A Farm and a Wedding

Sawatdee-kha!

We're going back a month to share some photos with you. In mid-December, we traveled to the Isaan region (northeast Thailand) for our neighbors' wedding. It was a privilege to be a part of a Thai wedding (Thai-German, as the husband is German). It was a 5 hour drive, and we stopped off at a dairy farm on the way for some great hamburgers, milkshakes and a tour of the farm. If you have a minute, go to the farm's website- it's very fun.

Relaxin' in the shade of a dragonfruit tree!

We fed a bottle of milk to a calf at the petting zoo. I also got to hold a lamb; what a day!

It was dusk as we headed out for the remainder of our trip, and we pulled off at a beautiful dam to enjoy the sunset. We made it safe and sound, not without some discussion of the interesting fact that we were on a road trip, in the dark nonetheless, on the other side of the world! We spent the night in the hotel where all the festivities were held.

The wedding began in the morning with a parade of sorts. The family hires musicians to play loud and festive music...

and the family and other guests walk (and dance) to the wedding locale (in this case inside the hotel) where the bride is waiting. The groom has to pass through several stages of family and friends who are acting as obstacles, paying money to the appropriate people. He finally makes it to his bride, and the ceremony begins.

This is the water pouring ceremony, during which the guests pour water on the hands of the couple in blessing. Isn't she SUCH a beautiful bride?

And, in my opinion, the most handsome guest. Look at the size of those cheeks!

Our friends gave Emmy a traditional Thai outfit to wear to the wedding. Here she is showing off her Thai dance form.

After the morning ceremony, the day was free, and we gathered again for a much larger dinner reception that evening. Here the bride and groom wore western-style wedding clothes, and a "Chinese Table" dinner was served, including the delicacy shark fin soup. Asa was a big fan of the soup- who knew his tastes were so exotic?

Do you see the fellow behind us on stage? He's doing karaoke, which was the evening activity of choice, in lieu, sadly, of dancing. We were treated to Frank Sinatra, John Lennon, Elvis and a host of Asian songs.