I Learn Something New Everyday

You just never know what people may say to you. Here are some conversations that made me laugh.

• Friday night we went to the movies. My friend Lindsey bought a Diet Pepsi and asked for it with ice. The guy at the counter said, "Oh, Madam, it is a matter of health concern."
  
  Explanation: Nationals have this thing about hot and cold being mixed. They believe that if you drink cold water in the winter, you will get sick. The guy was apparently concerned that by having ice, Lindsey would get sick.

• Along with more health tips for you... Alicia went to the doctor with some stomach issues. The doctor told her there was a problem with her esophagus. He asked if she drank water with her meals. She said yes. The doctor said she should never eat and drink water while eating.
  
  Explanation: They also have this thing about solids and liquids. They don't mix those either.

• That same night as the movies, we went to eat at Pizza Hut. Alicia asked the waiter how big one of their salads was. The waiter replied, "180 grams."
  
  I don't know why, but I just found this hilarious. Who knows how big 180 grams is? lol.

I just wanted to pass along to you what I've learned. Don't have ice with your drink. Don't drink when you eat, and if you order a salad at Pizza Hut, it will be 180 grams.

A Day in the City

Some friends and I decided to see some of the city. We've been saying that we wanted to see more of the city while it was cool weather. We never really got around to it. Unfortuanately, things are beginning to heat up, so we decided to get out while we could still enjoy the weather. It is amazing what all there is to see in this city. It is so full of history.

We began at Humayun's Tomb. It's architecture was the inspiration for the Taj Mahal. You could definately see the similarities. It just wasn't quite as ornate as the Taj.

Here is me at the tomb. Do I look enough like a tourist? lol. Notice also that I have Flat Stanley with me. My cousin sent him in the mail to me, so he traveled around with us today. It made me remember other trips I took with Flat Stanley... good memories. For those of you who don't know about Flat Stanley, he is a project elementary kids all over the U.S. are doing. They send him to people around the world and recieve pictures and postcards from Flat Stanley.

Next we met some other friends at the Mughal Gardens. These gardens are only opened a month or two each year. They are located at the President's home, so security was very high. We weren't allowed to take anything in with us, including cameras. We literally were in the President's backyard. It was beautiful. I did take Flat Stanley around to the front of the Presidents' house for a picture. :)



Next we went to Safdarjung's Tomb. Tombs are quite abundant here. The architecture is very neat, but they are all pretty similar.





I really do love places like this because there are so many great pictures. Here is random fact about me: I love arches and doorways. I have tons of pictures of them. :) We were just having fun taking pictures.





We ended the day at Lodhi Gardens. I've always heard people talk about, but now understand why. It was beautiful. I don't think I've seen that much green since being in America. I was quite impressed.

I know I'm not in America...

Today I needed to pay our electricty bill. Most of the time our landlord will just pay it and then we'll pay him. This month he gave it to us to pay. I don't like doing stuff like that because customer service is not the best in places like that. I can't mail it because we don't have a post office really close, just a post office truck that stops at our market sometime in the morning. I've never actually caught the postal truck, but I hear it exists. So here is what I did. I took the bill to this roadside stand that sells tobacco and has a few regular phones you can use like a pay phone. I just took my bill to the shack, gave him the money for it (it was $20, which is a lot in Indian Rupees), gave him a 20 cent tips, and he says, "Okay, I'll take. Come back tomorrow for bill." I have no idea who the guy is, but someone once told me if you take a bill to him he'll have someone go pay it for you. I took them up on their suggestion, and totally trust the stranger to do it. Its funny to think about though, especially to try to put it into a scenario in the U.S. It would be about the equivalent of stopping at a person selling watermelons on the side of the highway and asking them (and trusting them) to go pay your car note for an extra 50 cents. Once again, culure is a funny thing.

Holi

Yesterday was the big day of Holi. For an explanation, see the previous blog entry. I am just going to share with you about our experiences through pictures. To begin with, here is the before shot. This is what Alicia and I looked like at 9 a.m. this morning - all nice and clean.

We began the morning by going to Mona’s parents’ house. They are a really sweet older couple. We “played Holi” with them, and got our first coating of color. Everyone says, “Happy Holi” and wipes color all over you.


We finished up the morning with a late breakfast, color and all.

Then Alicia, Lindsey, and I went to our student Deepa’s house. She lives in the colony where we teach English. Here is a picture of Deepa, the lane she lives on, and the view from her roof. This is the same lane from the water buffalo picture of the week.

As soon as we arrived, of course, they brought out food. Because it was a holiday, they make all these special snack foods. The funny thing is that these plates of food followed us throughout the day. Lol. I’ll show you what I am talking about later.


Next we proceeded upstairs to the roof to play Holi once again. All of the ladies, young and old alike joined in, and we all got really colored.





Then someone brought up a speaker and stereo and the dancing began. This may be a little known fact about to me, but I love to dance. It can’t get much better than an Indian dance party on the roof covered in color!






After we danced for awhile, up came the food again with “cold drinks” (how they refer to sodas). They were determined to keep us stuffed all day. As always, the Indian hospitality stands out strongly. Of course, eating was not an adequate reason to stop dancing...




We danced some more, and attempted to teach them the Electric Slide. I think it wasn’t quite exciting enough for them though. Then they decided it was time to play with colored water. So on top of our coloring, we all got soaked and danced some more. Here are some after shots.






By this time we were all pretty cold, so we all walked across the gulley to another rooftop that got more sun. Then we laid around to dry out.




Later, a neighbor auntie wanted to show off her own dance moves.


There was some drum playing and a little singing and a lot of just hanging out. And yes, the food showed up on the next roof too. They really can make you feel like you are a celebrity, even if you are just hanging out in a slum.




Alot of children showed up on the roof. There was some real cuties.






About 5:30, they fed Alicia and I an early meal which included chicken since it was a special occasion. Then we headed home. However, as we were getting into a taxi, the same herd of water buffalo from the other day was coming down the same lane. Apparently, they pass through the same time everyday. Lol. We tried to snap a picture again, but the buffalo were too fast and we missed it. Alicia had to jump in the car to keep from getting ran over.

Spring is coming... Tomorrow

This weekend is the second most famous Indian festival of the year. Today and tomorrow people will be celebrating Holi, the Festival of Colors in celebration of the arrival of Spring and new life. In my opinion, the way they celebrate Holi is quite unique. Think of holidays in America. When it gets close to a holiday, stores begin selling the appropriate gifts and decorations. At Christmas time the Christmas deocrations go up and gifts go on sale. At Halloween, the costumes come out, etc. It is the same here in India. It is just that what comes out is a little different. Right now, every street corner is selling these:


Yes, every street corner is selling water guns, water balloons, and powdered colors. Holi is definately a different holiday than any other one I know. It is basically an all-out war across the entire country with water and powdered colors as the weapons. Tomorrow will be the actual Festival of Colors. The colors have a lighter consistancy than powdered suger. You buy them in packages like the ones below.


You then go around to everyone and wish them a "Happy Holi" and wipe colors all over their face. Then you add in the water guns and water balloons with colored water, and things get a little messy. By the end of the day, everyone and everything is covered with colors, which may or may not come off for awhile. Holi definately leaves its mark.

I celebrated Holi last year with some friends, but I couldn't remember the actual history of the holiday. I did some reading about it. Like anything to do with Hindu traditions, there are several stories to explain. I'll just share the most common ones I found. There are two distinct traditions that stand out in my mind concerning Holi. One is the lighting of bonfires. As I rode across the city today I saw massive piles of wood, in parking lots, in the middle of roads, etc. Later tonight, they will burn these. Here is the story behind that:

Literally "Holi" signifies "burning" in Indian language. Legend has it that a king of ancient times called Hiranya Kashyap, after having defeated the Gods proclaimed his supremacy over all in the universe. All bow down to him except his son Prahlad who continues to worship Lord Vishnu. The enraged king tells his sister Hollika, who is immune to fire, to destroy Prahlad in a fire. She carries Prahlad into a conflagration, but by the divine intervention of Vishnu, she is consumed by the flames while Prahlad escapes unscathed. So on the eve of Holi people can be seen milling around huge bonfires symbolically reliving the legend even today. (http://www.2camels.com/holi.php)

The other tradition is of the colors.

According to the Hindu belief, Krishna was a reincarnation of lord Vishnu himself. The origin of the colorful and frolicking tone of Holi lies in the boyhood of Krishna. It all came up as part of his pranks, he used to play with his boyhood mates of Gokul and Vrindavan. Situated in north India, these are the places where he spent his childhood.

It was at this time of year, Krishna used to play pranks by drenching the village girls, with water and colors. At first it offended the girls. But they were so fond of this mischievous boy that soon their anger melted away. And, it did not take long for other boys to join in, making it a popular sport in the village. Later, as Krishna grew up, the play assumed a new dimension. It added more colors to Krishna's legendary love life. The same tradition has transpired through the ages, turning it into a community festival of the masses. As time kept flowing, the culture spread roots to other regions of the country, and continue to be celebrated today. (http://www.theholidayspot.com/holi/history_of_holi.htm)

Tomorrow Alicia and I will be going to "play Holi" (that is how they say it) with our neighbor Mona and then with our students. I'm sure many pictures will follow. Of course, people do not wait until tomorrow for the pranks. I've already been pelted with water ballons once, and as we were riding in a rickshaw tonight, a car pulled up alongside of us with a large watergun and took several shots at us. Its what I would call a drive-by shooting. lol. Its crazy in the fullest sense of the word. However, Alicia and I are armed with water balloons and colored water and plan to fight back hard tomorrow. :)

Pic of the Week

This picture was taken today as we were leaving one of our friends' house today. You never know what you may meet walking down the street. The funniest thing was that just a little ways down the street after the water buffalo, we passed a house blairing and Usher song. A herd of water buffalo an Usher all on the same walk home. Just another day in India... It makes me laugh.