On Indian Weddings: Part 1

So some of this is a bit of a repeat but that just has to be ok.

The main purpose of my trip to India was to go to my friend from graduate school's wedding. I had been warned that Indian weddings were crazy...but I had no idea what I was getting into.

I arrived in Vadadora, Gujrat, India on Wednesday in the evening. I had a fine train journey from Bombay to Gujrat albeit a bizarre one including screaming children and a few stares. Ok fine...Not that strange but I had forgotten. I was met by my friend's aunt and driven to the hotel we were staying in. And upon arrival was shuttled to this janky little store next to the hotel. Now Gujrat is a dry state, so this janky little place was none other than the liquor license purveyor. Ten signatures and a stamp in my passport later (yes a liquor license in my passport...charming) I was a certified beverage consumer in the State of Gujrat. Next we went to a family house where we were fed and watched Alma get her hands covered from tip to elbow in Mehendi. It was beautiful work. The next day the big fun started.

At 5pm we hopped in a coach in our best party dresses and made tracks to Ahemdabad to the future Husband's family house. To say the least ringing in the new year in India in a pseudo-legal party with a not at all legal bar was truly a treat. The DJ was killer as was the company. Now Ahemdabad is a 1.5 hour journey to Vadadora, so we had to hit the road again. On the way there we took the "super-slab" (if you can call an Indian expressway a super-slab) but on the way back...our driver forgot and the driver got lost in the middle of nowhere. 3.5 hours later we were back in Vadadora.

Next day was Friday, and it was a full day of prayers and a very fun Mehendi night with dancing and singing abound. All of the ladies sat around smoking hooka getting our hands painted. My friend Alma sat for a couple hours to get her feet done and the family women sat with her playing Hindi singing games, which were of course no use to me but it was still more than pleasant. It was the best and most personal of the evenings as only 200 people were there (compared to 600 at the wedding and 700 at the reception).

Ok. Enough for now. Its cold and the internet cafe is not heated.