Wedding Time!

We made it to Patna!

Today is our 3rd day, and as expected, it's been a busy few days. We arrived at 2pm a couple days ago and experienced our first "real" Indian restroom at the airport. hmmm...yeah. We're definitely experiencing the "real" India now, as Snigdha's dad put it. We spent some time that first day at grandpa's house with the family, got Mehndi (henna designs) on our hands, and then got a facial with Snigdha. It's been great to spend so much time with her and the girls. It's like we're her bridesmaids, even though they don't have those in Indian weddings.

Yesterday we slept in, which was absolutely wonderful! When we finally got around to getting ready, we hung out with the family some more and went with Snigdha to the salon to prepare for last night's engagement ceremony. Everybody in the salon was infatuated with us, and we continue to get stares as foreigners everywhere we go. Most people are very, very friendly, though, especially the women. Everyone has been very hospitable! I love that smiling is universal. :) The engagement ceremony was so beautiful and different from anything in the states. There was a pre-engagement ceremony for the men only and then we went and watched the two families basically join as one. The entire affair was very family-oriented and not just the bride and groom participating. They don't do rehearsals of any kind, so there were a few funny blunders along the way. It was mostly very somber and special, though. After the official ceremony, we had dinner and some entertainment. "Snigdha's friends from America" even did a little dance for everyone! It was hilarious! We told everyone that we would have put together a routine had we known they were going to push us up to the front to perform!

We've decided that Indians must not sleep at all. The festivities went until the wee hours of the night, and then Snigdha had some more rituals starting at 5am this morning. Thankfully, we got to sleep in again. We ventured out of our hotel and walked several blocks around town to grab some lunch. Based on the hotel's recommendation, we found this absolutely wonderful spot for lunch and received some of the best service of this trip. The food was also some of the best we've had before. The actual wedding ceremony is tonight at 2am, so we're waiting for Snigdha's family to come get us and go through the preparations again today. We're going to participate in the barat with Hari's family tonight, so we're really looking forward to this. Basically, the groom and his family leave their "house" (in this case hotel) and have a parade down to the bride's "house" (also hotel in this case). There's a band that walks with them and has fireworks, a horse drawn carriage, and bright decorative lights. They stop along the way and dance in the street. It's going to be awesome! We finally get to wear our beautiful saris tonight, so we're really excited! After the barat, the ceremony begins and they're officially married at 2am. It's going to be another late night but a great one!

Random other tidbits:
1. The electricity goes out frequently here and happens at the most inopportune times.
2. The typical restroom does not have a toilet, and toilet paper is kind of hard to come buy. We've been lucky to stay at places so far that have a commode.
3. Men pee on the side of the road, and baby boys stand along the side of the road naked.
4. You can't drink tap water here, and I've been consuming about 2 liters of water a day to try and stay hydrated in this heat. So far so good. Although that means #2 above comes into play more...
5. Aside from being a foreigner, I'm also a giant here. My friends have been snapping pictures on the sly of me in the most ridiculous situations. They're down right hilarious! Just now Emily told me that she looked out across dinner last night, and I was at least a full head taller than everyone in the room. hahaha - we're having fun with it. :)
6. We've been having some good laughs every day. It's been a fun adventure, but it also seems like we've been here forever already! Emily and I are only half way done with our trip, and Danielle is staying an extra week after us.

Love you!