Here are some pics from the wedding!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Courtney.D.Timm/WeddingPics?authkey=Gv1sRgCODKlPq2542TDQ#
The last photo is just proof that Miss Caitlin has arrived!!!
Here are also some random photos from our last few days in Australia. Some from work, some from our friend Omar's CD launch party, some of the beaches. Then some from Goa when we first arrived (notice the cow eating my book), then there are photos from train rides, markets, beach volleyball and all sorts of random stuff.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Courtney.D.Timm/PhotosFromAusAndIndiaFromMySmallCamera?authkey=Gv1sRgCPzqh_zwgKVO#
27 March 2009
22 March 2009
Wedding Crashers
21/03 Saturday
We arrived at the family's house right on time and the chaos began straight away. First things first, they brought us out some food- for some reason everyone in India always assumes we are hungry and that we must eat! After we finished with our 2nd lunch of the day, we were ushered into the next room where we were able to watch the start of the bride's wedding preparation. All of the women were rushing around getting the necessary ingredients for the bridal cleansing. While she sat looking bewildered in her chair, her family...and us three white kids they picked off the streets...put powdered sandalwood on her face, took money and used it as if it were a wand around her face and did a blessing. Obviously we had no clue what we were doing so everyone was laughing at us while during our participation. It was still good fun though. There were about 3 different phases to her cleansing process...pre-bath cleansing, a bath, and then the final cleansing. We didn't see her after that because we were again, whisked off to eat food. This time it was up on the roof with all of the men. We all felt a little guilty as if we were stealing the show a little bit and this was supposed to be her weekend. Every person there was constantly dragging us from one end of the house to the other or outside as if they wanted to show us something really important and when we would get there, there would be nothing they just wanted to show us off to whoever was around. Its really quite amusing.
One of the dad's we were talking to, not sure how he fit in the family, was telling us about this marriage. We assumed it was an arranged marriage, but he confirmed it. He told us that they had never met and the first time that they meet will be on their wedding night. The way he talked made it sound so romantic and like everyone waited for this moment in their lives. But, knowing this information now made it a bit more understandable why the girl looked so sad and a little frightened, ok who I am kidding she looked scared shitless. I'm sure the one thing that was getting her through this evening of nerves was having her entire family around. There were probably 30 people there helping to prepare for the big event. The women mostly gathered around her the entire time, and the men socializing and helping do banana leaf decorations outside. It was all pretty calculated and impressive.
We met everyone at the Marriage Hall at roughly 10:30 Sunday morning. We were told to dress in "American" clothes. So we all just wore pants and t-shirts...I made the mistake of wearing jeans, it was so bloody hot outside I thought I was going die of heat exhaustion. When we saw our first familiar faces we were whisked away, like always, up into the brides chambers. They wanted us to take pictures and be a part of all of the preparation. It was a little strange being the only unrelated people present for such an intimate and personal part of this girls wedding day. She wore a beautifully, intricate purple Saree and her jewelery was nothing short of elaborate; she looked gorgeous. It was a similar scene to the day before, the women were all bustling around making sure every little detail was just right; all of them dressed in flashy, bright colored Sarees. It looked like the crayola factory. The Marriage hall was dressed to match. It was "creatively" decorated from ceiling to floor with the most vibrant colors and gaudy garnishes.
Even with all of the commotion, my heart went out for this girl...she was trying to smile through the tears but they just wouldn't stop flowing out of her eyes. She kept her head down for most of the time only looking up when someone pulled her chin up or something caught her attention. I mean can you imagine, today is the last day of her life as she knows it; tonight she will be a married women living in some strange man's home (now her husband) about 100km away from all of her family and friends... at the age of 23. Just like that.
After part of the bridal preparation were were hustled down the stairs to the "mess hall" of the Marriage hall to eat more food with our trusty utensils (our hands)...it was maybe the best meal I've had in India, but boy oh boy were we full afterward. Once we regained consciousness we went back to the main part of the hall to watch the final preparations before the ceremony. We went downstairs shortly before she came out. The actual wedding ceremony was over before you knew it, in fact I didn't know it was over when it was over. The Marriage hall was split into two sections with curtains being the only thing separating the men from the women. The bride sat in an elaborate chair on the woman's side, while the husband was on a stage with around 8 other men. We started out on her side, but somehow ended up watching the husband's ceremony instead. Not sure how that happened and also have no idea what took place for the ceremony on her side. The men all did a few prayers and chants, then some papers were signed, a lot of hugging took place and then that was it. People were moving around and talking throughout the whole ceremony. The bride and groom never saw one another, but yet a marriage had taken place right before my eyes. It definitely was a new experience for me.
We were then force fed again after the nuptials and left shortly after. I think the festivities were going on through the evening, but we were all just too full and too exhausted from being paraded around to everyone and their mother...literally...that we had to call it quits around 3pm and get ourselves packed up and checked out to move on to our next adventure. I'm so glad that we delayed our plans of migrating up north so that we could attend this wedding. Who knows, it might be the last Indian/Muslim wedding I'll be invited to attend...gotta cease these opportunities.
Well, that's it for now as far as weddings go! I'm sure more stories will spring out of me as time goes on, but at least now you all have a little taste of it. Off to Pondicherry now, then up to Chennai to meet my friend Caitlin!!! (For those of you who don't know Caitlin, she was my college roommate and also the girl who I ventured down to Tahoe with).
Uncle Gary, you are the best for helping arrange this! I don't think I've ever been so happy that both my dad and my uncle are retired pilots :) Thanks you two for spending so much time working out all of the details...we won't do anything to embarrass you...well at least you won't have to hear about it if we do!
We arrived at the family's house right on time and the chaos began straight away. First things first, they brought us out some food- for some reason everyone in India always assumes we are hungry and that we must eat! After we finished with our 2nd lunch of the day, we were ushered into the next room where we were able to watch the start of the bride's wedding preparation. All of the women were rushing around getting the necessary ingredients for the bridal cleansing. While she sat looking bewildered in her chair, her family...and us three white kids they picked off the streets...put powdered sandalwood on her face, took money and used it as if it were a wand around her face and did a blessing. Obviously we had no clue what we were doing so everyone was laughing at us while during our participation. It was still good fun though. There were about 3 different phases to her cleansing process...pre-bath cleansing, a bath, and then the final cleansing. We didn't see her after that because we were again, whisked off to eat food. This time it was up on the roof with all of the men. We all felt a little guilty as if we were stealing the show a little bit and this was supposed to be her weekend. Every person there was constantly dragging us from one end of the house to the other or outside as if they wanted to show us something really important and when we would get there, there would be nothing they just wanted to show us off to whoever was around. Its really quite amusing.
One of the dad's we were talking to, not sure how he fit in the family, was telling us about this marriage. We assumed it was an arranged marriage, but he confirmed it. He told us that they had never met and the first time that they meet will be on their wedding night. The way he talked made it sound so romantic and like everyone waited for this moment in their lives. But, knowing this information now made it a bit more understandable why the girl looked so sad and a little frightened, ok who I am kidding she looked scared shitless. I'm sure the one thing that was getting her through this evening of nerves was having her entire family around. There were probably 30 people there helping to prepare for the big event. The women mostly gathered around her the entire time, and the men socializing and helping do banana leaf decorations outside. It was all pretty calculated and impressive.
We met everyone at the Marriage Hall at roughly 10:30 Sunday morning. We were told to dress in "American" clothes. So we all just wore pants and t-shirts...I made the mistake of wearing jeans, it was so bloody hot outside I thought I was going die of heat exhaustion. When we saw our first familiar faces we were whisked away, like always, up into the brides chambers. They wanted us to take pictures and be a part of all of the preparation. It was a little strange being the only unrelated people present for such an intimate and personal part of this girls wedding day. She wore a beautifully, intricate purple Saree and her jewelery was nothing short of elaborate; she looked gorgeous. It was a similar scene to the day before, the women were all bustling around making sure every little detail was just right; all of them dressed in flashy, bright colored Sarees. It looked like the crayola factory. The Marriage hall was dressed to match. It was "creatively" decorated from ceiling to floor with the most vibrant colors and gaudy garnishes.
Even with all of the commotion, my heart went out for this girl...she was trying to smile through the tears but they just wouldn't stop flowing out of her eyes. She kept her head down for most of the time only looking up when someone pulled her chin up or something caught her attention. I mean can you imagine, today is the last day of her life as she knows it; tonight she will be a married women living in some strange man's home (now her husband) about 100km away from all of her family and friends... at the age of 23. Just like that.
After part of the bridal preparation were were hustled down the stairs to the "mess hall" of the Marriage hall to eat more food with our trusty utensils (our hands)...it was maybe the best meal I've had in India, but boy oh boy were we full afterward. Once we regained consciousness we went back to the main part of the hall to watch the final preparations before the ceremony. We went downstairs shortly before she came out. The actual wedding ceremony was over before you knew it, in fact I didn't know it was over when it was over. The Marriage hall was split into two sections with curtains being the only thing separating the men from the women. The bride sat in an elaborate chair on the woman's side, while the husband was on a stage with around 8 other men. We started out on her side, but somehow ended up watching the husband's ceremony instead. Not sure how that happened and also have no idea what took place for the ceremony on her side. The men all did a few prayers and chants, then some papers were signed, a lot of hugging took place and then that was it. People were moving around and talking throughout the whole ceremony. The bride and groom never saw one another, but yet a marriage had taken place right before my eyes. It definitely was a new experience for me.
We were then force fed again after the nuptials and left shortly after. I think the festivities were going on through the evening, but we were all just too full and too exhausted from being paraded around to everyone and their mother...literally...that we had to call it quits around 3pm and get ourselves packed up and checked out to move on to our next adventure. I'm so glad that we delayed our plans of migrating up north so that we could attend this wedding. Who knows, it might be the last Indian/Muslim wedding I'll be invited to attend...gotta cease these opportunities.
Well, that's it for now as far as weddings go! I'm sure more stories will spring out of me as time goes on, but at least now you all have a little taste of it. Off to Pondicherry now, then up to Chennai to meet my friend Caitlin!!! (For those of you who don't know Caitlin, she was my college roommate and also the girl who I ventured down to Tahoe with).
Uncle Gary, you are the best for helping arrange this! I don't think I've ever been so happy that both my dad and my uncle are retired pilots :) Thanks you two for spending so much time working out all of the details...we won't do anything to embarrass you...well at least you won't have to hear about it if we do!
21 March 2009
A yellow cow caught in action.
I think I managed to get some photos uploaded to a website. Here is the link...let me know if there are any problems viewing it! As a back up I will put the links to facebook again. Eventually I will learn how to properly post pictures to this darn blog. Happy reading...We're off to the wedding!
try this first....
http://picasaweb.google.com/Courtney.D.Timm/NotAllWhoWanderAreLost?authkey=Gv1sRgCNLSr5fv6L37Tw&feat=directlink
if all else fails...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2225319&id=11506493&l=2c99843761
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2225322&id=11506493&l=b89c55990f
try this first....
http://picasaweb.google.com/Courtney.D.Timm/NotAllWhoWanderAreLost?authkey=Gv1sRgCNLSr5fv6L37Tw&feat=directlink
if all else fails...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2225319&id=11506493&l=2c99843761
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2225322&id=11506493&l=b89c55990f
Can't a girl just get a beer?
When we finally made it to Mettupalayam we decided we had earned a beer...yes I'm feeling mostly better at this point and think I deserve one too. The last time we had a beer was 2 weeks ago in Kerela (14 days and counting...), so even though we knew the beer would be awful we wanted to go for it anyway. The guy at the lodge we were staying at pointed us in the direction of a bar. At first we passed the "bar." It was really just some cement walls put up with card tables set up and a bunch of drunk, drunk Indian men who could barely stand up straight. We received quite the looks when we walked in there. I don't think any women had ever set foot in this place...let alone western women. A man came over to us and explained that it wasn't a good idea for us to be there; that this place was too crowded and things could turn ugly in there and it wasn't a good place for tourists. So, we got kicked out of our first Indian bar! Proud?
He and this other man showed us to another bar that would be more suitable for us. We got seated ordered a few beers and thought we were in for a relaxing evening. Mind you this is only about 8 o'clock at this point. Then the men came back with a friend or two and sat at the table next to us. He started fishing for conversation so eventually we invited him to our table to chat so we didn't have to yell across the bar. The bartender kept coming up to us and asking if this man was bothering us and we kept telling him no that it was fine, and he kind of gave us a "suit yourselves" kind of look. Throughout the conversation he kept coming up and checking on us. We should've taken this as a hint. Then another man came in and exchanged some words with the man sitting with us. The two switched spots and the original man didn't seem too happy. All of these men seemed harmless and nice, but the bartender came over yet again to check on us..."no, no, no we are ok...they are fine." Every time the bartender came by, the men would put on these puppy dog eyes to make sure that they weren't disturbing us. It is so hard to tell when the men here are being sincere and genuine...which we're finding more and more that unless they are married and with their family, they have ulterior motives. The conversation kept up then the original man came back and looked upset, took away the piece of paper he had written his number on for us. It all got a little weird and the second man who was sitting with us got a little too close for comfort asking if I was married and trying to invite us all to his family's house for dinner. No one would just let us be, and moral of the story we should've listened to the bartender and say that we would like to be left alone. We always are trying to give men the benefit of the doubt here, but we are learning that sometimes you just can't do that, especially if the man is under 40. Our nice relaxing beers were cut short and we were home in bed by 9:30...what a bust! Its nights like these where my love/hate relationship with India stems from. Can't a girl just get a beer?
He and this other man showed us to another bar that would be more suitable for us. We got seated ordered a few beers and thought we were in for a relaxing evening. Mind you this is only about 8 o'clock at this point. Then the men came back with a friend or two and sat at the table next to us. He started fishing for conversation so eventually we invited him to our table to chat so we didn't have to yell across the bar. The bartender kept coming up to us and asking if this man was bothering us and we kept telling him no that it was fine, and he kind of gave us a "suit yourselves" kind of look. Throughout the conversation he kept coming up and checking on us. We should've taken this as a hint. Then another man came in and exchanged some words with the man sitting with us. The two switched spots and the original man didn't seem too happy. All of these men seemed harmless and nice, but the bartender came over yet again to check on us..."no, no, no we are ok...they are fine." Every time the bartender came by, the men would put on these puppy dog eyes to make sure that they weren't disturbing us. It is so hard to tell when the men here are being sincere and genuine...which we're finding more and more that unless they are married and with their family, they have ulterior motives. The conversation kept up then the original man came back and looked upset, took away the piece of paper he had written his number on for us. It all got a little weird and the second man who was sitting with us got a little too close for comfort asking if I was married and trying to invite us all to his family's house for dinner. No one would just let us be, and moral of the story we should've listened to the bartender and say that we would like to be left alone. We always are trying to give men the benefit of the doubt here, but we are learning that sometimes you just can't do that, especially if the man is under 40. Our nice relaxing beers were cut short and we were home in bed by 9:30...what a bust! Its nights like these where my love/hate relationship with India stems from. Can't a girl just get a beer?
16 March 2009
One cup of tea you are an acquaintance, two cups you are a friend, three cups you are family....we had ten...
13/03 Friday
My damn mosquito bites woke me up earlier than I had hoped this morning. So, I enjoyed some coffee at the rooftop restaurant while I waited for the rest of the gang. Rachel had gone for a little walk this morning and when she got back she had arranged for a rickshaw driver to drive us around all day and show us some highlights of the island. He took us to a few shops, to a spice market and a place where they make tea so we were able to try a variety of flavors. The spice and tea markets were pretty interesting because we were able to see the all the stages of production. The various smells filled our noses the second we walked through the door. My favorite has been ginger tea, its quite strong but the kick is a good one. Babu, our driver, also took us to Kerela laundry center where all of the hotels and guesthouses send their laundry for washing. There was 3 different stages. The washing which took place in cement stalls which to me, slightly resembled the bathing area for livestock at the fairgrounds coupled with urinal stalls in a bathroom. Then outside of that enclosure there were clothes lines made from sticks for the drying. Lastly, inside was the press and fold section. Everything was done so meticulously. Some of the irons were old cast iron with coconut shells and scraps burning on the inside to create the heat rather than using electricity. It was so far away from the laundromats back home.
The rest of our time spent in Fort Cochin consisted of wandering the streets watching goats run around eating anything and everything they could get their mouths on and attempted to upload my photos so you all could get a little taste of what is going on on this side of the globe for me. We also said goodbye to Tom today. He is working his way up north as we are, expected he is heading up the west coast. So we are hoping our paths will cross again later on in our journey. We shall see.
14/03 Saturday
Rachel, Vegar and I were out the door today by 6am. We said goodbye to Renee and the three of us now are on our own little journey. And a journey it has turned out to be...
We caught our 6:30 bus and rolled into Coimbature around 1. Already it felt like we were in a whole other world. The city was bustling with traffic jams and we maybe saw one other westerner as we were driving in...maybe. It felt as though we were driving through one giant department store. Each street had its own specialty stores. One minute you were driving past all electronic stores, then Saree shops, then fruits and vegetables, then auto parts, then home decor...you get the gist. It felt strange to see this kind of activity since everywhere we have been has been fairly touristy and much smaller. One round about we passed was two stories with "Stop Child Labor" painted on every wall in sight. An entire herd of goats came running out of one of the tunnels amongst all of the cars. It didn't seem to phase anyone. Coimbature is famously known for its textiles, so child labor is an obvious obstacle. It seems pretty obvious that they are acknowledging it as a problem but I am curious to see what they are doing to address it.
The bus dropped us off in the heat and humidity of the city. We caught a rickshaw to another bus stop to make our way down to Mettapalayam. The whole goal of this part of our journey was to take a steam train that is supposed to be quite amazing and something that you must try if you are in this part of India. So when we arrived we were a little disappointed to find out that the train had been canceled the past few days due to rain and flooding of the tracks, and they weren't sure when it would be up and running again. The lady at the ticket office told us to check back in with her that evening to see if the train would be going the next morning. So we had some time to kill for the afternoon while we waited. Not exactly sure what we were going to do, we just set off on foot to explore the area. We found ourselves down a side street at the vegetable market, and when we made it to the end of the street we were greeted by a group of little kids that wouldn't stop practicing how to say hello. After what seemed like a million pictures of these kids running around with their sheep and smiling for the camera, we continued down the road and ran into another herd of boys who insisted on being in photos as well. I should've started charging for all of the portrait shots I got, but I was feeling generous. The crew took us down to the river to show us where all the local women do their laundry and where the kids swim and play. I will never forget this one little woman. She was maybe three and a half feet tall with one tooth and a face that looked like it could write a book with all of her wrinkles.
Again, after taking an endless amount of photos we thought it was time to press on and go back to the railway station to check on the status of the train. INSTEAD...
Vegar approached this woman in front of her home about stitching up some pants that had gotten a hole in them. She was eager to do it and invited us all in her home before offering us coffee. We sat down in a room with her 80 year old father and before we knew it, the coffee was being served, snacks were coming out by the plateful and the ENTIRE village had crammed into this little home to see us like we were some kind of exhibit at the zoo. The young girls brought out henna and started decorating our hands. The mothers came out with strings of jasmine and draped them on our heads. At one point both Rach and I had the girls doing our henna, were drinking coffee with our free hand while the mothers were dunking biscuits into our coffee and hand feeding us. The longer we were there, the more people that were crammed into the house. Quite a few of the people spoke a little English, but most of the communication was done through hand gestures, laughing and approving or disproving facial expressions.
Rachel was the first getting pulled into the backroom to be dressed in a Saree. She was then escorted outside like a little pageant princess and handed someone's baby to hold as everyone in the village gathered in the streets around her. It was like seeing a combination of Angelina Jolie and Mother Teresa. While all of this was going on, I was pulled inside to be dressed. They dressed me in the full get up, blouse and all. Then, like scene two of a play, I was pushed out on stage. Everyone was staring at me like they were waiting for me to do something, so I walked down the street like a model on the catwalk. Luckily everyone thought this was extremely funny rather than offensive. There Rachel and I were in the middle of the street in India with well over 60 people watching us like approving stage parents. It was an experience I never would've imagined.
After we unraveled from our Sarees we were escorted to the next house for more tea and more snacks. The kids were so excited to have us in their home that they wouldn't sit still. Being the high commodity that we have apparently become, it wasn't long before we were running down the streets to the next house for...you guessed it... more tea and snacks. They whipped up some homemade coconut, sugar puff things that were absolutely delicious. It's my goal to learn how to make them so you all can try them! We were told that the daughter of the family's house we were at, is getting married on the 22nd of this month. With our broken down communication, we were invited to the wedding! For some odd reason, attending an Indian wedding has been a goal of mine since we arrived. So, we thought we were going to be making our way up north, but now with a change of plans we will be back in this small town in a week. We are to be at their house by 4 pm Saturday, and will be part of all of the festivities for the weekend. I'm really looking forward to learn about the traditions and customs that make up a Muslim wedding. It will be a completely new and foreign experience for me, exactly what I came to India for.
After all of the excitement we said goodbye for now to our new friends and headed to the bus station to head up to Ooty, a mountain station.
My damn mosquito bites woke me up earlier than I had hoped this morning. So, I enjoyed some coffee at the rooftop restaurant while I waited for the rest of the gang. Rachel had gone for a little walk this morning and when she got back she had arranged for a rickshaw driver to drive us around all day and show us some highlights of the island. He took us to a few shops, to a spice market and a place where they make tea so we were able to try a variety of flavors. The spice and tea markets were pretty interesting because we were able to see the all the stages of production. The various smells filled our noses the second we walked through the door. My favorite has been ginger tea, its quite strong but the kick is a good one. Babu, our driver, also took us to Kerela laundry center where all of the hotels and guesthouses send their laundry for washing. There was 3 different stages. The washing which took place in cement stalls which to me, slightly resembled the bathing area for livestock at the fairgrounds coupled with urinal stalls in a bathroom. Then outside of that enclosure there were clothes lines made from sticks for the drying. Lastly, inside was the press and fold section. Everything was done so meticulously. Some of the irons were old cast iron with coconut shells and scraps burning on the inside to create the heat rather than using electricity. It was so far away from the laundromats back home.
The rest of our time spent in Fort Cochin consisted of wandering the streets watching goats run around eating anything and everything they could get their mouths on and attempted to upload my photos so you all could get a little taste of what is going on on this side of the globe for me. We also said goodbye to Tom today. He is working his way up north as we are, expected he is heading up the west coast. So we are hoping our paths will cross again later on in our journey. We shall see.
14/03 Saturday
Rachel, Vegar and I were out the door today by 6am. We said goodbye to Renee and the three of us now are on our own little journey. And a journey it has turned out to be...
We caught our 6:30 bus and rolled into Coimbature around 1. Already it felt like we were in a whole other world. The city was bustling with traffic jams and we maybe saw one other westerner as we were driving in...maybe. It felt as though we were driving through one giant department store. Each street had its own specialty stores. One minute you were driving past all electronic stores, then Saree shops, then fruits and vegetables, then auto parts, then home decor...you get the gist. It felt strange to see this kind of activity since everywhere we have been has been fairly touristy and much smaller. One round about we passed was two stories with "Stop Child Labor" painted on every wall in sight. An entire herd of goats came running out of one of the tunnels amongst all of the cars. It didn't seem to phase anyone. Coimbature is famously known for its textiles, so child labor is an obvious obstacle. It seems pretty obvious that they are acknowledging it as a problem but I am curious to see what they are doing to address it.
The bus dropped us off in the heat and humidity of the city. We caught a rickshaw to another bus stop to make our way down to Mettapalayam. The whole goal of this part of our journey was to take a steam train that is supposed to be quite amazing and something that you must try if you are in this part of India. So when we arrived we were a little disappointed to find out that the train had been canceled the past few days due to rain and flooding of the tracks, and they weren't sure when it would be up and running again. The lady at the ticket office told us to check back in with her that evening to see if the train would be going the next morning. So we had some time to kill for the afternoon while we waited. Not exactly sure what we were going to do, we just set off on foot to explore the area. We found ourselves down a side street at the vegetable market, and when we made it to the end of the street we were greeted by a group of little kids that wouldn't stop practicing how to say hello. After what seemed like a million pictures of these kids running around with their sheep and smiling for the camera, we continued down the road and ran into another herd of boys who insisted on being in photos as well. I should've started charging for all of the portrait shots I got, but I was feeling generous. The crew took us down to the river to show us where all the local women do their laundry and where the kids swim and play. I will never forget this one little woman. She was maybe three and a half feet tall with one tooth and a face that looked like it could write a book with all of her wrinkles.
Again, after taking an endless amount of photos we thought it was time to press on and go back to the railway station to check on the status of the train. INSTEAD...
Vegar approached this woman in front of her home about stitching up some pants that had gotten a hole in them. She was eager to do it and invited us all in her home before offering us coffee. We sat down in a room with her 80 year old father and before we knew it, the coffee was being served, snacks were coming out by the plateful and the ENTIRE village had crammed into this little home to see us like we were some kind of exhibit at the zoo. The young girls brought out henna and started decorating our hands. The mothers came out with strings of jasmine and draped them on our heads. At one point both Rach and I had the girls doing our henna, were drinking coffee with our free hand while the mothers were dunking biscuits into our coffee and hand feeding us. The longer we were there, the more people that were crammed into the house. Quite a few of the people spoke a little English, but most of the communication was done through hand gestures, laughing and approving or disproving facial expressions.
Rachel was the first getting pulled into the backroom to be dressed in a Saree. She was then escorted outside like a little pageant princess and handed someone's baby to hold as everyone in the village gathered in the streets around her. It was like seeing a combination of Angelina Jolie and Mother Teresa. While all of this was going on, I was pulled inside to be dressed. They dressed me in the full get up, blouse and all. Then, like scene two of a play, I was pushed out on stage. Everyone was staring at me like they were waiting for me to do something, so I walked down the street like a model on the catwalk. Luckily everyone thought this was extremely funny rather than offensive. There Rachel and I were in the middle of the street in India with well over 60 people watching us like approving stage parents. It was an experience I never would've imagined.
After we unraveled from our Sarees we were escorted to the next house for more tea and more snacks. The kids were so excited to have us in their home that they wouldn't sit still. Being the high commodity that we have apparently become, it wasn't long before we were running down the streets to the next house for...you guessed it... more tea and snacks. They whipped up some homemade coconut, sugar puff things that were absolutely delicious. It's my goal to learn how to make them so you all can try them! We were told that the daughter of the family's house we were at, is getting married on the 22nd of this month. With our broken down communication, we were invited to the wedding! For some odd reason, attending an Indian wedding has been a goal of mine since we arrived. So, we thought we were going to be making our way up north, but now with a change of plans we will be back in this small town in a week. We are to be at their house by 4 pm Saturday, and will be part of all of the festivities for the weekend. I'm really looking forward to learn about the traditions and customs that make up a Muslim wedding. It will be a completely new and foreign experience for me, exactly what I came to India for.
After all of the excitement we said goodbye for now to our new friends and headed to the bus station to head up to Ooty, a mountain station.
13 March 2009
Photos
Alright, the internet here is ridiculously slow so I have managed to get some photos up on facebook but its taking forever to load them on to here for some reason. So below are the links to my facebook album for those of you who are not on facebook. I hope you enjoy them. I will continuously be putting up new pictures so standby, but I apologize for the probable long delay.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2223895&id=11506493&l=c13db
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2223882&id=11506493&l=85ca7
Oh and here is my India Mobile Number...Don't hesitate to call! I beileve its really cheap to call using skype.
(0)9895 649 950
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2223895&id=11506493&l=c13db
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2223882&id=11506493&l=85ca7
Oh and here is my India Mobile Number...Don't hesitate to call! I beileve its really cheap to call using skype.
(0)9895 649 950
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