USA! USA! USA!

Hello All!

We are back in the good ole USofA! Our last few days in India were incredible. We spent one night in Jaipur, one night in Agra, and two nights in Delhi before heading to Mumbai. In Jaipur we road elephants, toured pink palaces, and were invited to eat lunch at the Royal Family's private club. In Agra we saw the beautiful Taj Mahal. Even though it was overcast the mausoleum was stunning. The marble carvings blew my mind. I think J took at least 100 pictures of the architecture. We decided to be a bit touristy in Delhi and signed up for a hop-on, hop-off bus service. It was cheap, fast, and best of all air conditioned! Delhi is the capital of India. It was the most crazy city I have ever been to. It made Manhattan seem like suburbia. In Mumbai we stayed with our landlord and his wife. We spent our days relaxing at a coffee shop called Leaping Windows. We met their friends, ate cupcakes, and went sightseeing. Our flight back to the US was nice even though we barely slept.

While on our week long vacation we traveled by train, bus, subway, elephant, rickshaw, bicycle rickshaw, and taxi. I think by now the only mode of transportation we missed was by boat. It was an incredible adventure, one neither J or I will ever forget. Being thrust into a completely different culture changes a person's outlook forever. I know J and I are both happily different because of our trip. We are thankful to be back at home safe and sound but are missing our new friends in India. We wish everyone the best of luck and stay tuned for our next adventure, whatever that may be.

Sorry for the delay

Wow! It has been 13 days since the last update. I'm super sorry about that! John and I have been incredibly busy the past two weeks. John has healed very well, almost all of his skin has grown back!

So what has happened the past few weeks? On July 7th we went to the Agakahn Palace. This was the palace in which Gandhi was imprisoned for two years. His wife and secretary both died while being imprisoned in Pune. After the palace we went to the biggest mall I have ever been to in my life called Phoenix Mall. It took us the rest of the day to walk through the mall. We found a spa and I have been wanting to get a pedicure for a while. I got the fish pedicure! As gross as it sounds it was the most wonderful experience ever. You place your feet in a huge glass case of fish and they nibble everything off your feet for about 20 minutes then you get a 20 minute foot massage. It was the best $3 I have ever spent. I wish pedicures were that cheap in the US.

On July 8th we went to Parvati Hill, the highest point in Pune. There are 108 stairs that leads to four Hindu temples and a museum with a bunch of artifacts from Pune. We spent a few hours walking around and looking at the places on top of the hill. It was a great way to spend our Sunday afternoon.

This past weekend John and I, along with the two other girls from Johns university, traveled to Ahmedabad to visit his professor and see the campus of the National Institute of Design (NID). The campus was beautiful, NID is the number one design school in India and one of the best design schools in the world. The work that the students produce is unbelievable. On Friday the 13th we flew very early in the morning and ate breakfast with some of J's professors students. We got a tour of the campus and then went to see another campus of NID where the graduate students take their classes which was 45 minutes away. We toured that facility and then went by rickshaw to the Akshardham Temple. It was the most beautifully carved temple we have seen in India. In 2002 it was bombed so since then nobody is allowed to bring their phones or cameras inside. I'm sad we didn't get to take pictures. Everything was carved out of marble. It was incredible. We went shopping in an open air market and I bargained a 500 rupees purse down to 115 rupees. I was quite pleased! After we got back we met up with some friends of J's professor and they cooked us dinner. They food was delicious, they cooked us chicken that tasted like chicken adobo, rice, vegetable patties, and curd. 

The next morning (Saturday the 14th) we took a bus, then a rickshaw to the Adalaj Step Well located around 1 hour from Ahmedabad. The step well was again carved from marble and was the only source of water for the area. It was massive inside. The people who carved the well were very talented. It was breathtakingly beautiful, which is strange to say about a well. We took a bunch of pictures, I'll upload them to Facebook soon. We spend the rest of the afternoon going around the old city looking at architecture. In the past, wood carving was very popular in the city. We saw a huge window that had been carved to look like a tree and then to a school that was decorated for three stories in very fine detailed wood carvings. The head of the school let us go inside. The inside was just as ornate as the outside. It was very cool to see the two examples of traditional woodcarvings. In the early evening we went to a popular store to purchase fabrics and stuff. Instead of buying things I got Mehndi on my hands, which is often called Henna in the US. The design was traditional for the state we were located in. I have been wanting to get it done for a few weeks now. There are pictures on Facebook so you can see them. Pauline, another student from J's university, got it done as well. When both of us were finished we picked up our bags from NID and went to the airport. We barely made our plane (it left 30 minutes early) and then flew back to Pune. 

Yesterday, our landlord (Aditya) and his wife (Sthubanta) hung out with us all day. They have been visiting Pune since Wednesday night. They live in Mumbai. It is a lot of fun to hang out with them, they have spent a lot of time explaining certain things about the Indian culture that we did not understand. We spent the afternoon talking with them, then went to Sthubanta's parents house for dinner. The food was excellence. We learned a lot about Indian politics and the history of what happened after the British left India. Adithya and Sthubanta are in Pune for one more night so we will get to see them one more time before they leave. We are trying to make it to Mumbai for Stu's birthday in two weekends before we leave to come home.

This is our last week of work before we begin our Northern India journey. We will leave Pune sometime this weekend and travel to Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur before going back to Mumbai to fly back to Atlanta. Hope everyone can see our pictures on Facebook :)  

Not our weekend

The past few days have not been our best. Daniel kept saying that "it wasn't if you were going to get sick, it was when you were going to get sick." I finally got sick Friday morning around 3 AM. I stayed up the rest of the night throwing up every hour or so. I don't think I've ever felt so sick in my life before. I tried to convince myself I was better but then I would throw up again. John left for work and the wedding while I stayed at home. He had a lot of fun at the wedding. I will upload some pictures of him dressed up in a traditional Indian outfit on Facebook. I went to the doctor after he got home from the wedding because I still had not stopped throwing up. I couldn't even keep water down. I got a shot from the doctor and four medications. She said it was virus and put me on bedrest for the rest of the weekend. Later that night everyone (but us) got together to say goodbye to Daniel. John and I are really sad we didn't get the chance to say goodbye. But it's okay, because hopefully we will get to see him when we have a layover in Germany!

On Saturday John and I just laid around the house and literally did nothing. I only threw up once but the medicine they made me take makes me feel dizzy. Some friends came over on Saturday night and brought me my birthday presents which was very sweet. I got a fact book! It was perfect reading material for Sunday when I couldn't lay down (because of the dizzyness.)

John went hiking with some friends on Sunday. He was gone all day. The hike was really hard but at least he got to see some monkeys. I spent most of my day propped in chair reading my fact book. Yay, bedrest! On the way home from the hike the driver of the motorbike that John was on hit an uneven patch of pavement and skid. Luckily, John was wearing a helmet so his head did not hit the concrete. He has quite a lot of roadrash and some cuts all over his body. Nothing is deep enough to get stitches. He is in a lot of pain, even two days later. He has to take a sleeping pill at night because no matter how he lays he will be on some roadrash. He says the pain has gone down and it only hurts when I put the antibacterial ointment on (I'm not "gentle.") Everything is still oozing but that should stop sometime today or tomorrow. He hopefully will be able to go back to work tomorrow although his right hand is the worst. I'm not sure how he is going to be able to click a mouse.

Yesterday I had to let someone borrow the hard drive I save all of my videos to so he could drop them on his computer. He still isn't in the office today so there is literally nothing I can do until he comes into the office. I'm not sure if anyone knows why he is so late today. I'm crossing my fingers he is here by lunch so I can finally finish the first set of videos and get started on my second set.

A Birthday Present from Me to You :)

I know, I know... it has been a week since I updated. Let me tell you, this week has been crazy!

Last Friday we went out with some friends to an Iranian restaurant and ate delish beef kabobs. The rice at the place was killer too. Every day we eat rice, so it is something special when rice is better than normal.

Saturday J and I went shopping with two of our coworkers to find suitable attire for another coworkers wedding tomorrow. We went to a place called Honeybees which sells women's wear first. I purchased the most beautiful sari to wear. It is orange and purple handwoven silk. The design is traditional for the state that we are living in, Maharashtra. The girls that we went shopping with had a lot of fun making me try on different styles and colors of saris. I purchased matching bangles and earrings. It is very improper to not have either of them during a wedding. The bangles are SO SMALL, they barely fit over my hands. In the US everyone tells me I have super small hands. Let me tell you, Indian women have extremely tiny hands. I'm going to have to put soap all over my hands in order to get the 18 bangles over each hand. Yup, thats right. 18 on each side! I'm going to be clinking all over the place on Friday.

We got lost trying to find the tailor, but eventually we found the place. Under the sari girls wear a half shirt. The fabric to make the shirt comes with the sari, all you have to do is take it to a tailor. The tailor took my measurements and a few hours later my shirt was created. The sleeves are hand embroidered and match the orange part of my sari. I can't wait to wear it!

After all of my extensive shopping it was John's turn. We went to a place across from Honeybees which sold only menswear. He purchased a kurta, which is a long traditional Indian shirt. Underneath you wear pants called pajamas. John said the pants are the most comfortable pants he's ever worn. His kurta is also silk and hand embroidered. His is darker green with gold stitching. He had to purchase some shoes as well so we went to a cobbler down the street and he got matching open toed leather shoes.

It took us a longgg while to finish shopping and we were hungry and exhausted by the time we were done. We stopped by Pizza Hut on the way home, then took a nap until our friends called us.

We met Daniel and Jonas (the Germans) and one of Jonas' friends at a place called CO2 later and hung out with them for a few hours before the soccer match started. It was a really lazy hang out session, we sat on the bench style seating and just lounged around. It was nice ending to a busy day. John watched the whole match, but I fell asleep at half time. Oops.

It rained again Sunday. Everyone was excited thinking that the monsoons had finally started. By the afternoon all of the rain had stopped and the monsoons had stalled again. This rain keeps pulling on my heartstrings! We were lazy most of the day Sunday. I took a couple of naps throughout the day, I still blame it on the rain.

Sunday night we went out to dinner with quite a large group of friends; Daniel & Jonas (Germans), Michelle & Pauline (John's classmates), and Prathiush & Arup (Indians). We ate at a place called Nebula which is across the street from the place J and I work. They serve Indian and Chinese food. The food was delicious, I ordered Chinese food and J ordered Indian food. After dinner we went upstairs to a lounge called Buzzzzzz. Yes, there are six z's in Buzzzzzz. The music was a bit too loud for a lounge but we all gathered around a table and chatted for a few hours. Everyone kept playing musical chairs so everyone got to speak to everyone for a while. It was a perfect Sunday night.

For my birthday eve we went to a lounge called Apache with three of our coworkers to celebrate one of the Interns last week. Jonas and Daniel came and eventually one of Daniels coworkers Ashish stopped by. Jonas, Daniel, Ashish, and Michelle all came to dinner with J and I at a place called D Palace. We walk past it every day on our way to work and have wanted to try it but never got the chance. We stayed out until after midnight. Daniel kept checking his phone and yelled out "Happy Birthday" at midnight. It was a great start to my birthday.

On my birthday J and I had lunch at a place close to the office. We had Indian style burritos (yes, you read that correctly) and they were actually quite good. In India people shake your hand and wish you "Many, Many Returns" instead of "Happy Birthday." It took me a couple of times to understand that people were wishing me Happy Birthday. I had dinner at the Hard Rock and ordered a juicy steak! Yum! J had a burger and we split an order of cheddar mashed potatoes. Let me tell you, the mashed potatoes at the Pune Hard Rock are the best I've ever had. Not just at Hard Rock but anywhere. They are cheesy and creamy and perfect.

We met up with another huge group of people at High Spirits which is down the road. The same people from Sunday came along with a guy named Rudi who is a director at the German language school that Daniel and Jonas volunteer at, a friend named Paritosh who works with Daniel and Prathiush but has never met Prathiush, and a bunch of Indians who are Rudi's German students. We had a huge table. They music was ironically a lot of Southern Rock. The band even played Sweet Home Alabama at one point.

J finished a project at work this week and won't get another project until Monday. I have a deadline tomorrow at noon. I will be done with my first batch of videos tomorrow so I'll upload the YouTube links soon after. Tonight a bunch of friends are coming over to our place to exchange pictures.

Tomorrow is a happy and sad day. J and I are very excited to attend Apurva's wedding ceremony at noon. Tomorrow night is our last night with Daniel. He leaves early early earlyyy (2 AM) Saturday morning to move back to Germany. His internship is finally finished! We're going to go eat dinner somewhere close to the airport and send him off. We're going to miss you Daniel! :( :( :(

I promise I'll update this weekend after the wedding with pictures and the long awaited list of things we've encountered :)

PS- My finalized thesis was sent to the Graduate Division yesterday! I am finally 100% finished with Grad School!! It was a wonderful birthday present!

I batted at 4!

Since the last update a few things have happened. J and I enjoyed some delicious KFC. The chicken was spicy and yummy. It was served with salsa, which is a little out of place for India but it tasted great as well. We did find it odd that two meals cost more than a family sized meal. Oh well, good food is worth it?

We also went on a quest for lunch meat. We found lamb brain instead. Ew. Needless to say, we still are searching for sandwiches. Maybe we will finally look up the closest Subway. Our lunch food is still spicy, although we eat out on Wednesday when they serve chicken. Although it sounds counterintuitive, the chicken dishes that they serve here are some of the spiciest. Some Indians don't even eat at work on Wednesdays. Yesterday we had more pizza..this time with actual pepperoni! The comforts of home are very nice sometimes.

Today at work I played my final cricket game. We lost, therefore we are in 4th place. I did get the chance to bat today and I batted a 4! That means in one hit (like baseball) I scored 4 points. They are trying to get two teams together of coworkers who did not get the chance to play and let them play each other. Hopefully J will get a chance to show everyone his skills then ;)

We are starting to plan a trip to NID (National Institute of Design) in July so we can meet up with J's professor and see one of the top design schools in the world. I think we are going near the middle of July so that is something to look forward too.

Besides that nothing new is on the home front. We are both pretty exhausted when we get off work. I don't think we can handle 9 1/2 hour days much longer. I'm not a morning person (neither is J) and it takes a lot for me to move when my alarm goes off at 7:40 AM. It takes even more to walk to work so early. 

Some people keep asking about the YouTube videos that I am working on. The company hasn't uploaded them yet and I am not allowed to show anyone without their consent. Maybe they will be available before I leave so I can share the link. J is working on a new package, he finds out soon if his creative director likes his ideas. Cross your fingers!

I know I promised a list of odd things we've seen, but the list isn't complete yet. Maybe next post!

It's been a while...

I promise I haven't been avoiding writing or anything, the Internet at our flat is spotty and it never connects when I want to upload a post. Work has been crazy busy the past few days as well.

Sorry for the delay!

Anyways,
This past weekend was nice. On Friday we went back to High Spirits (we went there for the Bob Dylan cover band) and watched another cover band. The band members were 19-21 years old BUT much much much better than the older Bob Dylan wannabe. The food was delicious, like before.

On Saturday we all slept in, then Daniel, J and I went into the city. Everyone else had to work. If I haven't mentioned it before most companies here work 6 days a week. Our company only works 5 but we have to work 9.5 hours each day. When we got in the city we went to a store called FabIndia. You can get a ton of really nice hand woven Indian things from there. I got my Mom a present but I'm not going to say what. The three of us then went to Pizza Hut, which was delicious. It really is an upscale restaurant unlike the ones in America. Daniel wanted to spend some money so we went to MG Road where there is a ton of smaller shops spread out kind of like a maze. We bought J's niece a sari and saw a random pet store with huge fish.

Later Saturday night we met up with Michelle (from J's school), Jonas (the other German) and Prathiush (Daniels Indian Colleague) and went to Area 51. It looks like it sounds. It's a huge lit up flying saucer with three floors. The bottom floor is a dance floor, the middle floor has tables and revolves around the dance floor, and the top floor is for private parties. We got there a little early to get a table (the place fills up quickly) and ate some food. We then proceeded to dance the night away to American/Hindi electro and Bollywood. It was quite entertaining.

Sunday was a very lazy day. Nobody felt like waking up. I don't think I woke up fully until a little before 2. We thought the monsoons started yesterday because it rained all day. J and I stayed inside all day. We washed clothes, cooked some food, and watched a lot of TV. It was nice to take a day off to rest. We both got the chance to Skype our families and say Happy Fathers Day to our Dads. That was a treat.

Next post J and I will share some of the oddities we've experienced in India, maybe I can even get him to guest blog! Stay tuned to find out about the length of a piece of toilet paper...dun dun dunnnnnn

McDonalds and other American foods

Yesterday was a glorious day! J and I had a good day at work. Nothing special. J's team played their first game but lost by two. His team plays again today and he will most likely get to play in this game. The monsoons haven't started yet...maybe tomorrow.

After work yesterday we headed out to a place called Camp in search of Dorabjees, a mecca of all things imported! Before we arrived at the grocery we stopped for dinner at MCDONALDS! Oh how wonderful and beautiful and delicious it was! Of course they did not have beef burgers but their McChicken tastes the same. They have mustard sauce here which blows American Honey Mustard sauce out.of.the.park!

We crossed the street and entered Dorabjees and immediately began filling our cart. We purchased REAL cheese, REAL chicken, and all sort of snacks. I think we purchased enough to hold us over for a few weeks. If I haven't mentioned here before India has a sorry excuse for cheese. No matter where we looked we ended up with odd tasting cheese. It didn't even melt correctly for our grilled cheese sandwiches. No worries, we have Kraft Swiss and Sharp Cheddar now! The only thing we are lacking is sandwich meat which we were informed of a place 9 km away from our work. We will have to check that out. No worries though, we still are eating Indian food every day for lunch at work (yay, free!) and at least once over the weekend when we go out to eat. I don't think J and I were cut out to eat spicy food for every meal.

After we finished our glorious shopping extravaganza at Dorabjees we met with with our friends and some of their co-workers at a place nearby to watch the soccer game. It is nice that J met some friends who are just as excited about soccer as he is here. Can't wait for the Germany game tonight, everyone is coming over to our place to watch it. Hope they bring ice cream or dessert ;)