Life is normal?

It sure was nice to have a regular weekend at home. I am starting to say home when I mean Bangalore now, I guess that means I am really getting accustomed to being here.
Friday night Anna had a school dance, and she looked very grown up--EEKS!! She came home with three of her friends who spent the night. They stayed up late, baked cup cakes, ate chips and watched movies. Fortunately they were considerate and didn't keep us up.
Saturday was a day spent mostly on household and personal things. I went and got a haircut for a whopping Rs40. For that 40 Rupees, I got a haircut, beard trim, shave, and a head massage. The estabilshment, Super Gents Beauty Parlor, is just around the corner from our house. I could have walked there, but I asked Manju to drive for a couple of reasons, I wanted to make a quick trip as Cindy needed me back at the house, and I wanted an estimate of what the haircut should cost. Remember that I got a haircut at the mall shortly after we arrived, I paid RS450 then. I guess I'll skip the mall from now on. After I got back, Cindy went to pick up her new outfit for the wedding we were invited to on Monday. I stayed home, waited for the UPS (Uninteruptable Power Supply) to be installed, and for Anna and her friends to wake up, have breakfast etc.
After Cindy got back and Anna's friends were gone, we went shopping for Flowers to bring to the wedding, and for an outfit for Anna to wear. Anna was a bit tired and it wasn't the most fun outing, but we saw some wonderful art at the "mall" where we went-- It is called Raintree. Then we went home and watched some movie on TV.
Sunday we let the driver have the day off, and we just stayed home. Cindy was knitting, I connected the printer to the computer and updated sw, finally I cooked pasta for dinner. All in all, just a nice relaxing day at home.
Monday we went to the wedding reception. I had asked what kind of a gift we should bring, and 2 different co-workers suggested that flowers were very appropriate, so we brought a nice large bouquet. Cindy had a beautiful red outfit with gold and sequins on it. Anna was in a very nice black skirt with white top. I didn't get pictures, but Cindy did. I hope she posts a couple of them for you all to see. We were advised to arrive around 1 hour after the invitation stated. We did and it seems we arrived just at the right time. Things were just getting rolling. The Bride and Groom came in, followed by the videographer, then they got up on stage and stood waiting for people to come greet them and get pictures. As I am the bride's superior at work, I was apparently a guest of honor and got to go up in the second group, after all of the men in the family went up for greetings and pictures. Then we were ushered down to a large room downstairs. There were about 15 people ahead of us. We sat down at long narrow tables with cups and bananna leaves on them. We were instructed to wash the leaf off (actually it was done for us). Then a parade of men with buckets of various vegetable dishes, rice, desserts and bread came by the other side of the table and filled the leaf with food, and then they came back and served seconds, and then thirds. We all managed to eat with our right hand only, and left the table totally stuffed. While we were eating the room had filled up pretty well, and they were already cleaning off the table ahead of us, and the other end of ours before we were done eating.
We were ushered up stairs again to the reception hall. People were still standing in line to talk to the bride and groom. We were told they might be there till 11pm or later, we had arrived at 7. After they met the bride and groom, they went down to eat. We met several relatives of the bride and groom, and spent a long time talking with one gentleman who lives 6 months of the year in Banglore and 6 months of the year in the USA. He got his US citizenship, and worked there for many years. He and his wife are both retired now. Anyways after another hour or so, we decided it was time to leave so that Anna could complete some of her homework. We got home just in time for Manju to dash off to catch the last bus home. What a day!! But we survived our first Indian wedding reception.