Kaila had been dying to have her hands painted with Henna (or Mendhi, which is the Hindi word), which is the temporary tattoo type decorations many women have put on their hands and/or feet here for special occasions such as a wedding or just no reason at all. Upon consulting with Roy's sisters, we headed for the market today where there was a store you could go to and have this done. I was slightly misled with the term 'store', as you can see from the picture below of Kaila. It's more of a street side cave where we were given small stools the size of little dinner plates to sit on while a middle aged man applied the Henna.
It's a bit of a complicated process. You first pick out a design, then sit still for 10-15 minutes while the design is piped onto your skin from a small cake-decorating style type bag. You have your choice of colors, in which we got black outline with red inside. Its critical to stay very still while the henna dries on your hands, which is not an easy task in a busy street side market. It takes the good side of an hour for it to fully dry and begin flaking off, after which you begin to leave spider corpse looking fragments everywhere you go. It literally just flakes off and leaves your skin stained with color, which over the course of the next few days will continue to darken and darken.
While waiting for Kaila to finish her application, I stood at the front of the roadside cave and watched passersby, or should I say the passersby watched me. Many smiled or stopped right in front of me to look at the henna on my hands (even though this is a super common practice women would have done all the time). Little kids ran over to look and I had at least 2 grown men on motorcycles stop right in the middle of the street to look. Its slightly embarrassing, but I try and manage. The funniest thing was there is a temple with a 2nd floor that overlooks the market where temple-goers were standing out on a back balcony getting some air and apparently watching us. As we finished, a row of women began smiling and waving and eventually blowing kisses and giving the thumbs up sign. They were super enthusiastic and excited to see our artwork, which was actually a little heartwarming.
As we walked the market streets, we were met with the same response over and over. People stopping, staring and many smiling and looking quite pleased. I really like the end result and it stays for a few weeks, which gives my work buddies something to look at. LOL.
Other than the henna, we bummed around a little and eventually ended up back home to find that apparently the baby fully warmed up to everyone in the house. She was running around playing with them, giving hugs and kisses, and just being overall charming. We sat last night and just laughed and laughed at her antics as she danced and played on the floor. She is now repeating almost any word you say to her, so they have her say Bengali words which is thrilling for them to hear her repeat.
Time for bed now. Days are tiring here with the still lingering jet lag and the warm weather. I have slept most nights quite well in spite of napping during the day and sleeping 3 in a bed, 1 being a small kicking monster. We are on the home stretch now, leaving in just 3 days. I always like coming, but going home is bitter sweet. Its so hard on the family when we leave, so I will not think of those times just yet. Goodnight all.
It's a bit of a complicated process. You first pick out a design, then sit still for 10-15 minutes while the design is piped onto your skin from a small cake-decorating style type bag. You have your choice of colors, in which we got black outline with red inside. Its critical to stay very still while the henna dries on your hands, which is not an easy task in a busy street side market. It takes the good side of an hour for it to fully dry and begin flaking off, after which you begin to leave spider corpse looking fragments everywhere you go. It literally just flakes off and leaves your skin stained with color, which over the course of the next few days will continue to darken and darken.
While waiting for Kaila to finish her application, I stood at the front of the roadside cave and watched passersby, or should I say the passersby watched me. Many smiled or stopped right in front of me to look at the henna on my hands (even though this is a super common practice women would have done all the time). Little kids ran over to look and I had at least 2 grown men on motorcycles stop right in the middle of the street to look. Its slightly embarrassing, but I try and manage. The funniest thing was there is a temple with a 2nd floor that overlooks the market where temple-goers were standing out on a back balcony getting some air and apparently watching us. As we finished, a row of women began smiling and waving and eventually blowing kisses and giving the thumbs up sign. They were super enthusiastic and excited to see our artwork, which was actually a little heartwarming.
As we walked the market streets, we were met with the same response over and over. People stopping, staring and many smiling and looking quite pleased. I really like the end result and it stays for a few weeks, which gives my work buddies something to look at. LOL.
Other than the henna, we bummed around a little and eventually ended up back home to find that apparently the baby fully warmed up to everyone in the house. She was running around playing with them, giving hugs and kisses, and just being overall charming. We sat last night and just laughed and laughed at her antics as she danced and played on the floor. She is now repeating almost any word you say to her, so they have her say Bengali words which is thrilling for them to hear her repeat.
Time for bed now. Days are tiring here with the still lingering jet lag and the warm weather. I have slept most nights quite well in spite of napping during the day and sleeping 3 in a bed, 1 being a small kicking monster. We are on the home stretch now, leaving in just 3 days. I always like coming, but going home is bitter sweet. Its so hard on the family when we leave, so I will not think of those times just yet. Goodnight all.
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