Saturday afternoon, Laurel and I were invited to the bride Sarita's house to have henna drawn on our hands. Actually, it was more like we begged if we could get henna done since it would complete our Indian wedding experience! ;) Sarita is (was) a nurse at Kothara and her father is pastor of a nearby church congregation. We went to her house where a gazillion family members and church members gathered to take part in celebrating her marriage, and we were welcomed by all as if we were part of their community. Part of the reason there were so many ppl there is because the pastor and even his parents have been a part of the Kothara Christian community for a long time. We rode an overloaded autorickshaw with Mitalee, the counselor at Kothara, to their house, where we saw a beautiful canopy in their yard and huge stockpots the size of a grown person from which emanated the most delectable smells. Sister Grace, who is Pastor Silas's sister, introduced us to all of her hundred and one cousins and nieces (or so it seemed). We met Grace a couple weeks ago when she came with her family and a group of students from a Bible college in Amravati of which her husband is president. Apparently, all of her siblings are married to pastors or are pastors. Her family has a really cool testimony, coming from Hindu and Muslim backgrounds.
Anyway, Laurel and I each had a "cousin" draw henna on one of our hands. They spoke English so we chatted with them while they drew gorgeous designs. The henna has a cooling effect on the skin, as well as softening and beautifying the skin as we were told, so it was such a relaxing experience! The multitude of ladies present sat down under the canopy and sang hymns for the bride in the meantime. And then...this is when the craziness, aka "Haldi" ceremony began! Haldi means turmeric in Hindi. Basically, the bridal wedding party and all those present get smeared with moistened turmeric powder, which was smeared on the groom and his party prior to the female members of his family showing up at the bride's house. First the bride and her family get smeared on the face, arms and any other exposed body surface with it, and then other ladies present go around and "beautify" everyone else standing around. Laurel and I tried unsuccessfully to hide in a corner; I guess we kinda stick out! We had yellow faces and necks for two days! After the ceremony, all the guests sat on the floor and ate delicious rice and mutton with raita (yogurt) on leaves as plates. Good thing we've been practicing eating with our hands. As foreigners and as people they had just met a couple weeks ago, we were so honored to take part of the family's wedding festivities.
The wedding itself the next day was a world apart from what we'd experienced the day before. The ceremony was held in the chapel, where Christmas lights and tinsel hung from the rafters. The electricity went out at least ten times during the ceremony, but Laurel and I realized afterwards that after 4 weeks of being here, we've already gotten used to the power outages. It's funny how quickly one becomes accustomed to what was extraordinary before (i.e. monkeys on the roof, multiple power outages per day, twenty ppl hanging off a tiny rickshaw, etc). Haha. Sarita is absolutely gorgeous so we were highly anticipating what the groom was like. :) They were a perfect pair. The whole family walked in with the bride and groom in the procession and sat on stage with them. The couple sat facing the front of the chapel for most of the ceremony while numerous ppl spoke, prayed at the podium and then prayed over them. We couldn't understand most of what was said, but I could definitely appreciate how deeply involved both families were in this marriage, supporting, blessing and asking God's blessings on the pair. Finally, the ceremony was over and the wedding party walked out amidst fake snow and colored rice. A mini-marching band paraded the party over toward the reception tent while thunderous fireworks went off in the night sky. :) The fireworks, BTW, were set off ten feet from the guesthouse...thank God it didn't catch fire. We'll put pics up of the reception because no explanation of mine could do it justice. I'll just say it was extravagant, it was dizzying, it was like going to the fair!
After the excitement of the weekend, Laurel and I were loath to start another working week. We were cranky with each other and in general and sort of lost our excitement in being here. We spend so much of our time reading Harrison's in clinic and not as much time seeing patients (since we can't communicate) that it's been somewhat frustrating. We HAVE started working patients up with one of the opthal students as translators and we HAVE seen some incredible medical conditions. Yesterday we saw a woman who had tuberculosis of the spine (or Potts disease). We see several scabies, worm infestations, and leprosy patients a day. Dr. Steve is one of the dermatologists here and our knowledge of dermatology has vastly improved since starting here. That is to say...my knowledge of derm was next to nil when we began so I now know a few things. Today we had a really sad case of a little 4 year old who we think has cancer. He came in on Saturday with massive ascites, or a hugely swollen belly filled with fluid, and though he was four years old, he looked more like he was two. He was one of the sweetest, cutest little boys I've ever seen. Well, he had an ultrasound of his belly done, which showed a probably malignancy in his liver. So sad. Laurel and I held his hand while he had some of the fluid drained out of his belly to help his breathing and decrease the pressure. He was sooo good while the doctors stuck needles in his belly! He didn't cry or protest. Laurel and I took pictures of him in clinic, and he just laughed and giggled when we showed him the pics. He could not be more delighted to see himself on the screen! We took some play animals to entertain him during the procedure. We don't know what the diagnosis is but we're referring him to a medical college so he can be further treated. So sad. His dad was crying as he left with him in his arms.
So we're being kicked out of the office since they're locking up. I'll have to post more later. L and I are going to Nagpur, the city we flew into from Delhi, to go shopping with Dr. Rashmi and Dr. Jai. We'll get some much needed grocery items...like CHEESE! And some stuff to make cheesecake for Dr. Steve's birthday party on Sunday. So excited. Please pray for travelling mercies. :) I'll post pics of the wedding next time. This pic is of Atish, the little boy. Please pray for him and his family.
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