Once, a bird pooped on me... and my mom said it was "good luck". If you get a rock in your food... it's considered good luck. Dangling hot peppers and lemons in your car is supposed to be good luck, too. On the flip side, washing your hair on Wednesdays is supposed to be bad luck.
Anyone know where these started? Do you know other good luck stories? Is it just the Indian community that has these absurd ways? Please share, my meltingpot of friends!
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It monsooned so much today. I don't think monsoon is a verb. But, it's the only way to describe the intense rain and mud and mush that occurred. So so much rain: 3 more mosquito bites, and muddy shoes as a result of going out. I really should have taken anti-malaria pills.
Remember when in Bakersfield it would get really foggy in the morning and we would have fog-delays in the morning? It was so exciting - we would be ready for school with our eyes glued to the scrollbar at the bottom of the tv... until... wait for it.. YAY! 2- hour delay!! I re-lived that moment today when it was POURING and I looked outside my room to discover that there were no autos outside, which stressed me a out a little. How was I going to get to class? Right after I got ready, Teacher Chandra called me and told me some great news: Class was cancelled because the roads had flooded near the school. YAY!
View from my balcony at 10am. You really can't tell, but the road's flooded.
And those stores back there - they just never opened today.
I was then posed with another problem - what to do on a day off when it was pouring? Answer: chaniya-choli shopping! From September 19th, there's a 9 day celebration called Navratri where we dress up in outfits called chaniya-cholis and dance Garba all night long. (You might remember that Freshman Poonum was a part of UCI's Garba team once upon a time).
Driving in the rain was absolutely crazy. The rickshaw that I got on the way home was at one point floating in a puddle of rain water. Sewage was overflowing. No women were in sight. I saw this guy chuck a really tiny scrap of paper in the middle of a huge puddle, and then walk on the paper to walk through it (he, of course, ended up ankle deep in muck). I even saw a sardarji who covered his turban and beard with a plastic bag (and left the rest of his body to absorb the not-so-healthy rain water). My friend Dana (Dana, I know we've only hung out twice. But that makes you my friend, right?) description of Monsoon Season, Curiously describes it perfectly. Makes me laugh.
Anyway, I came home with 3 outfits! This one is my favorite:
Happy Navratri!
xx
1 comment:
Foggy day schedules were the best!! We didn't get them too often but even when it was sorta foggy by us a bunch of the teachers would come in late b/c they lived out by the foothills where it would get really bad.
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