Mom and Shelly in the Garden City

In no particular order... pictures from their view.
ladies working at a souvenier shop
my mom and my friend's mom
Commercial Street, oldest mosque in city
Shelly
kids after meal at a tuition/feeding program
boy
family that lives in the slums, avg. 10 people live in this room with no running water
ladies from the slum at hygiene presentation
cows crossing the road
auto ride
threading eyebrows

Wordless Wednesday

Part 2

mehendi, matching bangles, and the ring he gave her

the sweetest baby...even though she pooped on me!
little Sunny....so SMART!
bride to be

A Friend's Engagement

The girls with the bride and groom to be. There were so many cameras and people...I don't know if anyone really knew where to look!
The guys + bride to be

Feeding her a sweet...it looks like she was scared!
with his family
with her family
the girls again
bride to be
presents in her lap, mark on her head
some of the guests...standing room only!

A Month's Worth of Wordless Wednesdays

old photo

My cousin sent me this picture the other day. :) Baby in the pink = me, man in the blue holding me = my daddy (I miss my daddy), the lady (or head of the lady) with the glasses = my mom (I miss her too, but she's coming to visit me in 18 days! Yipee!), the girl in the red pants and striped shirt with her arm randomly raised = my aunt Jessica (she just sent me some super cute photos of her kids Mekenzie and Colby...my friends here say that they are the cutest kids they've ever seen and wish they could pinch their cheeks. Jess and uncle Jamie..I miss you too!).

random rambling

Saturday.....Saturday I needed a Roslyn day. I slept 'til 10, had my breakfast, rode my bicycle around the neighborhood for an hour, and returned home out of breath, just in time to catch the plant walla (seller guy who pushes a cart full of plants around until he sells them). I ran up the stairs to get my money and returned to the street to purchase two matching pink/purple/curly/leafy plants to set outside our door. Then, I rode the 3 year old twins that live downstairs up and down the street on my bicycle. I showered, dressed in my favorite clothes, and went downtown with four of my national friends and my roommate to see a movie. The movie: Jodhaa Akbar. A Rajput (Hindu) princess marries a Mughal (Muslim) emperor in order to form an alliance between the two families. Battles on elephants, sword fights, love story, beautiful jewelry, humor. Excellent. Male and female alike should watch.....and there aren't any sketchy dance scenes. After the movie, the 6 of us had dinner at a delicious place near our houses. After the meal, I strategically declined the sweet/palate cleanser which my roommate naively accepted. She ate it, the whole thing in one bite. A shiny leaf folded up with stuff inside, sandwiched between to cherry pickle things, held together by a toothpick. On the walk down our street to our house, my lovely roommate said, "It tasted like I just ate India. The smells from outside, incense, everything combined in one bite." mmm.

Hal, Forgive Me For Lying!

Hal, a long time ago, when we first moved to this far away land, I told you that I would never ever wear churidars (for the others of you reading this, it's the really tight pants I have on). When I inherited some new fabric, I decided to get a new suit made, and looking through the design book, I thought I'd finally give the churidar set a try. So, sorry for lying....forgive me :) PS....I don't know why I have a crazy look on my face...and my friend made me put my dupatta on my head...and I have a huge mosquito bite on my foot.

And here are a few more pictures from the evening.....I look like a giant compared to everyone else!

Wordless Wednesday

Shaadi.com

The most common way in this far away land of deciding on a life partner is by family members making the arrangements. In the past, this was done in some cases by marrying cousins, or through other family connections. A new era brought new technology, namely, the Internet. Hence, Shaadi.com, one of many many matrimonial services (In the States, the equivalent is eHarmony.com, except here, the parents, siblings, or uncles generally submit the profile and look for matches).

In this far away land girls must get married between the ages of 18-25 (can vary depending on whether the girl lives in the village or in the city, and on the social status), otherwise she may live her life at her parents house and grow to be an old maid. Since I am 23 and beginning to lean toward the elder part of the marriable age range, on a regular basis I am asked if I'm married, to which I must respond, "no, not yet." Most people generally tend to go crazy when they hear this answer. They want to know if my parents are in the process of making a match, if the wedding will be soon, or if they need to make a match for me.

Many many many of my friends in the States are married or will be in the very near future. This is also beginning to be the case here. Just this week, my friend Neelam's marriage was fixed. She's never met this guy with whom she will tie the knot (literally, they tie the ends of her sari and his scarf-like garment) likely before the 10th of April. Neelam is my good friend Nisha's first cousin and a little bit (maybe a few weeks) older than Nisha. The next in line by age to get married is Nisha. Yesterday, I had the very fun privilage of creating Nisha's profile for Shaadi.com, and looking for matches all evening. Today, when I went to visit, the father had purchased a 90 day subscription to Bharatimatrimonial.com for a total of about 40 USD. With this premium membership we'll be able to see pictures, get contact information immediately, etc.

What an interesting experience....wonder if it works...