Diwali

Elizabeth and her buddy Wasan a few weeks ago

In our apartment building, there is a very sweet family which recently moved here from India, They have a five year old little boy, Wasan, who goes to E's school. The two have gotten to be good friends and enjoy playing together out back after school. On Tuesday evening, Wasan's Mom came by and tried to ask me somethig. However, the language barrier was pretty significant, as she speaks very little English, and I speak no Hindu. But I managed to understand that she wanted to come by early the next moring with some "food" and "gifts" for Elizabeth. I was a little confused as to why she wanted to do this, but I said sure. So the next morning, Wasan and his parents showed up with a very sweet platter of food and little gifts for E. I was very touched and thought it was such a sweet gesture, and they explained to me that it was an Indian custom. I wanted to find out more about this custom, so I asked my supervisor at work, who has two adopted daughters from India, if she knew anything about this. She did, and explained to me that it is called Diwali, and is a major holiday in India. I feel really bad that I didn't "get it" when they came by. It must be so hard to be in a totally different culture and want to celebrate an important holiday and no one else around you really understands.