February 3, 2015
Today
was the second day of the Thaipusam Festival.
First to clarify, the idol that we saw yesterday is of “Lord
Murugan.” I read it wrong. Since we were out late last night and missed
swimming, we promised the younger boys we would swim this morning. Dad and the boys arrived at the time share at
9am and we all went swimming. It was
lots of fun and the pool is huge!
After that, we had some leftovers for lunch and then everyone except Mason and Mom went out to explore the second day of the festival. They saw some very amazing and interesting things. At the temple across the street from us, there were several men who were starting their journey/pilgrimage to the waterfall. Part of their process was to have a long metal bar pierced through their cheek, through the mouth and out the other side of the cheek. This was done at the sides of their mouth and then small “tridents” were put on the ends. It was almost like a bridle on a horse. Some also had other piercings in the skin on their forehead and chest as well. You will have to ask the older kids about it. The people that functioned as a support groups for these men were very friendly and talked with our family about what was going on and told them that they could follow them as they started on their journey. These men that had endured the piercings then put on these very large head dress contraptions that were metal structures that they carried on their shoulders and back. They carried these large things quite a long distance and also walked barefoot which was painful since the black top of the road is very hot. The women in their support team would spray the ground and their feet with water to help cool them down. It really was quite an ordeal. Dad and the crew then found out that there was another starting spot not too far from our apartment so they went and watched the events there. There were more men getting ready for their journey with large head piece contraptions as well. It was another big culture day!!! While they were out, they found these coconut drinks that they shared and Dad was sweet and brought one home for me. Tonight for dinner, we went to the same restaurant and age more delicious bread and chicken fried rice. We stopped at the store and bought some snacks and drinks for our outing tomorrow. We tried to go to bed early.
After that, we had some leftovers for lunch and then everyone except Mason and Mom went out to explore the second day of the festival. They saw some very amazing and interesting things. At the temple across the street from us, there were several men who were starting their journey/pilgrimage to the waterfall. Part of their process was to have a long metal bar pierced through their cheek, through the mouth and out the other side of the cheek. This was done at the sides of their mouth and then small “tridents” were put on the ends. It was almost like a bridle on a horse. Some also had other piercings in the skin on their forehead and chest as well. You will have to ask the older kids about it. The people that functioned as a support groups for these men were very friendly and talked with our family about what was going on and told them that they could follow them as they started on their journey. These men that had endured the piercings then put on these very large head dress contraptions that were metal structures that they carried on their shoulders and back. They carried these large things quite a long distance and also walked barefoot which was painful since the black top of the road is very hot. The women in their support team would spray the ground and their feet with water to help cool them down. It really was quite an ordeal. Dad and the crew then found out that there was another starting spot not too far from our apartment so they went and watched the events there. There were more men getting ready for their journey with large head piece contraptions as well. It was another big culture day!!! While they were out, they found these coconut drinks that they shared and Dad was sweet and brought one home for me. Tonight for dinner, we went to the same restaurant and age more delicious bread and chicken fried rice. We stopped at the store and bought some snacks and drinks for our outing tomorrow. We tried to go to bed early.
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