Holiday Highlights

Happy New Year! And welcome to Sarah’s official Holiday Highlight Blog! We shall begin with Thanksgiving: Melinda and I had class on Thursday, so unfortunately, we missed out on the official celebration. However, one of the cooks at the guest house made us chicken strips, mashed potatoes, crescent rolls, and amazing apple pie. Then our Language Coordinator invited us to her family’s house for a post-Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving. We had traditional foods. No turkey though. It’s not really available, but there was ham and more amazing apple pie. Melinda and I also helped decorate their Christmas tree. Plus we got leftovers, overs so that makes 3 Thanksgivings in one year. J

Christmas season kicked off with “caroling” at the local church. You might think this means that a group of people got together and sang songs like ‘Silent Night’ or ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’, possibly while walking through their community. You would be completely, totally, and utterly wrong. But don’t worry so was I. What actually happened was a massive Christmas rave, complete with heart pounding drums, a fog machine, and techno lights. The whole church was dancing, including the pastor and his wife. There was a men’s circle and a ladies’ circle, and the two never mixed. At one point, they made Melinda and I join them. I can’t say that I actually “danced” I’m not that coordinated, but the ladies had fun dragging me around the floor.

Then there was the Pre-Christmas party at the girls’ school. The girls played games, did a skit, had a birthday cake, and performed some traditional Bangla dances. They also did two traditional American dances: the Macarena performed to the song Cotton-Eyed Joe, and the Mexican Hat Dance. Epic.

On December 20, we went to a town on the border of India for another Christmas party. To get there we took a night bus. It left at 10:30 pm. and the idea was that we would sleep on the 8 hr. journey there. HA. We took an Air-conditioned bus, because that means better quality. Little did we know, they would leave the A/C on all night in spite of the fact that it was December. The windows were also left open. However, Melinda and I were graciously provided with one blanket for the two of us. It was freezing and I did not sleep at all. If I never do that again it will be too soon.  We got to town at 6 am, slept about four hours, and proceeded to the Christmas party. It was a huge meal, with some speakers. But, we did meet some of the ladies who will come to our classes later, so that was exciting. Afterward, we drove to India to meet some friends.

On Christmas Eve, we had dinner with our friends the Smith’s. Then Christmas Day, everyone went to George’s apartment. George is Melinda and I’s supervisor. He bought stockings and presents for everyone on his team, and the other guests as well. I got several movies, and a t shirt.  George also made a big meal, basically Thanksgiving all over again, this time including turkey. And we read the Christmas story.

On New Year’s Eve, we went back to Smith’s for pizza, dessert, and games. Their apartment complex was hosting a huge party. They hired some bands, a dance troop, and constructed a stage, and a dance floor in the courtyard. All afternoon and night, there was really loud music, and lots of colorful lights. The Smith’s two year old son thought it was a giant birthday party.  After the party got started, four of us decided to go down and try to join it. It was supposed to cost 650 rupees, but none of us wanted to pay $15 to get in. So, we decided to just walk in and see what happened. At first, we were stopped and told to stand by the gate. Then, after a few minutes, the guard told us to go enjoy ourselves. There are some perks to being the local oddities. We definitely danced to Bon Jovi’s ‘It’s My Life’ and ‘The Summer of 69. We left after a while, but then came back for the countdown. The second time, someone actually moved people out of the way so that we could have better access to the dance floor. I guess we were just that good. :P The first song we danced to in 2011 was ‘Jail House Rock’. Followed by ‘Footloose’, something Michael Jackson wrote, Justin Beiber, and ‘Low’ by Flo Rida, and songs from Bollywood. There were also fireworks.  Who would’ve thought that my first New Year’s Eve dance party would happen in India? Life is so weird.