Minh, Kelly, and I had a majority of the day free until our 5pm bus to another hotel for an Op Smile team meeting. We get dressed first thing in the morning in our saris, a traditional Indian dress that women wear. The saris were gorgeous, the fabric flowed down and wrapped back up from our midsection to draped over our left shoulders. A very kind hotel staff member pinned the three of us up. We then meet up with Reza and Jantu and decide that hiring a car would be the best method for attending the Saraswati Puja festival which celebrates Puja, the goddess of wisdom, education, and art. The living cost here is much much less than the states. We paid a total of $20 for the 5 of us to rent a car and private driver for the entire day.
The day was simply incredible, I am so grateful to have such great friends and translators. They brought us to their colleges to hang out with their friends. We stopped by two small worship areas to pay a visit to Puja and the customary barefoot and kneeling homages that we have begun to find ourselves regularly partaking these past few days. At the management college, they served lunch which was spicy and hot and everybody ate the slushy porridge-like meal and potatoes with sauce with their hands and no utensils. I wanted to eat the meal but have been still feeling abnormal ever since getting sick from that chicken wrap a few days ago.
My favorite part of the day was learning an Indian dance. We went to Jantu’s place where there was also a small Puja worship area in the living room. We also took our shoes off and knelt in front of the relics and paid respects prior to dancing. Some popular Hindi music was played and the two women in the household showed us how to mimic the bird-like dance moves. The entire experience was amazing as the three of us were dancing and fitting in with so many friends we have made in Guwahati. I can’t believe I only have 4 more days after this!
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