Saturday, April 30, 2011

trains, sardines, fish

 Well...it's that time of the year again. WEDDING SEASON!!!!


We have been invited to...about 4 since February. We don't go to many weddings, DH is very uncomfortable at weddings for some reason. Well, we went to one Thursday, because the young man who was a good friend and ex-work colleague of DH's. We had been going back and forth about going because it was quite some distance from our house. Then DH was swamped with work, and all that.

Well, I had promised the young man that we would come, and I don't take lightly to breaking promises. So we ended up going.

I had previously told the boy that I would wear a sari. Well, stupid me, I didn't practice before, I thought, oh! how hard could it be. Well, even with this Youtube video showing how to wrap it, it didn't happen. I tried really hard to get it right, but the fabric was just fighting against me. *sigh* Instead I wore my salwar suit that I wore for our wedding.

So...we get ready to go and we catch a bus to Ultadanga, where DH tells me we are going to take a local train. No big deal, right?

Well...I was *WRONG*!!! It was insane! One train came, that wasn't ours, and people just pushed on, and packed that train so full, that people were freaking hanging out the doors. Oh, and someone freaking jumped off the train onto the platform and ran straight into me! So...I put my purse over my shoulders, and prepared to get on a train like that. Hmm! Then the next train comes, and we are trying to get on it, and people are pushing! We didn't manage to get on that one. We took the next one though, with DH pushing me so I would get on. Right before the train was about to leave DH was still outside, so I see him pushing himself onto the train. We push in and in. This train is packed to the brim like sardines.

A man sees me, and tells me to come inside. So I push myself past all the people and go into one of the aisles between 2 benches. The guy then told a younger man who was sitting down to "give their guest a seat" and then tells me to sit down. He asked me where I wanted to get off, I didn't know the station name, so I asked Indra. The guy seemed pleased to see that I wasn't alone, and then proceeded to fall asleep while standing up. LOL

Then, about 1 stop before we needed to get off, we got up. It was an adventure, now I'm kinda not wanting to visit Mumbai, as DH says I will face this all day, every day. Yeah!

So, really, we didn't go to the wedding, we went to the bou-bhaat, which is the reception for the groom's side of the family. We went, met the bride, who was gorgeous (although a bit too decked up for me...but traditional Bengali style)! Then...it was time to eat...well, it was a traditional Bengali meal, which meant fish! Fish fry, fish curry...lots of fish. Needless to say, I only ate a bit of rice, and some gravy. :-)

We had fun! :-) And the train on the way home was MUCH emptier, thank goodness!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

10,000 views!!!

Yeah!! I've had 10,053 views!!

Thank you everyone.

Sorry for not posting lately, but I've been feeling under the weather so when I'm back to my old self again, I plan to post about some things. :-)

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Out of the loop here

Sorry I've been out of the loop a bit with posting. DH and I went to Bangalore for 6 days and had fun with lots of our friends. Anyways, that's not what I planned to blog about.

A friend of ours had her baby a few days ago. Twins, a boy and a girl. Well, they are home...just came home today, and I want to buy them a gift. Well, seeing as how I've never bought a gift for a newborn baby in India I am sort of out of my element. I don't know what things are needed here, what sort of clothes I should purchase for the baby. I asked the mother, and she said, "Their aunty is buying them something, there is no need to ask. Whatever you want to buy." Well, as nice as that question is...it didn't answer my question. I don't know if they need anything, although I doubt it. So...what will I buy? It remains to be determined by what I find at the stores. I will post about that later.

This also brings me to think about the differences between India and in the US in regards to visiting after a new baby comes home. I remember when my friends and family had babies they wanted only immediate family to come the first few days to give the parents and the baby time to settle in to their new surroundings, and their new life. That's fine...that's what I'm used to. So, when I called today and asked and the father said, "chole esho" (come over) I was a bit shocked. I don't know why, I mean, here family is a big thing. So everything and anything is shared by family, and friends. So...this is just a culture thing.

But still...it remains to be determined is it a good thing?

I think, personally, that it might be a bad thing. The mother is probably worn out and wants some peace and quiet after being in the hospital, but this is their culture. :-) Lets see how it goes...hopefully DH and I will be going to visit the babies tonight!!

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