Cultureclashtastic: The Awkward Party Guest

I don't always understand what's going on around me here. This is part due to the fact that India is a confusing place, but mostly due to the fact that our instructors intentionally speak to us mostly in Hindi. So I can't tell you exactly why, but for some reason having to do with someone's wedding we all had to vacate the Gem Inn for two nights and relocate down the street to The Red Fox Hotel. Turns out the Red Fox is several stars above the Gem in terms of swank. Towels in the bathrooms and flat screen tvs and weird modern art and everything. But we'll return to our dingy, Gem home tomorrow.

I also can't tell you exactly why, but for some reason the owner of the Gem invited the 8 or so of us American students living there to go with him to the 25th wedding anniversary party of a friend of a friend of a friend of his...or something. In any case, last night, when the sun had gone down and the temperature had cooled to a nice 93, my fellow students and I found ourselves at a 300 person party awkwardly eating the food and wondering where we were and how we had gotten there. The Indians in attendance, presumably somehow connected to the celebrated couple, were all dressed in their most-sequined of saris and kurtas, while we uninvited guests were mostly clad in jeans and sweat-stained shirts. The music (American Hip-Hop of 10 years ago) was loud enough to inspire wild dancing among the crowd's teenage boy demographic, but before any of us worked up the bravery to join in, we decided instead to leave. An "eat-and-run" experience, as one of my friends explained.
Today, weekend parties behind us, we returned to school where I learned to confidently say such phrases as "There is a blue chair," or "I have two books." As you can see, I'll be well prepared to make riveting conversation at the next Indian family celebration that I find myself accidentally crashing.

In other news, I found out someone has already written and published this very blog so to speak. The program I am doing is the summer intensive version of what is usually a year-long program. A writer named Katherine Russell Rich apparently did this year-long program a few years back and has written a book about it. You all should read it and tell me about it and/or buy it for me to read:
CLICK HERE