after the wedding we got to hang out with the bride and groom and their families, which was really nice! they really welcomed us in. the evening after the wedding we got dinner with a bunch of cousins in a very nice, almost suburban area of pune, and then dessert at mcdonalds for someone’s birthday; whereby the birthday person goes around and feeds a bite of their dessert to everyone.
the next day the groom took a group of foreigner wedding attendees on a tour of pune! we went to the shaniwar wada, a pasha fort in downtown pune, and walked around downtown and through a hindu temple. we then got a lunch of noddles and dosas at one of his favorite restaurants, including an amazing dessert called a felluti, a rich concoction of vermicelli noodles, cream, jellies, ice cream, and cashews.
pune is considered the cultural capital of maharashta state, has a very high quality of life, and is one of the cleanest cities in india. there are many excellent universities, and over half of the foreign university students in india are in pune.
we then proceeded to another function with the bride’s family – by this point we were the only non-family members so felt quite honored!
lastly, we headed out into the countryside to the groom’s family’s “farmhouse,” which was a very luxurious home surrounded by manicured lawns and herb gardens. we felt very welcomed!
