Greeted By Family

Before getting on the plane to head to Delhi, I was incredibly anxious and nervous because of the way everyone talked about how it would be.  However, something absolutely incredible happened! One of dad's dearest friends is from India and has family in both Delhi and Agra.  When I stepped off the plane at about 8pm, I was greeted by three wonderful people- Jiya, Teena, and Maninder.  Maninder is the uncle of dad's friend, Teena is his wife, and Jiya is their beautiful daughter in law.  Once I got my bags, which sadly they made me check because it weighed too much, we hopped into the car and started driving.  What I found out about ten minutes into the carride, was that we were headed to a pre-wedding party! Luckily, I was somewhat dressed for the occasion as I wore an outfit to school that I had bought in India.  Maninder informed me that he told his good friend, whose son's wedding it was, that he was bringing a famous artist from New York so I was to play the part.  I was happy to play along, but bent it slightly to say that I was a children's book artist because at least it was sort of my field.  Of course this never came up in conversation, but I was completely prepared if it had.  As soon as we walked into the party, we were all greeted with open arms by the family of the groom.  It was clear just how much these two men care about each other and he was thrilled to have me there! He even pulled Jiya and me onto the dancefloor- yes, that's right I got my groove on at an India party =).  Also, at an Indian wedding they put Henna, Mhandi (spelling?) in Hindi, on everyone's hand.  The dude drawing on my hands did an awesome job!  I was totally caught off gaurd with the night's events but I had a great time getting to know Maninder, Teen, and Jiya, and above all was thrilled to be there with them in safe hands.  Because I was leaving for Jaipur in the early morning, we left the party on the early side, which I felt bad about because we had arrived late due to my flight arrival time.  About an hour later we pulled up to a magnificent home in the Friend's Colony in the southern part of Delhi.  The house was decorated beautifully and the room I was to stay in was beyond comfortable.  By the time I got to sleep I was only in for about a four hour nap as I had to make a 6am bus to get to Jaipur in the morning so I quickly got into bed and fell fast asleep.