Cultural appreciation

Aliyah Singleton

Aliyah, Olivia, Rebecca, Wujun, Sierra, and
Esther getting their henna tattoos!

Wednesday was a very cultural and exciting day for me. Team Woodlawn planned the entire day to explore Indian culture on Devon Ave. In the morning, three Indian women from different parts of India explained their migration and their life in America. It was interesting to hear about how most Indians move to America to find better business and educational opportunities, rather than to escape persecution, violence, or poverty. I loved how the women said that even though they chose to stay in America they still stick to their respective cultures by wearing traditional Indian clothing, eating Indian food, teaching their children their native languages, and practicing their religious traditions. They also told us of some cool places to check out on Devon, which happened to be very fun. Later in the day we ate at a famous Indian restaurant, "Hema's Kitchen". The food there was delicious and my favorite was the garlic naan. We explored many clothing and jewelry shops where I bought some pretty blue and gold colored bangles. Its very common to see mangos at many of the grocery stores and food shops. I don't like mangos at all, but Tom encouraged me to try a mango lassi when he bought one and it was surprisingly good. Although trying lots of Indian foods was fun and new, my favorite part of the day was getting a henna tattoo. It was very quick and fun and pretty. I plan on going back to Devon to try more exciting things related to Indian culture.