Welcome to India

Each time we go to a new location, we are given a welcome. You may be thinking this means someone shakes our hand and says, "welcome!" But, no, in India this is an ornate ritual. You start by gathering many, many people, who are the welcomers, into a building. If you have lost power, you move them all outside. Then you have the Americans arrive one half to one hour late, so everyone can sit and wait patiently. (I am pretty sure the word 'India' must mean,'sit and wait patiently' because there is a lot of that around here.) Then, when everyone is sitting, the speeches begin: many, many speeches, followed by some form of lovely entertainment, like children dancing. Then follows more speeches and then the official welcomes. This involves the head leader of our group or one of his designees receiving a lovely garland. The garlands are often bright, decorative, gold decorated necklaces, or elaborate flower garlands. Then the leader or other dignitaries are wrapped in a shawl as another honor. Then more speeches. And some more speeches. Finally, we move on to see what we came to see, or begin our work. These welcomes last 45 mintues to several hours. Amazing!