Elf Travels: Thailand 2011

Hi all! It's Tuesday morning, we are in Phuket and the trip has been non-stop up until this point! Here's a quick synopsis to this point. We left DC on Monday, arriving in Thailand on Wednesday the 12th. We flew directly to Phuket this time, bypassing Bangkok. There are my guys on the beach in Patong! It was just a quick visit, though, as we needed to fly from Phuket to Udon Thani (north, by the Laos border) for the big wedding.

After arriving in Udon Thani, we drove for 2.5 hours to Wan's village in Nong Bua Lamphau. When we arrived there, Chris and Will quickly befriended the children who were at Wan's parents' house. We met the family, and spent a couple of hours learning about the wedding preparations. When it was time for us to leave, we went to our hotel in Khon Kaen - about an hour away.

Here are the boys in their traditional Thai dress shirts in the lobby of the hotel. We left bright and early to go back out to the village for the wedding on Friday morning. When we arrived, we joined our American friends and several of our new Thai friends for the groom's parade. I have so many amazing pictures of this, but in short, it is where the groom's family gathers to parade to the bride. There's music and dancing, and the groom's family carries gifts that are presented to the bride's family. Each gift had symbolism (for example, a plate of bananas to represent fertility for the couple). It was such an interesting thing to be able to be part of! Here are a couple shots - I'll show you more at home!

The parade arrived at the bride's house, the gifts were presented, and the ceremony started. It started by the presentation of the dowry, although in Thai culture, the groom brings the dowry. The ceremony was pretty lengthy and in Thai. The man who presided over the ceremony was referred to as the Medicine Man. Here are the bride and groom (the medicine man is the gentleman on the left):

Very shortly after the ceremony, we walked to the grade school next door. This is the school that Will and Chris raised money; they were able to pour a cement floor and create a small stage. As a thank-you, the school put on quite an elaborate show for us. We were amazed, and I can tell you, there was hardly a dry eye among the Americans! The head of education from three provinces came and gave a speech, and a very nice lunch was served. Will and Chris were asked to give a few words at the end and Wan translated for all in attendance. We brought a few treats for the school children, too, super balls and Hershey's Kisses. The children LOVED them! After lunch, there was a fun soccer game. Here are some pics from the school.