"Why are you so red?"

Because I'm a very white, white girl. Last night, my friends and I went to a festival to celebrate the state of Rajasthan. It was really hot last night and the food was really spciy, so naturally, I turned a nice bright shade of red, hence why I was asked the question.

Also, it you are a said white girl, with ancestry stemming from northern Europe, you probably have quite a bit of blond hair on your arm. Or at least I do. Indians do not have hairy arms, at least not Indian women. This will all make sense in a moment.

So the friend's sister said "oh you should get hennah done!" What a great idea! It is almost the equivalent of coming back from the islands with braids and beads, but an Indian was getting it done and encouraging me to do it, so I did it. They did a sloppier job on my hands - probably because I'm not Indian. So after the hennah dries, you are supposed to put a lemon sugar mixture on it and then let it dry again. So I sat in my room, watching Spiderman 2 and tended to my hennah. It finally dried. Hurrah! The moment of unveiling!

ARRRGGGHHHH! Dried sugar, lemon water on dried organic stuff? YEOW!!! It was worse than ripping off a bandaid because it was in bits. Little detailed bits. My arms were more red than my face was a few hours earlier. In any case, now I'm all Madonna'd out with my hennah.