So, I finally found adventure and excitement in
Friday night and an Indian festival on Saturday. And can I just say that pretty much the entire cultural experience was one of the most mystical experiences that I’ve ever had…well…maybe it wasn’t that good…I guess it was only an experience that made me “completely, perfectly and incandesantly happy.” Okay, okay…I’m being a little ridiculous, but I did absolutely adore the whole thing. I guess if you can’t be in So as I was watching the Greek dancing, listening to the people clapping and yelling strange phrases like “Opaah,” and delightfully devouring sticky baklava, I realized that my cultural upbringing is so boring. I mean…come on…I’m white, American, and Mormon. If that doesn’t spell boring, I don’t know what does. My little sister’s friend, Chris, is Greek Orthodox, so he took us on a tour of their sanctuary. Chris showed us the rituals and explained the architecture and symbolism of it all, which I found fascinating. However, I couldn’t help but laugh as this 18-year-old boy casually interjected his seemly scholarly explanations with sudden unorthodox phrases like, “And over there are some more cool saints…there’s another cool saint holding some sort of weird looking little woman…oh yeah, and there is Jesus all pimped out in His jewels and robes and stuff.” I guess I should have known what kind of tour I’d get from a high school boy as the tour guide.
The Indian festival was not as exciting, but I did leave there with a souvenir. I was so tempted by all the things they had at the Indian bazaar, but I was sadly limited to the jewelry. What I really wanted to buy was a beautiful Indian sari, but there are very few Indian women who are a towering 5’9”, which makes it hard to find any type of Indian clothing that fits. I had to settle with a cheap Indian bracelet. The only drawback to buying anything at the bazaar was that none of it was practical, especially not the jewelry. I am sure I will never be able to wear a pink and gold bracelet that has bangles dangling from it, but it’s cool because it’s Indian, which makes it so worth it. My little sister mocked me for the rest of the day since I wouldn’t take off the bracelet after we left the festival. As I told my parents for the twentieth time how much I loved bangles while I shook them annoyingly, my mother, the seminary teacher, told me that I sounded like a “daughter of
I did have a fun time at these festivals, and they were both able to satisfy my craving for world travel for the time being. Nevertheless, I do hope that someday I will actually be able to experience some sort of cultural experience outside of the
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