INDIA FEST!

This was such a crazy but fun day! Jessie wanted to see the Hare Krishna temple down in Spanish Fork and visit, so when she saw there would be an India Fest held there, she had to go. I got pretty excited too, and brought Angela and Shauntelle along for the ride!

We drove up to the temple, took a few wrong turns, and waited in a looooonnnnnnggggggg line to park, but when we got up to the temple the first thing we did was rent sari's. There was a woman named Nemo who got us all dressed with the help of her daughter. SO GREAT! She picked out fabulous colors for us, and even sold us some bindi's (the jewels that go on your forehead) to complete the outfit!
We looked so great and were having such a great time that an event photographer asked to take a picture of us! All of us were kind of getting into the mood. It was all so exciting! WE decided to try and tackle everything that was happening in a little bit of methodical way- going around and looking at all the different things in sections. After we got our sari's we watched some of the dancing that was going on. Man, some of the positions those girls moved themselves into were UNBELIEVABLE! I was just watching with my jaw hanging open the entire time!

We decided to head into the temple and see what was going on in there as well. We removed our shoes and thankfully convinced Angela to do the same, and went inside. I'm not going to lie, the smell was kind of bad: spicy food, feet, sweat, and lots of bodies. But, we listened to some rad chanting and got to watch people dance around. The chanting was musical, so it was fun to listen to.

After we slipped downstairs to the gift shop and cafeteria, we headed back outside to the llama pens. On the way we saw the effigy that was to be burned at the end of the evening. Wow. Ten heads and twenty feet tall. Pretty impressive! But we were a little nervous about him. Can you tell? :)

The llama pens were fun- we made friends with one. I christened him "Osama Bin Llama, Jr.". That's for you, Lindz! We also saw albino peacocks, blue peacocks, macaw's, some weird looking mini-cows, and a cockatoo that was a little cranky.

We decided the day wouldn't be complete unless we had henna tattoo's and some authentic Indian food, so while we waited in line for hennas, Jessie went and got us a meal to share. It was a big step for Angela, Shauntelle, and I because we hadn't ever tried real Indian food. We sucked it up, and most of it wasn't half bad! But it still was not my favorite. I am glad I tried it though!
Here is the product of waiting a half hour in line! Angela and I got hennas on our hands, and Shauntelle got one on her foot. They all turned out really well! They lasted a week and I really liked it. I would never get anything permanent, but it was fun to have for the time being. It reminded me of an amazing night capped off with . . . . .

BURNING THE EFFIGY!!!! It exploded into a shower of fireworks and flames all of a sudden! I just barely kept the "oooohhhh!" from flying out of my mouth when it happened! The fireworks show was pretty impressive!

I tell you what, Indians sure know how to fest it up! Nemo, our sari expert, even got our contact information. She wants us to come up and dance at the temple in Sandy. She offered to teach us the dance and dress us up so we would be "true Indians". She was so nice! It just made me realize how fun it can be learning about other cultures and religions. Props to JI, she found the festival and made it fun! Thanks, girl!