Giving Thanks

On this day of Thanksgiving, I would like to give thanks to my Delhi family.  Part of the expat experience includes being separated from friends and family back home.  Sometimes expats struggle to create a social and support network in our new home.  Or we acquire lots of acquaintances but fail to build deeper connections beyond sharing a drink in a foreign bar.

Maribel's enthusiasm for Crocs shoes was contagious!

I arrived in Delhi alone, and have had to adapt to my new identity as a divorcee.  I hadn't lived alone since college.  So while my apartment was often a sanctuary from the chaos of Delhi, it could also turn into an echo chamber of loneliness.

Celebrating Dorian's Birthday

But I soon developed a circle of friends with whom I've done seemingly everything in India:  sampled new restaurants, played sports, endured boring events, performed Bollywood dance, explored shopping markets, mourned losses, attended fancy balls, celebrated birthdays, eaten Sunday brunch, and, of course, traveled!

Dabbling in Indian culture

So, today I give thanks for Karime, Will, Dorian, Maribel, Yanira, and Troy.  May we continue to enjoy or endure (depends on who you ask!) together our remaining months in Delhi and may we look forward to future adventures in Bolivia, Mexico, and DC or wherever we find ourselves together again.

From left: Maribel, Karime, Will, Dorian, Erica, Yanira, Troy
sharing Thanksgiving together

Bollywood Dancing Divas

When I arrived to India in 2017, it was on my wish list to take dance classes.  I wasn't sure what kind of dance class, or how I would make it happen, but it had been on my mind for some time to learn real dance moves beyond just shaking my booty at the club, so I decided to try to make it a reality.

Enter Manju, a lovely Indian lady I met at a barbecue in 2018.  We chatted for awhile about India and France (she's a Francophone and a Francophile, as am I, although my speaking ability is presently tear-ee-bley.)  Eventually Manju mentioned that she loved to dance and that she loved to teach Bollywood dance. Trying not to appear too eager, I asked her more about that.  She said she currently taught multiple expat dance groups and that she didn't charge any fees because she just loved to dance and loved to share that love and didn't care about making money off it.  It all sounded too good to be true -- there had to be a catch.  I saved Manju's number, but didn't follow up with her.

Fast forward to 2019.  I learned that my friend Yanira was interested in Bollywood dance.  We found a class nearby and tried it out a few times, but we didn't love it that much.  I ran into Manju again in the spring and decided to bite the bullet and ask her about doing classes with us.  We confirmed a time and location and finally six of us had our first class with Manju in June 2019.

We started learning some moves and then the choreography for a full song.  It was a lot of fun, but we wanted more of a challenge.  In August, we started a new song with the goal of performing it at the Embassy's Diwali celebration in October.  Now things were serious!  Ana embarked on shopping expeditions and eventually found beautiful dance outfits for us.  Finally, performance day arrived.  We were all a bit nervous to be performing in front of our bosses, employees, partners, friends, and colleagues.  But we needn't have been nervous...because we were a hit!  The crowd immediately started cheering and clapping and the performance proceeded wonderfully.

Instructor Manju is second from the right

Afterwards, the Public Affairs Section made a short video of our performance and posted it to the Embassy's Facebook page on Diwali.  And it went viral!  It got over 1,000 positive comments (yes thousand!), is the most viewed Embassy Facebook video of 2019, and was picked up by four local news outlets!  Karime joked at our staff meeting the next day that we would be quitting the diplomatic life to launch our dancing careers!

News coverage of our dance!

But before we can start our dancing tour, we need your help!  We need a name!  We hastily decided on "Diwali Divas" moments before going on stage.  But that's too limiting for a group with ambitious goals.  Watch the full video below or the short clip from the Embassy.  Add your name ideas to the comments and the winner will receive a private performance in the city of your choice - provided you cover all our expenses of course! :)  Hey, Divas aren't gonna pay their own way!