A Birthday in Amritsar, India

I turned 22 during our mid-semester retreat in Amritsar.  It was awesome, but completely unconventional.  I woke up to breakfast in bed provided by Kristen—a plastic bag of mangoes and bananas, with a bottle of mango juice to go with it.  I was ecstatic.

Later the group went to a great Indian restaurant where we shared fantastic Indian food all around—family style.  My group was sweet and paid for my meal.  On the way back to the hotel we wanted to do some shopping, and I serendipitously ended up buying a sari, a traditional Indian dress. 

                                    

After sifting through all of the materials (curse me and my indecisiveness, and thank you to Hailey who helped) I was able to finalize on a sari so we could rush back to the hotel in time to go to the Indian-Pakistan border. 

To get there we took a taxi with a funny driver named Uppal.  He kept saying, "Cholo Pakistan!" or "We go to Pakistan!"  His other favorite phrase was "shanti shanti," or "peace peace," after a moment of road rage.  Here is a picture of him.   You can read about my experience at the border and my thoughts there from my last post.

For dinner I decided to go to McDonalds.  Yes, I know, a bit stupid considering I am in Amritsar among some of the best Indian food around, and I don’t even like McDonalds back home, but I was dying to have a chicken burger and some real French fries. 

I feel like I could write an entire paper on the cultural experience of going to a McDonalds in India.  Not having any beef on the menu was only one small drop in the bucket for differences.  There were language barriers, personal space bubbles being popped left and right, intense stares (keep in mind I am wearing my sari), and the advertisements were of a completely different realm of humor.  The place was packed, but we were the only white people for once.

I finished off the night going back to the Golden Temple to try out the free community kitchen the temple puts on.  It did not take long to realize that walking in my sari was a challenge.  After dinner, washing dishes, and doing my last lap around the temple, I was really flustered with it.  I could not help but feel like I was wearing a fancy sheet around the temple that kept sliding off.  I want to know how the women construction workers in McLeod Ganj are able to do all of their work wearing these things.  It seems I need some practice. 

There was no cake, no presents, no singing, no family—but it was a once in a lifetime birthday.  To see some of my goals I have made for this next year, click here. 

 And just for the record, Amristar is hot during this time of year.  Check out our consumption of bottled water.