Roy Gratong

It is November. November means Roy Gratong Festival!! From what I gathered it is a festival for the people of Thailand to thank the water for giving them life. To thank the water they make "Gratong" and put all their bad thoughts on it and then send it on down the river.
What you need:

A slice from a trunk of a banana tree. Most were about 6-10 inches in diameter. I was convinced this was going to sink because it wasn't light but it didn't.





Banana Leaves. To fold up and decorate your base.






And flowers!!! I asked the students who had these where they bought them and they said they didn't , they just collected them. I am sure their neighbors were happy when they saw that.







Of course my first two classes were canceled so that the 5 and 6th grades could make lots of Gratongs to sell to people who didn't want to make their own.








Later I was visiting with my neighbor and she taught me to make my very own Gratong!

Isn't she lovely. You also put an incense stick and a candle on it.








Now my village was having a Roy Gratong festival in the lake at my school but my Aunt Nang was insistant that I see a REAL Roy Gratong festival. They were having one 2 villages over at the river. So Uncle Joe took me and my neighbor over to send one down the river. It was really really really pretty to see all the candles going down the river but impossible to take a picture of because it was so dark. You will just have to believe me or come visit me in November '09.


We headed back the our village just in time to catch the parade! Each of the 8 villages surrounding mine made a HUGE gratong on an inter-tube and they showed them in the parade.























After the monks blessed us we put our gratongs in the lake and released all of our bad thoughts. Everyone was joking that mine didn't sink so I must really like Thailand.