People and friends from all over the world

It's the first week of Spring and I survived the horrific Winter fashion, haha! It is common to see locals wear two-toed socks with their sandals and sarees, older ladies wearing beanies that say “Canada' on it, open tummies with a scarf, men with sleeveless woolen glitter sweaters, and cows, dogs and goats wearing jerseys. What a hilarious spectacle!

Diwali is a festival and celebration comparable to Christmas to Westerners and I experienced this for the first time. Imagine (really imagine) an entire country lighting fireworks all at the same time for 2 days non-stop. It's like something out of a movie, a war-zone - distant, nearby, noisy and everywhere you go. I'm used to seeing fireworks perhaps twice a year – New Year's Eve being one. Here it's at EVERY wedding (I've been to MANY), every celebration, every festival (and there are many) and every time you feel like it. The dogs & cats are freaked out and the earth is disgustingly polluted and littered as people just leave the packets and residue lying around. It killed it for me. Fireworks will not light up my face with a smile anymore.

And then there was Holi – the festival of colours. On this day, people throw and smear coloured powder (more potent mixed with water) on each other. It's a playful, colourful & fun event, although it leaves a dark mark on the environment. There are chemicals and oxidized metals in those powders, it's poor for your health and skin and stains everything it gets in contact with. It probably takes a year to degrade just in time for the next Holi, haha.

I don't mean to sound negative as much as realistic. Tourists who travel to India often say how nice and positive the people here are and that even though traffic is mad, they rarely make accidents. It is, afterall, a funny, unusual experience. But, reality check!! People are miserable and there are nasty accidents, DAILY and a life almost means next to nothing (I often see pictures of dead persons in the newspaper appealing for identification). It's a 'sweep the dirt under the carpet' attitude. Thing is, no one will ever say anything bad about India when asked about their experience. I gave my honest opinion once when asked, and I thought my head would be chopped off. So defensive!
A lot of celebrities come here all the time, which is pretty cool – it's like, ah, Lady Gaga this week (whom I saw live by the way) and Oprah the next.

I have been given the amazing opportunity to model in India. Just when I thought I'm over the hill for that, I found myself catwalking in Fashion Week. It was a dream come true!

I'm a celebrity, get me out of here....