Last night. We were trying to take some nice photos with our dad. He was trying his hardest not to laugh. All he said afterward was "Don't put this on facebook."
Kite Flying in Gujarat
I'm on my feet again~ I went to school on Friday and I've been playing catch up ever since. My body is completely messed up haha...it's so sad. After my fall, my neck has been hurting and I have a hard time turning my head. I've been doing twenty minute stretching exercises every day, but once I get my health back I'm going to start running like I used to. Slowly, slowly getting there~ So I have millions of photos/videos from India and I am kind of overwhelmed by the amount. I want to post everything but I think it will happen over time because school has top priority and it takes time to go through everything ~ So this is my first batch of photos!
Ahmedabad has several festivals throughout the year. While we were there, we got to participate in their kite festival which is on the 14th of January. It was an amazing experience. The whole week before the festival, the city was getting ready. Everywhere we would see people dyeing string in street corners. They dye them either a hot pink color or yellow so that it is easier to see when the kite is flying in the sky.
On the main day the entire sky was filled with kites. The ENTIRE sky. It's hard to explain, but everywhere you looked there were kites...in trees, on the street, in random corners....everywhere. It was awesome. People go up to high places...usually their rooftops and fly their kites. The majority coat their kite string or manja with powdered glass so they can take down other people's kites so we had to be careful not to get caught in a kite battle otherwise we could get hurt. I linked a wikipedia article which goes more into detail about that ~
One of the students in our group has family that lives in Gujarat and her uncle's had invited us to their home for the festival. We had a bunch of kites with us that we had bought and they had a bunch too. We climbed up to their rooftop and her cousins taught us how to fly. I wasn't that good the first time ;_____; but they told me I was learning fast yayyyy ~
Kites waiting to be flown!
Kites in the sky ~ The picture doesn't show the kites so well ;____;....it was really difficult to photograph.
Me super happy to fly a kite~
The kite flying lasted all the way till the sun went down. When the darkness fell, the fireworks and floating lanterns started filling the sky! I also have to mention that during this entire day, music was blasting from everyone's houses.....so much music and noise...it was amazing~ Some people were dancing on their rooftops...it was so cute ~
I made some "bracelets" from the extra manja ~ It stained my arm.....as of now, there is barely any color left ~
We went to a pastry shop the last day in Ahmedabad because I wanted to bring some sweets back to my family. The entire store was covered with baby kites~ Everywhere we walked, we would see kites ~ I love how the entire city embraces and participates in the festivals~
The guy on the left gave me this kites from the wall~ It now sits on my desk at home ~
Hope you guys are all well <3
Slowly Recovering
Hey guys. Sorry to have been gone for so long. I hit a bump and have been trying to recover ever since. I got sick a week and a half ago and haven't been to school since. My doctor says it's a stomach virus and that I just have to let my body get rid of it on its own. I've been drinking ginger and water for a week now. No matter what I eat, my body rejects it, so I've been very hungry. Last Tuesday I was feeling very bad. I woke up from bad stomach pains and a cold sweat. I wanted to throw up but I knew nothing would happen because I hadn't eaten in three days. My mom was trying to make me feel better, so she went into her room to get me a new t shirt or something (I can't remember so clearly). I was trying to focus on my breathing so I wouldn't feel worse, but I couldn't take it any longer so I started walking toward the bathroom. I tried standing by the sink, but my feet were to weak, so I decided to sit. I don't remember much after this. I remember trying to stand again and then I woke up to my mom's screams and her shaking me . I couldn't see anything because my eyes were closed. I didn't know where I was but I was shivering. My mom was crying and I kept asking her 'why are you crying? what's wrong mom?"
I was lying down on my stomach on the bathroom floor. She helped me up onto a chair. At this point I realized I had fainted and I started crying because my neck hurt. My mom was trying to help me, but she was too freaked out, so I tried to instruct her to call my dad. She brought me a blanket and tried to check if I was alright. My chin was bleeding and the right side of my face was bruised. When I tried to speak, I realized I had broken my front tooth and then I started freaking out ;____; I have always taken good care of my teeth...I've never had any cavities and I'm always careful of them....but this time I couldn't do anything ;____;
When my dad came home, he tried to make me feel better by saying I looked cool because people would think I'd been in a fight. MEHHH. He says he can fix my tooth really easily which I'm very thankful for. I can't get it fixed right now, however, because my jaw is also dislocated and I can't open my mouth well enough for him to fix it. When I fainted, I hit my chin on the sink and that dislocated my jaw while at the same time forced my bottom teeth to break my front tooth. Mehhh ;_______; poor face I will be okay <3
Right now my biggest problem is getting out of bed. Gravity is so heavy....I can only sit up and walk for a short period of time. I need to regain my strength back. I was watching the Australian Open while in bed and it's inspired me to get healthy as soon as possible and start playing tennis again. I don't have anyone to play with anymore, but I'm still gonna find a way <3
2012 is gonna be the year I get my health back <3
Reunited with my bed
I am officially back from India~ Got back at around two in the afternoon...I was the only one from our group that got my bags checked by customs. It was a pain, but everything went smoothly~
My dad greeted me at the airport with a bell pepper
I'm gonna go prepare for my classes tomorrow and sleep~ I'll try to update as soon as I can.
I'm happy to be back