Today was the holiday called Holi (google it). I was invited to go to the temple this morning. Lots of incense, chanting, singing and clapping. Afterward we got ready to celebrate Holi by getting water balloons and buckets. Filling water balloons with the barrel of a pen and a plastic bag took way too long so we just started using buckets to throw water at each other. Everyone in the neighborhood was out. Some peoples
faces were painted with many different colors. We used the power that is used for tika. By the end of the morning I was covered in red and my clothes were soaked. Keshab picked me up to do some sight seeing and see how Holi is celebrated other places. We went to 2 different Durbar Squares (old palace squares) Baktapur and Patan. On the way to these places you could see people everywhere in the
street with colors all over and throwing water. I got hit with 2 more balloons in route, yellow and pink. My clothes looked like they were tie dyed. Even walking in the squares people just walk up to you and smear different colored powders on your face yelling "Happy Holi." It was like a party everywhere. Other than Holi celebrations, the squares and streets all looked pretty much the same.
Back home I tried to wash the color out of my clothes. Washing clothes is a long process involving retrieving buckets of water from a well and hand washing my clothes in a big silver bowl. It was kind of a workout. Note to self:never complain about doing laundry again! My pants are still kind of stained.. They look like 80's color splashed jeans. Oh well, at least there's a good story behind it!
faces were painted with many different colors. We used the power that is used for tika. By the end of the morning I was covered in red and my clothes were soaked. Keshab picked me up to do some sight seeing and see how Holi is celebrated other places. We went to 2 different Durbar Squares (old palace squares) Baktapur and Patan. On the way to these places you could see people everywhere in the
street with colors all over and throwing water. I got hit with 2 more balloons in route, yellow and pink. My clothes looked like they were tie dyed. Even walking in the squares people just walk up to you and smear different colored powders on your face yelling "Happy Holi." It was like a party everywhere. Other than Holi celebrations, the squares and streets all looked pretty much the same.
Back home I tried to wash the color out of my clothes. Washing clothes is a long process involving retrieving buckets of water from a well and hand washing my clothes in a big silver bowl. It was kind of a workout. Note to self:never complain about doing laundry again! My pants are still kind of stained.. They look like 80's color splashed jeans. Oh well, at least there's a good story behind it!
So cool! I've always seen photos of Holi in magazines and thought it looked to happy and fun! That's so great you (and your jeans) got to experience it.
ReplyDelete