A festival just ended here- because there is always a festival starting, continuing or ending here. I count as strange the nights that I can’t here chanting and drums beats going on somewhere. I can’t tell you the number of times I would be eating supper in my apartment and some procession with guys wailing on drums, music blaring on loud speakers and dancing groups of women and children or guys would be moving down the street outside my window. Well, I guess I can tell you, come to think of it. 6. But that’s, like, a lot. That is 6 more times than it has happened in Seattle. And it is about twice a month. People like to celebrate stuff here.

Navratri was the celebration. This is a shrine to Durga, the powerful goddess who is worshipped during this festival. Nam’s mom sniffed at it and said that the one last year was fancier. How?!!??! How was it fancier? You would have to pass out LSD to the audience to make this shrine look more ornate. Nothing is shinier than this thing. It has all the shiny.