One amazingly fantastic thing that I went and experienced was Holi, which is the festival of colors. As a background to Holi, courtesy of the wonderful world of wikipedia, Holi originated from Holika, the evil sister of demon king Hiranyakashipu. King H earned a boon that made him virtually indestructible but the special powers blinded him and he grew arrogant, felt that he was God and demanded everyone worship only him. Prahlada, King H's son, disagreed and remained devoted to Vishnu. Holika, Prahlada's evil aunt, tricked him into sitting on a pyre with her but Holika was wearing a cloak that made her immune from the fire; however, the cloak flew to Prahlada and covered him while Holika burned.
Vishnu appeared and killed King H and the bonfire is a reminder of the symbolic victory of good over evil, of Prahlada over King H, of the fire that burned Holika and the day after Holika bonfire is celebrated as Holi. Holi itself has many purposes. It is the celebration of the beginning of a new season, spring. It is also identified as a celebration for agriculture, commemorated good spring harvests and the fertile land. It is also a time to enjoy spring's colors and saying farewell to winter. During Holi, people are spray colored powered solutions at each other, laugh and celebrate or they can use dry colored powder. It is a time of laughter, love and fun times.
It was amazing!!!!! When we first got there, there were people everywhere, and that did not change. They were so happy and having fun and you knew that it was going to be a fun time. The first thing we had to do was to go into the temple and pray to Krishna - it was gorgeous and so very serene, which was contradictory to what was happening outside hahaha. Then, once we got outside, we went and bought out colors and joined in on the fun. I will tell you this - if you do not like random strangers touching your face, throwing stuff on you and people invading your personal space, Holi is not for you.
The first time a random stranger, not just any stranger but a random one at that, comes up to rub color on your face, yeah, it may creep you out a little bit, but after the umpteenth time that this happens, and it does not happen for quite some time, you start to miss it. Just being in that environment is a spirit lifter as mostly everybody is in such a good mood and people were very respectful of each other. Every hour there was the big color throw which covered the sky in powder and the music was very inspirational and soul hitting. The colors that we could buy were orange, yellow, blue, green and red; however, once we saw that people had purple color, the hunt was on to find it. I think the people that had the purple thought we were more crazy than Holi-induced crazy when we wanted to get the purple thrown on us. It was kind of insane how happy we were with the purple. We did not eat any of the food but it smelled delicious It was such a fun time and I am so glad I got to experience it. However, what I did learn was that when doing something like this on a Saturday, I should not push my body at volleyball on Friday night as I could not move much at Holi and felt so very much like a grandmother that I get called sometimes. By my friends. Oh so lovingly-like. One definitely needs to be able to move and dance and get jostled around at Holi. Overall, wicked fun time and it was something that people should experience at least once in their life.
I also got the ability to actually see the cherry blossoms this year. If you recall from last year, we were early to go see the cherry blossoms and never got to see them but this year, I made sure to go check them out. THEY ARE GORGEOUS!!!!! I got down to the tidal basin a little early, but clearly not early enough since there were people everywhere still, and started making my way around the tidal basin. They were in full bloom and smelled wonderful and were just gorgeous. And it was such a nice day as well so that totally helped (which is also a good thing as, if you know me at all, I dislike heat but since this day did not make me heat grumpy like it normally would have, it may also mean I am starting to adapt to the heat, which will make this summer a lot more enjoyable). There were people everywhere coming out to see the cherry blossoms and walking the path was kind of difficult at some points and at one spot I imagined that I was going to get jostled and drop my camera into the tidal basin and then I would have had to punch a person, and potentially get deported. Not a fun thought. So I clutched my camera very tightly when close to the water. I get around to Jefferson and I do not know how to put it into words for you but sitting at the edge, feet dangling and just overlooking the water, the paddleboaters and the Washington Monument (finally unscaffolded and ready too be visited), it was heavenly. Nothing else mattered that day, the sun was shining, I had my music and I was getting some color (the color being red as per normal) and I was so happy. It is those moments of bliss and happiness that means so much to me, especially since this semester has been fraught with stress and anxiety up the wazoo. 
I was also very fortunate to have hit the cherry blossoms on the day that I did as there was a celebration at the Jefferson Memorial to celebrate his birthday. Men in uniforms. Oh. My. God. Being in DC is perfect for this. So very hot. After the eye candy, kept on moseying along and found a perfect spot to hunker down and start some studying. Which never happened as it was such a gorgeous day out and I had no motivation to get done any studying. If it is getting this hot already, it is going to be a warm summer I think. 
With summer coming up and school slowly coming to an end, it means a lot of stuff is going to be happening. I need to start figuring out for sure and definitely what I am doing with my OPT/visa stuff, get ready for another potential move, start applying for like 10 jobs a day, figure out how to transfer my masters up to Alberta and BC and everywhere else and way more touristy stuff. If you so my list for touristy stuff, it would be super overwhelming. And I potentially have about 3 months to get everything in that I want to see before I move. I don't want to move but it is a possibility. Gah I hate thinking about it all. This all being said, I hope that you guys will be reading a lot more stuff now that school is done (although I am still at the jail 3 days a week to get in all my hours before May 31). I also wish I had time to head home and get some Canadianness but I do not think that will be an option. Anywho, I miss you all and can't wait to see you again (whenever that will be) and I will keep you updated as to my job huntings, potential movings and if I remain an American quasi citizen for a bit longer. 
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