One of the most awesome things about working at a university is that you don’t have to seek out cultural, creative, and interesting opportunities. They pretty much present themselves to you everyday. And most of the time the stuff is free. Oddly enough, most college students don’t take advantage of all the freebies that are offered (and there are a lot, from classical music and dance concerts, to art exhibits, to famous speakers, and that barely begins to scrape the surface.)
Well, this week is Cultural Immersion Week and yesterday Indian Culture was celebrated. It was really interesting to learn about the different attire and fabrics their sari’s are made of. I tried a super sweet Indian dessert (made by one of the student tutors!) and I even got a henna tattoo. Check it out!
This is what it looked like right after the girl drew it for me. The design is a peacock. I asked what it meant, and she told me they typically draw a peacock on a woman’s hand on her wedding day. I laughed and said “My boyfriend’s not going to like that very much.”
Here is the detail of the ink after it had been drying for more than an hour. I was told to leave the ink on to dry for as long as possible, that the longer it dries, the more vivid the color would be. I waited for probably two hours and the ink started drying and flaking off a little bit. And since it was almost time to go to a business etiquette dinner, I washed the ink off.
Isn’t it neat? Today the design is a little more brownish in color, but the design should last for almost two weeks before fading away. My boyfriend saw it asked, “What is that on your hand?” (luckily it was after I washed the dried ink off.) When I told him what it was and what they told me it meant he just said, “Oh.” I know he’s just happy it’s not a real tattoo. And you know, I’m ok with this being the closest to a real tattoo I’ll ever get!
Andrea Unplugged 
