Oooh, I am embarrassed by how behind I am on posting this. Totally meant to get it up before going to Malawi (and then while I was in Malawi) but the time never materialized. But better late than never, right? So….October. Overall was a tough India month for me, but we did have a few high spots throughout the month. Let’s focus on those, shall we?
Mid-month we partook in the Navratri Festival. Navratri translates to “Nine Nights” and is a popular festival that celebrates different Indian Goddesses. Daily pujas (offerings) are done to the Goddesses and nights are filled with a circular dance known as Garba. We were fortunate to be invited to a neighborhood Navratri event during which we danced the night away. As expected, Nia reveled in both her new Indian wear and the hours of dancing.
One of the forms of dance is called Dandiya, which is a dance performed by hitting special sticks together. Nia managed to befriend some strangers and convinced them to teach her how to do it. Here she is practicing her new moves.
I only danced a little (even though it was 6-9 PM at night, it was still quite HOT). Mostly I chatted, ate and watched Nia work the dance floor. A highlight for me was breaking out my brand new Kurta! Here it is…
Another highlight of the month for me was a wine & painting night that our CLO (Community Liaison Coordinator) put on for the Consulate. The instructor lead us through the steps one by one and I was shocked to find myself with a decent painting at the end of the night! Definitely is something I’ll do again, hopefully with Nick next time!
Nick was away for much of the month. He had a few work trips in early October and then went on a week long live-aboard dive boat in the Red Sea. He had a fantastic time and came away with some incredible shots. Click the photo below to see the full collection of his photos.
And of course this wouldn’t be an October recap without a little mention of Halloween. We haven’t received our household goods yet, so we borrowed a costume from a neighbor. Despite the fact that she looks like a Batman Princess Fairy (see pic below), she is ACTUALLY a dragon tamer. In fact, call her a Princess and it’s very likely you’ll get hissed at. Sooooo…our little dragon tamer donned her costume for the Consulate’s big event, a trick-or-treating event through the Consulate building, with each department competing for the best decorations. Was a ton of fun. And of course there was an after-party with lots of food and games too.
Unfortunately, about an hour into the after-party Nia started complaining that her tummy hurt. Seemed odd to me, but she insisted on going home. Turns out that there was actually no tummy ache. She just made that up so we would leave. And why did we need to leave, you might ask? Because according to her she was “dressed like a baby”. Apparently, she did some inventorying and concluded that all the 6 and younger kids were dressed in “nice” costumes while the 7 and up all chose “scary” costumes. And only babies wear “nice” costumes. Cue the meltdown.
Bad news is that we still had her school Halloween event to go and she was refusing to wear the dragon tamer outfit. We appealed to our community and the scariest thing we could locate was this hooded black robe. We tried explaining that school wouldn’t allow scary costumes or face paint or blood, etc but she insisted that this would be enough. And so we sent her off to the Halloween Parade with her hooded robe. She improved upon it by “scarily” covering her face. Anyone wanna guess what she was?
A Shadow! :)Â It’s hard being 7. But I’m pleased to say we made it through Halloween and next year we will be prepared with our scary costume in advance!
