Cinderella in the Rain

Yesterday was Children's day! A holiday celebrating the birthday of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his great love for children throughout his lifetime. It is said that he would do anything in his power for a child, and we therefore celebrated it as a holiday at both school and in the evening at the apartments. At school the day began with an assembly in the outdoor ampitheater. The entire school, all dressed in traditional clothing (not the uniforms!!!), made our way to the cement seats which overflowed with the crowd and spilled over onto the ground in front where the teachers had put down a few blankets. The sun was shining hot and bright as we sat, but we all had smiles on our faces the entire time as we watched the teachers all dance together for us!
The rest of the school day was regular; kids went to class and things proceeded like any other day. The last and final treat for all of us came near the end of the day when our class teachers brought in GIANT bags full of packets of pineapple flavored cookies that each of us got!
When I got home from school, my host mother wasn't yet there and so I made myself a lunch of an apple and heated some egg noodles that were in the refrigerator from the day before. When my host mother arrived home, the two of us set out to do a few errands to get ready for my Delhi trip (I'm leaving TOMORROW!!!!!)- we had to get a few photo copies that my host mother wanted of my medical insurance, pick up some dry cleaning, pick up the itinerary for my trip (yea...I still don't know any of that...), and also stop at the Police Commisioner's office so that we could register the fact that I am leaving the city for a week.
Our first stop was the Comissioner's office, and we arrived there in the middle of a HUGE downpour of rain. When we knocked on the door it was unlocked, but there was no one inside so we figured that we'd just wait there. We waited. And Waited. And waited. A few police from a different department told us that they were all probably caught up in the rain after having lunch, so we just waited there patiently under the eaves of the building, watching as the landscape boxes below us filled completely with the rainwater and the parking lot came to look a lot more like a lake. We ended up waiting for two hours- no one showed up. We left around 5:00 p.m. which was the time that the celebrations were supposed to start at the apartment, so we didn't have time to get anything else done. On the way out of the building we ran to my host mother's car accross the lot to avoid getting TOO wet. On the way my foot slipped out of my shoe and I realized that I had just had a Cinderella moment in the rain (except I was able to go back and retrieve my shoe!).
The program for Children's day at the apartment was really great! When my host mother and I arrived in the clubhouse it was jam packed and screaming with excited little kids that were all playing a quiz game. The way that the program was set up was actually kind of cool. At first, it was a few ladies from the apartment trying to organize some games, but then Airtell, a phone company, came in and said that they would organize all of the games and prizes if they would allow the company to set up posters and hand out flyers. So, my friends from the apartment and I all sat and watched as the little kids played game after game together and all had the time of their lives screaming and laughing with their friends. And then came the dancing...Oh my gosh! I just can't get over how good of a dancer EVERYONE here seems to be! I was flat out amazed when the music came on and even the smallest of the smallest of the kids was out on the floor doing dance moves that I couldn't do!
After dinner was served (we had ordered in dinner) to everyone we all had ice cream, cleaned up a bit and then walked back to our apartments grouped by which block we all live in- my group included Sanju Vadivu and Bapu (our neighbors), and Rhadika who is a woman who lives below us whom I do yoga with several times a week. Children's day was over, but the essence of fun still hung in the air as we all went into our separate apartments and retired into a nice sleep after a long day.
P.S. the photos above are of me at school with a few friends and then Sanju at the Children's day celebration playing a game where there was a time limit and you had to stick as many bindis as possible on your partner's face!