An Indian Thanksgiving

I apologize for not updating lately. Life has been busy with finishing up my English class, hanging out with Kelly (the Shansi fellow in Madurai who was up to visit for over half of the month), and not to mention participating in NaNoWriMo.

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving. That morning, some of us foreigners got talking and decided to arrange a Thanksgiving feast. With lots of confusion in between, Roni, Anya, Druve, Sonia, Brian, and I wound up going up to McLeod Ganj for dinner. Although over half of the group was vegetarian, both Brian and I thought it would hardly be Thanksgiving without some bird to eat. So, we went to the Korean restaurant and had sweet and sour chicken, among other things. It was a fantastic feast by a roaring fire in the fireplace.

After dinner, we stopped at the Japanese restaurant for lemon squares, then continued to Nick's Italian Kitchen for our pie. We wound up having cake or brownies and ice cream. Having stuffed ourselves silly, we went home satisfied.

Now that I have been here for three months, I am beginning to be a recognizable part of village life, I think. The other day, when I wasn't feeling so confident about my Hindi, I wanted to take two sets of fabric to the Royal Tailor to get new winter weight suits. I walked part way up the driveway, looked inside, and thought I didn't see the tailor, so I went on my way. I wound up doing this about two or three times over the course of the day.

The next day, I ran into the tailor by my house, asking why I hadn't come in the day before. I told him that I didn't see anyone there, but promised to stop by later that day. I did, handed over my fabric, and got my measurements taken again. They told me it would be done in about two or three weeks.

A few days later when I was walking home from Norbalinka where I had had breakfast with Devika and Roni, I ran into the tailor and his assistant going the other way. He greeted me with a respectful, “Namaskar Jenna,” and told me that because they were going somewhere in mid-December, they decided to get my suits done before the go. They gave me a new date a full ten days earlier than they originally planned. One thing that does amaze me is how well tailors keep track of dates. So, I'm looking forward to picking up my new suits on Thursday afternoon. This does mean that I need to get to work on hemming my dupata (scarves).

Another day, when I was walking back from Nishta, the school day was just finishing. Many of the children I passed practiced their, “Hello. How are you?” on me, but one little boy, who must have been eight or ten years old, tried to follow me very closely. That I walk very quickly for my height, and that he was half my size made this fact pretty obvious. He would scurry up beside me on one side of the road, fall behind, and then scurry up on my other side. Finally, I asked him his name and slowed my pace. We had a short conversation about where each other lived and what we did. It motivated me to go right home and study more Hindi.