many happy returns of the day

I would like to start with a little story which ended with me locked in my room at midnight, on the phone with my mom laughing so hard I brought myself, and my mother, to tears. On april 1st was my homestay mothers birthday. and she hosted about 15 extended family members for what turned into an exciting evening. While dinner parties at home might consist of candles and wine, with a good spirited, but quiet ambiance; in india things roll a little differently. There were plates and bowls of food, with all the family members in one room around one table. The evening started out with the cake, which naturally involved the lighting of the birthday (in this case single) candle. The candle was about 1/2 the size of the cake, and in the shape of a lotus bud. I, very unsuspecting, stood by and watched my ma light the candle, which quickly burst into a ball of fire, and proceded to unfold into a lotus flower with all five petals holding candles. the whole family clapped, and sang the first line of happy birthday (and only the first line over and over), while the candle played a shrill rendition of the song. Cake was had before the meal, and then after the meal, there was ice cream. I, having been sick for the previous few days, decided to take it easy, but let me tell you, it is hard to avoid the pressure of 15 indian family members. Right after dinner finished up, the rain started. Interestingly enough, there is an IMMENSE skylight over the dinning room table, the cover of which is apparently only held down by a few rocks. The wind quickly did away with this feeble attempt at protection, and it proceded to rain down upon the table in the middle of the festivities. Here is where things get strange. Despite the downpour, very few people seemed to care! I of course ran for towels, but they seemed to think shiva the house boy had everything under control so continued to laugh and hang out. Shiva, who is probably all of 95 pounds, came back from the roof looking a little defeated, but at least the flow of water onto the table was slightly lessened. This was the point in the night where I started hearing the candle again, though tried to ignore it. sometime around 10 30, the power abruptly went out, and all 15 of us sat rather helplessly in the pitch black. I was soon accosted by my brother and cousin who thoughti t would be funny to grab my legs and scream. not so funny as it turns out, mostly just annoying. Next thing I know, I am sitting on the floor, surrounded by the cousins who are singing hit bollywood songs by candle light, and the cover blows off the skylight again. So, i am on the floor, with the dog barking, the kids singing in my ear, the rain pouring down, and the damn birthday candle has been playing for three hours and no one seems to notice!! I think i lost it right about then, and come midnight, i locked myself in my room to try and fall asleep. Amazingly though, the candle continued to play. I got out of bed, walked through the house, found the candle, walked to the door and threw it into the rain, walked back to my room and called my mother. I have so much confused love for my family.

as well, this week marked my 21st birthday. though greatly anticipated, I had very minimalist hopes for it being anything very unique seeing as it fell right inbetween our exams. Much to my surprise, it was an absolute joy. The day started out beautifully, and Jaipur showed me its best weather yet. The sky was clear, the breeze was blowing, and the temperature was right about 80. Perfect to say the least. I was continually surprised throughout the day when I found a package from my parents, my friends gave me gifts, and every single one of the teachers and staff took me asside to say "many happy returns of the day" which is significantly more endearing than happy birthday. I was given cake at lunch which was then ceremoniously (sp?) shoved in my mouth by Ramaji. The entire day was sweet and low key, and for dinner i invited joanna, stephanie and christy over. Much to my surprise, when I got home, I had a full dinner resplendid with cake, ice cream, all my favorite indian dishes, and some of the extended family joining me. I got a full blown indian birthday party, where for some reason I again found myself force fed cake by different family members. It was so heart warming to see all the work my homestay family put into making it a wonderful birthday, I also want to say thank you for all of the messages and notes and hello's i received from home. I managed to receive a bundle of surprisingly hilarious and loving birthday cards, my first mail from home and thanks to the 9 hour delay, it was sort of like have a 48 hour birthday.

Friday was calm enough, and joanna told me she was going to take me out for dinner to celebrate my 21st birthday in style. she and christy somehow managed to round up all 16 of us, and told us to meet at a local restaurant. Little did I know, we werent eating dinner there. As soon as we got there, the taxi's showed up. Next thing I know, we are being driven through jaipur, as the sun is setting, 16 of us jammed into two cars. We wound through the old city, and though I was a little confused, no one would tell me what was going on, so I assumed we were just going somewhere in the city. Next thing I know, we have exited jaipur and are heading for the hills. My confusion increased the further into the hills we climbed and soon we were looking out over the whole city of jaipur which was just a wide and dazzling expanse of yellow and blue light. We continued to climb, and suddenly we appeared at the huge fort that we had visited on our first day in Jaipur. They had arranged me to have a birthday dinner on the roof of an ancient fort!!! It was splendid, and of course, involved a singing birthday candle of my very own ( thanks to the sweet sense of humor of my dear friends). This time, the cake only made it most of the way into my mouth and soon i was streaked with icing and being told happy birthday by all of the surrounding tables, and guards(?!). As Arianny aptly pointed out : you only turn 21 on the roof of a palace fort in india once.

On an academic note, this time next week, Kate and I will be on a train up into the mountains to begin a month long stay in the himalayas with a small community hospital. I don't even know how it happened.