Durbar

A Durbar is defined by the Merriam Webster online dictionary as "A formal reception held by an Indian or African prince or chief". On March 5, the day before Independence Day, the international Programmes Office organized a Welcome Durbar for us, and I think that I will try to use the word as much as possible from now on. Could be a great Balderdash word. The festivities were outdoors behind the library among several fountains and featured a catered dinner (food is the way to win over college students after all) among a program of performances, and dancing, most of which was too far away for me to actually see. A girl from our program named Andrea performed a variation of Over the Rainbow, and did a fantastic job. Other than that, it was a lot of hanging out with people from my program looking warily at the other mostly American students. I have a friend named Raia in another program, so it was good to see her. After dinner though, most of us took off and hung out in the dorms. It was fun, though I do now resent fountains on campus because the water has not run in my dorm since that hour last week, so I'm always a little insulted by watching it shoot out of a giant chicken or other fountain sculpture. But I guess that's why I study water resource management.