so it happend like this...

so i was prepaired to spend a sad christmas in the desert. as i wrote previously i was having afecctionate thoughts of my used to be family and the christmas's past. i really wanted to be a world away for the holidays and forget that they even existed.
but really life, as she usually does, served me up the prettiest slice of cake with all the frosting and piles of flowers.
let me tell you more. i wrote a sad blog, and then went to hunt for desert for the dance crew. i pouted and got a little wet around the eye lashes, and then made it back to the studio. in our little slice of heaven was my odissi family crammed into a kitchen with a gas powered camping stove. we all crouched on the floor and peeled vegtables, made a batch of frosting by stringing everyones memory together, and just had fun.
sunday nights are reserved at the studio for religiouse hindu music and song, so at 6pm our amazing drum master and song master started their thing. travelers and locals alike piled into the little room and we served chai. the feeling of peace and love was all surrounding. the music, as always, was beautiful. the song teacher here has the most amazing voice and i am lucky enough to hear him sing 7days a week.
i sat between some people i recognize from the market, and one of the dancers and really was able just to absorbe the moment and the sound, to think of my time that i've spent wandering, to think of what i am doing now. it really was more than i could ask.
once the singing was done and the conversations closed we brought out a feast that was being put together in the kitchen. the whole school sat down and ate together. small presents were exchange and colleena gave me the most beautiful shawl to keep me warm, since i didn't have a warm one!
then we put on the tunes and listened to turkish 7's and 9's and were given lessons on turkisk romany dance. so amazing! i know where my next trip will be!
we stayed so late that we were locked into the temple and it took us 30mins to wake up the gate keeper. the streets were pretty empty buythe time we parted ways, unless of course you count the dogs and the cows fighting over the scraps from the day. it happened that while i was giving kimberly, another bay area bellydancer, a good night hug a big ol' cow came up and butted me in the back! good thing the mother didn't have horns because it hit me pretty good, kimberly screamed and ran away dragging me with her right into a big pile of cow shit. the poo oozed up over the sides of my floppers and stuck to my foot! oh it was so gross and warm. but really i didn't care, it made me laugh.
so then i set out for my guesthouse and the streets are really empty by now, pushkar goes to bed pretty early sometimes. i hear a motorbike behind me so i step to the side, walking quickly so as not to attract the wrong kind of attention. the bike puls to a stop right in front of me, and low and behold, my guesthouse friend. mr. filter-ji offers me a ride home, cow poo-pie shoe and all.
the next day was just as sweet. early morning to the studio, on my way a little barbershop full of men lean out the doorway and yell "happy new year! happy new year!" i laughed and told them that it was christmas and new years was next week. they shrugged and started yelling "merry christmas! merry christmas!" and one guy says to his client in the chair, "do you know what christmas is?"
we had a big family breakfast with all the food left over from the night before. this time the gypsys came in to help us eat, more music more dancing...i really wish i could say how perfect the day was.
christmas night we had a pizza party at colleenas house and watched a movie, did henna, called my mom and dad, talked more about dancing. walked home through the ghats looking at the sikent lake and the massive stars overhead, and curled up in my creaky indian bed with my fuzzy wuzzy blanket. yup a pretty perfect christmas for me.