Mendhi! or Mehndi?

Hello, again! I'm back from St. Louis, having successfully defended my dissertation. So I have a couple minutes to post pictures and talk about mendhi day (as I like to think of it).

After my last post from India I was sucked into a whirlwind of beauticians and cameras. There were always at least 2 women working very hard to make me look good for the cameras, and then I'd ruin it all by pulling dorky faces once the flashes started going off. At least that's the excuse I make for myself. Anyway, the first step in my makeover process was the mehndi. One of Vivek's relatives was kind enough to drag her friend over to our hotel so they could then spend many, many hours applying mendhi on me and my mom and sister. It took both women two hours to cover my hands, arms, and feet. Here's a picture my brother took.
Here's what they did to my feet..
And, here's what the mendhi looked like after it dried and I (finally!) got to remove it.

Pretty orange, eh? It did darken overnight.
Anyway, I realize that this mendhi story is probably pretty boring. There was more to mendhi day though. Later on we went back to Commercial Street to pick up the Sari tops from the tailor. But, again, I can't think of a great story to tell. The tailors were pretty cool though. They had basically set up shop in a two-level room that was about the size of two suvs stacked on top of each other. They had a couple old sewing machines and giant sheers. Scraps of cloth and thread were everywhere. And, as we waited for something (I can't remember what), we were able to watch as a new kameez was made by hand - with no pattern, just a guy with scissors. I guess that I can add this to the list of interesting experiences that I have not documented.

Anyway, I hope all is well with everyone. I will try to add more about the next day (Reception Day) soon.