Black month is over...Let's party!

I would deem the month of October as "Party month". Why? Because the month of september is called "black month" and this is when you can go shopping but you don't buy new things, there isn't much happening, no one gets married, no festivals etc etc.

SO... that means in this month you make up for it. It is a mooches' dream come true. Because if there is a wedding that means "dhaam" and since we are foreign then we are usually invited through someone. So free food for us!

So enough about that. This past week we were invited a wedding in a village in the next district over. It took 8 hours on two buses to get there. Oi. When i come back home, there will be no complaining about traveling somewhere..EVER! It was about the equivalent of traveling from Tyler, Texas to Denton, Texas....but add in some hills and 8 hours on a crowded bus whereas in the states it would take 2 hours by car.

This was such a strange adventure. We get there and the first night we eat dhaam for dinner. The dhaam there was a little different from Nimda* dhaams because where we were they served only 3 dishes, usually several types of dal. But first we watch the haldi ceremony for the groom. (we stayed with the grooms family)

Below is the picture of us and the mother of the groom. Not sure how much hindi she knew bec she spoke the local language there, but we had fun playing charades and hand motion games.

This night must be an american guy's worst nightmare. Basically, Beki and I and about 15 of his closest female relatives are sitting in this room and they do a puja (worship) to their gods (all the while all the guys sit outside smoking hookahs). Then they take haldi, - its a yellow gunk looking stuff and they make the poor guy strip down to his skivies in front of everyone while his mother and sister cousin rub the stuff all over him. They say haldi is for glow and helps them look lighter...a.k.a. its an exfoliant and it removes all the dead skin. Ya just learn to smile and nod.

So anyways this poor guy is covered in yellow gunk and in his underwear, then all the women parade him outside in front of everyone while singing(the songs sound like we're listening to a group of alleycats wailing at a funeral). and then dump water on him to get it all off. Sidenote:::Beki and I kept our eyes on the ground just so ya know...the thoughts "My eyes!!My eyes!!" kept running through our heads - we're not used to seeing much skin around here so this was a bit traumatic.

Then as if the poor guy hasn't been through enough, he changes into dry clothes (in front of everyone) and comes back inside with all the women and they put mahndi designs on his hands...The tortured alleycat choir is still at it during all this. OH and they paint his nails. His toenails were definitely bright pink, oh yes! Any guys up for an indian wedding??

The next morning...by morning i mean the crack of dawn, we're awakened by the band playing outside to announce its time to get up since its ya know 5 am. THe groom gets all gussied up and about 8ish he rides off on his horse with his friends to the brides village to pay the bride price for her and have the ceremony there. We lucked out because the friend we were with didn't want to go and wanted to wait for his return that night. Fine with us because its a bit brutal to sit through a ceremony especially if you don't know the couple. So we just hung out at the house with his fam and went exploring around the village and took some naps. Rough i know.

Pic to the left is our two "brothers" that came with us. They are brushing their teeth at the well while our friend did some laundry and we washed our faces. The other picture is Beki and some aunties we got to hang out with. They were so goofy.

Cultural note: The married women from this area all wore their dupattas over their heads, even when they were working. when they greeted one another, they touched the other persons feet three times then they hugged and touched cheek to cheek 3 times as well. It was very interesting. Most of the women wore silver, I wasn't sure if it was popularity or income. In Nimda* wearing gold jewelry is a sign of status. So my theory is that they were just poorer in this area and so could only afford mainly the silver jewelry. The girl to the left was such a hard worker, she was always sweeping or cooking or cleaning up cow poo. But she was really sweet and and had a beautiful smile....

Random occurance: We slept in the attic on bed rolls thrown up there with about 5 or 6 other people. We came back with some strange looking bites so i don't know what was living up there but we didn't really want to know. However at one point we were up there taking a nap after lunch or something and i woke up to the sound of insects flying around and spiderwebs waving in the wind. I saw a lizard and i felt at home. You know you've lived here too long if you wake up and see a rat looking down at you from the rafters and it doesn't bother you...Anyhow that night after the groom and bride came back, the bride slept downstairs and the groom slept in the attic with us. Weird.

Pic on the left: Here are some girls we got to chat with and sing some hindi songs to. They were really sweet. Our brothers had a crush on the girl in front.

New experience: Over the course of the wedding festivities we ended up eating like 4 dhaams. So the second night, something i ate had a fight with my stomach and my stomach lost. Yup, you try waking up about 2 am and try to find the outhouse. Its fun. don't forget to fetch the water from the little well outside the outhouse first though. Vomiting makes you truly appreciate toilet bowls........and well, indoor plumbing.

A little Texas lovin'

It was a beautiful day in Nimda* - Uncle ji came by to inform me that he had already signed for a package for me and i just needed to go to the postoffice in town to pick it up!!

Thanks Vasha and Matt Davis! ***NOTICE:::

scan the picture below carefully. You should take notice of a certain familiar looking flag among these most amazing contents.... Beki rolled her eyes also. It's ok.

Don't worry V-shay! its flying high in our room! hahaha some picture frames and notebooks...

However as i took a closer look at these notebooks, i couldn't help but notice something a bit ironic about them...

To Plan or not to Plan: there is no question!

A Random Tangent::
The theme of Nimda*: " Predictability is Highly Overrated!" Why plan?? i mean really. It's just gonna change anyways. If Webster were Indian, his definition would have read :

plan * planned *planning= transitive verb, noun: intending to do something and pretending to know the particulars but knowing full well the details are wrong; a surprise destination.

-Planning really means picking a direction and heading that way, wondering where you'll actually end up. Nevermind that's the definition of trekking...

sOOO "Plan" #1: Jules was originally supposed to come down for the weekend for a "group gathering" to discuss the meaning of life, joys and sorrows, deep thoughts, hopes and dreams...that kind of thing. We had "planned" to make breakfast for J-dawg then take her to the magnanimous Raj Mahal (the "nice" restaurant in town) and then make dinner and then "Plan" 2 was to explore the land of Nimda*

So what ACTUALLY happened was this: our landlord invited us (and our travel friend he said)for breakfast to celebrate the last day of Shirart (not spelled right, sorry) which had lasted many days and it has to do with the celebration of their ancestors. Basically they celebrate by making food for their ancestors and whatever food you make, you give some away and that food is what your ancestors get to eat.... All we knew was that great indian food kept arriving at our house, we haven't bought graoceries in like 2 weeks! yes we're mooches... So Auntie ji made us poori, channa, gueer served with pani and chai. It was soo good! We headed back upstairs to our house and "took rest". By "took rest" i mean we passed out asleep for several hours because we were soo full...

Poor Jules never got the privilege of seeing Nimda* because Exploration Nimda* turned into Travel Day. A little lesson in foothill travel...The city beautiful is about 140 miles away...which isn't so far but throw in extremely winding, narrow roads with buses and Tata trucks and this seemingly quick and delightful trip is actually about a 5-6 hour tiring trip that when you get out of the taxi your face is black from all the exhaust fumes. But it was all well worth it to continue our "group gathering" in the City Beautiful with the rest of our team. It was a really refreshing and encouraging time. We only spent 24hours in town before we turned around and came back. Beki made the most amazing cheesecake from scratch- even using a million substitutions!! So we completed the weekend with a girls night in Nimda* by eating cheesecake and watching Bridget Jones. Good times!

Top Ten Favorite Quotes...

10. Uncle ji: "For your Papa...Time is money...but for me...I have government job, so ehhh."
(He tends to only run errands with us when he's "at work")

9. So before we got sick, everyone said the water was fine...
AFTER we got sick and bought an aguaguard this is what uncle ji said, " You should only drink water from an aguaguard."
Us: "Yes uncle but we drink water from your house and you don't have an aquaguard."
PAUSE....
Uncle ji "yes, well... you should not take that either..."

8. Beki's mama: "April, what are you doing out there? are you playing with that bubble wrap or something??"
Me: "No, its just the ants in the door"

7. We met a guy at a hotel with a video camera who was videoing for his group and he told us.."ok! you can shoot yourself now!!" (meaning we can start talking, he's videoing now)

6. "Yes yes, in 4 years when i retire from this BSNL (his gov't job at the phone company) i will take rest and then visit to this Texas and Florida and see to the marriage of my Texas child and florida child."

5. Beki: "So i learned how to deliver a baby today"
(after reading where there is no doctor)

4. Beki - "THere are so many bugs in our bathroom!"
Me: "well at least you don't notice the black mold"

3. Beki's sister-in-law to beki: "so do you see a lot of cute guys?"
Beki: "Actually, yes i see quite a few and I think 'hey! they're cute' and then they pee on a wall, or scratch their crotch or blow a snot rocket out of their nose...And then i change my mind"

2. Uncle ji "yes yes, indian english and american english is a little different."
Beki: "No! its not different, your grammar is just wrong!"

1. Beki:"I would make a terrible indian wife"
Me: "why?"
Beki: "Because i'd have to stay in the house all day to cook and clean, and look all coy at my wedding...." She wraps her dupatta around her head and says "Do i look coy?"

Therapy for 10 rupees...

Mahndi truly is therapeutic...

you stop in a little shop, ask for a mahndi cone and tada!

Fun and relaxation guaranteed!

Here is my foot with Beki's handywork

and here is Beki's foot with my attempt

This says:

"how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news"

but in hindi...its a bit long so this actually goes alll around her foot.

And then here is another hand design...

Culture Lesson #8,962: A Shopping Story

Shopping in Nimda* is always a new experience to be sure....

So we were introduced to our cloth seller by our tailor whom we met through Uncle ji....everything is done through contacts around here.

WELL, we have established a great relationship with him and he has become a good uncle to us. He is probably one of the sweetest uncles we know. So we stop by his shop yesterday to buy a new suit... well we end up buying 2 suits each. Then he calls his tailor friend who comes to his shop, measures us and leaves with our material to stitch them. And then our uncle sends the material for our dupattas with his shop helper to take it to get it dyed for us. WHAT convenience! Usually you would have to go to all these places yourself.

Then as usual we drink chai with him as we sit in his little shop. We happened to be there around lunch time and before we had a chance to say no, he had his shop helper go buy us food from the dhabba across the alleyway. Now This is shopping!

"You don't eat no meat??"

When we first moved to Nimda* we told people we were non-veg and that we ate meat...Yeah so that got us goat leg soup. We changed our tune pretty quick. Now we say in America we are Non-veg but in India we are Veg....

So we have been experimenting with several types of food - especially when we found some interesting packaged things in the market that somewhat resembled western food. One day we made pizza - we found a bakery that sold pizza bread and also actually sold mozarella cheese. Beki made up the tomato sauce and we just used cheese and bell pepper as toppings. It was pretty good. We had a candle lit lunch...haha.

So i have been trying to work on my indian food making skills, and i'm making some pretty good progress! Monday night, Atmum* helped me make dal makhni and chipati. Chipaties are so good but a bit on the difficult side. First you mix medda (wheat flour) with pani (water) and knead it...takes a bit of practice to get the correct water to flour ratio down. Then you have to roll them into actual circles which Beki can tell you it takes more than a smile.

This morning i made aloo paranthas for Bekkers. I actually remembered how and they turned out pretty tasty!! The pic to the right is the paranthas being fried. and the other is the finished product! yeaaa!!

And then tonight, my neighbor Angkoo* was over and i was telling her about my cooking experiences and she was proud of me for learning how to cook indian food. She offered to show me how to cook Mix Veg to eat with the left over dal so i could practice my chipati making skills. Its official i made some that definitely poofed AND were in the shape of a circle. We call it the "poof test". after you roll it out and cook it on the flat skillet for a few min, you pick it up and throw it on the open fire of the gas stove. If it "poofs" up like sopapilla then its good...if not then its not. When i made them monday night with Atmum* she laughed at mine and told me that they should be in the shape of a circle not Texas.... But tonight all of mine poofed!! Atmum* will be so proud!! It was a great day in the field of foreign feasts.

scrub a dub dub...

Several people have asked... "what do you mean by "bucket bath"?? So i thought i would provide you with a step by step manual and pictures as a visual... We live in a village but we have running water and electricity no worries. However due to lack of water pressure, welcome to the wonderful world of buckets!!

Exhibit A:

Here is our shower with the water turned on high.... Sometimes you can catch it where that stream actually shoots towards you but you should try a bucket sometime - its actually quite nice.

Exhibit B:

This my friends is what we call a bucket...

Exhibit C:

Step 1... After turning on the geyser (hot water heater) and wait 5-10 min, turn on the water and then go eat dinner, do some laundry, check email....as you like. it will take a bit to fill up.

Exhibit D:

Notice the blue cup in the bucket... take this cup and pour it over your head and follow your regular cleansing routine. Fill the blue cup up and dump it on yourself ... repeat as many times as it takes to rinse off the soap/shampoo.

Congratulations!!!

You are now a bucket bath expert....

Auntie April...

This is Abigail Ruth...

i'm a bit biased but she's beautiful!!! She came into the world on September 7th!!!! She weighed 7 lbs and was 16 inches long.

Me and her mama go way back - like 8th grade - where does the time go? oi.

Planning is overrated...

So we were headed to a popular tourist lake to trekk around and see what was up there, but 30-40 minutes after the bus left, the bus broke down. There was some unpleasant sounds coming from the engine and noticeable smoke - not a good sign! We sat there for maybe 20 minutes, decided that we weren’t supposed to go that day and trekked back to town. Turned out that all the time we had spent in the bus had only gotten us 5km outside of Nimda* - just to show you how slow bus travel is up here. We got back
to our house and spent the evening with our families on the roof. They always find our random travels pretty funny...

Saturday, we left to go to a different village for some trekkin. On the way there our bus almost ran into an elephant…. (yes think about that one for a min...) In the foothills, this is not a common sight. Well it turned out that mr. elephant was heading to the same place we were, and after a bit of conversing with its owner, for 150 rupees he took us for a spin….bareback no less! It was so fun. Quite the spectacle I must say, there were Buddhist monks and Indians alike gathered around watching the 2 white girls on an elephant. Don't blame 'em, i would have stared too! We stopped by the "Joo" to see the animals. The "Z" sound (in our area at least) are usually pronounced as a "J".
I was quite impressed with this little zoo, i was prepared for the worst. But the animals seemed to have plenty of room, were well taken care of and fed so it was quite an enjoyable visit. The last animal display along the pathway was the best part.... there were monkeys in the trees and on the outside of the cage but inside was one chicken....
I always thought it should be the other way around....but hey we're in Asia. Most things don't make a lot of sense to me.

Birthday fun! Junum Din!

To the left is my neighbor G*, she just turned 6!!! Yea for being 6! We came over for a birthday breakfast. G*'s mom is our super spider slaying auntie so this family already holds a special place in our hearts. She is really cute and helps us with our Hindi - especially spouting off the hindi alphabet for us. The Hindi word for older sister is Dee-dee. So when she sees us you can always hear her yell "April Dee-dee" and "May Dee-dee". (if you remember, they call Beki= May since well they think its hilarious that "April" and "May" live next door, but Beki's middle name is May. We were meant to be friends, its true.)

To the right is our chota bia - our younger brother. He turned 18 two days later. We were invited upstairs for lunch - a mini "dhaam". I say mini because it was a come and go thing, there were no large leafs to eat off of and we sat on the couch. But we still had the typical 500 courses... we went home and passed out for a while to recooperate. To the left is super auntie, our brother, and G*. Super auntie totally posed for this picture because she loves having her pic taken.

Ahh the small things of life.....

Below is Me, Bekkers, and G*'s sister A* hanging out before lunch started. Good times!

UNT students mourn 'lucky' albino squirrel's death

"University of North Texas students are mourning the loss of the campus albino squirrel that they believed brought them good luck on exams.
A hawk attacked and killed the squirrel last week.
The loss is especially painful for the Albino Squirrel Preservation Society, a 4-year-old student organization dedicated to the squirrel that has more than 400 members....The squirrel lived near the loading docks behind the University Union...
Mr. Zambrano (the president of the society) said he is planning an informal memorial service during the noon hour Friday near the squirrel's home so students can mourn and share their own squirrel stories. "

"I remain confident that when another ghost of the trees appears on campus in future semesters, there will be a new generation of Eagles willing to take the albino squirrel under their wings." - Andy Hogue, the society's Student gov't Association squirrel liaison emeritus and alumni director

*****story copied from The Dallas Morning News newspaper