Day 50 and the AFS Welcome/Independence Day/Janmashtami Party (8.12.17): To be completely honest, there is no better way for me to be marking 50 days away from home than to be celebrating Independence Day and Janmashtami, having a welcome party and having a 4 day weekend. This has been the busiest weekend so far and this post will only cover 12 August because otherwise this post would go on forever! On August 12, my host family and I went to the AFS Welcome Party. Up to that day I knew I had to dress as an Indian Freedom Fighter but I did not know how I would do that because I, of course, do not own any clothes that would resemble what was worn by them. The morning of the party, I went to a costume shop and rented a white saree with blue trim. It was my size but when I went to try it on after I walked home, the top was much to small! I had to walk all the way back just to find out that was the largest size they had. Luckily, they figured out that whoever had rented it before had it tailored to their size. They proceeded to remove the stitching that had been placed and I rushed back home to put it on. I succeeded in putting it on as in fitting into it but I did not succeed in figuring out how to make it look correct. Luckily, the maids helped me figure it out. They found it very amusing to see me in a saree! Following the Indian way of fluid time we arrived to the party at 3:15pm even though it started at 2pm. All the host students and their families were there as well as some AFS volunteers and staff. It took place in an apartment but luckily it was on the larger size as far as Indian apartments go so everyone fit. Shortly after sitting down to start chatting, everyone was called out to take part in the costume contest. Apparently we were supposed to prepare some presentation having to do with our independence day character. I had not prepared anything formally because no one was informed about this (I mean I can’t really complain because this type of thing is to be expected in India). I took what I had quickly glanced at earlier in the day and gave a brief presentation on my character. I think they were more interested in hearing me tell them my name in Hindi and where I was from! I ended my presentation with “Jai Hind” which was also appreciated very much. As for the results of the contest, Colin came in first (yay!) because he read off the independence speech given by his freedom fighter and I surprisingly came in second! I got a small present of a nursing cow and calf figurine. Yutaka, at no surprise to any of us, got a hindi recognition award. He has picked up Hindi quicker than any of the rest of us. I am sure it partly has to do with the fact that he has less of an English base since he is from Japan. It is so easy to just rely on english here. You have to put in more effort to speak in Hindi. Still, I am definitely better at Hindi now than I was a month ago! Soon after giving the awards, the food arrived. AFS got KFC and chicken biryani because they (correctly) assumed that the non veg (except Olivia) host students would want some meat since we all (except Olivia) have primarily vegetarian host families. The food was delicious and it was really nice to catch up with everyone while eating. We had a nice cake to celebrate which was cut by all the host students at once! We all also received a gift of a personalized mug. The party definitely came to an end much faster than I expected because time always flies by when you’re having fun. I changed out of my saree and into more comfortable Indian shirt and dress pants. Thank goodness I did because my host family then proceeded to go to my host aunt’s house because she lived relatively close by. I have been getting used to never knowing the plan here! I met my host aunt (my host dad’s sister) and uncle and two cousins. They chatted and caught up for a while and then we took another trip (surprise surprise) to the largest Christian church in New Delhi and the Prime Minister and President’s offices. It was nice to be back at a church after not going in over a month! The church was very beautiful and bigger than any church in my home town. I said some prayers and viewed the artwork around the church while explaining to my host sister the basics of Christianity. After leaving the church, we passed India Gate which was beautifully lit with the colors of the Indian flag. Then we went to the outside of the Prime Minister and President’s offices. They were architecturally amazing and beautifully lit for the festive season. Once I can get pictures on here, I will upload them. Even the fountains around the area were lit with the colors of the Indian Flag. We took many pictures in front of the attractions. My host uncle actually works as a secretary in the Supreme Court so (crossing fingers and toes) we may be able to get permission to get a tour of the PM’s office! Hopefully this becomes a reality for me! I would absolutely love to go inside those buildings! We returned to my host aunt’s apartment and had dinner of rice and some sort of bean dish. Then we had ice cream which always tastes nicer to me in India because it’s always a sweet relief from the heat. We said our goodbyes (hopefully we will meet again soon) and returned back to Old Gurgaon to my house. I immediately showered and got ready for bed and fell asleep. This was one of the busiest but most memorable days of my exchange!
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AuthorNamaste! Mera naam Anna hai! Hi! my name is Anna. Please enjoy reading about my experience as a high school junior in India and ask any questions you may have! Archives
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