Tuesday, January 26, 2010

all of India celebrated my birthday ;)

India's Republic Day is January 26th. So is my birthday. The whole country lit up in orange, green, and white lights to celebrate Republic Day. Pieces of cake were lit with candles for my birthday. This was a damn good birthday...here is a breakdown of the events:

It all started Monday night with Dan surprising me with an ayurvedic massage at a spa not far from our house. It was glorious and at $10 for an hour massage, I plan to become a frequent client.

We came home and made delicious mashed potatoes (sometimes we just crave 'bland' food) and skyped with Ralphie.

Tuesday morning the skyping continued with Helene, Ben, and Frankie and then Simon and Katy. Simon and Katy sang 'Happy Birthday' and put a candle in a delicious looking cupcake, though there was a small wax spill onto the laptop when they blew out the candle on my behalf.

I started asking Dan for my present at 10:30 Monday night and at noon he finally gave in- he got me the most beautiful sari- a deep blue with gold and silver beadwork. I cannot wait to wear it! Above is a photo of the sari fabric and beadwork.

It has been cold in Lucknow since we arrived and today was the exception- the sky was clear and the sun was shining! Without knowing where Dan was taking me, we left the house (without our fleece jackets!) and went to Papaji Ashram for a delicious organic lunch with Trudi and Molly (our friends and fellow AJWS volunteers based in Lucknow). The amazing meal consisted of biryana, dal, and salad…we had lettuce for the first time since we got here! And we got to sit in the sunshine! Trudi got me beautiful deep red bangles and Molly got me bedazzled bindis.

In the afternoon we headed to Hazratganz, the main area of the city. Earlier in the day there was a Republic Day parade in front of the Legislative Assembly and the city was still covered in orange, green and white. We walked and explored and then the surprises continued with a delicious Indian dinner and live music at Capoors with Trudi, Molly, and our new German friends, Meran and Gigi who are consulting at SSK on disaster relief projects.

We came home and I skyped with Ralph and my dad, read all of the beautiful birthday emails from everyone back home (thank you all!) and went to bed…

Today I am getting lots of birthday wishes at work and we brought in some traditional Indian treats to share after lunch.

It was a wonderful day and many thanks to India for giving me the day off from work and to Dan for a planning such a wonderful, thoughtful day. Here are some pictures.

PS- 'Janam Din ki badhai is happy birthday in Hindi

6 comments:

  1. Dear Bushagelli family,

    I love that you're posting often. It sounds like you had an amazing birthday. Nice job with the planning Dan.

    While reading the posts I can almost smell the food and hear the bustling of people around you.

    I will look forward to tuning back.

    PS - Dan, please don't have someone shave you on the street again.

    Love you both
    Steve

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  2. What a beautiful, beautiful birthday. Can I admit that reading this made me a little teary eyed? It sounds like such a wonderful, beautiful day--and you deserve it, KB! If only 1-hour massages were 10 bucks here! I think you might be residing in heaven right now. There, I said it. XOXO!

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  3. I don't think I've ever followed a blog so closely. I am SO happy that you are having such an amazing time and I am so proud to have friends with such adventurous souls! I seriously can't wait to hear more. Sounds like the best bday ever!

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  4. Janam Din ki badhai, Kate! I am glad you had such a wonderful birthday - and the sari is so beautiful!

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  5. Happy late b day. bty i have skype so we should skype soon

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  6. Hi Kate and Dan,
    Ben sent us the link, and I am so excited to read about your journey and adventures and your commitment to help others. I love your photos and we send you love from Detroit, where it is REALLY cold (going below 10 degrees tonight, with an evil wind chill). Sounds like you had an amazing Birthday, happy belated wishes. Saturday is the Palmer Woods Mardi Gras at Helene's. We will miss you! I will send you a link to photos. The Metro Times is coming to photograph it as well. Take care. Love from the Barefields (Barbara, Spencer, Spencer and Devo)

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