When Culture Slaps You in the Face...

India's culture is a huge reason why we're here. While exploring the differences between the East and the West, between fading cultures of America and massive cultures of India, between what we are used to and what we aren't, Aaron and I have realized a great many truths about our lives, our backgrounds, and about ourselves. Regardless of these profound epiphanies, however, there is one small factor that we cannot seem to let go of... one tiny prerequisite to cultural enjoyment that we can't quite get over...

...sleep.

So, at 1:30 in the morning, roughly a half hour before we normally go to sleep, we wondered how long this would last:

Thankfully, it wasn't too terribly long... at that particular location. We were able to sleep once they moved down the street a little further. But after roughly 5 hours of sleep, we awoke to a sound that we assumed was in error... one that we immediately thought would be silenced as soon as someone realized how loud it actually was. We were wrong, however, and so with little sleep on a Saturday morning when we would otherwise enjoy the distant city sounds of the morning over some chai, we instead awoke to this:

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It was that loud...all day. Even at midnight on Saturday, even in the early morning hours of Sunday, that music could be heard for miles. With a tip that this celebration would be going on all weekend, I went out to see what it was about.

These festivities continued until Monday morning, onward into Tuesday, and part of today. Even as I write, there are occasional fireworks outside ...right outside... that still make Aaron and I jump just as we're about to think about relaxing.

Cultural exploration is important and maybe, what I've learned from this is that exploration is the keyword. When something cultural slaps you across the face, it's not so much exploration as it is a cultural slap across your face. Your first reaction is not often one of wonder and awe. Rather, it's one of "what the hell was that?!" As I look back on the weekend, impressed by the level of commitment Indians have towards their religious practices and still intrigued by the logic (or lack thereof) of midnight roadwork, I am indeed fascinated. But at the time, after a long week, and finally comfortable on my less-than-cushiony mattress, the cultural slap across the face was... well, that's what the videos are for.

So on that note, come visit!

Love you and miss you.

-Chels