I opened my eyes. Strangely, everything that I saw was changed. “That’s not my house any more,” I thought while I was sitting next to my mother and my dad. I turned around and looked at other people. I found that some were asleep, some woke up, and some ate something. Beautifully, the sun had risen from the bottom of the mountain outside the bus. My other sisters woke up and glanced past the bus window to observe where we were. The bus ran faster and faster.

Later, the bus stopped and we sat for about one hour. Then my eye was wondering again. In front of the bus window, I looked outside and saw many people walking around. It looked so crowded. Many cars ran along the street, and there were many tall white, yellow, and green buildings along the two sides of the street. “What are these?” I immediately asked my mother, who was sitting next to me. “Those are houses with many floors” she answered. “Do you think they might be broken because they are too tall?” I asked her. “No, they are too strong” she answered me with a little smile. I turned around to my sisters and discussed about what we saw. But I was not interested in talking to other people, no matter how they looked at us.

I was so excited because that was the first time that I had seen the capital of Vientiane. The bus stopped at the Morning Market (Talat Sao) bus station, my parents caught my hands and my sisters out of the bus and took the Tuk Tuk, which looks like a small car but has three wheels. We have many of them in Laos.

It took about 30 minutes to get to my cousin’s house. Then I saw a woman about forty years old with curly hair smile at us in friendly manner. She was standing together with her children. She was my cousin. So, we stopped at the gate of the house, which was made of wood. Later, my cousin invited us inside the house. We lived at her house before we could one of our own. I couldn’t sleep for three days because it was noisy, crowded, and it was a new environment for me, which was why I had many problems.

To be continued…

05:54 PM ICT Permalink |

Moving to Vientiane

One year passed, and the weather had changed. There was torrential rain again in my village, and our rice fields were flooded. We didn’t have anything to eat. If we stayed there, we might die because many villagers fought against each other to get food. “If we wanted to survive, we must leave” my parents said. So, my father decided to move to the capital of Vientiane. He made a boat for that trip. He took us all together, along with food, clothes, and our small monkey, to the boat.

We were so excited to live in the new city because I had heard about Vientiane, where there were many high buildings, old temples, and lots of cars…. but I never had chance to touch it before this time. Therefore, we prepared for our new life in Vientiane. Along the two sides of the Saybangfai River, I had seen many things. For example, there were 10 to 15 monkeys screaming in their loud voices and parrots were caught on the trees, which made my small monkey felt excited about that atmosphere.

When the boat reached the destination, the sun was setting, and we took everything, including my best friend, the small monkey, out of the boat. We waited for about ten minutes for the bus to come. When the bus arrived my other sisters and brothers walked to the bus, but my parents and I stayed outside. I hugged my monkey while my parents were talking to the bus driver, but I didn’t know what they are taking about. Suddenly, my father walked over to me and told me that we couldn’t take the monkey with us. The bus driver was not permitted to take animals on the bus he said. My tears were falling automatically when I heard him say that. My small monkey looked at my father. It seemed like he understood what he had said. I cried and my monkey screamed.

Then, my father took my small monkey and sold him to an old fat man who stood in front of the mini market. I cried and told my father to get the monkey back, but nothing happened. The bus had to go and there was not any time for me to cry anymore. So, my mother took me to the bus. Everyone tried to talk to me, but I didn’t feel better. I looked back at my small monkey, the same as he had done. I thought that my heart would break because I lost my best friend. Eventually I looked at my best friend until he disappeared. I went to sleep and didn’t know what was going on.

That was the most important event, which made me felt equity. Even now, I still think about it.

05:53 PM ICT Permalink | Comments [2]

Me, Myself, and I

Sengsoulixay was the name which my parents gave me when I was born. They gave me this name because I born while the sun was rising in the summer. Sengsouly means “the sun shines,” and Xay mean “Victory.” I’m so proud that I’m Lao, where the land of million elephants lived, people smile in a friendly manner to guests, and the country is peaceful.

My nickname is Lar. I’m thin, tall, tan skinned and black haired. I’m sociable and friendly. I love to talk to people, in order to get new ideas and change my opinions. I don’t like to stay at the same place, I like to explore new things all the time because I know people have unlimited knowledge. At present, I’m year four student at The Lao-American College in Vientiane. In my free time I love to read magazines and books. I especially like short stories and novels such as The Da Vinci Code, Around the World in 80 Days, and Romeo and Juliet. Let’s go back to my history. I was born on April 4, 1986 in Khammuan Province, an area surrounded by jungle and cliffs. My father, who is tall and thin like me, is a native of Khammuan. He has been a soldier since he was teenager. At that time, Laos was involved in the war with the United States and Vietnam.

After the war was over, my father stopped his job, and went back to take care of us. I lived with a big family: three brothers and five sisters. I’m the youngest. My family’s occupation is based on agriculture, which means my parents worked in the rice field and found natural food in the jungle. For instance, my parents always dig in the ground to find yam beans and bamboo shoots to make a good meal for us.

From autumn to winter, form the liquid to the ice, I grew bigger. I remember one day in the rainy season, when I was six years old. It was a very hot day and I was walking with my sisters and my parents from our rice field, along the street to my village. Suddenly, the sky became overcast together with blustery winds. So, my parents took us to hide in a nearby cave. Later, there was a torrential rain for two hours. After the rain stopped, I saw my rice fields under water because of flooding. Then, we went back to our home immediately.

I also remember the day when my father and my grandmother had a big conflict. My mother, who has been washing the clothes outside, ran into the house and took my father out. My sisters, brothers and I hid in near the corner of the house because we were scared. Then, we were banished from my grandmother’s house. After the conflict stopped, my parents took our clothes and walked toward the Saybangfai River. We followed him like the Army followed their commander. Oh, so poor, I thought in my mind. I kept going, while following my parents. I noticed, many people looking at us. Some laughed and some gossiped. “Those people are so rude and terrible,” I told my sister, who walked close to me.

When we reach the Saybangfai River‘s bank, my father and my two brother, who were 17 and 19 years old at the time, went to the forest with my father to cut the trees. My mother and my sisters cooked lunch for us. My two sisters, who have curly hair, played together with me. The weather was very hot, but I didn’t care. When we felt tired, then we stopped. Later, my brother come back, we had lunch together, and made shelter together. It was such a poor life, but we were not poor in our hearts. Which means we have to fight against poverty, we must be patient, and walk forward to get our goal. This is what my father taught me at that time.

To be continued.

07:01 PM ICT Permalink | Comments [2]