Weddings, Circuses, and More!

Okay, I’m sorry. I’ve really been a slacker when it comes to blogging this month. It’s May 27^th, and this will only be fourth time I’ve updated (and probably the last time I do before June). My bad. I’ll do better in June though. I promise.

In the last two weeks I’ve done a whole lot. Let’s see if I give you a little glimpse through pictures:

Where to begin….

Well I bought some new pointy shoes

Which I wore to a wedding. And of course, at the wedding there was dancing...

(but it’s funnier to show you a picture of T than of me).

I’ve also put quite a few miles (or kilometers on my bike). So as T. Sometimes we ride alone, some times it’s with two people, or every once and a while we ride three deep...

I also went to the Indian Circus: It was kind of like a “western circus”

And then when I went to my friends’ house to spend the night, all the kids decided to reenact the circus for us!

(I think that’s supposed to be a sword… He kind of looks like a dinosaur though)

These two guys are being the scantily clad dancers, or as their literal Hindi translation would be "dirty girls"

And even the dog joined in

It’s been a crazy few weeks . feel like I haven’t stopped for very long, but it’s been a lot of fun. Our friends who are here with us leave next Saturday, and T and I will also be headed out for a few days to Nepal. Maybe I’ll get another blog out before then, maybe not. Either way, expect more pictures in the not too distant future!

-एरिक

"No, I won't take you to America with me" and a quick update on life

Since we got back from our hiking adventure, I've been spending a lot of time on college campuses. Right now I've got some friends from the states who are here helping with the research that I'm doing.

Basically, this research looks at the similarities and differences between college students in the U.S. and college students in northern India (probably one of the most culturally diverse places in the world). We look at a lot of different aspects of the college students life - hobbies, interest, and future plans... how this generation is different from the last... how western culture is influencing India... how religion is (or is not) important to the newest generation of Indian adults. From this simple survey we've had some really good responses, and the one-on-one meetings that often follow have been really encouraging to me. Daily I'm learning so much more about this place that has become home and these people who are now my neighbors. I'm having the opportunity to learn from them, and at the the same time I'm able to share with them also. I've been doing this for the last 3 or 4 months months (since my full-time language learning ended), but the last two weeks have been much more focused on it. Good times.

Today though, I had a funny thing happen. When I approach a person or a group I generally say "hello" or something similar in English. The Hindi word "namaste" is a little formal, and college students don't really use it much. Plus, this helps to gauge the level of English they speak and I decided from there if we're going to talk more in Hindi or English. Well, before I had a chance to say much more than hello, I heard a girl at the back of the group say (in Hindi), "He can have a visa made for me!"

The group laughed, I chuckled a little, and then switched the conversation over to Hindi. She was mortified when she realized I understood. The other girls started giggling, the guys laughed pretty hard, and she quickly found a reason to head off in another direction.

Other than though, it was a really great morning. My friend and I who were doing surveys had some really good responses from both students and administrators, this afternoon he was able to have some really beneficial follow up conversations this evening while I was in language class.

These guys helping with what we're doing will be here through the end of the month, and I'm really excited to see how they'll continue to further the projects we're working on!

Club Shadi

Today I went to my first Indian wedding. Wow, it was an adventure, and to be honest words would do little to describe it. Instead, I've got some great pictures to show just what went down (I'm sure one day I'll regret these pictures being on the internet).

So this is my buddy Prem and me. It was a girl in his neighborhood that got married, so its our friendship that got me into the wedding today. He also took me shopping for my kurta (traditional Indian shirt).

This is the wedding tent. It was 100 degrees outside today, the wedding was at one pm, and outside in a tent. Sweet.

Like most weddings, this one had a bride and groom, but they really didn't seem to be the center of attention most of the time.

Turns out it was really the white people who ended up being the center of attention at times.
This is us with the groom's party.

Like any good wedding this one had food. Unlike a good wedding the cows managed to find their way into this one.



And there was music by the Euphorian DJ. Not sure that I want "smack that" played at mine.



Now with music comes dancing...



Lots of dancing...



So its only right that I joined in!



During a break we headed back up to Prem's house where I played with the kids.



And then we got silly...



But he got even sillier...

And then things just got out of control!
(no children were harmed the taking of this photo)

All in all it was a really fun day. A new experience and a chance to spend more time with a great family of friends. And to the bride and groom: I wish you luck and apologize for stealing some of the attention at your wedding. But then again, had you really been upset about it you probably wouldn't have spent your first dance as a couple dancing with me!

-एरिक

a special invitation

I was invited to my first Indian wedding! It's tomorrow, and I'm pretty excited. I even got a REAL wedding invitation.


If I'm going to a wedding I need something nice to wear, so today I went down into the market and found a new "kurta" (extremely long shirt) to sport tomorrow. I was a little disappointed when I found out that no one wears "real Indian" clothes to weddings anymore, which means I didn't get to buy a pair of "pajama pants" or curly toed shoes. Sad day, I know.

Anyways, I'm sure that tomorrow will be loads of fun, and I can't wait to update with all the pictures/video of what's bound to be an exciting day!

-एरिक

Shoddy Shadi

Marriages in India are almost always arranged. I knew that when I came, but I don’t think I realized that wedding ceremonies would be SO different. In the US, a wedding ceremony is short, followed by a reception, and then the bride and groom are off on their honeymoon. In India, it’s a 3 or 4 day celebration. There’s meals at all the parents’ houses, parades down the street, dancing late into the night, and fireworks. The groom goes through town on a horse (or sometimes an elephant as I’ve been told), and people give him money.

I live within 100 yards of 3 different wedding points, so lots of nights I get to hear Indian Wedding music in dreams.

I was driving my bike home a few nights ago, when I passed one of the groom’s parades. It was just getting warmed up, but here’s a video of what I ran into. I just missed the groom dancing on top of his horse… man, maybe next time.