Happy Halloween!

It all started when my mom suggested carving watermelons because I was missing my American Halloween. Lucky for me, pumpkins do exist in India, although buying them was an experience. The salespeople at the vegetable store we went to were absolutely dumbfounded on why any person in their right mind would buy an entire pumpkin, let alone four. They suggested we just buy a slice or two, but how could we carve a face on just a slice? So, we compromised with two pumpkins and one watermelon because my host mom was worried about wasting the fruit inside of four pumpkins; At least we'd be able to eat the watermelon inside. Still confused, the employees helped carry the fruit out to the car and sent us off with an unsure wave.

Next day, Halloween, the other American exchange student from New York came over and we set up outside the house. It must have been a strange sight because no one understood why we would want to cut open pumpkins, gut them, and personify them. It took a lot longer than I had originally planned, and although we had successful pumpkin-carving tools, it was trickier than I remembered it. Of course, being Indian pumpkins, we had to make them look as Indian as possible and give them big mustaches over the fangs. Success. When the two pumpkins were finished, we showed my host family what this American holiday was about, but they were convinced that it had to have some kind of superstition or meaning behind the act. Neither of us knew of any. In an attempt to please my host mom and not waste the pumpkin guts, I toasted the seeds and am making pumpkin pie tomorrow. Neither of my host parents have heard of pie and there is no such thing as a pie tin or crust in Coimbatore. With our 2' diameter oven, it will be quite the experiment.

The Wedding!

One of our neighbors got married today! On Wednesday I went over to her house with my host mom to get some Mehendi done. It's henna, but they put it all on the inside and outside of your hands. The bride got her feet and arms fully covered, and it looked absolutely amazing, but the poor thing had to sit there for 4 hours without moving. I couldn't even handle two with no hand use. I now can appreciate bears trying to open round door handles, it's not easy!

Friday was the actual wedding, and I was lucky enough to skip school for it. My host mom draped a sari for me, pinned it so it wouldn't fall down, and gave me some beautiful gold jewelry. After the hour and a half it took to get ready, we went to the wedding hall which was beautifully decorated with garlands of flowers and decorations. We were early for the ceremony so we ate breakfast and toured the small temple next door. I was actually on stage for some most of the ceremony, just watching from the sidelines. Before the bride arrives (she doesn't walk down the aisle), the groom walks off stage and pretends that he doesn't want to get married and remain a bachelor. The bride's parents will go after him and tempt him with gifts so he goes back inside. The coolest part, I thought, was at the beginning a large piece of fabric was held between the bride and groom and they each were holding a handful of dry rice. The first one to throw the rice on the other when the fabric was taken down would be the dominant one in the relationship. They all sat down for the bride and groom to each wash the feet of their parents and accepted their blessings.

The Indian version of a wedding ring is a gold chain which the bride wears as long as she is married and is never supposed to take off. Directly after this happened the entire audience threw a small handful of dry rice onto the couple. Vows are pretty similar, except of course they say them in Sanskrit. This wedding went on for about an hour, but there are some huge ones that last forever. It will be a 1-2 week celebration filled with food, dancing, functions, love, family, and laughter. I'm thinking about finding a nice Indian man when I'm older :)

Cultural Differences Lately

In Aspen, and I think for most of the United States, it is pretty normal for high schoolers to bring phones, ipods, and other electronics to school. I have realized here how much I have taken advantage of in the U.S. in that aspect. Today in class a boy was scolded for reading a "story book". Just a novel that he brought to school to read in his free time, not even during class. He wasn't disrupting anyone or -God forbid- disobeying any rules, but the teacher told him that he would be kicked out of the class if he brought a book to school again. This is happening while all the other students, including myself, were gossiping and making noise, which I would think would be worse than sitting quietly reading. In the U.S. teachers would be happy to find a kid reading during lunch rather than texting or on Facebook.

I have to bring a cell phone to school just in case my van that brings me home is late or for emergencies, and it is a true blessing sometimes. I would have slept over at the school at least six or seven days if I didn't bring the phone, because if the van comes, it is a minimum of 45 minutes late. But if any student sees the phone, I am toast. My first week here I didn't know any better so I called my host mom at the end of school to pick me up, and my whole class just dropped everything and stared. Then, they began freaking out, "You aren't allowed to bring cell phones, rah rah rah." They were seriously surprised and scared to see that someone disobeyed the rules, and at least three of them ran to tell a teacher. They are all so disciplined, which is the opposite of the high school I've known. Here it's an honor to get the "Disciplined" badge, and I can't help thinking that would be something tragically embarrassing in Aspen.

The Mall Experience

So far I have been avoiding anything and everything Western while in India, and do as I assumed the Indians do. Unfortunately, most of the Indians do as the Westerners do. It has been almost impossible to find any market-like shopping, instead we go to big department stores filled with three floors of neatly stacked tops. Today I grudgingly stepped foot inside a mall-in-progress. The parts which were finished reminded me of shopping in Cherry Creek, except no one was comfortable with the escalators. They stepped one foot onto the escalator with one firmly planted on the unmoving floor until their legs were substantially spread before completely transferring to the moving staircase. I figure it was many peoples' first or second time even seeing one, and was humorous for me to watch. It is becoming Diwali (pron. deevalee) season, a festival of lights in the first week in November, and so pretty much all of India is out shopping because everyone is supposed to get at least one new clothing item for this festival; there was hardly room to walk. The thing that bothered me most about the mall was all the staring. Over the past two months I have gotten fairly used to people staring at the tall, white American with blonde hair and blue eyes, seeing as it happens on an hourly basis. But due to the density of people in the shops it felt like I had a big neon sign pointing at me as well. It's unnerving  and suffocating to be that noticed by the surrounding populace. One of the salesmen actually asked my friend who I was with if he could have my bracelet or ring as a memento of meeting a foreigner. Just a few seconds later an older couple, very short and plump I might add, came up to me and my friend and spoke a language that neither of us understood. They stared and whispered to each other about two feet away from me. I took that as my cue to leave and I am not soon planning my return.

School Celebrations

For Navaratri week at school, we take off from all study and participate in fun competitions such as singing, dancing, essay and poem writing, etc. I am of course taking full participation in the competitions I am able to join, however events such as Tamil essay writing are not among them. On Thursday the competitions were of singing, dancing, and instrument playing. The first few were good to watch and my attention span was pretty good, but as it neared one and a half hours of sitting cross-legged on concrete, was beginning to seizure. The entire day was spent like this, and it was honestly amazing the discipline these kids had. They would just sit and watch and sometimes talk, especially when it neared those rare and short breaks, but they rarely moved.  They actually told each other to “sit properly” when one of them changed position, but it was mainly directed at me.

Friday was the same, but this time we sat for about 45 minutes cross-legged on concrete until it rained and we moved six entire grades to a hall where there literally wasn’t even enough room for us to sit cross-legged. We took turns letting them down and squeezing them against our chest. There weren’t any fans because it was outside and let me just say that being that close together in that heat was uncomfortable for anyone with any sense of personal space or a nose. THREE HOURS later we were released from the hall, or we would have been had we been able to walk. 

Navaratri

Living with this Gujarati family since Thursday and I am having a total blast with them! The fourth grader is a little tough when he's tired or excited, but other than that everything's great. We get all dressed up in Cholis- traditional Gujurati Navarathri dress- to go to the Gujarati Samaj where we dance from 9 or ten to midnight. It's not very long, but it is SO much fun! I meet all my new friends there and they will show me or remind me of some new steps when the music is slow so I can keep up when the pace quickens. My favorite is when the music gets fast and the movements get crazier, harder and way more fun and it's fantastic when I am actually able to follow(rare)! Of course this is the first time I have danced, outside of a party or the Belly Up, so I have a lot to learn and only three more nights to do it. Fortunately, I have found a willing teacher who also happens to be very cute and my age. ;) He's one of the better dancers there for sure and I can see the pure joy in his face doing what he loves with all of his best friends and family.

Gujaratis are a fairly small population in Coimbatore, so everyone knows everyone and it's like a big family. Everyone is someone's brother, sister, cousin, or a combination of those, whether they are actually related or not. After the dancing is over we go into the concession area and try out some new form of a popsicle. My favorite is this thing called a Kulfi. From what I understand its basically frozen condensed milk on a stick, but wow is it good! They have all varieties including Litchi and pistachio flavors. A trademark sign of the Gujus are a kind of flavored shaved ice like you would get at any fair in the U.S. but they put it on a stick and put this spice called Masala on it. Masala is hard to explain, but tastes salty and spicy. Not particularly the most delicious thing to the American taste buds, but could be if I get some new Indian ones. I feel I have experienced an entirely new way of life during this past week and I am so grateful and happy that I did. I knew festivals like this existed in India, but I had no idea just how great they were until now. I feel like everyone is so welcoming and friendly- people I have never seen in my life come up to me and start a conversation or offer to help me with the dancing.

I guess in Gujarat or in bigger cities they have this celebration until 6 in the morning and then go out for coffee and sleep all day then do it again. That would be fun to experience! Maybe next time around I can do that one.

9 Divine Nights

A Hindu holiday called Navaratri begins tomorrow. It is a Gujarati holiday (Gujarat is a state in Northern India) and celebrated all over the country by Gujaratis.  I have asked a few of my Gujarati friends exactly what it celebrates and none of them knew. They both said that they just eat and dance till four in the morning and aren't bothered with anything else. Wikipedia told us that it celebrates the Divine Mother at the beginning of autumn and spring. Beginning tomorrow I will be spending the next week and a half in a Gujarati's home and learning about their unique culture. Of course by the end of this I will be able to tell you anything and everything about this holiday. Gujaratis are known in India for their beautiful clothing with many mirrors and bright embroidery. I have bought one blue skirt and blouse, and I can not even begin to explain how much I am looking forward to dancing in it! Let me tell you that I am SO glad my cook's campaign for Anna to gain 15 pounds has not yet succeeded, because the Gujaratis like to show off their tummys. :)

Root Canaling

The art of dentistry in this wonderful country is almost identical to the Aspen dentist, minus about $900. I have been in and out of a local dental office for the last two weeks because of not one, but TWO root canals. I just finished my second one today, and I paid only $100 for both the procedures. I can definitely see why Americans opt to spend the same amount of money on the same operation, but get an entire trip to a new country out of it. My counterpart in Glenwood has to have this same operation, but they are charging her almost $1000. Cheers to NOT ripping clients off.