Bathinda

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I've finally found a culture where it is socially acceptable for me to drink 10 cups of tea a day. Many of you who know me must understand how valuable this is to me, be assured that I take full advantage.
Cars all drive on the same side of the road until they are about to hit each other, at which point they swerve aside. Each lane holds multiple cars, trucks, motor bikes, bikes, and cows... all scrunched together, honking at each other avidly. (accept the cows, they are respected and left alone due to sacredness.)
The wedding has come and gone, Mandeep and Satinder are now married. The wedding lasted 6 days. The first few days consisted of several ceremonies involving the bride, as well as singing and dancing between the women at night. On the third night , all the women were given henna tattoos on their hands. They actually call henna Mendi here. Day 5 was the actual wedding day. The grooms family all drove from 3 hours away for the marriage. Upon their arrival, the groom had to give the sisters of the bride money before they let them enter. After the wedding, the bride goes home with the groom... and everyone cries and cries, they bride is leaving the house for the first time. The next night the brides family is received in the grooms city for the reception... Mandeep looked absolutely gorgeous.
I'm here with two other americans, three Indian- americans, and a bunch of Indians. We hang out every day. Yesterday we visited the Famous fort in Bathinda, which was build in 6th century ad. Every entry into a temple requires removal of shoes and socks. The temples are everywhere, there were several in the fort alone. 98% of the Punjabi people are Sikhs. I follow them as they bow to the main books and the Guru shrines.
The servants here think I'm funny because I got them to teach me how to make chai and roti. They're quite fond of me, in fact; they've been trying to arrange a marriage for me 😊 I gently try to explain (with whatever means I can) that I must return to America. This is difficult to do, not many people speak english here.
So, here's an interesting little culture note--> many things are coveted within the families here. Mainly, drinking and relationships. The children ( and by that I mean young adults) must hide drinking and relationships from their parents. Marriage is mostly all arranged here, of course. This makes relations dangerous and exciting. I've decided that all relationships should start with secret hand holding under covers and sneaking away without being caught... so much more fun. I'm uploading several photos of the wedding, enjoy!

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Comments

[Jasmine]

you look so gorgeous bonky! and so does everyone else. From the sound of it an arranged indian marriage could be a good idea. ~your sister who misses you.

[Ainsley]

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