Indian Easter

Yesterday was the first Easter I've spent away from home and the usual traditions of Easter. We didn't have a big Easter Egg dying event(though I did get an Easter Egg surprise), no Egg Hunts or Easter brunches with the family. Actually, it seemed like just another normal day going outside into the marketplace, with most people unaware of such a big holiday that I am used to back home. Abhinav and I went to Easter church service and had special "brunch" food outside. He even gave me one surprise that might not seem like much, but it actually meant a lot to me...

After hearing about our tradition of dying Easter Eggs, Abhinav set off to try it himself and surprise me. Since we don't have any Easter Egg dyes or other interesting things to make colors, he boiled this egg in black tea and dyed it brown...pretty creative, and I was happy to still have a little bit of home tradition here in India. :)


Happy Easter everyone.

Mac N Cheese

The other day while I was still feeling under-the-weather with my stomach issues hanging around, I was having unusual cravings for American food like never before. I decided to whip up a box of plain Kraft Macaroni and Cheese that I had brought with me from home to satisfy my craving and introduce a new food to Abhinav and his family.

I made it as is directed on the box, and happily ate until my stomach was full and satisfied. BUT when I tried to have Abhinav and his sister try it, the first question they asked was, "There's not even any salt or chilis in it? No spices at all??" :) They tried it, but wouldn't fully eat and enjoy it until I cooked some onions with salt and red chili to add to the macaroni. Its funny how different taste in food is across cultures.

Did You Say Stomach Infection?

Yes, stomach infection. Since Tuesday evening (which happened to be my birthday) I have had some slight stomach issues. Starting with loose motion (diarhea) and vomiting into the late night, the ending of my birthday is not one I'd like to relive. Needless to say I spent the whole next day resting with no appetite to eat or drink anything (though Abhinav and his family made it a point to make sure I was eating and drinking). On the third day I was still feeling weak with no appetite and lots of nausea, so we decided to go to the doctor. Apparently I have some type of stomach infection and stomach swelling; possibly due to bad water or food though I can't remember eating or drinking anything dirty or from the roadside recently (or could it have been the sugarcane juice???). Either way, the doc gave me four different pills to take three times a day now and I'm beginning to feel much better.

And I know, its a little ironic that my last post was about how much I like sugarcane juice from the roadside, and now I'm posting about my stomach problems...

Kabhi Kabhi Hota Hai...Sometimes It Happens...

Sugarcane Juice

There are a lot of different types of foods and drinks here in India, and most that I've tried I have enjoyed. One of my favorite things that I've tried from roadside stands is sugarcane juice. At first glance the sugarcane juice stands look a little frightening; the stand owners operate loud machines to squeeze the juice from the sugar cane (otherwise I think I would have tried it a long time ago). This sugarcane juice is a mixture of sugarcane, lime, mint, and black salt (an ingredient I haven't seen in the U.S. but then again, I was never looking for it).

The monster-sugarcane-eating-machine 

The juice comes out as a greenish color 

Used sugarcane

Its Not Easy To Get Married In India

Ladies and gentlemen, family and friends, I am happy to announce that as of March 14th Abhinav and I are OFFICIALLY married. Yes, I know I sound crazy now...and no, I didn't forget that our wedding ceremony was February 18th, but its taken this long to get our marriage recognized by the government of India. This week we finally received our official marriage certificate as recognized by the state. The reason I have to mention something that may seem like a simple piece of paper with writing is because this simple piece of paper took quite a bit of work to receive; I treasure this simple piece of paper because of the effort put into its making.

The beginning of our marriage finalization began by trying to acquire our first marriage certificate as given by the religious place in which our ceremony was held. Abhinav's father was able to make a few phone calls and request that we receive our certificate faster than normal (within ten days). Abhinav and I traveled to the next city to receive the certificate, only to find many spelling errors (converting American names from Hindi characters back to English isn't easy for someone who has never seen that name) so we had to have the certificate remade.

After our religious certificate was received we filed for our government certificate with all the necessary paperwork. Abhinav's father has a lawyer-friend who was able to help us prepare all the necessary documents we would need. When we arrived at the court the first time to finalize our marriage, we found out that one very important document was missing- a No Objection letter from the United States showing that I have never before been married. This meant that we had to schedule an appointment with the U.S. Embassy, travel to New Delhi, and request the No Objection letter. Thankfully everything went smoothly within the Embassy and we were able to get this document within one week. 

We returned to the court and met with what I would call a judge, or person who affirmed and approved our documents. Everything seemed to go smoothly, we signed all the necessary paperwork, gave fingerprints, had our photos taken for official records, I was even surprised at the well wishes and congrats given to us from the judge. Though sadly, our marriage filing couldn't be complete without paying a bribe to the judge, which he later requested from Abhinav's parents when we had left the room. Many times in India, if you want something done you will be asked to give some extra amount of money. Regardless, about three weeks after our court house finalization, we received our marriage certificate. 

Happy Holi!

Today is a special festival in India...Holi! During this festival people have fun putting powdered colors on each other, going around the neighborhood to get others, and even bring out water guns and spray colors on each other. It's a lot of fun and everyone, young to old, celebrates holi.

Abhinav, me, his sister and mother, all traveled to another city to visit Abhinav's grandmother and celebrate with family here. Its great for us all to get out and be with family members and friends to celebrate holi.

 Some neighborhood ladies

 With water! :)

Happy Holi to my family and friends. Love and miss you.

Celebrating 24 Years of Marriage

I am pleased to announce and join in celebration of this past Sunday, March 6th, Abhinav's parent's wedding anniversary. 24 years of marriage. :)

We surprised them with a cake and flowers and had our own little celebration at home, it was lots of fun.

I think this picture is so sweet.

Things got messy once Abhinav got his chance.