strikes and celebrations

greetings all. this blog comes courtesy of a strike...and a holiday. a little bit of both apparently, but the most important ascept is that we have the day off. again. i've been here 3 weeks and i'm fairly certain that this is my third strike. some are 'stronger' than others- meaning if buses run and you attempt to ride a bus, you risk rocks being slung at your head. or if you open your business, you run the risk of it being burned down. thankfully, the one time i did ride the bus during a strike, it apparently was a 'weak' strike, meaning my head remained free from any collisions with rocks. of course, just to be safe i remained low and away from the window to the best of my ability. however today is a 'strong' strike. meaning everything is on lock down. no school, no work, no public transportation. i'm not complaining. it allowed me to sleep in and to start chipping away at a to-do list that somehow managed to follow me across continents.

however, according to our yoga teacher (who might just know everything) they did a study last year and discovered that out of the 12 months in a year, people only worked for 10 months. not including normal time off or holidays. just strikes. wow. i think it's time for kerala to look into the whole communist strike method and question if it is really working. (well- i guess it's working if you have a love for spontaneous days off). the good news is that people are out enjoying the break. i watched a father teaching his son how to ride a bike. a charming scene until he let go and the little tyke went crashing down. regardless, i guess the moral of the story is 'when in india, go on strike' (said by some brilliant man). oh, i forgot to mention that during my first week of class, i got approached to join in a hunger strike (accidentally i think i agreed). something i wouldn't have an issue partaking in, however it was never described to be exactly what they were striking for, and from what i could tell, no one else really knew either. india just really loves strikes apparently.

well, one of my all time favorite holidays is tomorrow. 4th of july. every year my family rises early, heads into dc to secure a spot on the highly coveted capital grass and spends the day in the sun, eating subs, playing all sorts of games, and listening to patriotic music. waiting with thousands of our closest friends for the thrilling 45 minutes firework show surrounding the monument. one of my favorite days of the year, hands down. my heart will, without a doubt be there with the rest of the turner clan...

however, have no fear, i am not giving up celebration. you all should be proud to know that we are celebrating our nations independence even while on foreign soil. the party is coming together quite nicely. it includes our roof, fireworks, barbecue (granted indian style, but still counts for something), kingfishers a plenty, mosquito coils, candles, music (and of course dancing), fireworks- yes that's right, we managed to hunt down some fireworks, and everything red white and blue. in fact its a requirement to be admitted into the party. we even have some indian attendees who are looking for a good party- and turns out, know a little something of independence from the british themselves. so it should be a good time. stay tuned for pictures of the festivities. yay america!