India: Fitting It All In

We are in our final stretch of my pictures from India! 

Going quite untraditionally according to the Indian moms, I decided to throw Lyena a baby shower. Although we held it on a Saturday afternoon, not many of her friends were able to come. A couple of Indian friends and a Ukrainian girl attended. We had lots of good food--a mixture of Indian and a bit European appetizers. I had brought our blue cutlery and plates/table cloth from the states as it was so easy to find here.

We played a few games that are so popular here (like guessing the names of baby animals that are uncommon). I even had the guests write something funny on the diapers. 

We all had a good time even in our tight circle. Most importantly, Lyena loved it:)! 

Then on Sunday I went to church. It was a VERY interesting experience. Even finding it was very interesting--hahaha.

I had emailed the branch president beforehand to find out the address and the time for the meeting. I should have noticed the red flag when he said, "We will start the meeting around 10:30". Pradnya (my sister's mother-in-law) was kind enough to give me a ride to the address that the branch president gave me. But for whatever reason, there was a mistake or something in the address and so we couldn't find it at all for the longest time! It was definitely pass 10:30 and we were still driving around looking for the building. We finally called the branch president and he said that they will come and get us by the address where we said we were. But thankfully, somehow we actually found the building on our own moments later.

A few minutes after I got dropped off and started talking to a small group of people, who were all members of this tiny branch, mostly women. They told me that the branch president and his family are on the way (this was already after 10:30). Soon, a small car pulled up and, I am serious, as in a funny movie, people started climbing out of it. It seemed impossible that so many people fit in that little car, but they did:) It was funny:) That was the branch president and his wife and a bunch of other relatives. 

Moments after we all sat down in our chapel, I was asked to give a talk during the Sacrament meeting (well, a testimony actually). They also asked another visitor, a guy from TX to give a talk. 

They didn't have a piano, so they listened to the recorded instrumental accompaniment for all the hymns. There were maybe twenty people in total in the room, MAYBE. And possibly only three men including the branch president and the visitor from TX. And the meeting was over within forty five minutes or so--after the two "talks" from the visitors. Done! No second or third hour. Short and sweet:) I kind of liked it 😳😆. Despite a funny mild smell from the pipes or the sewer, I was feeling very cozy and homey. 

Here are some of the sweet members of the Kolkata branch. They don't have missionaries in their area, so it's just them, sustaining each other with faith. 

After church, my sister's mother-in-law got me some fresh coconut water and a coconut (yum!!!) on the drive home from church. 

I don't normally like the canned kind of coconut water, but this was very delicious!

In the afternoon, we all went out to eat to a very special place for my sister--the Hilton Hotel. 

This places serves a buffet lunch and dinner with a lot of Western dishes and desserts. So no wonder she loves it. 

This is the life... Two crazy Ukrainians.

Ok...change of subject... On one of the weekdays, Pradnya, hired a driver to take us to one of the markets in Kolkata. I was looking for some authentic wooden carved plates and a table runner. Looking back now, we should have gone to a more touristy crafts bazaar to find those items as this market was more for Indian people looking for stuff for their households. 

Since I am a professional, usually unfazed bazaar shopper, it was not very difficult for me to walk around that place, but it was quite an experience. All the smells and dirt were a bit much sometimes, but overall it was ok. 

Here is a quick video:

Ummm....what a great photo bomb of a guy (you might have to zoom in).

And here is an illustration how parking is done in a "parking lot". Our hired driver parked here, but had to obviously be blocked by a few other cars. It's not a problem somehow--no one gets mad, people are patient and just work out who moves out where as a puzzle. A lot of them are hired drivers so they all work together. 

Well, here you go! This is my very brief account of the few days I got to experience in India. I actually want to go again and again but explore other parts of the country and play "tourist" for a bit. Maybe when the baby is a little bigger we could do it together with my sister:)

Lyana.