Mary in India

So in fact, it is a Hindu holiday. I started out on the campus here, the students weren't allowed the day off (which they were super pissed about), weird since most of Inida gets t he day off. However, Remi and I knew they'd find ways to play Holi somehow, so Remi made sure to wear an older dark shirt with an old pair of jeans. As expected, during the students lunch break Holi broke out. I watched from my apartment as they ran around dousing each other in water and powder. Eventually they turned on a water spout that sprayed water 30 feet in the air! The French students participated and it looked like they were having an awesome time. I would have joined them but my driver was arriving to take me to my Holi celebration at AIC. If I was wet with colored dyes all over me I doubt he'd let me in the car.

I wore one of Remi's old T-shirts with a pair of black leggings. The kids had already spent the morning playing Holi and had showered. They planned on restarting after lunch. Julia (on-site director) was already recovering from her serious scrubbing. All the kids were so happy and excited, except Kajal who made it abundantly clear she was NOT playing Holi after lunch. She was worried her hands would stain and they're not allowed to have any color on their hands at school.

After lunch the real mayhem began. What started with water guns quickly turned into large buckets of water, and then the powder broke out, smearing all over faces, rubbing in hair, sprinkling, dabbing, throwing, pouring...etc. After we were thoroughly covered we sat around in the sun to try and dry ourselves. Being soaking wet in India can still be pretty cold. After a mini break the water balloons began, the kids went crazy filling up the balloons and once all were filled launched an attack. I was pegged a couple times by Aakash and Tushar, they seemed to have the most vigor and accurancy.

Once we covered Simba (the dog) in color we were finally finished. I followed Nikita to the volunteer apartment for a shower. Most of the color however would not budge from anywhere. It stained my hair pink, my face had blue, yellow, and green and my arms and neck were purple and yellow. Luckily for me, Holi is a huge holiday so having stained skin or hair is acceptable for a few days. :)