I don't remember when the thought occurred to me but a friend posted pictures of a parade/celebration she attended in Richmond Hill,Queens and I was floored. Phagwah looked like the best time ever and I unfortunately missed it. A day filled with fun, food, and religious celebration went pretty much overlooked by New York as a whole. Just a small portion of Queens went hog wild for it. And with that knowledge I was floored. I'm so used to celebrating only our nations holidays that I found it easy to overlook the holidays of our friends, ancestors, or neighbors.
I know it will be damn near impossible to celebrate every holiday, and what I can't do this year I can always try the year after. It's also hard to actually understand the history of certain days, but I hope it won't stop me from trying. All in all I want to attempt to understand and love every culture, it's local customs, it's people, and what better way than by celebrating their holidays?
In the end I expect that I will have learned some great new culinary dishes, have boned up on different nations' history and had a jolly good time. And as always I invite you to celebrate with me, wherever you may be.
