Hindi Word Highlight: Janam Din

Translation: Birthday!

As in, happy janam din to my wonderful mother, the woman who inspired (demanded?) this blog.

I love you.

Sometimes, when you live in India...

You pass camels in the street.

It's kind of like when you live in DC and see the presidential motorcade roll by.

You pretend it's no big thing - what, the motorcade? Whatevs. I see it all the time.

But secretly you're super excited.

Best. video. ever.

Turns out I was wrong. You can get another adult to show you what to do in the bathroom. Anything is possible on YouTube.

So in case you were wondering, here's how to use a squat toilet.

The Taj Mahal: a closer look

What struck me most when I was visiting the Taj Mahal was the realization that, prior to my visit, I'd had no idea what it looked like up close.  Exploring the intricate details of the design turned out to be my favorite part of the Taj visit. 

Here are some of the most interesting photos from the day (full disclosure: a couple are from the Red Fort, down the road from the Taj, but the Red Fort was also built in part by same ruler who built the Taj Mahal).

I finally visited the Taj Mahal.

It's big, it's pretty, it looks exactly like the pictures you've all seen.

Train ride to Agra 

Proof!

You can't wear shoes when you're walking on the white marble parts of the structure. Foreigners get to wear these booties, which are included in the (outrageous) price of a foreigner's ticket. Indian citizens just have to take their shoes off and hope they're still there when they get back.

So many lines.

Such a good idea - it was so hot.

Fellow tourists

Lunch

View from where we stopped for tea.

Agra train station

The end.

"I'm sick of Diwali"

Oh heeeeey. 

It has come to my attention that some people miss my blog. I miss my blog, too. So, I'm back.

We're just going to pretend I didn't disappear for a while, ok? The idea of three months worth of retrospective blog posts is too stressful. Instead, here are some highlights. During the last three months, I:

• Went to the Taj Mahal (looks like all the pictures);
• Experienced the Indian rail system (possibly as a stowaway – it’s unclear);
• Held Thanksgiving for nearly 20 people and cooked my first turkey (I'm a grown up!);
• Got a visa extension (thank god);
• Went to several weddings (so much glamour, so much fun!);
• Finally made food my coworkers liked (Christmas cookies. Genius.);
• Went to Mumbai (love. it.);
• Got a visit from one of my best friends (and now she’s gone and I’m sad);
• Hired a cook (best decision I have ever made); and
• Met a boy (right around Diwali. Correlation with my absence? Yes.)

From the first wedding I went to, with the boy :-) 

Thanksgiving! Turkey covered in butter for extra crispiness - moderately successful technique. 

Christmas cookies (with vanilla extract and Hershey's kisses flown in from the US)

Happy Diwali!

Yesterday was India's biggest Hindu holiday - Diwali!

As with all Hindu holidays, it seems, the backstory of Diwali depends on who you ask. In general, Diwali is the celebration of the triumph of good over evil. Also it has to do with the goddess of wealth, maybe. And it's also the new year, but only to certain people in certain parts of India. Oh Hinduism, you're so confusing to me.

In terms of scale, fervor and celebratory style, Diwali is to India what Christmas is to the U.S. People deck their houses with fairy lights (read: Christmas lights), stores bustle with shoppers buying gifts for family and friends, there are parties every night, and there's a big emphasis on sharing of dessert foods. Also like Christmas, it's very much a family holiday, celebrated in the home. Or on the street in front of the home, as it were...

Diwali being the festival of lights, and India being a country of relatively few safety regulations, the holiday is celebrated in part by lighting firecrackers. Gigantic, loud, terrifying firecrackers. I'm talking about massive fireworks worthy of 4th of July in DC, being shot off in front of every house. For the last several nights, it has sounded like a war zone in my neighborhood. What it does to the air quality is horrendous, but the fireworks really are quite beautiful.

My celebrations were pretty low key. I spent the day with the Ks, then in the evening went to a friend's apartment in a very tall building, where we had an amazing view of the fireworks being set off all across the city. When I got home, my roommate and I sat out on our balcony and lit the candles our neighbor had given us (along with a bottle of wine!) as a Diwali gift. It was a lovely way to spend my first Diwali in India.

Apartments decked out in Diwali lights.

Candles on my porch.