Days 6-7Day 6 was pretty uneventful and most of it was spent preparing for the Sangeet ceremony (the one where all the relatives and close friends and the bride perform dances for an audience). Day 7 was the day of the Sangeet, which you can read about
here.
Day 8About 70 members of the wedding party traveled by train from Chennai (Madras) to Kerala, which is at the very southwest point of India. This was probably the closest we came to experiencing the real India on this trip, but even then we were traveling second class so it was hardly "rough" conditions.
The train station was very chaotic prior to boarding.
And by the time we boarded and found seats, both Husband and I were exhausted. And hungry. Someone came around offering these milky dessert bar things and while my immediate thought was "AVOID: FOOD SAFETY ISSUES PRESENT", my biological drive to eat won out. So Husband and I ate the creepy milky bar. And we totally ate them with stinky faces like these.
After our "dinner" it was time to go to bed. Here is Husband making up his lofted bed.
What you can't see in this picture is that we are lofted above the seats of four random men. As you can imagine, this did not create a situation where one can have a nice restful sleep. Being observed while you sleep = creepy.
Days 9-10We woke up the next morning in Kerala and getting off the train turned out to be a wild experience. There was no station where we got off in Kerala. Rather, the train paused for about 2 minutes and then everyone had to jump off. Literally. Jump off the train. Elderly people, too. Suitcases were being thrown to the ground to be picked up later. Total chaotic awesomeness.
After the train we were picked up by a party bus. It seriously was a party bus. Just look at it!
Also look at the gigantic blonde in the right side of this picture. I look like a star basketball player who has not seen the sun in years.
OK, so we reached our destination, which was the Ashram of Husband's cousin's guru,
Mātā Amritanandamayī Devi, also known as Amma and also known as the Hugging Saint. She is a relatively well-known guru and humanitarian.
Here is an NPR interview with her from a couple years ago, if you are interested.
This is the Ashram.
I wouldn't let Husband take a picture of it because there were signs posted saying that you weren't supposed to (I'm a die-hard rule follower), but another wedding guest took this photo. My rule following is not so extreme that I cannot take advantage of the pictures from rule-disobeyers. It's just how I roll, people.
The area around the Ashram was gorgeous. The ocean was just a little ways away.
Since Husband is NOT a rule follower, he went to the top of the tallest building at the Ashram and took these photos. He took one in the evening, at sunset, and others at sunrise. He was chided by someone official for taking them, but with his rule defying ways, he didn't care. I was, of course, all twitchy and nervous about it. Such is the way of a rule follower.
One thing that was not beautiful was the room we were staying in. Now please understand that we had no problem with the humble accommodations. We slept on a cot under a mosquito net (I just knew that mosquito net and spray would come in handy when I was packing!). We were lucky enough to have our own bathroom, but....well, take a look.
What you have there is an Indian toilet. Husband and I were initially thrown by the wings coming off this porcelain beauty. Then we figured out that you stand up on this toilet. The wings are foot holders. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, enlarge this photo unless you want to gag.
Also - Do you see that silver knob in the right side of the photo? That was for the shower. The shower drain is behind the toilet. That's right - you can take a shower right above the toilet. Guess who opted to wait to shower until we got to the hotel for the final celebrations? Thank god for Pond's face wipes. Quite useful for when your armpits need a sponge bath.
We spent the first day at the Ashram wandering around, sort of clueless as to what was going on as there wasn't any easy way for 70 people to communicate at a large complex. The meals were good, but again, terribly spicy. We ate them out of metal pans with our fingers and then you washed them with some sand and water. Pretty interesting. I wasn't quite sure how my system would take the water so I stuck with carbonated sodas. I drank a lot of soda. Ick.
The next day the marriage ceremony took place.
After the marriage ceremony, we all got to get a hug from the famous Hugging Saint. It was an interesting experience. You knelt in front of Amma and she held you in her bosom while she sort of laughed in a jolly voice and stroked your hair. It was comforting, in the way a pleasantly plump Grandma's tight squeeze would be comforting.
We left the Ashram that day by bus and headed to our final destination, a very posh hotel in Kerala. I was running out of room on my camera at this point so I don't have all that many photos to document it. But basically, our last couple days were a whirlwind of more parties and celebrations. From there we took a plane back to Chennai (Madras) and then later flew back home (another million hours of travel time).
My time in India was certainly not spent really learning about India and seeing what life is truly like for those living there. It was more about getting to know Husband's family and celebrating the wedding. I saw a really wealthy version of India. Someday we will go back with our little ones and get the chance to see India without the rose colored glasses, which I think will be important, both for me and my children. I have to say that I love that my children will have diverse cultural roots to explore as they grow up.
So that wraps it up for Laura & Husband's 2006 Indian Adventure. We will now return to our regularly scheduled programming. Thanks for reading!
While there are 70 million ways that Husband is good for me, I know that I am good for Husband when it comes to helping him manage his "stuff". He tends to be a collector, wanting to save things just in case or for a rainy day. I am more of a purger [Husband's editorial note: Hmmmph!]. I keep sentimental things, but do not see the need to save every book I've ever encountered, old college notebooks or texts that contain information that can be quickly found with a google.
From left to right: Toonses, Midgie, and 
And by the time we boarded and found seats, both Husband and I were exhausted. And hungry. Someone came around offering these milky dessert bar things and while my immediate thought was "AVOID: FOOD SAFETY ISSUES PRESENT", my biological drive to eat won out. So Husband and I ate the creepy milky bar. And we totally ate them with stinky faces like these.
After our "dinner" it was time to go to bed. Here is Husband making up his lofted bed.
What you can't see in this picture is that we are lofted above the seats of four random men. As you can imagine, this did not create a situation where one can have a nice restful sleep. Being observed while you sleep = creepy.
After the train we were picked up by a party bus. It seriously was a party bus. Just look at it!
Also look at the gigantic blonde in the right side of this picture. I look like a star basketball player who has not seen the sun in years.
I wouldn't let Husband take a picture of it because there were signs posted saying that you weren't supposed to (I'm a die-hard rule follower), but another wedding guest took this photo. My rule following is not so extreme that I cannot take advantage of the pictures from rule-disobeyers. It's just how I roll, people.
Since Husband is NOT a rule follower, he went to the top of the tallest building at the Ashram and took these photos. He took one in the evening, at sunset, and others at sunrise. He was chided by someone official for taking them, but with his rule defying ways, he didn't care. I was, of course, all twitchy and nervous about it. Such is the way of a rule follower.
They worked amazingly fast - less than 30 minutes to completely cover my hands. The tough part was to make sure not to smear it for the next few hours. Hoo boy does that stuff get itchy. The henna flakes off and leaves the "tattoo" in it's place.
The color usually turns darker with time although Indian 'legend' has it that the color is an indication of how much the woman is loved by her husband/boyfriend, etc. The darker it becomes the more the woman is loved. Everyone was commenting on how dark my henna became, but I think I had a head start given my pale skin.
Oh my goodness, Husband and I were in love with this child. She was one of the sweetest little people, ever. Her name was Ara.
Now I am somewhat random when it comes to feeling awkward about dancing in public. I may have no problem going up on a stage at some dance club in a completely sober state, but I would only want to do that of my own volition. Forced dancing in the middle of a circle to Indian music is far, FAR away from my comfort zone.
One problem that I was having was that the food was getting spicier and spicier everyday (this was not my imagination - it really was getting spicier). I had initially avoided the yogurt, or "curd" as it was called, for food safety reasons. By this point, however, I knew it was a matter of either dumping tons of curd on the food to bring the spice level down or starve. I opted for the curd and it was a life saver.
