Megan in India: September 2013

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

The Occasion for Wearing Chaniya Choli!

The other day I went with my family into the old city to a 500 year old Jain temple for the celebration of the birth of Lord Mavahira. The temple was stunning, I learned a bit about my host family's faith, and I got to wear my host mother's lovely chaniya choli!

Pink and gold chaniya choli

Rocking the cradle

The 13 dreams of Lord Mahavira's mother

The temple entrance

On the temple floor was this rangoli (decorative design made of sand)

The mirrored ceiling

My host parents!

The person who donates the most to the temple on this day gets to take the 13 dreams home and invite everyone over to celebrate.

Janmashtami!

Janmashtami is a festival that celebrates Lord Krishna's birthday. It is well-known for the gigantic human pyramids constructed in cities like Mumbai to reach and break the Handi, a clay pot filled with Krishna's favorite food, butter. Here in Bharuch we celebrated by going to the society temple a little before 12 pm and singing and dancing Garba, a traditional Gujarati dance I am learning in dance classes three times per week.

In the basket is a baby boy dressed to look like Lord Krishna

Me attempting to dance Garba

Swinging the cradle

The younger boys of my society participating in Dahi Handi

My Classmates

Sharing at snack

The girls

I've got everyone's I-cards, except one for me!

Chemistry. Is. Insane. And a couple days ago I got to touch mercury!

Monday, September 2, 2013

Food!

I think that of all the countries I put on my country choice list for my Rotary application, the food here in India is the best fit for me (Top 5: India, Indonesia, Ecuador, Thailand, Turkey -- from what I remember). In short, I like almost everything! Here are some photos of just a few of the meals I've had since arriving here.