INDIA!: HAPPY DIWALI!

Yesterday was the official day of Diwali.
Wednesday marked the start of the festival which is technically a 5 day festival but the middle day (yesterday) is THE DIWALI. Wednesday evening, we dresses in traditional clothing and preformed puja (a type of prayer ceremony in front of the temple in our house) and set lit diya in important places all around the house to show the god where to come and bless. After dinner we went out shopping for silver and gold. It is traditional that ever household buy something, it can be anything, silver or gold on the first day of Diwali, all the jewelry shops were packed with people. We also stopped at a huge market area that had been set up where there were dozens of stall selling every imaginable variety of fire works.
Thursday night, after puja, Shruti, my host dad, and I set of some of the fireworks we had bought. After dinner, we all drove around the city stopping at sweet shops looking for the best one to buy from. Driving around the city at night during Diwali is really cool. All of the shops and home are fully decked out in lights and decoration. The mall front are covered in strings of lights. Our own house has hundreds of lights string all over the outside. People set of crackers and fireworks in the streets and run around with sparklers, which may not be the safest thing, it gives the whole city a very festive mood.
Last night, I dressed in a borrowed silk sari, we had a longer puja and put more diya than previous night out. In each room, my host mother had painted a small design on the floor to place the diya in the center of. I was going to take a picture of the one in my room but the maid mopped the floor before I could this morning. We ate a large, traditional dinner, sitting on the floor and then set of the rest of the fireworks we had bought. The fireworks started before it was even dark out and had not stopped by 1 in the morning when I went to bed. This morning, people were still setting them off despite the lack of darkness. Out my window, I could see them both near and far, we could also hear many more than we could see. The rest of the night, we ate traditional, homemade snacks and visited neighbors, as well as welcomed visitors into our home. My host parents received at least a dozen phone calls from family whole live in other cities.
Today, the day after Diwali, my host parents are out visiting family members and paying their respects. Shruti and I are at home relaxing.

Our house all lit up for Diwali, my room is window behind the colored lights.

The electric diya lights along the wall outside our house.

My house.

Baba, a servant/ guard, and tuffy, the dog, in the gateway of our house.

The garden lights.

Rangoli, colored sand designs, are made everyday out in front of the house.

A real diya sitting in the wall by the gate, they were placed all over the house to show the god where to enter to bless a place like next to doors, windows, and on balconies.