Passing Wind with the Pitales

One Day

2011-01-11T20:36:00.018+05:30

So, I was inspired over the Winter break by one of the books that I read, One Day. It follows the relationship of a couple over the course of 16 years or so on one particular day each year. So, Jon and I started thinking about where we've been on New Year's Eve for the last 6 years...

New Year's Eve 2006: Phu Quoc, Vietnam. We hung out at a beach front restaurant; ate their delicious buffet dinner; my ankles, feet and calves were eaten alive by mosquitoes or ants or something; drank too many gin and tonics, apparently, because I didn't even realize that I was eaten alive; and I left one of my favorite long sleeve t-shirts at the restaurant never to be seen again.

New Year's Eve 2007: Koh Phi Phi, Thailand. We just arrived. Fresh off the boat. And look... Jon shaved!

New Year's Eve 2008: Permuteran Beach, Bali, Indonesia. We spent the evening at our hotel with some friends from AES, eating seafood and watching/joining in a Balinese dance performance. But really the other dude in this video is more amusing than me...
New Year's Eve 2009: On an overnight train headed from Jaipur to Udaipur, India. I was recovering from the worst food poisoning ever and my 24 hours spent in a Jaipur clinic. My family was recovering from a couple of days exploring India alone. Kathryn and Mom were hoping I'd participate in some wine drinking even though I was on antibiotics. And my Dad was loading up on EmergenC trying to fighting a cold. This all sounds depressing, but actually we laughed at all and enjoyed our evening train adventure. This is India.

New Year's Eve 2010: Vientienne, Laos. Becky, Jon and I just arrived, unloaded and found some Chimays just in time to celebrate the New Year. At midnight, we were in the middle of the road trying to find a happening spot.

New Year's Eve 2011: Bangkok, Thailand. We saw a movie (Tron), we bowled, we went to Bangkok's version of Times Square, we toasted to a Beatles cover band in an Irish Pub, and we ended the evening with Thai foot massages :)

January

2011-01-03T19:52:00.003+05:30

January is the coldest month in Delhi. Day time temperatures are generally in the 50s, but for a house with marble floors and no heat, the inside temperature is in the 40s. Brrr...My favorite hobbies during January are taking burning hot showers until the bathroom is full of enough steam that it looks like Delhi fog on a January morning and standing in front of my hair dryer (on maximum heat) for as long as time will allow...

When I'm not taking hot showers or blowing heat onto my body, you can find me in smartwool socks, sweatpants, my Carolina sweatshirt and my "indoor hat" (my mom and I just named it that because it's cute and warm and comfy inside, but it doesn't cover my ears entirely, so it's not suitable for the outdoors) sitting right next to one of our space heaters. This is what I typically look like during the month of January:

Note about space heaters: They must be plugged into specific outlets - the outlets that can support our air conditioning units - otherwise, all fuses in the same room are blown out.

Thanks for reading. I know it's been a long time since I've blogged. I'm sorry, blog. New Year's resolution: more blogging.

We ate our way through Malaysia truly Asia...

2010-04-04T17:44:00.027+05:30

And truly Asia this place really is. A conglomerate of Chinese, Indian, and Malay people. Food of all kinds. Food stalls, most importantly, serving fantastic dishes for $1. Foot reflexology on every corner. And incredibly kind individuals who love their country and welcome their tourists. Malaysia gave us a "Taiwan-fix" providing for us all the things we miss about Taiwan. And then it gave us much more too...lovely beaches, green, lush countryside, clean streets, a fantastic transportation system (boats, trains, taxis and planes...all easy to navigate with low costs), and a bit of the 1st world that I now desire every now and then. We actually ate Krispy Kreme and Wendy's. I know, I know, but hey, when you live in India, a place that will forever refuse to allow any of the Western world enter, you start to miss that Western world.

We went there for break this year and we visited Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi Island and Penang Island.

Highlights:

1. The view from our hotel in KL. Note KFC.

2. The very cool Aquarium in KL where we witnessed a piranna feeding. Jon held a shark. The shark was not too happy. He splashed water all over us. Here is Jon trying to hold the shark for a second time.

3. The food. We ate most of our meals in "hawker style", which looks like the picture at the top of this blog. We discovered a variety of malay dishes that we now love: wang ton mee, a fried oyster dish, roti bread. We found delicious thai stalls where we had our fill of thai style fish - ginger and garlic galore! And always some sort of Asian brew...Tiger, Anchor, etc. A staple travel drink.

4. We made our way up to KL's version of Seattle's Space Needle. At the time it was built it was the third highest needle structure in the world. It has obviously been surpassed many times since then. We got a 360 degree view of the city as we tried to keep up with the awkwardly recorded audio guide. It was cool, all in all. But the really cool part was still to come.

The what we thought expensive ride to the top of the needle came with a couple of other viewing opportunities. You see, the Malaysian govt figured out that the needle itself is a fairly low end tourist destination, so they built a few other travel friendly sites on the grounds. There is a horseback riding center, a zip line, a Formula One 'experience', and best of all, a mini petting zoo.

Normally petting zoos are for kids. In fact, we almost just shined it off thinking it would be fairly lame. Oh how wrong we were. In about 200 square feet lived literally 100's of birds, reptiles and serpants. Best of all, though we didn't know it at the time,we just so happened to be there at 6:00pm...feeding time!

Anyway, before the feed, I was enamored and had to hold the largest lizard I had ever seen. That was nice. But right next to me, I was wondering what the worker was doing holding an upside down chicken over a 15 foot reticulated python. Yup, feeding time...

The first python wasn't hungry, but the two guys that lived next door sure were. It is always fascinating, to me at least, the speed and precision of python snatches. Watching these two strike, pull, and constrict a chicken that was wider than them was impressive and reminded me, somehow, of my wedding day. All in all, the trip to the needle was above and beyond what we had hoped for. A beautiful view of KL turned into a lesson in the hierarchy of the animal kingdom and an opportunity to view a 16-18 foot python gulp down a chicken like I would a cough drop. Highly recommended...especially at 6pm. Or check out our videos of this feeding in picasa!

5. We took a train to Langkawi island. Lovely place. not much to do, but we found a nice place to stay with a great beach, bath temperature ocean water (love that!), and a fantastic food stall located just outside of the hotel so that we didn't have to eat the expensive and no where near as good hotel food.

The next best activity on the island after laying out, reading, swimming and eating is the Langkawi cable car, which takes you to the highest point on the island. This was actually a really fun day with some great views of the island.We also read that the Seven Wells (7 tiered pools created by a waterfall) were a great spot to swim and play on the island. Um, this is what we found....

No thanks.

6. After a few days on the beach, we took the slow boat to china...well, to Penang. A very Chinese-ish island known for its food. Our day and a half here was pretty much planned out based on particular food stalls. We basically wandered around the main city, Georgetown, and sampling one tasty dish after the next.

We did find time to hike around the Penang National Park. Our hike led us to Monkey Beach, which ended up being one of our favorite adventures of the week. We had a nice beach pretty much to ourselves until the monkeys showed up trying to banish one of their members into the ocean forever. It was crazy...we watched the monkey's attempt to attack each other until finally the one being banished just walked right out into the ocean. I thought he was committing suicide until I saw a little head bobbing up and down and heading for a rock out in the middle of the water. Sure enough, he climbed up onto the rock and just stayed out there minding his own business until some tourist swam up to him, scared him off the rock and basically chased him into the water. At this point, a boat picked him up (ie. the boat pulled up next to him, and he just jumped on) and dropped him off on the shore. He took off into the jungle. I hope he found a good hiding spot.

Meanwhile, we turned our attention back to our stuff that we had left on the beach, and low and behold a couple of monkeys were digging around in our bags looking for our lunch.

7. We spent our last night and day back in KL. We visited the largest walk-through aviary in Asia. Um, bird parks are just plain cool. I mean, just look at these pictures! Every time I turned around some crazy bird was standing, flying, sitting, walking right next to me.

7. Our last night in KL was one of our favorite nights. We had mango ice (I LOVE mango ice), Hoegaardens, more delicious thai food from our favorite food stall, foot massages from a quirky, fun chinese dude AND we both had our ears candled. Now, in the words of my husband, that was trippy.

Well, Malaysia, you truly are Asia. We loved it. We'd like to go back...and maybe even live there one day. I guess we'll all just have to stay tuned for that....

Thanks for reading. More pictures and videos in Picasa.

The Monkey Walla

2010-02-18T10:04:00.002+05:30

Our very own Jon...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDBtp2ZLdtg#watch-main-area

Always pack a first aid kit...

2010-02-15T10:26:00.028+05:30

Jon and I traveled to Mussoorie, India this weekend. Mussoorie is a hill station about 300 kilometers from Delhi at 7000 feet. We took an overnight train on Friday to Dehradun, and while Dehradun is only about 250 kilometers (160ish miles) from Delhi, the travel time was 6 and a half hours. But, we slept in our 3rd class cabin with 4 other people and a baby. While I couldn't exactly sit up in my bunk which was the middle of the three, I did sleep quite well curled up in my fleece sleepsack, which was a lot more comfortable than these:

Once in Dehradun, we hopped in a taxi for a 45 minute journey up to Mussoorie. We splurged (ie. we spent $70) and stayed at a Heritage Hotel, the Kasmanda Palace, which was perched on a hill just off the main drag with great views of the town.

We spent the first bit of the day wondering if our room was ever going to warm up with the tiny space heater they provided....not so much. We spent the rest of the day wandering around town only to find....Baskin-Robbins! And lots of shops with the masks from Scream...jigga wha? Addidas, dominos pizza, benneton...um, where are we? Finally we found some delicious tandoori chicken, some ginger honey lemon tea and some momos (tibetan dumplings). Now, we're talking. We ate at Kalsang Tibetan Cuisine a couple of times because Jon said, and I quote, "these are the best chicken momos I've ever had in my life". And let me tell you, we've had a lot of momos in the last few years.

We also hiked up to the (one of the?) highest points in town to check out views of the surrounding Himalayan snow-capped peaks. There we found a church that was built in 1850, some pigs and some great views.

Next we stopped here for some "Fun Pictures".

Not really.

On Sunday, we walked along another scenic road, Camel's Back Road. Named after this rock formation that you see along the way. (can you see it?....look near the top middle)

To finish off our trip to Mussoorie, we ate at Kalsang one last time and then got body massages from this guy.

No, no we did not get body massages from that guy....though, we pondered what it would be like. We said goodbye to Mussoorie and headed back to Dehradun to board our train to Delhi. All in all, it was a lovely weekend...36 hours was the perfect amount of time for Mussoorie and it was great to get away from Delhi, bundle up, read a good book, take some nice walks, and drink lots of ginger tea.

But, wait! India won't let us get away that easily!

Soooo....we boarded our train with plenty of time to spare before it left the station. I dropped off my bag at my seat and went back onto the train platform to buy a chai. As I was walking back to the train, I was thinking about how great the weekend was and about how much I love India train chai. And then, just as I stepped back onto the train, I slipped and watched the floor of the train rush towards my face as I felt my legs crash into the side of the train and slip to the tracks below. First thought, "holy crap, I'm going to fall under the train". Second thought, "my chai!". Ha, it was hot and burning my hands. In the next instant my left leg swung behind me and caught onto the train platform saving me from having to come face to face with the train tracks. A "kind", older man, came up to me and said "Be careful!". Um, thank you, sir, for your wise words. I usually do these kinds of things for fun. Yes, I'm quite the reckless individual.

The steward on the train gave me this look like "oh great, you've just spilled chai all over my floor". "I'm so sorry!" I said. Then, he gave me a bunch of napkins. I assumed that this was so that I could clean off my hands and arms. Later, I thought that maybe he gave them to me so that I would clean up the floor. whoops. I took them and ran into the train car, sat down next to Jon and started doing that cry-laughing thing. Embarrassment, pain in my legs....you know. I then rolled up my pants and discovered a nasty, deep gauge in my right shin. I proceeded to do that cry-laughing thing even harder. Goodness gracious. My Valentine's Day 2010 scar for life. Bruises on both legs. A big bubble on my left knee and a right leg that was twice the size of my left leg. And no first aid kit. Yeah, I had grabbed our "travel kit", but I grabbed the medicine travel bag and not the first aid travel bag. whoops. We had medication for everything under the sun, but between the two of us we had no bandaids or neosporin. So, we used some hand sanitizer and a tissue.

Then, we cracked open a bottle of wine and toasted to my new scar.

Tiger Alert! (yes, this is 2 months late...i'm working on it!)

2010-01-15T16:48:00.016+05:30

For Thanksgiving we were blessed with a visit from the Wyatts (Ruth and John, my sister and bro in law)! Minus the part where they arrived 6 hours late at 3 in the morning, the trip was a big success! During their first weekend in Delhi, we did a little sightseeing, checked out the craziness of a local market, got manis, pedis and head massages, went to 2 of my favorite restaurants, visited Mr. Khan the carpet man for several hours (ruth and john bought a carpet! and some pashminas), visited school and spent a morning in crazy Old Delhi. It was a jam packed, but super fun weekend.

On Monday, Ruth, John and I boarded the Taj Express for, um, the Taj Mahal. I introduced them to chai tea Indian style (which they loved. I think John had 4 cups in 2 hours) and peeing in a moving train over a squatter that empties to the train tracks below. We spent a couple of hours at the Taj Mahal taking goofy pictures with our excellent tour guide and enjoying it's beauty. We then dined at a 5 star. Hey, Agra is sketch. We asked our driver to take us to a wood carving shop. He took us somewhere else, of course, hoping to receive a cut for dropping off tourists. I fully expected to walk into some shop where they show us how they make marble inlay pieces or carve wood pieces or whatever...I never expected to walk into the showroom that we found ourselves in. Unbelievably tacky embroidered wall hangings. I couldn't believe it and I definitely quickly had the "church giggles". The kind salesman was very proud of this work, and I just couldn't keep it in. Then, John had to go and ask "oh, this purse is nice...how much is it?". There it goes, "bssppspsp" (while spit bursts out of my mouth). Sorry dude, your showroom looks like Vegas on steroids.

After our day in Agra we went our separate ways. I boarded the train back to Delhi....the freezing cold train. For some reason (smelly, cough, smelly), they love to blow the A/C even in the winter. I was so uncomfortable that I found that standing in between train cars next to two smelly bathrooms for 2 hours was much more enjoyable.

Ruth and John left for Jaipur, and check this out. They were in a berth with a professional photographer, who had just been totally played on the train station platform. A gentleman dressed as a train conductor approached him and asked if he could help him load his bags onto the train. The photographer said yes, handed him his camera bag (doh!), and the "conductor" took off running. Major bummer.

A couple of days later, Jon and I caught the train to Ranthambore National Park, where we were to reconnect with Ruth and John. Having forgot about the crappy train experience 3 days prior, I exclaimed to Jon how much I loved riding the train in India (we had a first class berth all to ourselves and I was drinking chai and delicious tomato soup). Just then, a mouse scurried out from under my seat.

Now...Ranthambore! What a treat that was! Ranthambore is a National Park with tigers and all sorts of animals. We enjoyed doing 2 jeep safaris. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. We saw spotted deer, crocodiles, owls, kingfisher, magpies, a caracal (small wild cat). And, sure enough, we saw him (or maybe it was a her...i forget)
Beautiful! Absolutely a very, very cool experience.

We returned to Delhi the next day for some last minute shopping and massages and facials before Ruth and John boarded the plane back to the USA. Thanks for visiting, you two! xoxo.

this place is funny

2009-11-05T21:44:00.005+05:30

1. On Tuesday the painters showed up 3 hours late, and then 30 minutes later, they took a 1.5 hour lunch break. (and no, they were not working before they came to my house)

2. I took Reba on a walk in my neighborhood to explore a fort that is supposedly right next to my house. We stumbled upon heaps of human feces, peacocks and wild boars.

3. On Diwali, little children shoot fireworks - like the real kind. The kind your city shoots off. Yes, your CITY. Here, 5 year olds take care of that job.

4. Beginning this time of year, the weather forecast for Delhi says "smokey".

5. A cow diarrhea-ed on my leg in Goa.

6. Parties for 5 year olds consist of rented bouncy castles, trampolines, Indian puppet shows and balloon fun. AND, even though those in charge don't show up on time because they believe that the party is not until the next day, if you call them, they'll be there in 10 minutes and everything will be good to go in 10 more minutes.

Pictures!

2009-10-20T21:20:00.001+05:30

pics of minicourse, McLeodganj and Goa in Picasa!

McLeodganj 2K9

2009-10-19T14:06:00.002+05:30

Another trip? Why yes....Four 3 day weekends during the months of September and October made for some pretty good times. Becky, Thinh and I traveled to McLeodganj (Tibetan enclave in the lower Himalayas - home of the Dalai Lama) in September (Jon went to Bangkok...oh, and for the Goa trip, Jon was fishing. We don't travel together anymore, apparently. So, Jon, you need to write you're own blog entries from now on.) This was actually my second trip to McLeodganj. Goa and this hill station are 2 of the places that I would definitely return to in India. I totally dig them both. They both provide for a "vacation" and not just a touristy, sightseeing trip.

We took the overnight train from Delhi. I was geared up with my 2 hiking poles sticking out of my backpack, which helped me practically take out every individual in the Old Delhi train station. We were sweating something awful, but we were fully equipped with snacks galore. Ritz crackers and peanut butter, pigs in a blanket (yes, we can get those here), snack mixes, kit kats and maybe an apple. The train ride was fun. I had booked later than Becky and Thinh, so I had a seat in another car. Becky was kind enough to allow me to share her bunk, so we slept rather comfortably head to foot :) Those first class bunks are big!

The ride from the train station to McLeodganj is about 3 hours. On our drive, a lady standing on the right side of the road held a rope attached to a cow on the left side of the road. The rope rested on the road, out of harms way....UNTIL, the crazy lady decided to snatch up the rope just as we were about 15 feet away traveling at 45 miles per hour. Our driver slammed on his brakes and loony-toons smirked. what the heck? Everyone was fine. Just totally shocked.

In McLeodganj, I told Becky and Thinh that I wanted to do 3 things: 1. drink lots of ginger, honey, lemon tea; 2. hike up the mountain to Triund 3. take a momo cooking class. And because they are great friends, we did all 3, and it was fantastic fun! We walked through town the first day stopping frequently at various restaurants for tea, momos (tibetan dumplings) and french fries (hey, it's Becky's and Thinh's staple travel snack, and it was always pretty delish). We chatted a ton, laughed a lot, and told new and old stories.

On day 2, we hiked to Triund. The walk began with us deciding that maybe we would just walk part of the way. We were, after all, beginning 2 hours after our declared departure time. But, you know, once you start, you just can't stop. And so, 8 hours later, we had hiked to the top, and descended back down. It was tough, but totally worth it. Right, B and T?

On Day 3, we took a momo cooking class! It was the BEST! Such fun, and such good momos - holy cow, they were the best momos we had all weekend! Side note: I've already tried to make momos with my new skillz. Not as good, but still pretty yummy. The only bummer was that while the cooking course was only 2 hours, it took me pretty much all day to complete the process on my own. I think I need more practice.

Some of you may be aware that Richard Gere comes to McLeodganj quite frequently to hang with the Dalai Lama and practice Tibetan Buddhism. Well, what you probably didn't know is that he stays in the hotel that we stayed in...in a room that was right across from our room. So, Becky and I asked the receptionist if anyone was staying in "his" room, and if no one was, could we see it? Well, someone was staying in his room, but she let us see it anyway because the guest was out. Love that room security. Anyway, it wasn't anything too fancy. But it does have a sweet view of the town and the mountains.

That evening, we headed to the airport for our flight back. We were flying back instead of taking the overnight train because we had to be at work the next morning (or so we thought). As soon as we arrived at the airport, they informed us that the flight was canceled. Uh oh. What do we do? They gave us our options....well, option: hire a taxi to drive you back to Delhi. Should take 12 hours. Yuck, that sounds horrid. In the dark, on these roads, with crazy ladies lurking about? We'll never sleep. This will be awful, and bumpy, and scary. Well, I did not accept this as the only option and I asked them to call the train station and ask for tickets....we'll take any seat! Just get us on the train. Kingfisher airlines was actually super helpful and ended up getting us first class seats on the 10pm train! Woohooo! We have plenty of time to make it to the train station, we're getting first class, AND we arrive in Delhi at 6am...plenty of time to head home for showers and still get to work on time. So, we made the most of it, and continued to have a blast even while sitting on the floor of the Chakki Bank train station. We drank a bottle of wine (leftover from the weekend) and played Yatzee. Shall I mention that I got 3 Yatzees in one game?! Superstar, thank you. And, well, I should also mention that Becky got 2 yatzees in one game. Must have been the good energy of the weekend. Oh, and I think I made the cut. This was my first time traveling with Becky and Thinh, who travel together a lot. I think that they'll let me join them again :)

Goa 2K9

2009-10-04T15:07:00.007+05:30

When the weather report said "100% chance of precipitation" for the next 5 days, I should have grabbed a poncho, an umbrella, a long sleeve shirt and possibly changed my ticket for another weekend instead of assuming that the weatherman was full of it, that I didn't really need any rain gear (hey, I'd be in my bathing suit the whole time!), that the temperature would still be 100 degrees, and that the "100%" merely meant that we would get some light mist every now and then. So, there we were in Goa at Bhakti Kutir (please see www.bhaktikutir.com so that you can see all of the stuff that we couldn't see.). And, why couldn't we see? Because the place is in the "jungle". And when the sky is dumping buckets and entirely gray and overcast, the many trees with their super large leaves shade us from any amount of white light that the sky emits. Plus, rain in India means that the power goes out. So, while we were in this super cute and lovely place, the option of sitting on our porches reading and listening to the rain and thunder was not even available. Oh, and did I mention that between the five of us, only one of us had a headlamp?

Luckily, our huts were not leaking, BUT the amount of water in the atmosphere provided for damp sheets, damp clothes, wet porch chairs and a temperature in the 70's or 80's - not warm enough to dry anything.

I was there with Becky, Julie, Kendra and Kate (some of my girls of India). We arrived at the airport at 8 pm. Bhakti was an hour and a half drive from the airport. On the way to Bhakti, we had the taxi driver stop at a liquor shop so that we could grab some wine and beer for the next day (Gandhi's Birthday - a dry day in India). Well, we arrived at Bhakti at 9:30pm, checked in to 3 huts, grabbed some more beer from the hotel and proceeded to gab and drink our way through most of the bottles that we bought and even some that we brought from Delhi until 3 am. It was a hoot, a blast, a super fun time. We then crashed with high hopes of many more evenings and days of fun times and fun in the sun in Goa.

We awoke to more buckets of water. And more. And more. So, we slept. And dosed some more. Finally, at 11am, Becky and I made our way to Kendra's and Julie's and Kate's huts to find that Julie and Kate were still asleep and that their bathroom had no roof and was therefore filled with 2 feet of water. It's dark, everything is wet, we practically have to row a boat from hut to hut and now from bed to toilet, and food is another boat ride away from our huts....oh my, can this get any funnier? Over breakfast, we looked at each other and thought about our options. Really? Is the Intercontinental the only option? Pretty much. It was either stay here and just sit and be soaked or leave for the only non-beach hut accommodation option in the area - the 5 star hotel. Nah. We talked ourselves out of it. Becky tried to pump us up. Julie and Kate asked for a new hut with a roof over the bathroom. To which the receptionist replied "roof?". Yes, please, we have 2 feet of water in our bathroom. You do?! YES! Well, we'll just build you a roof, she said. Seriously? Ok, fair enough. Julie and Kate are getting a roof. Becky found toilet paper for all. And I made a plan to take a taxi into town to find a poncho and a flashlight. This is going to be good. Here we go. We're psyched. Making the most of it.

Well, it didn't take long for the hotel peeps to figure out that they were not going to be able to build a roof during this torrential downpour. And we all quickly realized that even walking to a taxi would result in absolutely soaked clothing, which will never dry and which we were quickly running out of. Intercontinental? Done.

So, we packed up all of our stuff. The hotel called for a taxi. It's here! It's tiny, but who cares, get us the heck out of here! The driver stares at us dripping wet and says "You don't have an umbrella?". "Of course we don't! We're on our BEACH vacation....now, open up and let us in!" Bags piled on top of us, girls sitting on top of each other. Turn off the music! Turn off the A/C! We're drenched. Please just GO. Driver advances about 15 feet before he informs us that the car is too overloaded to make it all the way to the Intercontinental. Are you serious? yes, flooding. car won't make it. Um...Ok, Julie and Kate how about you get out and stand here? The driver will give you his umbrella. How about we don't give you any money or a phone and how about you just stand on the side of the road and wait for him to return? Um, seriously? Yes. That is how it went down.

But, alas, all turned out OK. All 5 of us did make it to the Intercontinental, where we enjoyed warm beds, warm showers, hot tea and cuddling :)

That afternoon, a whole other crew of AES peeps also packed up from their beach cottages (15 minutes from Bhakti) and moved to the 5 star. So, we celebrated our friend Scott's birthday. Good times. And, then, per typical Laura move, I slipped and fell on a puddle of water that remained when maintenance stopped by to clean up someone's spilled beer. I had a mojito in my hand which also came down with me, spilling and shattering the glass into many pieces. There went another outfit. At this point, I was down to maybe 1 dry piece of clothing. sweet.

We didn't last much longer...the next morning was full of more rain, and so we changed our plans and headed back to Delhi early. Bummer rain, but still a fantastically funny, good time.

Home...huh, who would've thunk it?

2009-07-29T20:53:00.003+05:30

As we circled and circled and circled the Delhi area for an hour and a half waiting for the monsoon to cease so that our plane could land, I watched KLM's video clips of various cities from around the world. Cities of China, Brazil, Italy (to name a few) all showed off their great sights, cafes and sidewalks where happy people gallivanted from one cute spot to another. And I couldn't help but think, "why...why do we live here?", "where are the cute spots of Delhi that aren't ridden with human waste? Where are the side walks?" and other things such as "Oh, America, how I miss thee already...". Finally we land, and after another 45 minutes sitting on the tarmac waiting for a gate to become available, I was struck with the thought that this is year 3...3rd year in India. Dang. Time is flying...especially here, it seems. We grabbed our luggage and a taxi and as I entered India with all the noise, people, and our taxi driver who reversed down a flyover into oncoming traffic on the way to our apartment, I couldn't help but feel that it was nice to be home.

Anything is possible!

2009-05-12T21:23:00.004+05:30

Becky and I decided that we really should take more advantage of the fact that "anything is possible in India...madam". Would you like a new tailor made shirt for $10. no problem. Tailor will meet you in your living room. Would you like 40 pounds of ice delivered to your house for your Saturday night party at 5pm and then again at 9pm... all for $12? done. How about calling the local market and asking them to deliver 110 pencils for the 9th grade student council project? for sure! Would you like to receive a massage every Tuesday in you own home by Yogesh, the master masseuse? Jon enjoys this luxury! Ah, India, the land of...any and everything.

Normalcy

2009-05-02T21:22:00.003+05:30

The other day I was at the counter of my local chemist (pharmacy), and as I turned around to leave I was confronted by about 10 large cows that were migrating through the market. I was surrounded on all sides, and even had to take a step back to give them more space. I waited for them to slowly tread on until I could sneak around one and dart for my taxi where I found Jon laughing. The odd thing is, though, that I have to remind myself that cows at the pharmacy is just NOT normal (for a child of the USA).

Egypt is totally rad!

2009-04-12T14:00:00.046+05:30

What a fantastic trip! We spent our Spring Break week checking out Cairo and Luxor, reminding ourselves of ancient Egyptian history that we probably learned in 6th grade, and all the while, we were totally awed and amazed. Here are some highlights and quirky stories:

1. Um, yes, the pyramids are all that they're cracked up to be. WOW. And, did you know that the Sphinx is neon green?! Just kidding...this is a photo taken from the "Sound and Light Show" at the Pyramids. So chessy, so fun. The Sphinx talks to the audience and tells the story of the pyramids and the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt (approx 2700-2100 BC) while fun lights shine upon the pyramids and broadcast cool scenes onto their surfaces.

2. I may have eaten at my favorite restaurant of all time: Andrea's (I say "I" because Jon, unfortunately, does not agree....). Spit roasted chicken, freshly baked bread and a slew of mezzes - pickles, salad, tahini, baba ghanoush, some kind of fantastic beans and falafel. All topped off with a massive, delicious orange. That's about all that is on the menu, and it's divine.

3. I visited the oldest continually open restaurant in the world (200 years) a couple of times...Once in the wee hours of the early morning with my friend Skye (she and her fiance, Matt, were also traveling around Egypt this week). We enjoyed being the only people there and watching the Khan al-Khalili (large, popular market in Cairo) slowly wake up - quite the late awaking city (much like India). And once with Jon on a Friday night where we enjoyed sitting among tons of locals and foreigners drinking mint tea, mango juice and smokin' da sheesha (hookah).

4. The Egyptian Museum is very cool, and yet, very disorganized. They have so much stuff that they don't know what to do with it...and apparently, they aren't the biggest fans of labeling items either. Nonetheless, it doesn't change the fact that walking through rooms and aisles of 4000 year old, very intact stuff is quite extraordinary. I mean, we saw the mummy of Ramses II among other notable kings (Tuthmosis III, Seti I - Ramses I's son) of the New Kingdom (1500-1000 BC). Pretty freaking cool. That is, if you are in to mummies and don't find it wrong to dig up dead people and look at them...an opinion which I respect; however, mummies were meant to last forever, which is totally trippy...why not take a look? Then, there are rooms and rooms of the amazing "loot" that was recovered from King Tut's tomb in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. Gold, wood, statues, coffins galore....it's all there.

5. Jon and I had way fun playing with photos. Here are some examples:

6. UNC won the NCAA Basketball championship (And, I won the bracket pool!). While I did not get to watch the game, I did get to see highlights on CNN, cheer in my hotel room, and celebrate by checking out tombs and temples in the fantastic, can't miss it, town of Luxor.

7. We visited a lot of tombs. very cool. First, there was the Valley of the Queens, where, well... the queens were buried. Then, we visited the Valley of the Workers, where the artists and architects of the queens' and kings' tombs constructed their own tombs for their burial sites. Next, we visited the Valley of the Kings, where you will find the exquisite tombs of Ramses I, II, III, VI, IX, King Tut, Tuthmosis III, Seti I, and many others (62 have been uncovered so far!). Lastly, we checked out the Valley of the Nobles, which houses the tombs of the priests and other religious officials (there are over 100 here!). For all of these valleys, the bad news is that you can't see all or even many of these tombs...many are closed at the moment due to restoration or just because they are not safe to wander into. The good news is that the reliefs (wall carvings) and paintings of many are still quite present and quite amazing. Each tomb is usually constructed with multiple rooms for storing items that were believed to be needed by the individual in the afterlife such as food, chariots and mummified animals (yes! such as pets - dogs-, sacrificial animals - birds, crocodiles-, and animals for food). After wandering down long hallways or several long hallways, you reach the sight for the sarcophagus and coffins (yes, plural...coffins within coffins). The amount of time and energy put into these tombs must have been one's lifetime especially considering the fact that many of these individuals did not live to be older than 40!

8. One of the coolest spots was Medinat Habu in Luxor. Best explained via pictures. This is also the spot where I dropped my camera...the drop of all drops. Bounce, bounce, crash, boom. Broken. very sad...we'll see what the warranty and Canon can do. Cross your fingers!

9. We went on a Hot Air Balloon Ride over the ruins of Luxor at sunrise, and it was great fun! Now, I'm not an experienced hot air balloon rider, but I don't think that it always takes 20 men to help launch and retrieve a hot air balloon. Well, in Egypt it does....and I think I now know why. At the end of the ride (which, by the way, took place in the middle of a sugarcane field - i don't think that was planned, especially since I watched the 20 men try to sprint through the tall canes only to get stuck inside), the crew hosted a "ceremony" which consisted of singing and, to be frank, dancing with the "white chicks". Ah ha! This is why they all want to work here! I, of course, sacrificed myself (I can never turn down a good dance). Now, before you get all up and offended by my comments, travel to Egypt and count the number of times you (western women) get holla'ed at. Yeah. Word.

10. The Luxor Temple and ruins at Karnak are amazing and Ramses II was totally obsessed with himself.

11.
Luxor Museum security guards love to help you find the spots where the security cameras won't catch you taking illegal pictures of the museum artifacts...for a little bakshi (tip), of course. Here we are sneaking some photos. Just a couple more...

12. We were followed by a guy named Assaf for 4 days. Day 1: We are walking along the Nile on our way to catch a ferry boat and all of a sudden Assaf appears beside us. He introduces himself and proceeds to ask us where we are from. Then come the statements about Obama, etc, etc. He follows us onto the ferry boat where he then asks if we need a taxi for the day on the West Bank (which we do, but we're not biting just yet). He uses his phone. Once we reach the other side, we try to free ourselves of his following and we turn to a man named "Mr. Kind". Great! Mr. Kind offers us a better deal than Assaf and so we hop in his car. Mr. Kind's phone rings. He talks. He hangs up and tells us that Assaf just called and wants to know why we chose to ride with Mr. Kind. Uh, sketch. whatever. Day 2: We have already arranged for a ride with someone else for this day. Again, we walk along the water to the ferry boat, and out of nowhere Assaf appears- dang, he's good! We tell him we already have another driver, and no, it is not Mr. Kind. We try to fall behind him, which we do, and we take a quick turn towards a smaller ferry boat. We rush down to the captain, get on his boat, and ta da! Assaf appears on the boat and is already talking to the captain. Assaf makes a phone call, and low and behold, we reach the other side only to find Mr. Kind waiting for us. He is angry with us that we won't be choosing his services for the day and asks us to return his business card. Dude, seriously? And what's up with you and your buddy? leave us alone already! Day 3: We leave at 4:40am for our Hot air balloon ride, but when we return at 7:30am, we see Assaf standing across the street from our hotel, staring at the entrance. Day 4: We leave for the airport at 5:45am, and who do we see sitting in the roundabout median right next to our hotel...Assaf.

13. I then had the following conversation with a flight attendant on my flight from Luxor to Cairo: Me - May I have some water. FA - yes. Me - thanks. FA- Your welcome. And?... Me - Um, thank YOU. FA - And....?. (Awkward silence and staring). Me - Uhhhh. FA - And....? How about some guava juice. Me - Oh, No thank you. (Moments pass, and then she hands me guava juice). Me - Oh! I said no thanks. I'm sorry. FA - But why not? It's so tasty! Me - Um, yeah, no thank you. FA - Oh, alright then. (She leaves).

More pics in Picasa! Peace!

Holi Holi Holi

2009-03-11T18:34:00.007+05:30

As Becky put it, this Holiday is way more fun than Halloween - it may be a new fave. Holi, the festival of colors. A celebration of the return of Spring. lovely. bright. colorful. Few vehicles inhabit the road. It's eerily un-crowded like Sunday mornings. But groups of men, women and children walk along the road looking fairly normal except for their bright pink faces and the green and orange smears across the backs of their shirts. Families on bicycles (yes, bicycles, not motorbikes) ride down the street all covered in pink, red, green and blue powdered paint. Your taxi driver picks you up covered from head to toe, and cars drive by with splatterings of purple paint on their doors. And everyone is fantastically cheerful - Happy Happy Holi!

Jon and I geared up for our first Holi party (not sure what we did last year, but for some reason didn't participate in Holi-ness). I selected some clothes, which I have now deemed as my permanent Holi outfit, greased my hair in oil (some of my kids last year had permanently dyed pink hair for the remainder of the school year...), and wrapped a bandanna around my head. What a hoot! We tossed paint onto one another and shot water guns...a child's dream. Or, um, a child at heart? Can't wait until next year!

http://www.theholidayspot.com/holi/

"Can I capture you? Can I hold you?"

2009-02-21T12:03:00.002+05:30

said the Indian 20-something men that approached me and Maggie at the Suraj Kund Mela. Um, excuse me? You want to capture me and then hold me? While this sounds somewhat romantic/totally creepy/borderline plain scary, I'm afraid that I'll have to pass. Sad faced 20 something men try again with smiles and a more aggressive approach as they actually begin to do what they so politely asked to do earlier....Indeed they do capture us into their camera phones and hold us with one arm wrapped around our shoulders as we smile for the tiny lense. I love being lost in translation....

India with the VanDykes!

2009-01-23T22:06:00.015+05:30

Finally! Time to write about my parent's and sister's trip to India...

Mom, Dad and Kathryn were to arrive at the Delhi Airport 45 minutes after Jon and I were to arrive at the Airport from Nepal. I gave them strict instructions to remain in the baggage claim area in case they arrived before us. Reason being, if you walk out of baggage claim, you will stared at, called at and eventually find yourself outside with hoards of people...and, well, good luck at that point. Well, of course, our plane was late and their plane was early. Meanwhile, Jon was sick with food poisoning (it hit right after we got off the plane) and had run off to the bathroom after puking on the bus on the tarmac...sorry honey, I know you probably don't want that on the blog, but in retrospect, it was pretty funny when that little kid just about knocked over his parents while trying to run away from you. So, I carried on alone in search of family members, luggage, and a booze run (duty free is the way to go - much cheaper than the bootlegger). I noticed that the bags for their flight were almost entirely claimed...but where is my family? hmmm....? No family. No family. Oh dear. They're out in the mob! But just as I was coming up with Plan B, I saw Kathryn! Who did confirm that yes, they had left baggage claim:) But, this is India, and sometimes rules don't apply to everyone, so the guards let my parents and all their bags back into the baggage claim area. Yipee! They have arrived!

We came home to a great meal that Pomi had prepared for us. Thai food, vegetable, homemade bread. yum. My poor Dad just about passed out into his plate. We tried to keep him awake as long as possible, but 8pm was his limit. Oh, the jet lag.

The next day I took them to school and then to Humayan's tomb (the structure that the Taj Mahal is modelled after). My family got quite acquainted with the "Hello!", "One photo please", hand shaking Indians who love to talk to Westerners as a school trip of about 200 girls was also touring Humayan's tomb. It was endless...cuteness.

We ended the day with a trip to Sarojini market. I don't know if you've seen Slumdog Millionaire yet, but do know that the haggling, the super glued bottles of water, the beggars, the awful things that happen to orphan children, the traffic and the fake tour-guiding are all very true to life here...and my parents can confirm this as they repeatedly informed me during their first full day in Delhi that "this place really is just like the movie".

That night, we introduced them to the restaurant Punjabi by Nature - delicious (and spicy!) tandoori chicken and the best garlic naan on the planet. They were hooked! It would be a week of searching for more garlic naan. Right, Dad? :)

The next early early morning we boarded the train to Agra - first trip to the Taj Mahal for all of us! It really is extraordinary. In the afternoon, we checked out the Agra Fort, and we still had 2 hours until our train departed that evening for Jaipur....Yatzee time! We played on the ground of the Agra train station...hmmm...put it this way, my mom probably would have poured hand sanitizer all over the seat of her pants if I had let her:)

The train was late, the train ride was 5 hours of shakiness, and I arrived in Jaipur with a very unpleasant stomach. Yep, the curse of Christmas break struck again! (this is the 4th winter break in a row that I've gotten food poisoning). This time, I even thought I was in the clear...when Jon got sick and I didn't, I was convinced that my body was finally a beast of immune system strength (surely, it was getting stronger by suffering through those past nasty food episodes). Little did I know that the organism was just festering inside of me ready to release its full fury in what would be the most awful of the 4 year experiences. By the next morning, I was in a Jaipur hospital with 3 liters of antibiotics, nutrients, sugars and who knows what about to be pumped into my arm with an IV. I was there for the next 30 hours :( boo. On a good note, we (sweet Jon stayed with me the whole time) had good cable TV and it was kind of fun to unleash my parents and Kathryn out into India on their own.

They survived. They shopped and rode tuk tuks. They haggled prices. They learned about Maharajas and Rajasthani culture. And they ate lots of butter chicken and garlic naan.

I was able to join the crew the next day for a bit of afternoon shopping. By the next morning, though, it was time to jump back in! Off to the Amber fort and elephant riding! Little did we know that the elephants only work until about 10am. We arrived around 10:30, and the elephants were done carrying people up to the Fort. WHAT?! That's the sole reason Kathryn came to India! (Ok, not really...but, well, maybe...). We were looking forward to the picturesque experience of riding an elephant up to this:

Well, by golly, it was going to have to happen! So, Jon did some talking and we ended up with....drum roll....this!

Not quite as romantic, but riding elephants alongside of cell phone advertisements, convenience stores and buses is still pretty unique as well...

After cramming into an auto rickshaw,

We hopped our first overnight train to Udaipur. The land of lake palaces and...

jetlag? No...jetlag has passed by now, this is the sleepiness that results from an uncomfortable sleepless night on the train that blew cold AC on us all night in DECEMBER! (Yes, it is hot in India, but not in December!)

After a much needed nap, we found that Udaipur is lovely! Great, skinny, alleyway streets full of shops and cafes, friendly people, beautiful landscape...Just a really nice time. We toured the City Palace and took a boat ride on the lake. Kathryn and I got henna-ed up...
And after 2 full days we jumped on our next overnight train back to Delhi. This one was the long one...12 hours...or so, we thought. Trains aren't always on time and they don't always go as fast as they could in India...and so, 16 hours later we were back in Delhi. No worries, though, we had a day of spa going planned. Nothing could ruin that! My Dad had Jon's masseuse, Yogesh come to the house and give him a massage while Kathryn, Mom and I went to Asian Roots for Balinese massages, steam baths and pedicures. Wonderful!

That night we went out to dinner with our friends Luke, Paola, Troy and Sam and two of Jon's friends who were also traveling around India at this time as well, Pete and Cindy. We went to Hookah, and I just want everyone to know that I have proof of both of my parents smokin' da hookah:)

Sunday was their last day in Delhi. We went to the Lotus Temple, Raj Ghat (Ghandi's Memorial) and Paharganj ("everything street" - where you can buy all things India). After packing their multitude of shawls, scarves, textiles and handicrafts, they were ready for their midnight plane back to the states. But we definitely were not ready for them to leave :( boo.

It was a great 10 days, and we've got plenty of pictures to prove it! Check them out in Picasa:)

Birthday Cranium...

2009-01-23T21:31:00.005+05:30

Jon and I had great intentions to go out to one of our favorite restaurants in Delhi with our closest of friends for a little bday bash...Well, what matured instead was even way better than Thai food. Cranium and Dominos pizza! Ok, so this post is kind of lame, but really, I just wanted an excuse to put this picture on the blog. This just about sums up the evening...

More fun pics on Picasa:)

Nepal!

2009-01-12T20:32:00.010+05:30

Jon and I spent our first week of Winter Vacation in Nepal. Upon arrival in Kathmandu, we hopped our "puddle jumper" plane and headed to Pokhara, the town at the base of the Annapurna Circuit (a 21 day trek around the Annapurna Mountain Range). We, however, began a 5 day trek the next day after enjoying the cute town and all of its delicious food (steak, in particular!). Our trek began in Naypul. The first day broke us in with 3 hours of gradual up hill walking to the village of Tikhedhunga. There we stayed in our first "teahouse" (guesthouse lodge). I had the best tomato soup of my life, and we enjoyed the afternoon gazing at the view, playing yatzee and wondering what to do with our non-English speaking guide. Ah, our guide...sweet 21 year old dude, who really tried to take care of us, but what we discovered was that there was really nothing for him to do except pay our bills at the lodges (this was part of his job as we went through a guide company that was already paid in full). And because he didn't speak English, we couldn't really befriend him either. So, there he was paying our bills and trying to order our food at dinner time(a bit bourgeois feeling). Oh well, we were in the Himalayas and good for him, he's making some extra bucks taking a walk.

The next day, we hiked up and up and up THOUSANDS of STAIRS (yes, there are stairs all along the trail...very set up) to the village of Ghorepani. Here we were greeted with fantastic views! The original plan was to stay the night, wake up at 4:30am and hike up to Poon Hill (a hill in Ghorepani) where you are able to get a panoramic view of the gorgeous mountain ranges surrounding you. Well, Jon and I were feeling a bit saucy after some lunch and a game or two of yatzee, and so, we hiked up to Poon Hill that afternoon instead. The skies were clear, and no one was up there! We had the place to ourselves, which we learned the next morning to be a rare thing on Poon Hill. Most trekkers are advised to go for sunrise, which means a cool sunrise, but it also means 50 other people tagging along by your side. I dug the sunset:)

The following day, we hiked through woods (jungle as the guide liked to call it) to Tadapani - no stairs this day. This was the smallest of the villages we stayed in, and most crowded of lodges. There were about 8 other occupied rooms (including those for guides and porters). Well, one trekker brought her ipod speakers and bought rounds and rounds of whiskey for the Nepalese porters and guides...before you know it, Jon was squirming in his seat. Trekker girl busted out the 50 cent, guides and porters were hootin' and hollerin', and dancing on the table was looming in the near future. Now, while I was psyched to find that "da club" can be found anywhere I go, Jon was in trekking hell...it was cute:)

The next day, we headed down hill to Gandruk, where we stayed in the finest of guesthouses. We had our own bathroom, hot shower and a fantastic view from our window. Now, while I say this was the "finest", I must clarify that this "teahouse" trekking deal that Nepal has going on, is quite fantastic and easy. You hike from one lodge to the next (and don't worry if you change your trekking plans, there are always other villages to stay in along the way), where you can usually take a hot shower if you want (although, the hot may not last too long), you can order from a fairly large, decent menu, and you can purchase beer. What more do you need?

The last day, we hiked out to Naypul and caught our ride back to Pokhara. That afternoon, Jon and I received the BEST massages of our lives from 2 blind masseuses of "Seeing Hands - Nepal". No lie - a fantastic deep tissue massage given by an individual who was able to pinpoint the exact location of my stress, knots, tight muscles and who was then able to work them all out. "Seeing Hands" is a worldwide organization begun by a couple of British individuals. The great thing about it is the fantastic opportunity it provides blind people in Nepal, who are seen to have their disability because of sin in a previous life.

That evening, we also ate more steak...rare, very rare steak (foreshadowing...more later). It was tasty.

The next day, Christmas day, we flew back to Kathmandu and met up with Dhan, the head dude that arranged our trek for us. What a neat man! He began an organization called Folk Nepal. They sell handicrafts and give most of the proceeds towards helping provide medical treatment to villages that have none. He took us to lunch in a Japanese restaurant, and then after wandering around Thamel (the heart of Kathmandu craziness), he took us out to dinner with his wife and 5 children! What fun we had! We ate in this big family restaurant, we laughed and joked with the kids and we learned more about Nepal and its future.

On the 26th, Jon and I took a trip that I don't think we'll ever forget - we flew to Everest! Very cool. Small plane with one aisle of each side; big enough for about 18 people. The skies were clear, the range was stunning and Everest was just freaking cool to see. They let each of us go up to the cockpit one at a time to get some excellent pictures - again, super cool:) They gave us a certificate upon landing that said "I did not climb Everest, but I touched it with my heart"...aww, shucks!

(the peak on the far left is Everest)
That afternoon, we jumped on another plane and headed back to Delhi where we met up with my Mom, Dad and Kathryn in the airport! More on that soon.... For now, check out the Nepal and India pictures in Picasa:)

The perks of working at AES....

2008-12-18T09:44:00.004+05:30

Food Services at our school provides more than just your average school lunch for students and teachers. They provide snacks and lunches for small meetings, and they take care of all the food at the big Staff Luncheon that we will have today after the students leave. However, what you may not expect is that, they will cater your Birthday party at your house and even provide you with servers to carry trays around offering tasty treats. And what you really may not expect is that they will also provide booze. In fact, today at our luncheon on campus, we'll have the option to choose beers and wines from the beverage table. But what made me think of this and realize that it may not be typical in your everyday school was what happened yesterday....A group of us teachers get together and play ultimate frisbee after school one day a week. About half way through the game yesterday, I saw two Food Service employees carrying a large blue crate toward the field. Yes indeed! They were bringing a tub of ice and Tiger beers for us to partake in on the high school field after our game. Really, I love this place.

Beautiful Bride, Handsome Groom, Wonderful Weekend

2008-11-14T19:13:00.032+05:30

First I give you,

Ruth and John: A Poem
By: Kathryn VanDyke and Laura Pitale

It all happened just 5 years ago,
When Ruth met a boy she didn’t yet know.
Soon she was smiling and acting all crazy,
John was even mentioned to our dog Daisy.

Then we met John, a young Southern boy
Who clearly was bringing our Ruthie great joy.
She told us that he might just be the one,
To which we replied “you’ve only just begun”

So then they traveled to New Zealand, to see a life down under.
But it was there they realized, they couldn’t live without each other.
They traveled, they partied and they zorbed,
But in love they were completely absorbed.

Since college they have worked for banks,
Slowly making their way through the ranks,
But through it all one thing has been true,
John, Ruth couldn’t live without you.

Now they’ve got their very own house, which is more than we can say.
Ruth and John “Congratulations on your wedding day!”
We’re so proud of you both, and happy that you found each other,
But John one bit of advice, always show Ruth how much you love her.

The above was read to a crowd of 150 on November 8th, 2008 at my sister's, Ruth's, wedding. The fall leaves were bursting with colors - reds, yellows and oranges. The weather was the perfect drive-with-your-windows down kind of weather(and trust me, I don't take that for granted anymore considering I now box myself inside of vehicles in order to spare my lungs from the pollution of Asia). And I was loving seeing all of my family and friends...and, of course, seeing my oldest younger sister marry a wonderful person...hey, I now have a brother!

My friends Pat and Kristin also got married this weekend in Charlotte! I wasn't able to attend the wedding as it took place at the same time as my sister's; however, I was able to visit with them the Thursday beforehand.

Friday was full of fun times! We got are nails did, ate a delicious meal at the Bridesmaid's Luncheon (in the photo: me, and my sisters, Ruth and Kathryn),

rehearsed for the Ceremony,

had good times and much laughter at the rehearsal dinner with the cousins (in the photo: Ryan, me, Ashley and Herb),

and we busted a move at da club (new addition: John, my new bro-in-law).

Then, it was time for the BIG day. It was a beautiful day, a sweet ceremony and a fantastic evening to remember. First of all, my sister got married.

Secondly, my friends, Sarah, Jennifer and Reba all came to the shindig for a "hoot and a holler" of a good time,

Then, my Dad sang with the band to "Hard Days Night",

And, finally, the band ended the evening with "more cowbell" and killer costumes.

Congratulations, Ruth and John!

More pictures can be found by clicking on the Photos link above on the right! Enjoy!

Goa Pictures

2008-11-02T19:34:00.012+05:30

We loved Goa. My favorite part was that the beach reminded me so much of the beaches of NC (minus the cows, hawkers, leaning palm trees and beach huts)....wide beach, great, soft sand to play in, tidal pools, water at the perfect temperature, great body surfing waves...basically, just the best ocean water for playing...

Just can't get enough of those cow pictures...
And we can't forget the "traveling circus" that entertained beach-goers throughout the day....

Seriously

2008-10-31T22:17:00.003+05:30

While sipping our morning ginger, honey, lemon tea in a cafe in Goa, Megan and I noticed mice crawling in the rafters. The wooden rafters were covered with a meshy-like tarp, which separated and blocked us from the mice. The servers noticed that we were looking and pointing at the ceiling, and so they asked us what we saw. We told them. Now, imagine that you told servers in a state-side restaurant that you saw mice running around over your head. What would they do? Probably apologize.... perhaps giggle sheepishly.... but for the most part, they would do everything in their power to keep the news of mice on the down low in order to deter any mayhem or lost business that could result from your freak out. What do servers do in Goa? Well, they pick up a rock, throw it into the meshy ceiling causing the mouse to fall through a crack and land on the floor right next to you. Then they run around with a bat claiming that "tandoori mouse" is very delicious. Seriously.

It would be great if I could now share a picture of the mouse with you. However, I don't have one. What I do have is a picture of myself just before I ate a fish eye. That's a close second, right?

The Whistler

2008-10-21T18:13:00.002+05:30

Every night beginning as early at 11:30pm, but usually closer to midnight or 1am, I hear someone blowing a whistle. "Woooooooooooo"....."Woooooooooooo"....whistling begins to sound further away...."woooo"......whistling comes back...."Wooooooooooo". Who/What/Why is this? Well, it's our neighborhood watchman, apparently, who rides around on a bicycle at night, blowing his whistle to alert everyone that all is well and safe in da hood (or he is just assuring us that he is out doing his duty). India....what a place.

Jigga WHA?!?

2008-10-20T19:28:00.002+05:30

Today I called a dermatologist's office. Below you'll find a transcript of the conversation that took place:

me: Hi, is this the dermatologist's office?
receptionist: Yes
me: I am calling to see if I can make an appointment
recep: Um...(followed by a hesistant, uncomfortable laugh), the doctor just returned from abroad.....
me: Ok.... (let's try this again) well can I make an appointment?
recep: Well, you should just come over right now.
me: No, I can't do that. What time are you open until?
recep: 1pm.
me: Oh! that's it?!
recep: yes, 10am to 1pm.
me: oh ok. no other times?
recep: And evening time. 6-8:30
me: Oh, ok, can i make an appointment during that time?
recep: Well, the doctor just came from abroad (uncomfortable laughter again)
me: So......appointment today...tomorrow? (what the heck lady?)
recep: there are no appointments until the 30th.
me: Oh! There are no appointments?!
recep: yes, that is what i have been trying to tell you
me: (next time, just say it lady...what is this abroad code word mess?) Ok, well nevermind
recep: Well, you can just show up...call me first and I'll tell you whether or not to come at 6pm
me: um, ok

6pm:
me: Hi, I'm calling to see if I can come to the doctor's office tonight.
recep: I spoke with you earlier. Yes, but the doctor is not here, so come in half an hour. There are not many people, so the wait should not be long
me: so, you can get me in?
recep: no, there are no appointments.
me: so, should I even come?
recep: well, what is your name?
me: laura. l-a-u-r-a
recep: l-a-......
me: l-a-u-r-a
recep: ok, i'll write your name down, so you should be ok. this will help.

Time: 6:30, Location: Dr's office
recep: (shakes her head as soon as she sees me...i don't even have to introduce myself, she knows it's l-a-u-r-a) He's not here.
me: Oh, he's not here
recep: No, it will be very long wait
me: oh, well that's not good
recep: no, let me take your number and I will call you when he gets here

I descend the steps into the office, turn to my right and see 20 people who were previously hidden from my view!! 20!
me: Um, I think I will leave. i will not return tonight.... (or ever). thanks anyway.

It's good to have visitors in town....or maybe, it's just good to have Megan in town....

2008-10-11T11:28:00.007+05:30

When people come to visit, I start to notice things about India again...well, there are definitely thousands of things in India that are hard to miss or even difficult to get used to, but sometimes, I do get used to them. For example, haggling over the price of an auto rickshaw ride or the price of a shawl or even the fact that your auto rickshaw driver just pulled over to the side of the road, got out and peed right then and there. Yes, I actually have gotten used to such things. But with visitors, you start to tell these stories, ask them if such occurrences have happened to them yet and you begin to contemplate why it is that you no longer think of these things as odd.

Well, I'll tell you, in the 5 days that Megan has been here, I've gaped and guffawed at more things than I have in the last month or two. Such things as men who stopped their car in the middle of a MAJOR road to beat up on another human being, 2 naked men bathing in a puddle on the side of another main road, a mouse than ran out from under our dinner table at a fairly nice restaurant, and my favorite...the taxi that accelerated without a driver. Why is it that I have not noticed these very different occurrences in the last couple of months? I have often caught myself saying, "ah, that's India" and turning my head...this past week, though, has been a great reminder that I should probably pay more attention...especially since I could probably fill up this blog with some fantastic stories:) Or maybe Megan should just live here forever because for whatever reason, these oddities are attracted to her presence.

Now, back to the accelerating taxi. On Wednesday night, Megan and I hopped in a taxi at a taxi stand by the American Embassy. The driver then opened his door, and as he did this, the car jolted forward and began to roll. I'm not really sure what happened yet, but here is my best educated guess. The taxi driver tried to jump into the driver's seat, fully intending to press the brakes with the one foot that he was able to get inside the vehicle. Instead, however, he missed the brakes, pressed the gas pedal and the taxi, with Megan and I in the back seat, accelerated rather quickly and slammed right into another taxi. Now for a geometry lesson...Our taxi was perpendicular to the taxi car that we hit. The car that we hit was also the only blockage between us and a main road. Thank you taxi #2. We're sorry about the big dent in the side of your body.

The Long-Awaited (for some of us) or just the Long (for most of you) Story of Ladakh

2008-09-29T21:46:00.034+05:30

"I've never experienced so much changing weather in so short a time as I did this morning (day 2 of the trek). Sun and heat to clouds and cold to light rain to windy to sunny to SNOW to HAIL, back to sun and then crazy wind....And it's only 1pm". That's the opening line of my 33 page journal entry (or succession of journal entries) written while trekking in Ladakh, a state in Northern India. Ladakh means "many passes". On this day we only hiked for 2.5 hours gradually ascending to a height 14,500 ft (we camped that evening at the base of the Gandala Pass). I'll tell ya, my body was feeling it. Even though, we took our time and the uphill really was GRADUAL, I hit a wall. The thought of pushing any buttons on my camera was even exhausting. But, thankfully, this was about as rough as it got in terms of acclimitization. Jon and I had a few headaches at this altitude... James pretty much rocked it...and that was pretty much it. We were very thankful for that!

We spent our first three days in this area, in the main town of Leh checking out monasteries, drinking ginger tea, shopping, napping, reading and eating great food! We were taking it easy as we were told so as to help our bodies adjust to the altitude. Leh is at approximately 11,000 ft elevation.

On the first day of our trek, we hiked 2 hours to the town of Rumbak, where we were greeted by a tea stall serving candy, snacks, coke and even beer (and of course, tea). We laid low, played our first games of Yatzee, drank more tea and ate a delicious dinner of chicken curry and veggies. I believe this was the first and second to last night of being carnivores (well, except for the canned tuna that we had later on during the trek. And, man, that canned tuna sure was good!).

The three of us, Jon, James, a friend from Flagstaff, AZ, and I, were led by our guide, Wotop (actually, his name is Mutup, but we didn't understand him well enough when he spoke his name, and so for the entire 10 days, we called him Wotop....wow, talk about patience...he just let us be. We did have a hint that it wasn't his name when we asked the cook on Day 5, "Where is Wotop?", and the cooked replied with, "What? water?"....things that make you go hmmmm...or doh!). Along with Wotop (yes, I will continue to call him this...I mean, how can I not?!), was his son, Delick, who was a helper, our cook, Tseweng, and the horseman, Tashi. Oh, and 7 horses. Yes, 3 Americans were accompanied by 4 locals and 7 horses. True story.

On Day 3, we hiked up to the Gandala pass (1 hour and 15 minutes for me....record breaking 55 minutes for James and Jon), and then descended to the village of Skiu for a good 4.5 hours more. I really felt like I was sucking climbing up the pass. Jon and James told me that I "kicked ass", but I must say, it is difficult to consider yourself an "ass-kicker" when you are moving at a snail's pace. But, in our defense, I guess we did climb 500 meters frm 14,500 to 16,000 ft elevation in fairly cold weather. I will say that I didn't stop moving...I was a consistent snail:)

Day 4 was LOOOOONG! 6 hours may not sound too bad, but it was 6 hours of pretty level terrain....great views of the valley, some canyons and an easy flowing river. Parts of this day reminded us of the Grand Canyon, Zion and Canyonlands. Very cool stuff. On this portion of the trek and many other parts of the walk, we passed walls made of stones where the top layer stones are covered in Sanskrit and Tibetan mantras. The most popular mantra, Ohm Mani Padme Hum, appeared on probably 80% of the stones. There is no direct translation, and the meaning it can and does invoke could probably be the subject of thousands of blog entries. But, from what I gather, the meaning embodies compassion and peace for all beings. Very beautiful. We also came across a few old monasteries that were build high atop hills. It is absolutely crazy to think that people actually hike up these steep hills (and I mean, steep...they are basically cliffs), let alone to think that people actually built the monasteries!

We landed at THE Markha Valley Campsite (Markha Valley is THE valley that the trek is named after). After dinner, we asked Wotop about his calf. He had said earlier that his calves were giving him pain...um, you'd never know it, though. The 48 year old man was still kicking all of our boo-tays. Anyway, he replied by saying, "It's complicated". "Complicated?" we asked. And so, he gave us the story. While we were eating, he walked over to the Markha Valley Village, and for the first time in 18 years (18 years of guiding this trek), he was bit by a dog that leapt at him from behind a bush and grabbed hold of Wotop's calf with his teeth. Well, we sure did jump on that, and cover his bite in antiseptic, Neosporin and bandages. And we insisted that he clean his wound again before going to bed. This kind of freaked us out...rabies, infections, etc. But, the next day, he appeared as burly as ever, and for the duration of the trek, he never foamed at the mouth or bit us or anything:)

Day 5 began with Jon dropping our nice, double-ply, soft, don't leave home without it while traveling in India toilet paper into the squatter....ie. the deep massive hole in the ground. From here on out, I tried not to go to the bathroom....bad mistake. Note to self: Always go to the bathroom when nature calls while trekking. Don't hold back...ever.

This day was just plain HOT. It was our first cloudless day, and I guess when you are at 14,000 ft, the sun is quite powerful. Once we reached camp (the Hankar Yogma Camp), the heat finally gave me the courage to wash my hair in what has to be the coldest water I have ever and hope to ever wash my hair in. I was very worried that I my whole body would be cold as it takes my hair sooooo long to dry. However, that powerful sun did its magic, and I had a dry head within minutes. Amazing that sun is.

On Day 6 we only walked for 1.5 hours to Thachungtse. Pretty short walk, but if we went any further, we would have had to camp at 15,000 feet at Nimaling Pasture, which is incredibly windy and um, freezing. No thanks. I'll just hang out for a day soaking up the rays. Today was also the day that my stomach gave in and said "if you don't relieve me right now, there is going to be trouble". Unfortunately, we were at one of the only 2 campsites that didn't have any squatters (holes in the ground surrounded by stones....your own private toilet...divine). I'll just leave this matter on the note that it was an awkward day.

Day 7...oh, Day 7...oh, Day 7, you rocked my world. I'm pretty sure that on this day I was physically pushed harder than ever before in my life. Jon said that had he known what that day was going to be like, he would have warned us big time. We walked uphill for 4 hours ascending to the Kongmarula Pass at 16,700 feet. Bru-tal. We walked along side the Kangyatse peak (21000 feet), and at one point, I looked around and was surrounded by massive peaks. While this is a very beautiful site, it also freaked me out a bit. I realized that we were VERY high in elevation, and I felt a bit trapped... I mean, really, how do you get down from here? You climb more, reach a pass and then, and only then may you begin your descent to "out". There was a point during this day where we gradually ascended through a pasture. The end of the pasture was definitely a mirage. As much as we walked, we didn't seem to get any closer to the edge of the pasture. Jon and James, once again, kicked boo-tay. Laura, however, eh, whatever. I made it. Jello legs, racing heart, my body craving oxygen and rests just about every 15 feet. It was intense. Oh yeah, and how can I forget the never-ending desire to vomit. But, we made it, and it was cool. very cool. I may have to go as far as to say that all the pain was worth it:)

Then, we began the walk down...um, hello, is 3 hours more of walking really necessary? Apparently, it is to reach the good campsite....and, I must say, the campsite, Chuskurmo that night was the best yet. Upon arrival, we were greeted with Godfather beers (yes!), and a stunning view as our tents sat at the top of a cliff overlooking the beautiful canyon and river before us. Stunning. We leaned against our bags, listened to our ipods and stared at the view from our front porch. It was the perfect setting after the extreme day. We felt good.

On Day 8, we arrived at our final campsite, which happened to be right next to our first signs of civilization....mainly, a dirt road. We were a little perturbed at first that we were going to spend an afternoon and evening along a road, when we could just walk another hour or two to where the jeeps where going to pick us up, anyway. However, we ditched our Debbie-downer views, and made the most of it! We had such a fun day! We chilled, played Yatzee...in fact, I was on a crazy Yatzee role, winning games right and left. All the while we drank Godfathers and more Godfathers... and suddenly, my playing took a turn for the worse, and I ended up with my lowest score of all time. So, we quit playing, grabbed a few more Godfathers and headed to the river. I read and listened to my ipod (mainly, Glamorous by Fergie....the song that was always stuck in my head while hiking), and Jon and James built a dam. Good times.

That night was obviously our last dinner. The whole crew of 7 of us ate together, and Tseweng even made a cake! Jon and James gave each crew member some t-shirts that reminded us of them. For example, Wotup received the Peruvian softball "Profes" shirt, as he was our "teacher". It was a great evening, and the perfect conclusion to our amazing journey.

Birthdays! Birthdays!

2008-09-22T21:11:00.008+05:30

Last week, I hosted our first ever partay in honor of Jon's 38th Birthday. It was truly good fun...good food, a little Catch Phrase, and even a birthday sign courtesy of my 1st grade cutting and pasting skills.

This past weekend, we celebrated Becky's birthday at her house. A night of good weather, fabulous dancing, and kick ass music...or so I thought. Here's the story on the music....I worked so hard creating the Best Party Mix Ever. I was super pysched. I had all the latest...ne-yo, akon, sean kingston, chris brown...you know, fab Summer 2K8 music. And then I threw it a few hits from the college days...R Kelly's "Remix to Ignition", Wyclef's "Perfect Gentlemen", "Shorty Swing My Way"....I mean, could this get any better?? Well, Becky and I were quickly reminded that we are just about the only college graduates of the the new millenium. So, I was forced to play "When Dove's Cry" and "Girls Just want to have fun" in order to hold the dancers on the floor. But, soon they all left, and Becky, Thinh and I were left to enjoy our fave songs and bust out a few more moves:)

Peacocks and flower petals

2008-09-22T20:57:00.005+05:30

We've seen elephants and camels in our neighborhood before (usually part of a ceremony or wedding or something), and we've even seen a wild pig in our hood. However, I recently crossed paths with a peacock in the middle of the road the other day. A full on, legit, beautiful, large peacock. This place makes me laugh....

In other strange occurrences, I would like to comment on my neighbor. Every morning, a car pulls up and the driver opens the trunk. He then proceeds to empty the trunk of thousands of small, bright yellow stemless flowers. He places them all on a burlap sack. Then another member of the neighbor's house help, wraps up the bag, and carries all of the flowers into the gate. I don't know what happens to them after that....You'd think by now I would have asked someone, but I've never seen or met that neighbor. However, stay tuned because I do plan to solve this mystery.

Summertime Fun

2008-08-02T14:14:00.022+05:30

Well, we're back in Delhi...School starts in 3 days...the 2nd year is oh so nice and easy...we've come home to a clean, settled apartment, familiar faces and a job that we totally dig. Although, I must say that it's always hard to come back to work after a summer of good times...Here is a brief tale of our summer 2K8 adventures...

1. Ladakh...um, awesome. A entire post will be dedicated to this trip...coming soon.

2. Chicago...We stayed with our friends Katie and Mike, and Reba came to town as well! Oh, and we ate lots of Hotdogs.

(I don't know any of the people in this picture, but I'm sure that they'd be totally psyched to know that they were featured in the Pitale blog)

3. A whirlwind tour of NC and VA to visit Jon's Dad, VA, my grandparents, my sister and a few of my college gals.

4. Next, it was off to Truckee, CA to visit our friends from Delhi, Chris and Meemie. Chris took us too Tuolumne Meadows and Yosemite Valley for some sight-seeing, climbing (yes, even I climbed a bit!), hiking and camping. We also went on a great hike with Meemie near their house in Truckee.

5. Then, Jon headed off to Flagstaff for some fishing and biking...and an un-welcome pulled hip muscle. I went back to NC and spent the next 4 weeks in the QC (queen city) of Charlotte.

I've got a great family that completely welcomed me (and then Jon) and all of our stuff for the month:) We had BBQ's, drank some vino (ok, maybe I did drink them out of house and home, but hey, they had some good stuff!), went white water rafting, ate at Five Guys (a lot)...just all around had a good time:)

I have some super friends, who decided to come down to Charlotte and join me for some fun times. Maggie and Elena came first for the 4th of July.

Then, Sarah, Reba, Katrina, Karen and I (high school friends) traveled up to Lake Norman for a weekend at Reba's lake house.

Lastly, Anne came to town for some fabulous shopping:)

6. Jon returned to NC, and we head to Florida for a weekend. We stayed with our friends Jack and Octavia, who treated us to an evening in Miami and a Phillies/Marlins game! We also attended Jon's grandmother's 90th birthday party!

7. And then, the party we were all waiting for...my sister Ruth's Bachelorette Party! Now that was good times. Kathryn and I planned a pretty good party, if I do say so myself, complete with lingerie, cheesy games, a cowboy hat veil, and a night out at a Country Western Bar, where Ruth proceeded to win the "Hot Buns" contest...that's my girl!

8. My friend Jennifer returned from her vaca in the Caribbean, and finally Sarah and I were able to hang out with her and eat at our fave Southern food restaurant, Dish.

9. And last but not least Jon and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary with one left over slice of our wedding cake for breakfast and for dinner... a bottle of champagne (good), a bottle of wine (ok, pushing it), and vodka shot (um, too far...). But from what I remember of the evening, it was really nice:) kidding, hon. I remember it all, of course....hmmm....

High Tea

2008-05-29T10:22:00.008+05:30

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to announce my debut into society has finally taken place: High Tea at the Imperial Hotel.

Seriously, though, what fun! Good times with my "Indian" gals, some Kashmiri tea, biscuits and pastries...

My man is quite a diver, he can stay down there for hours....

2008-05-11T11:29:00.006+05:30

The above is a line from a Bessie Smith song as well as the password for last night's Murder Mystery 1920's themed party. And, believe me, the party did not disappoint. Murder, mystery, dancing, fabulous outfits, good food and fun people...the the Juice Joint Speakeasy was THE place to be last night:)

more pictures in Picasa: http://picasaweb.google.com/lauravandyke/1920SMurderMysteryParty

How fun is India!?

2008-04-26T16:47:00.009+05:30

I love this place (most days...). Well, today was so much fun! I went shopping for fabric. I bought 3 meters of pure silk, 3.5 meters of pure chiffon, some sequined trimming and some ribbon for a headband all for $35! And on Monday, a tailor is going to assemble the following:

Why, you ask?! For the 1920's themed Murder Mystery Party that we'll be attending in 2 weeks! I'm pretty sure that I've waited my whole life for such a party. It'll be like the Murder Mystery episode of Saved by the Bell. Don't worry, I'll be sure to post after the party with lots of fun pictures!

AES Gala

2008-04-19T15:18:00.015+05:30

The Gala is the school's annual, end of the year staff party. This year the party was held at the Shangri-La. It is a semi-formal event.... Some people wear tuxes (like our friend, Mark). Some people wear flip flops (like Jon...although you can't see them here, I assure you that he is wearing them. I also assure you that he was the ONLY person wearing flip flops and one of the ONLY two men not wearing ties).

Our dear friend, Chris, was Jon's other "tie-less" brotha.

Spring Break 2K8:Sikkim

2008-04-17T22:14:00.022+05:30

For Spring Break 2K8, we travelled to the lovely, clean Indian state of Sikkim, which is located just between Nepal and Bhutan, south of Tibet and north of Bangledesh. It's beautiful and is home to the world's 3rd tallest peak, Kangchenjunga.

Upon arrival in Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, we immediately went on the search for momos. Little did we know that even in this very Tibetan state, eating momos in Gangtok would be our ultimate quest. "We don't have momos today", "we just ran out of momos", "momos take 45 minutes to make". What is going on?! This past Monday we made momos at our friend Skye's house, and well, it took us nearly 2 hours from cooking start to eating time. I forgive you, Gangtok:)

I recently saw a Good Morning American clip about the smallest hotel room in NYC (price $80/night). The moment we stepped into our room in Gangtok (mind you, clean place, tv, great view, etc....), I immediately wanted to email Diane Sawyer a picture of our room. I think we have her's beat!

Tammy, one of the friends that we travelled with teaches 4th grade. Her students have been reading Flat Stanley! So, here's a shout out for my family (and any others that know of Flat Stanley and my 4th grade project...).

On Sunday, we travelled to north sikkim. 115 km took 5 hours!

Windy, dirt roads on the edges of cliffs.....ehhhh....although, it really wasn't all that bad. You have to drive slow when sending your jeep over rocky, skinny roads. On the way we saw signs such as:
"Better late than never"
"Arrive in peace, not pieces" (a personal favorite)
"Alertness Averts Accidents"
"Keep your nerve on sharp curves"
"If married, divorce speed" (what?)
"Someone at home is waiting for you"
"Drink and drive, you won't survive"
I'm sure that these signs are intended to alert the driver to focus and to be careful. However, to the non-driving, foreign passenger, these signs (which were EVERYWHERE) were a continual reminder of the crazy road (with potentially crazy drivers). 5 hours of this was plenty! But wait, we had to do it again two days later! Among these signs, we saw others such as:

Oh, and I shant forget the old man that hopped onto the roof of the jeep and rode for the last hour up there all the way to Lachung, our northern mountain town hideaway.

Our trip north was filled with good times.....we drank lots of ginger tea, saw chickens on leashes, slept with hot water bottles, saw our first yaks

and experienced a winter wonderland at 12,000 feet.

Two days later on the trip back to Gangtok, we caught excellent views of Kangchenjunga - spectacular!

Our driver played lots of great hip hop music like "in da club". I was totally groovin'. Jon looked at me at one point and the following conversation took place:
Jon: "I like this song".
Laura: "Really!?" (giddy with excitement)
Jon: "No, but I just like seeing you that happy for a moment"

ha, nice dear:)

For the next few days we travelled to west Sikkim with our friends, Kevin, Tammy and their 6th grade daughter Zoe. Travelling with Zoe is the best - she likes to play mash, 21 questions and make cat's cradle out of string! Finally, someone to play with!

We went to a festival in Ravangla, complete with an orchid competition, horid rhododendron wine and crazy costumes and performances.

We then spent 2 nights in a cute mountain town called Yuksom. We hiked,

visited monasteries, took lots of pictures of prayer flags,

we drank more ginger tea, and sipped on Sikkim's very own beer, HIT. Yes, may I have a hit please?

Overall, good times....more pics on Picassa soon! And if you made it to the end of my record long post...thanks!!

NUTS (Night Under the Stars)

2008-03-19T21:44:00.004+05:30

My first saree...Jon's first kerta....check it out!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lauravandyke/NightUnderTheStarsMarch2008

The weather

2008-03-02T21:03:00.001+05:30

Just 2 weeks ago, I was wearing my sweatshirt in the house, turning on the space heaters, and wishing for winter to end. Last weekend, I was telling everyone back home how fantatic the weather was (very spring like, pleasant and gorgeous). This weekend, I would like to say that the heat is here, and it is HOT! How did this happen? 5 day Spring?! what's up with that? And if it's hot now, oh my...what are we in for in the coming months?

Walking alone...

2008-02-16T21:14:00.002+05:30

The other day (ok, let's be honest, this actually happened 3 or 4 weeks ago, but I've been meaning to write about it since then!) I walked to my friend Becky's house from school. It was about 7:15pm and already dark, but she lives very close to school in a nice, safe diplomat neighborhood:) Well, despite this knowledge, the walk was dark and I was on the street by myself, and my mind began to wander. So, I picked up the pace and broke out into a jog. However, when I saw someone walking down the street towards me, I would slow down so as to save any energy for later, necessary running. At one point, someone was walking right down the middle of the road (not a busy road - a neighborhood street completely empty of cars or tuk tuks) towards me. He/She appeared to have on a large hoody with the hood pulled up over his/her head. He/she was fairly big and bulky, and began to make my quite nervous. I mean, really, hoody's can make people look freaky/creepy in the dark. Well, as we got closer to each other (heart racing...), I realized that this person was quite LARGE (hearting beating faster...), and then I remembered that I live in India (heart slowing down....), and that, duh, it's a cow....a large cow with his large hump, who apparently rules the roads of this neighborhood. I gave him a nod and continued on my way.....

Our Second Visitor!

2008-02-16T20:59:00.003+05:30

Jon's friend, Martin, came to town and stayed with us for several days. I would post a picture of Jon's and Martin's adventures together, but when I asked them if they took any pictures together during their outings, they immediately laughed at me. Is that a girl thing? Allison and I couldn't take enough pictures together:)

One of the highlights of his visit was our trip to Karim's....meat fest! Racks of lamb, kebabs, chicken tandoori...mmmm mmmm....(note the yummy leftovers in the following picture). Rest assured that when you visit, we will take you there.

Other than this highlight, life has been moving along. We're doin' our thang. We were supposed to update this blog on Monday with pictures from our weekend trip to the Taj Mahal, but due to my second cold/flu of the past 3 weeks, we bailed. I'm finally on the up and up, and it looks like the weather is too! Yay! the cold is almost gone! i can stop sleeping in sweatshirts and fleeces, and for a month or so, we may actually enjoy full on, beautiful, nice spring weather. Around April, though, the heat will supposedly be back in full force.

Our First Visitor!

2008-01-26T13:05:00.000+05:30

My good friend Allison was in town last weekend, and it was fabulous:) We saw the sights of Delhi (perfect as I have not seen much of the history of this city I call home....in my defense, however, it is not until the current months that the weather is bearable enough for long days of sight-seeing and shopping) and we hit up some great markets. We ate delish food, including a trip to one of the top 50 restaurants in the World (according to Restaurant Magazine), Bukhara. It was indeed delightful.

Oh all the sights we visited and the good food we ate, our favorite part of the weekend was probably our ride on the Delhi metro. As we exited the station in Connaught Place, we trailed behind an Indian couple, who had evidently just rode the Metro for the first time. First they struggled to figure out what to do with their metro token in order to exit the automatic gates, but the cutest part of all was the escalator episode. They immediately hesitated upon encountering the moving stairs. The husband kept nudging his wife to go forward just like everyone else. She refused until he did so first. So, he stepped in front of her and...froze. Meanwhile we had already boarded the escalator, but I wanted so badly to run back down and help them overcome their fear. Ultimately, they gave up and took the stairs. I hope they give it another try:)

You check out more pics of Allison's visit in Picasa!

Bali pics!

2008-01-13T17:25:00.000+05:30

Bali pictures are now uploaded into Picasa. You can check them out by clicking on the picture link at the right. Enjoy!

Bali Highlights

2008-01-08T12:40:00.000+05:30

We're back in Delhi now and have already started school, but I thought that I'd take a moment to share a few more Bali stories. Here are some of the highlights:

In just about every bungalow/guesthouse that we stayed in, we had other houseguests. For example, flying ants decided to sleep in our bed one evening while we were at dinner in Ubud. A swarm of moths fought with all their might to squeeze through the window cracks (losing their wings along the way) just to be close to our lamps in Munduk, a rat/mouse left little treats for us scattered throughout our bungalow and stole our soap (no lie) in Permuteran, and geckos sprayed our room with junk from their trunks in Keliki. How sweet.

We went on a couple of fantastic dives! We saw 2 green turtles about a meter in width. Jon woke one up, it turned its head, yawned and floated away. very cool.

The people in Bali are incredibly friendly. It's a culture without a word for hello. Rather, they greet each other with smiles. We went on a bike ride with a guide named Dewa, who took us to his house, shared with us lots of Balinese history and culture and fed us some amazing tea and the best rice crackers we've ever had. The Balinese pride themselves on their soil because in every home, the families can grow everything they need - you name a vegetable or spice, and they've got it in their backyard.

Lak Lak (the above photo)! yummy! Lak lak is a balinese breakfast dish of 5 small (about the size of half a golf ball) pancakes made from rice flour with palm sugar and coconut sprinkled on top. Absolutely delish!

Last but not least, I must speak of the massages. In 20 days, I received 10 massages. Scalp, foot, body, facial, foot/hands and feet/hands/shoulder/neck massages. I have definitely found my favorite massage style....the balinese got it goin' on:)

Well, that's about it! Stay tuned for pictures!

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-30T10:02:00.000+05:30

Happy Holidays from Bali! We spent a delightful Christmas in Munduk, a small hilltop town, overlooking rice paddies, valleys and the ocean in the distance! We were the only guests in a fantastic, quaint hotel complete with a porch and open-air bathroom, both facing the most spectacular views I've ever seen in my life (truly!). This is one of those places that you want to tell everyone and no one about. Everyone because it is just that perfect, and no one because you want to selfishly keep in hidden and hope that it never spoils. While it was rather rainy in Munduk, we still enjoyed our time playing cards, watching a couple movies, hiking to a waterfall and attending a Christmas dinner complete with gamelan music and Balinese dancing.

Now we are in the North staying on a beach in Permuteran at a hotel with all the essentials- a pool, a pool side bar, a spa, a good restaurant, a large beach, one big ocean, a few hills close by for hiking...it's a nice oasis for a few days....despite the mosquito that found its way past our mosquito net last night and decided to nibble all over my face (as the rest of my body was covered by the sheet). I woke up this morning with a large bump on my forehead and cheek, and a swollen eyelid! Yes, it bit my eye. not very nice.

That's all for now - this internet cafe is expensive!

Happy New Year!

Love,
Laura and Jon

More pig and a little bird poop on the side

2007-12-20T15:07:00.000+05:30

As soon as Jon and I heard that there is a suckling pig restaurant in Ubud, we lined right up with the rest of the Indonesians for the perfect lunch.

I should have seen the warnings...the brown conglomerate of mess that I mistook for mud or pig spices and the table umbrella that covered all of the other seats except for mine (the only empty seat in the place when we walked in). Alas, I did not read any of these signs as the pig was calling my name and my stomach was calling Porky. Third sign, the bump that I felt hit my back...again, the high of the pig told me that the bump was a rock or acorn (yeah right...an acorn from the lovely papaya tree...). Fourth sign, that pesky acorn fell on my head...this time I reached for it, and this time I found that same brown mess that was previously on my chair. Jon, I've been pooped on! He checks out the scene and determines that I must have swiped it all away with my hand. Recalling the first "acorn", I also ask Jon to inspect my back...anything? nothing. Ok, whew. must have been that acorn:) Despite the bird mess, I keep eating. Albeit rather slowly, though, as I am convincing my mind and stomach not to lose it's appetite over a little bird crap...

Jon happily scarfs down his food, smiling and loving life. He then turns to me and says, "Alright, shithead. Let's get you outta here...there is shit all over you". WHAT!! light bulb! There really is crap on my head and on my back, but my darling husband didn't want to lose this delightful culinary experience to his wife that would have quickly insisted that they leave had she known better.

During this epiphany and freak out, bird shit falls onto my napkin. No lie. That's three hits in a matter of 7 minutes.

I still love Bali.

Greetings from Bali

2007-12-19T19:33:00.000+05:30

Green, terribly green, cultural, tropical, clean, beautiful Bali. paradise? perhaps. Really, though, every building, guest house, shop, temple....put it this way, any structure...is architecturally artsy (for lack of a better phrase), the people are incredibly friendly, and it's just plain wonderful.

We arrived on Saturday after a delayed Delhi flight...we sat on the plane in Delhi for 4 hours before it took off!! anyway, we missed our connecting flight out of Kuala Lumpur, but we did make it to Bali just a few hours later than expected. We headed straight to Sanur for the evening and hopped on a local boat Sunday morning that took us out to Lembongan island, an island with nothing but a few bungalows, some snorkeling and diving. There aren't even any boat docks...you have to roll your pants up, take off your shoes, jump into the water and carry your luggage over your head. It was a great, relaxing beginning to the journey. The next day, however, we decided to leave at the spur of the moment as Jon had a sinus infection that prevented him from going diving. We ended up catching a ride on a tiny little boat with two locals, who dropped us off in the middle of nowhere on Bali island. Well, thankfully, someone was there to rip us off and charge us way to much money for a ride to Ubud. Oh well. At least we were able to stop for some of Bali's world famous suckling pig stuffed with garlic, turmeric, chilli and ginger. killer.

Now we're in Ubud. We've taken long walks around town and through the surrounding rice paddy fields. We're staying at a guest house for $12.50 a night....a guest house surrounded by green plants and trees (looks like your regular jungle...as everywhere on this island does) with hot water (always a plus in Asia!), large space and our own porch where hot tea magically appears every morning and evening. Plus, the family that runs the guest house will make dinner for you if you request it at least one day in advance. Um, best meal in Bali yet...nothing like a good home cooked meal.

Oh, and craziest experience yet...I ran into an old Charlotte friend on the streets of Ubud that I haven't seen in 2.5 years...gotta love when that happens!

Tomorrow we are leaving for the Amed area...beach towns. Will keep you updated!

Love to all and more soon....

Christmas in India

2007-12-13T14:23:00.000+05:30

It all began as soon as Diwali ended. I quickly rushed off to Khan Market seeking "Diwali sales" - you know, like post-Christmas/post-Easter/post-Halloween sales at Eckerd of all the Holiday paraphernalia. Diwali one of the biggest Indian Holidays and is rather Christmas-like with families decorating their homes with lights and candles and such (minus Santa, reindeer, Snowmen and mistletoe). I was hoping to find some white lights for half price (because half off of $2.50 is a steal!). Well, I ran into the Diwali stores only to find that they were immediately turned over to Christmas shops! Gigantic, life-size Santas that sing and dance, ornaments galore and, of course, no half-price lights. Yes, I paid the full $2.50. bummer.

Not only are there Holiday shops devoted strictly to Christmas, but where we are usually met by children trying to sell magazines, newspapers, roses and balloons at large intersections, we are now approached by Santa's "helpers" selling Santa hats and Santa masks.

I began to wonder why all this Christmas decor? We're in a country that is 80% Hindu and 2% Christian, but by the amount of Western Holiday "stuff" and and the large number of Christmas shops, you'd think that all Christians were moving to India for the Holidays. I'm sure there are a variety of reasons....For one, there are thousands upon thousands of ex-pats living in Delhi, and people like Jon actually buy the Santa masks on the side of the road. Christmas paraphernalia is fun and it's all over the world, so the better question is probably why not India? And, I guess, we can probably thank Hallmark somewhere in there.....

Happy Holidays! We're off to Bali tomorrow. Keep checking for updates while we're in Indonesia!

Pamper Yourself!

2007-12-02T21:49:00.000+05:30

I just had my first massage house call. Yep, the "masseuse" came to my house and gave me a 1 hour massage for $12. Hey, even if she was a bit older with massage techniques on the low-pressure side, a $12 massage in your own house is still worth it!

Little Earthquake

2007-11-26T19:47:00.000+05:30

My Second Earthquake.....ehhh....I admit it, I was freaked. And it really wasn't bad- 4.3 on the Richter scale, but the epicenter was right here in New Delhi at 4:45am.

While in Pushkar, I learned that I am an incredibly sound sleeper.... temple bells rang and thousands of people made their pilgrimage all the while chanting and chatting on the streets right outside our hotel window ALL night long....I slept like a baby. Well, my new revelation may have to take a back seat...that little quake had me shooting straight up out of bed within milliseconds.

All is well. No injuries. No damage. Just enough of a rumble to have many of our students (and me) talking about it all day....

The Pushkar Camel Fair

2007-11-25T21:34:00.000+05:30

It's official....our move to India has been christened... by the Pushkar Camel Fair. We can now say with assurance that we do indeed live in India. Of course, the trip began as many do.....haggling for a taxi. Taxi drivers actually try to push a $40 taxi ride on what is really a $10 ride ($10 during this camel festival, that is....normally $2.50, i bet). Now, this taxi ride can not even take us to our hotel as the streets are closed and jam packed full of pilgrims, tourists, vendors, motorcycle drivers and carnies of all colors (monkey man, long mustache boy, and a cow with an extra hoof protruding out of its back). So, we walk....and we walk....and we finally arrive at the Navratan hotel, which is located right next to the one and only existing Brahman temple in the world. Cool. Yeah, we think it's cool just like hundreds of thousands of Indians who are making their pilgrimage to this holy town and temple over the next 2 days.

Speaking of the town of Pushkar....population 15,000. During the camel fair...population 200,000 plus 50,000 camels and cattle. It is considered to be a holy city with a holy lake, the holy Brahman temple, only veg food and no alcohol. People come from all over to pray in the temple and bathe in the lake. Announcements are made over the loud speaker during the fair asking that no one take pictures of the holy ghats (bathing areas around the lake) and that men and women not hold hands in this holy place.

We arrived on a Thursday, dropped our stuff off at the hotel just in time to catch my first camel ride....into the sunset. Ahhh, beautiful....um, beautifully hazy that is. Out in the sandy Rajastani desert with hazy skies, camels and their excretions of all sorts.

What stands out the most in Pushkar are the sounds and the colors. Fantastic colors everywhere! Bright Sikh turbans, vibrant sarees....in fact, as I crossed one of the "holy bridges" (by the way, you have to take your shoes off when you walk across this bridge because of its holiness), a large group of Rajastani young women passed by singing songs all the while wearing extraordinary shades of red and burgundy. It's really just so different. How often does this happen to you in the states? Large groups of young ladies wearing bright, vibrant dresses, singing folk songs....just for fun? By 5am Friday morning, the street outside of our window was filled with children and adults setting up shop, bartering, buying their Masala Chai, playing their drums, tambourines and recorders.

By the time the sun rises, there is a man bathing on his rooftop directly across the street from our hotel room. The tourists are out and everyone is taking tons of pictures....pictures of the "monkey-men" (men dressed and acting like monkeys), the man escorting his cow with the extra hoof, the snake charmers, the standing baba (who has vowed to stand for at least 20 years)... You can't just start snapping pictures all over the place, though. You better be prepared to hand over at least 10 rupees (25 cents). But what about me? Frequently, I catch Indian men whipping out their camera phones to take a picture of me. I quickly hold my hand up and say "10 rupees! 10 rupees!" They are beyond baffled.

Friday night happened to be the eve of the most important day of the Festival. Apparently the sun never set that night because that street was non-stop from 6pm until....well....I don't know when. We left the next afternoon, and the madness was still in full force. As I said above, Pushkar is the home of the only standing Brahman temple in the world, and the Camel Fair is the time of all times to visit it. Masses upon masses of people poured into that temple chanting, ringing bells, praying, singing, chatting all (let me emphasize ALL) night long. It was really quite amazing to see. The street only got more crowded. So much so that when Jon went out early Saturday morning, he got caught in the crowd, lifted off his feet and was carried through with no control over his pace or direction (he did make it back safely, however, via another route).

Despite the sensory overload of the Camel Festival, Pushkar is a lovely town with great rooftop restaurants overlooking the lake, fabulous architecture, cute shops....overall, good times. We'd go back....definitely.

Check out the pictures by clicking on the Photos link at the top right:)

Welcome to our Blog!

2007-11-19T21:42:00.000+05:30

Testing. 1 2 3. Testing.