Even monks are all about chocolate

Today there was an Almsgiving celebration at my house. The celebration marks the death of Pathi’s father.
Preparations for this event began weeks ago- when they started painting the house and last night guests arrived to start cooking. This morning when I woke up at 6:30, even more people stirred around in the kitchen- some came all the way from Colombo, driving 5 hours, to get blessed. Of these people were some French visitors- some worked in the French Embassy and others for Red Cross, so it was nice to speak with them. And wait with them for the monks- it was like Christmas morning or something.
When they finally arrived (Sir Lankan style- 45 min late) they had their feet washed and then they entered the house. Everyone prayed and then the monks ate. Not just ate but ate... A LOT! First, they had a vegetable plate with vegetable soup, then rice with various curries and fish, then a fruit plate, then dessert- you can see for yourself what that looked like. I don’t know why I found it so amusing that among all the baked goods was a mini dairy milk bar.
They don’t eat all of the food. They offer them these plates and they can eat what they want from it and the rest gets thrown away. What is left from the food they refused goes to the poor. I found this whole thing fascinating. It’s strange to see the little boy monks and wonder whether they even knew what they were getting themselves into when they “signed up.” Anyway, soon after the monks eating, they were served coffee and then they headed back to the temple. Next if was out turn to eat! At first I wondered how 100 people were going to be fed but I guess I underestimated the supply because it was actually pretty ridiculous how much food there was! Ahah, Pearl and I laughed at how full some of the plates were. And the buffet was never ending- over the next hour more and more people came, loading up their plates more than the last.
After the event, I went back to Pearl’s and we ironed out Sari’s. Sounds like a 10 minute process right? Try 3 hours! I’m beginning to wonder if I will ever be able to wear this at home because I don’t have that kind of dedication to clothing. I am getting another one made though and it should be much more simple because of the material (fingers crossed).