Holi Fest

I realize this is a very late posting but I had to get this event on the blog! Two Saturdays ago the crew, John and I took the long trek down south of the border to Spanish Fork. I should note that in Utah my southern border starts just after IKEA, I hate hate hate Happy Valley, I feel like you need a passport to go there. Good thing I have recently got a new one! What a scary place! We remembered not to drink the water and everyone remained healthy throughout our journey to the heart of Spanish Fork and into the surreal Hindu Temple.
The Spanish Fork Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple hosts the annual Holi Festival! It was so crazy and so fun! Despite all of the dumb Happy Valley residents and the stupid BYU children, the festival was very fun.. I'll let the pictures do the talking, but first, here is a general description of the Holi Festival (courtesy of Wikipedia):

"Holi (Hindi), or Phagwa (Bhojpuri), also called the Festival of Colors, is a popular Hindu spring festival observed in India,Guyana and Nepal. In West Bengal, it is known as Dolyatra (Doljatra) or Boshonto Utsav ("spring festival").

On the first day, burning of the demoness Holika, Hiranyakashipu's sister, occurs in huge bonfires at night. It is called as Kama dahanam in Andhra Pradesh.

On the second day, known as Dhulhendi, people spend the day throwing colored powder and water at each other. The spring season, during which the weather changes, is believed to cause viral fever and cold. Thus, the playful throwing of the colored powders has a medicinal significance: the colors are traditionally made of Neem, Kumkum, Haldi, Bilva, and other medicinal herbs prescribed by Āyurvedic doctors. A special drink called thandai is prepared, sometimes containing bhang (Cannabis sativa)."

Before the color shower


and I cleaned purple powder out of my ears for a week..