Happy Thanksgivi....What IsThat!

I have only spent one Thanksgiving away from home and outside of the USA. That was in Thailand and honestly, I don't remember it at all. Probably because I was with a Thai host family, all the other foreigners I was with in Ratchaburi were Canadian, and there was no one to remind me that it was Thanksgiving (which is needed when there are no other clues around you!). But here in India we actually had a Thanksgiving.

A few of the roommates made a Thanksgiving dinner. It was great. We each contributed to the meal. There was stuffing, corn, soup, and I made a bunch of mashed potatoes. And for the main course (since it is almost impossible to find a turkey and we don't have an oven anyway): Dominos pizza.

But it was actually really quite a nice experience. There was all the roommates, Sam's sister who is in India, and a French girl that Sam's sister met and has sort of been adopted into our house (we all thought it great that he first 'American' holiday would be in India). The meal turned out well and we all went around saying things we were thankful for... very sappy but it was nice and made the holiday seem enjoyable rather than depressing as we were so far away from all of our families.

And then just as we had finished our meal and saying our thanks for things...

BANG-BA-DA-BANG-BA-BA!!!...

There was quintet of Indian drummers in the street playing an incredibly loud and incredibly energetic procession bit. The people below us are getting married this weekend and there have been things going on all week. This was just one of those events. But it was great. The rhythms were fantastic and it ended up like being a party in the street. We joined with the family in dancing in the street. The girls got intricate hena on their arms (and done in like 3 minutes!). We are all looking forward to the wedding (which we are all invited to) this tomorrow. It is going to be quite a wedding: a large procession on horseback down the street, 1,500 people coming to the ceremony, and lots of really good Indian food... it will likely go until late in the evening.

So I guess our Thanksgiving was sent off with a bang... I had to say it...