Saturday

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I love how spiritually minded this family is. They always discuss the daily text together before breakfast over chai and biscuits. And you will find them reading publications or the Bible in their free time. 
After breakfast and borrowing a suit of Soniya's, Uncle Seetal dropped me, Brandon, and Auntie Resham at a bazaar to shop for gifts. We spent some time buying items that a few friends specifically asked for (I hope you like what I bought for you!!) and a couple things for myself (that Auntie insisted on, ie: a salwar kameez and set of matching bangles). Auntie really fought for me when it came to a set of metal cups - after buying them Franklin said that we paid too much. So auntie took me back and gave the shopkeeper a piece of her mind and after getting a refund we took our business elsewhere and saved some money. :)  Go auntie! She saved us from other shopkeepers too in going to the good stores and keeping the begging children away. :(
Much to our surprise, we were invited to a family wedding (much more distantly related, we later found out, more like old worldly neighbors). That was why Soniya let me borrow one of her fancy suits. It was such a crazy party!
The DJ blasted punjabi music that my body was vibrating while inside the building. Hired bhangra dancers lead the entertainment on stage while family and friends danced on the floor. A buffet line of food and drink was constantly supplied indoors and well as outdoors. Outside there were many tables and I would guess a few hundred people. I was told by a girl that this was normal and natural. :) Auntie took me around and insisted I eat just about everything available, and met some of her friends and family. Franklin did the same with Brandon. A video cameraman caught us on tape a couple times. I told auntie, "the bride and groom are going to watch the video and wonder who that foreigner is!" Lol. She said, "No, they'll know." :-O We also saw an interesting new trendy hairstyle for young men. It was short and spiky, yet the front was combed down like bangs...  :/ Or as Brandon pits it, it was like a bowl cut with only the center top of the head spiked up. :/
After a short nap we helped with Kingdom Hall cleaning (and mosquitos munched on me). Babaloo helped too. He gave his first Bible reading at last meeting and is a very sweet soon-to-be-brother.
I wasn't quite feeling up to it, but Brandon went with Franklin to his Bible study with the men of a family that is getting baptized at the assembly next week! I got to chat with Harpreet, Soniya's study that came over, about her getting baptized too next week. She is very sweet, and I can tell Soniya is a tough Bible teacher, so I don't have worries about her. :) It was interesting that (if I understood correctly) that a couple years back the police prevented the baptism from happening. They didn't want us to "change peoples' religion". So now the baptisms take place at an unannounced place at a Kingdom Hall pool (since they rent out wedding halls for assemblies).
Tomorrow sounds like it will be a busy day...and we're leaving for Tamil Nadu. 

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