Apparently since there are 1 billion people in India...things like trains, buses and the like fill up. ugh! We were just told that in order to get to our next place we will either take an overnight bus- or hire a driver. We had originally thought trains would be easy to book- but all classes are full. (You pick a class depending on comfort, A/C, sleeper or not, or sitting up straight in a wooden chair...shoot my face!)
The overnight bus is fine...but Ang can sleep anywhere...and I am up constantly worrying about someone taking my bag.....and hiring the driver would be okay too- and not very expensive. It will be the first time in my life that I will be able to say the line "now where did my driver go?".....
So, we may be in Pondicherry another day--it isn't that bad, and we did find a cute little restaurant, all women run and great food!
As Ang and I have TONS of time on our hands we often play games of 'would you rather?' or 'how much would it take too (fill in the blank) (examples include: step in or drink that water on the side of the road? etc). Last night I had this conversation with Ang:
Linds: "how much in love would you have to be to move to Chennai?"
Ang: "I can't measure it in love...lets talk money."
I nearly died laughing. We went to the MOST expensive restaurant last night in Pondicherry...and we spent $8. That is with more than enough food...and some 7-up...my new favorite drink.
Today we are working out our next travel plans and will try to upload some pictures.....
We saw the CUTEST thing today--it was the first day of school here in Pondicherry and the "first grade" (younger kids) school is outside of our hotel....they were all so cute getting dropped off in their uniforms....all arrived on motor-bikes with their dad's (not sure why)....and some were excited and wandered right in...while other's cried outside with their too-big backpacks on their backs. Too cute!! I took a video of the chaos. Kids are the same around the globe...that is forsure.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Two white girls…and one arranged marriage….
Saying that we stood out like sore thumbs is an understatement…BUT Chandran’s wedding was such an amazing experience! Two of my old co-workers picked us up in a cab at 4 p.m. for a 7 p.m. wedding (we learned later that the time is VERY loose for when the reception will start)….we trudged through 2 hours of traffic and arrived at a small “village/town” outside of Chennai.
The wedding was in a small-ish wedding hall and was starting to fill up when we got there. There was cotton candy (the brightest pink I’ve ever seen), popcorn and balloons for the kids…they were running around like crazy. We sat in the back- and for some reason we sat below a fluorescent light…which is only funny because as the sun went down bugs were dive-bombing us and instead of just being the two white girls….we were then the white girls flailing around trying to keep the bugs from dive-bombing us. The bugs were also really sticky….(weird- I know)…and kept sticking to our clothes. Oh what a scene.
We were also wearing some Indian-garb (dresses) we had purchased- and I’m sure were total posers in some peoples eyes. But we were LOVING it! The bride and groom entered and everyone cheered—they made their way around the room- she was holding a candle- and we heard tradition is that it is her first job to keep it lit. She did a good job:)
We then were ushered down to eat—and we sat down and all of our food was served on a banana leaf. Ang was freaking out because there was water on the banana leaf….and I was freaking out because the food was frickin hot and we couldn’t drink the water they had provided! And they just kept coming with more food… it was an assembly line of 5 guys- each with a pot of something new…and they would just ladle it onto your banana leaf.
Everyone was starting at us (in a loving way) wondering what we were going to do with our hands…since no utensils were provided. We just got right in there….and ate what we could. We avoided cold-milk-like substances…but mostly the food was great! Everyone ate really fast….and we soon realized that we better finish up or eat faster….we chose to finish up..and I think the guys we were with were relieved that we would no longer be making a scene. Everyone was SO hospitable…it was great!
We then went and greeted the couple- posed for pictures…and somehow I ended up awkwardly on the stage for too long—which Ang lovingly documented for me. I am standing there- on the outskirts and probably in a few family photos that should be cropped.
We are both really glad we attended the wedding!
(Photos coming soon!)
The wedding was in a small-ish wedding hall and was starting to fill up when we got there. There was cotton candy (the brightest pink I’ve ever seen), popcorn and balloons for the kids…they were running around like crazy. We sat in the back- and for some reason we sat below a fluorescent light…which is only funny because as the sun went down bugs were dive-bombing us and instead of just being the two white girls….we were then the white girls flailing around trying to keep the bugs from dive-bombing us. The bugs were also really sticky….(weird- I know)…and kept sticking to our clothes. Oh what a scene.
We were also wearing some Indian-garb (dresses) we had purchased- and I’m sure were total posers in some peoples eyes. But we were LOVING it! The bride and groom entered and everyone cheered—they made their way around the room- she was holding a candle- and we heard tradition is that it is her first job to keep it lit. She did a good job:)
We then were ushered down to eat—and we sat down and all of our food was served on a banana leaf. Ang was freaking out because there was water on the banana leaf….and I was freaking out because the food was frickin hot and we couldn’t drink the water they had provided! And they just kept coming with more food… it was an assembly line of 5 guys- each with a pot of something new…and they would just ladle it onto your banana leaf.
Everyone was starting at us (in a loving way) wondering what we were going to do with our hands…since no utensils were provided. We just got right in there….and ate what we could. We avoided cold-milk-like substances…but mostly the food was great! Everyone ate really fast….and we soon realized that we better finish up or eat faster….we chose to finish up..and I think the guys we were with were relieved that we would no longer be making a scene. Everyone was SO hospitable…it was great!
We then went and greeted the couple- posed for pictures…and somehow I ended up awkwardly on the stage for too long—which Ang lovingly documented for me. I am standing there- on the outskirts and probably in a few family photos that should be cropped.
We are both really glad we attended the wedding!
(Photos coming soon!)
Oh India.....
Oh India! I am finally figuring out why people say YOU are such an enigma and a mind-boggle! Yes…we went to the wedding- but more importantly I need to blog about India in general. A few thoughts:
~The people are AMAZING- we have the best head-bobbling interactions on a daily basis. Today- we gave away bubbles to children who were selling items on the beach- and THOSE are the moments that I travel for. Just a sweet smile and the discovery of something as simple as bubbles.
~ It is VERY dirty here….unbelievably so, almost unexplainable. I almost don't even know how something gets so dirty.....I’ve taken to assigning jobs to people who are sitting doing nothing…we leave a store and I say to Ang “see that man, well, he could be dusting the bookshelves instead of sitting there.”
~ We both cracked for the first time yesterday in a ‘mall’ (notice quotes). We were meeting the guys from Zenta (the company I used to work with, when I worked on the India project) and they wanted to meet at Spencer’s mall. We went early excepting it to be a little haven away from the streets we had been roaming…and low and behold…it was a enclosed cave-low-ceiling-low-light-dirty-bazaar-type mall and overwhelmingly hot! Ugh. So we ate at a Pizza Hut and sulked.
~ We have asked the question to each other several times…"why are we here?!”….and then we quickly remind ourselves that if we want to see the whole world….this is just part of it.
~ It is the hottest place on earth. We have taken numerous pictures of sweating through clothes that has occurred in obscene places.
~ Kids always say “hello” and then giggle when we say “hello” back….it is cute!
~ Ang got bit by something on her eyelid last night—so, she currently looks like she was in a bar fight. The swelling has gone down throughout the day- and of course since I’m a nurse…I will fix it if it gets worse.
~ We haven’t gotten sick yet! (knock on wood!)…we have been very careful about food and water….I have even seen Ang turn down some food which is VERY unlike her.
~ There was a baby lying on the sidewalk today…and it tore me up inside. I’m struggling with why some of the world suffers like they do.
~ We spent 5 hours on a bus yesterday- initially we put our backpacks on a seat- only to be told (in Tamil- the local language) that we couldn’t do that. So, we had to shove one below our feet and one above our seat- which led to 5 hours of cramped-knees on a bus ride, no A/C and incessant honking.
~ Speaking of honking…it is insane! Nobody really gets upset driving in the chaos…they just honk all of the time. Ang looked at me today and said “I think we just went one minute without honking.”
~ We got a cake on our last day at our hotel in Chennai…yes, a cake. It read Bon Voyage and was presented to us at breakfast.
~ We went to a tourist office today…and honestly, I’m not even sure they guys working there knew what city he was in. We ask a few questions before figuring out that he was recommending we take a bus to a small town an hour a way…but we had no idea why he was recommending it. OH lost in translation……even in English.
~ We are in Pondicherry, India--it is along the Bay of Bengal...and we have roamed around all day- went to a temple and an ashram.
~ We are less than a week in and have laughed hysterically everyday….along with wondering when we will fall in love with India.
~The people are AMAZING- we have the best head-bobbling interactions on a daily basis. Today- we gave away bubbles to children who were selling items on the beach- and THOSE are the moments that I travel for. Just a sweet smile and the discovery of something as simple as bubbles.
~ It is VERY dirty here….unbelievably so, almost unexplainable. I almost don't even know how something gets so dirty.....I’ve taken to assigning jobs to people who are sitting doing nothing…we leave a store and I say to Ang “see that man, well, he could be dusting the bookshelves instead of sitting there.”
~ We both cracked for the first time yesterday in a ‘mall’ (notice quotes). We were meeting the guys from Zenta (the company I used to work with, when I worked on the India project) and they wanted to meet at Spencer’s mall. We went early excepting it to be a little haven away from the streets we had been roaming…and low and behold…it was a enclosed cave-low-ceiling-low-light-dirty-bazaar-type mall and overwhelmingly hot! Ugh. So we ate at a Pizza Hut and sulked.
~ We have asked the question to each other several times…"why are we here?!”….and then we quickly remind ourselves that if we want to see the whole world….this is just part of it.
~ It is the hottest place on earth. We have taken numerous pictures of sweating through clothes that has occurred in obscene places.
~ Kids always say “hello” and then giggle when we say “hello” back….it is cute!
~ Ang got bit by something on her eyelid last night—so, she currently looks like she was in a bar fight. The swelling has gone down throughout the day- and of course since I’m a nurse…I will fix it if it gets worse.
~ We haven’t gotten sick yet! (knock on wood!)…we have been very careful about food and water….I have even seen Ang turn down some food which is VERY unlike her.
~ There was a baby lying on the sidewalk today…and it tore me up inside. I’m struggling with why some of the world suffers like they do.
~ We spent 5 hours on a bus yesterday- initially we put our backpacks on a seat- only to be told (in Tamil- the local language) that we couldn’t do that. So, we had to shove one below our feet and one above our seat- which led to 5 hours of cramped-knees on a bus ride, no A/C and incessant honking.
~ Speaking of honking…it is insane! Nobody really gets upset driving in the chaos…they just honk all of the time. Ang looked at me today and said “I think we just went one minute without honking.”
~ We got a cake on our last day at our hotel in Chennai…yes, a cake. It read Bon Voyage and was presented to us at breakfast.
~ We went to a tourist office today…and honestly, I’m not even sure they guys working there knew what city he was in. We ask a few questions before figuring out that he was recommending we take a bus to a small town an hour a way…but we had no idea why he was recommending it. OH lost in translation……even in English.
~ We are in Pondicherry, India--it is along the Bay of Bengal...and we have roamed around all day- went to a temple and an ashram.
~ We are less than a week in and have laughed hysterically everyday….along with wondering when we will fall in love with India.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
We have arrived!!!
We have arrived!! After more than 32 hours of travel we have arrived safe and sound and EVEN had a decent nights sleep in a beautiful hotel!
After arriving in the LA airport we were making our way through security and just about to push our bags through the security belt when everyone (all the workers) started screaming CODE RED (or some other color- I honestly blanked out)...my immediate reaction was to duck...not sure why, but I managed to just stand still. Everyone was told to stand completely still and we had no idea what was going on....I am about to have a heart attack and look over and Ang is doing that shaking, quiet laugh that makes her entire body shake. I gave her the evil eye, but she didn't stop. She was of course laughing at my bugged out-scared eyes and my body movements towards ducking under the security table. Soon everything was cleared...but we were both giggling about the fact that this was 15 minutes into our trip!
We flew for 17 hours from LA to Bangkok- where (much to Mel and Kalp's dismay)...I took one ambien and Ang didn't feel like that was quite enough, so she took 1.5 ambien! We actually slept decently well..imagine that?! Thai Air is hilarious to fly...and there is CONSTANT motion with the flight attendants. You can barely open your eyes and they are making sure you don't need water, or food or anything else. It is GREAT service....but also hilarious in the middle of the night.
Arriving in Bangkok seemed normal- since we have been there before--and we just walked around for a short while and had some coffee. We had a one hour layover and headed to another 5 hour flight to Delhi. Although we tried not to sleep on the flight...Ang was out for most of it...and I dozed on an off.
Unfortunately we had a 6 hour layover in Delhi before flying to Chennai. We started to observe some of the chaos that I think we will learn to be part of our everyday life. At one point there was a garbage can leaking (a disgusting liquid I may add)...and although one guy found it and had started to clean it up....there were soon 3 guys in white business shirts observing the cleaning , and soon another guy also helping to clean up....in addition, to the one American girl that couldn't stop staring. It seems like maybe it takes a lot of people to do one job....this was observed many times throughout our 6 hour layover.
At one point we were getting food and Ang was about to sit down in a chair..when an Indian man ran over and said "are you going to sit there?"....I almost died laughing, because it was so obvious that she WAS actually sitting there...but I guess it was worth a try for him to get a seat.
We were both really tired on the 2.5 hour flight from Delhi to Chennai.....and lucky for us a baby and 2 year old sat behind us and screamed and kicked our seat the whole time. I have never been so happy to get off a flight!!
Our hotel picked us up--the hotel is wonderful and beautiful! (Thank YOU Mr. and Mrs. Yost!)....and we slept well last night. We woke up at 640 a.m., took our malaria medicines (which advises NOT to eat any dairy products) and promptly headed down to breakfast and ordered coffee with milk. Within minutes we were both not feeling very well--and I have now officially thrown up twice on my first morning here. Note to self...medicines warnings are real.
We are off to roam around Chennai, before heading to a wedding at 4 p.m. No worries that the wedding doesn't start until 7 p.m.....but the guy who is going with us (old co-worker) wants to leave at four. I can imagine this says something about traffic.
We are both so excited to be back in travel mode!!
After arriving in the LA airport we were making our way through security and just about to push our bags through the security belt when everyone (all the workers) started screaming CODE RED (or some other color- I honestly blanked out)...my immediate reaction was to duck...not sure why, but I managed to just stand still. Everyone was told to stand completely still and we had no idea what was going on....I am about to have a heart attack and look over and Ang is doing that shaking, quiet laugh that makes her entire body shake. I gave her the evil eye, but she didn't stop. She was of course laughing at my bugged out-scared eyes and my body movements towards ducking under the security table. Soon everything was cleared...but we were both giggling about the fact that this was 15 minutes into our trip!
We flew for 17 hours from LA to Bangkok- where (much to Mel and Kalp's dismay)...I took one ambien and Ang didn't feel like that was quite enough, so she took 1.5 ambien! We actually slept decently well..imagine that?! Thai Air is hilarious to fly...and there is CONSTANT motion with the flight attendants. You can barely open your eyes and they are making sure you don't need water, or food or anything else. It is GREAT service....but also hilarious in the middle of the night.
Arriving in Bangkok seemed normal- since we have been there before--and we just walked around for a short while and had some coffee. We had a one hour layover and headed to another 5 hour flight to Delhi. Although we tried not to sleep on the flight...Ang was out for most of it...and I dozed on an off.
Unfortunately we had a 6 hour layover in Delhi before flying to Chennai. We started to observe some of the chaos that I think we will learn to be part of our everyday life. At one point there was a garbage can leaking (a disgusting liquid I may add)...and although one guy found it and had started to clean it up....there were soon 3 guys in white business shirts observing the cleaning , and soon another guy also helping to clean up....in addition, to the one American girl that couldn't stop staring. It seems like maybe it takes a lot of people to do one job....this was observed many times throughout our 6 hour layover.
At one point we were getting food and Ang was about to sit down in a chair..when an Indian man ran over and said "are you going to sit there?"....I almost died laughing, because it was so obvious that she WAS actually sitting there...but I guess it was worth a try for him to get a seat.
We were both really tired on the 2.5 hour flight from Delhi to Chennai.....and lucky for us a baby and 2 year old sat behind us and screamed and kicked our seat the whole time. I have never been so happy to get off a flight!!
Our hotel picked us up--the hotel is wonderful and beautiful! (Thank YOU Mr. and Mrs. Yost!)....and we slept well last night. We woke up at 640 a.m., took our malaria medicines (which advises NOT to eat any dairy products) and promptly headed down to breakfast and ordered coffee with milk. Within minutes we were both not feeling very well--and I have now officially thrown up twice on my first morning here. Note to self...medicines warnings are real.
We are off to roam around Chennai, before heading to a wedding at 4 p.m. No worries that the wedding doesn't start until 7 p.m.....but the guy who is going with us (old co-worker) wants to leave at four. I can imagine this says something about traffic.
We are both so excited to be back in travel mode!!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Arrived in LA....
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Are we ready or not?!!
I can NOT believe that we fly out tomorrow morning. My nerves are running sort-of high.....but it would probably help everyone if everything was actually IN my backpack vs. on my bedroom floor!
Our travel plans changed a bit today- as we were invited to a wedding in Chennai India on Thursday. We were supposed to start our trip in Delhi and instead we book a flight from Delhi to Chennai when we land....and we will attend a wedding on Thursday and Friday of next week! The wedding is of one of the guys that I met while working on an outsourcing project while at DCT. He was hoping to have his arranged marriage final this year--and it looks like he was connected with his wife a month ago....so, they are getting married.
We are both excited about having our first few days in India be spent attending a wedding! Very lucky!!
Our travel plans changed a bit today- as we were invited to a wedding in Chennai India on Thursday. We were supposed to start our trip in Delhi and instead we book a flight from Delhi to Chennai when we land....and we will attend a wedding on Thursday and Friday of next week! The wedding is of one of the guys that I met while working on an outsourcing project while at DCT. He was hoping to have his arranged marriage final this year--and it looks like he was connected with his wife a month ago....so, they are getting married.
We are both excited about having our first few days in India be spent attending a wedding! Very lucky!!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Doctors without Borders?
 |
| Last night I decided to start putting out all of the supplies we will need for India. We have made a large Target run, and both picked up numerous perscriptions- but when you put it all out, it looks like we are packing for a medical excursion with Doctors without Borders- minus the extension cord that is strewn hap-hazardly through the middle of it all! |
Sunday, August 8, 2010
India bound....August 23rd....
Ang and I are leaving for India on August 23rd. We fly through LA- where we will be visiting Melanie for the day. We fly to Bangkok with a short layover and then onto Delhi, India. I have to admit that I am decently nervous about this trip. I'm sure there are lots of things playing into this nervousness....but I am just nervous about what I'm expecting to see. Everyone says you fall in love with India at some point--and I would just like to get to that point quick- prior to having explosive diarrhea or seeing extreme poverty....well, if I have the choice- I'm just being honest.
We are working on renting our house- a unique rental of four months. My mom has been here and we have been packing and getting lots of projects done. She is such a great motivator- and I can't believe the amount of things we have gotten done! The next two weeks will be a whirlwind of activity....and I'm sure fly by!
We are working on renting our house- a unique rental of four months. My mom has been here and we have been packing and getting lots of projects done. She is such a great motivator- and I can't believe the amount of things we have gotten done! The next two weeks will be a whirlwind of activity....and I'm sure fly by!
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