Sari Time

Imagine…you have a good 5 yards of fabric and somehow you are supposed to wrap it beautifully around yourself so it doesn’t fall off.   Well today, I and the rest of my friends undertook the task of putting on gobs of fabric and then walking/riding in CNG/going on a rickshaw ride.  Ok, so, what we wore today is called a Sari.  It is simply amazing how you wrap and pleat the fabric so it makes a beautiful dress.  It is additionally amazing how it stays on you! 

Today was Victory Day in this country, which is kind of like their independence day.  Being a special occasion, we were to dress up.  It was finally our chance to wear a sari.  We had all bought our saris a few weeks ago and then we took them to the tailor to get the blouse piece made.  Our good friend who also happens to be our househelper came over to help us get dressed this afternoon.  Watching her put it on me was AMAZING!  She pleated and wrapped, pleated and pinned…and suddenly, I was dressed!  To add to my “Bengali look” (as my language teacher would say), I put finger nail knowledge on my forehead as a tip and put a sparkly sticker on my nose as a pretend nose ring.  Don’t worry, I didn’t like how it looked and have no plans for getting one permanently, but almost every person here has one and it is nice to be like them sometimes.

We went to two different gatherings of believers and celebrated Victory Day with them.  It was so much fun to celebrate with them and see their traditions and customs.  The first gathering exhibited the many Sunday School classes and they sang and danced about their country’s freedom and Christmas.  At least that is what I think they were singing about because much of the songs were above my language capabilities.  At the other gathering, following the service, they had a very large meal, called “The Love Feast.”  All through December, the members had gone caroling to other member’s houses.  Once at the house they sing and dance.  The owners of the house give the carolers money or rice.  The carolers then save up all the money and buy food for a big feast.  Today several of the members cooked the food and then tonight, following the Victory Day celebration, we ate it.  As was true South Asian style, as the bedesis (foreigners) were put a room by themselves to eat…it is a weird thing that happens here quite frequently.  The food was great, probably some of the best Bengali food I’ve had here, mainly because there was no spice!

It was a great day, but I was glad to get back to the flat and unwrap from my sari. It really is tricky to keep it on. At one point in the evening, I accidentally stepped on it and the skirt portion began to unravel. Thankfully a Bengali lady was there to put me back together again. She re-tied me so tight I could hardly breathe…but it did stay on. I have a new appreciation for women who do everything—including cleaning and taking care of children—in saris. I, myself, am glad to be out of it and in my pajama pants…