I woke up early this morning, and not just b/c my electric went out and the fan stopped. There was chanting, which to me almost sounded like a Muslim call to prayer I'd only heard in movies. I remember a coworker saying a monk chants, usually over the wat loudspeaker, only during certain seasons or festivals, so I knew what this meant – the old man that lived near Yien had passed away. He'd been fighting TB and cancer both, and it was a sad sad situation. The old woman won't have the money for the traditional funeral dinner b/c she spent all they had drinking and gambling. Sometimes I could hear them fighting from where I was using the internet. SO sad. I'll get to experience my first Buddhist funeral, up close, or possibly just from a distance. I'd prefer from a distance, to be honest – they've been playing this music all day long that, frankly, sounds like a jack-in-the-box to me.