Many Stories...Where to begin???

So the past week and a half has been a little "crazy busy", as Caleb and I like to call it. We've been preparing for our Shirni Khori (literally "giving of sweets") AKA our engagement party which was on May 4th. I guess I didn't realize what a big deal it actually is here. Think of it as a dress rehearsal for the wedding with guests. Anyway, we had a goal of making it a fun event where a mix of nationals and westerns could get together and feel comfortable and have a good time. I think we succeeded with many answered prayers from the Father.

Okay, I'll back up to give you some fun details of the week. I actually got engaged (in US terms) on Monday. Caleb and I had to run a lot of errands that afternoon for the party. Part of the tradition of Shirni Khori is the giving of gifts to each other's family, so I was buying outfits or material for all of his family. We also had things like the sweets to give out as favors and a few decoration type things to pick up. We finished around 7:00, and Caleb offered to take me out to dinner since we'd missed it at the school. I went home to change and about 30 minutes later he picked me up and we headed to the Serena (see my post for Valentine's Day). Once we got there, he said that he'd heard they were building a pool out by the garden so we went to check it out. Then on our way back to the restaurant, as we walked through the garden, Caleb had someone deliver a package for me and proposed under the stars in the garden. It was truly wonderful. Then we went in for dinner and he had a bouquet of iris (my favorite flower that just happens to be in season now) for me at the table. We had a wonderful dinner and evening together.

Then on Thursday, the real fun began... I went to the salon to be "made-up" appropriately for the bride at an engagement party. Luckily we have a salon that is owned by a western lady married to a national with national workers. They do a good job of balancing the two cultural expectations of beauty. It was a 4 hour process of hair, threading/waxing, hands, feet, and make-up. Here are some pictures...
Hosai (Caleb's Sister) and I at the beauty parlor.

This isn't surgery. It's threading. Basically they pull the twist thread together and apart to pull out unwanted facial hair. It hurt a little more than waxing, but they did a very nice job.

After Hosai's hair was done, she helped with mine. It took four hands (and lots of hairspray) to get it to its final position.

At one point Ihad 3 people working on me. One doing hair, one doing make-up, and one doing my hands. It was quite the experience for the girl who never even wears make-up.

I was a little nervous about the whole make-up thing. I'd seen some pretty scary looking brides in pictures and in person. I brought along Hosai, Missy, Charlene, and Karen to be my voices of reason. It was all good until I began to hear Karen tell Missy that my lips looked just like the Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz. Sure enough, the next time I looked in the mirror, I almost cried because they were SO bright, and I was so pale (a desired look for the bride here). The lady doing my make-up could tell that I was a bit upset, so she toned it down (Some). Here are the lips BEFORE the toning down.

Last but not least, my arms had to be waxed. It was much less painful than the threading, and I must admit that it probably was for the best since I was wearing a short-sleeved sari. (By the way, women do wear short sleeves or even no sleeves for such events here.)

Here's my whole support team. Missy (in red) is our Kindergarten teacher from Ark! Charlene (in blue) is our 2nd grade teacher/librarian from VA. Karen (in orange) is our Administrative Assistant from Michigan/Oklahoma.

Hosai and I got fully dressed there, and then Caleb picked us up and took us to the party where we walked in together. I think we were supposed to be fashionably late (at least 45 minutes) but we actually arrived only 5 minutes late, and that was due to some traffic issues.

This is the Campbell family. They have been mentors to Caleb for about 7 years now. Martin was our official photographer at the party. We are so blessed to have this family in our lives.

Just like a wedding in the States, we did the cake thing....

And the punch/juice thing.

Then we handed out sweets to our guests. In this culture, anytime anything good happens to you (you get engaged, have a baby, buy a house, etc) you are expected to give your friends sweets in celebration.

Next came the exchanging of gifts. I gave clothes, and I recieved jewelry, quite a bit in fact. This is about half of it.

Here are some final pictures outside with guests...