I am about to start my very long journey home.. :) It's 4:30am.. I never see this hour and the hotel people are fighting with me to make sure I do.. and it's a good thing or else i'd be sleeping still!
I will see all of you shortly! MISS YOU ALL!
-Sammie
Friday, March 20, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Packing Up :)
Ok, time has absolutely flown here! I can't believe I have been here for a month already! I had an amazing time even thru the stress of it all :) The people here keep me sane! I wore my saree to work all day and after work to a dinner at Abdul's home yesterday! We took pictures like crazy :) When we got to Abdul's we took a minute and drove over to Muddassir's home to meet his family also, then back to Abdul's for dinner! Busy Busy :) We are always trying to squeeze as much as we can into these last days! I have some last minute shopping to get done and then tomorrow I leave the hotel at 5am for the airport..
I stayed up last night packing and JUST BARELY was able to fit everything! But now tonight I can relax and enjoy my last night!
I stayed up last night packing and JUST BARELY was able to fit everything! But now tonight I can relax and enjoy my last night!
Monday, March 16, 2009
My last weekend this trip!
Oh my, I don't think I have ever packed so much into one weekend before!!
Saturday morning I got up bright and early (well... early... I wasn't so bright :P) to play Football (aka soccer) with Muddassir, Abdul & Shalini. I woke up around 5 and left around 6 for the field. We kicked the ball around for a while, sat down and had some breakfast then played a little longer. The sun was starting to get hot so we were looking around for something else & spotted the basketball court with a ball sitting there. We asked the kids if we could use it and they said yes so we started (very lazily) shooting around... lets just say, I am HORRIBLE at basketball but I was the only one getting the ball in :) After a few minutes of laughing at ourselves, the three kids borrowed the ball from came over and asked if we wanted to play a game! They couldn't have been more than 12 or 13 but they kicked our butts! It was also starting to get HOT out! and it wasn't even close to noon yet! We gave in, grabbed our stuff and headed back to the car.
Back at the hotel we sat and had some breakfast, were joined by Christina and Vageesh and later Shalini who were all going out shopping. I was so exhausted and knew I still had a long day ahead of me so I went back to the hotel room and took a nap.
Around 2, I finally got myself up and functioning again and Muddassir rejoined me for Lunch and then took me to see some horses across from where he lives. It was so interesting to see the setup for the stables! All ourdoors and open! There were old retired race horses as well as younger horses, a few stallions and then from what we could tell two mares that were carrying. We walked around for a little while, fed them some grass, took pix and headed back to the hotel.
NOW, the fun part :) Abdul had invited us out to a club to see his friend DJ... so Christina and I had some getting ready to do! I NEVER bring high heels here so I had to go out and buy some! I couldn't go to the club in flats twice! So I got ready and ran down to Brigade Rd to a shoe store and found some cute heels :) then back to the hotel just in time for Abdul to come pick us up! We had a blast! When we got there it was a little quiet but within 20 minutes the place was packed and you could barely move! It's funny the difference between the way people dance here and at home! I wish I had taken some pix, my camera was passed around and a few shots were taken but nothing great. :( Next trip! The thing you have to know about Bangalore is right now there is a law that everything shuts down at 11:30.. it's strange, I could have stayed out for hours! Though my feet were thankful I went home and rested.
The next morning I slept in! It was great! I ended up waking up around 11, got dressed and had an early lunch/late breakfast. Jomon and Vageesh came to pick us up at the hotel on bikes and we met up with Muddassir & Shalini along the way. It was about an hour up to Nandi Hills then probably another half to ride up. I will detail the rest of the trip, but for now I must get back to work! Enjoy the pix.. though they're a little out of order :)
Saturday morning I got up bright and early (well... early... I wasn't so bright :P) to play Football (aka soccer) with Muddassir, Abdul & Shalini. I woke up around 5 and left around 6 for the field. We kicked the ball around for a while, sat down and had some breakfast then played a little longer. The sun was starting to get hot so we were looking around for something else & spotted the basketball court with a ball sitting there. We asked the kids if we could use it and they said yes so we started (very lazily) shooting around... lets just say, I am HORRIBLE at basketball but I was the only one getting the ball in :) After a few minutes of laughing at ourselves, the three kids borrowed the ball from came over and asked if we wanted to play a game! They couldn't have been more than 12 or 13 but they kicked our butts! It was also starting to get HOT out! and it wasn't even close to noon yet! We gave in, grabbed our stuff and headed back to the car.
Back at the hotel we sat and had some breakfast, were joined by Christina and Vageesh and later Shalini who were all going out shopping. I was so exhausted and knew I still had a long day ahead of me so I went back to the hotel room and took a nap.
Around 2, I finally got myself up and functioning again and Muddassir rejoined me for Lunch and then took me to see some horses across from where he lives. It was so interesting to see the setup for the stables! All ourdoors and open! There were old retired race horses as well as younger horses, a few stallions and then from what we could tell two mares that were carrying. We walked around for a little while, fed them some grass, took pix and headed back to the hotel.
NOW, the fun part :) Abdul had invited us out to a club to see his friend DJ... so Christina and I had some getting ready to do! I NEVER bring high heels here so I had to go out and buy some! I couldn't go to the club in flats twice! So I got ready and ran down to Brigade Rd to a shoe store and found some cute heels :) then back to the hotel just in time for Abdul to come pick us up! We had a blast! When we got there it was a little quiet but within 20 minutes the place was packed and you could barely move! It's funny the difference between the way people dance here and at home! I wish I had taken some pix, my camera was passed around and a few shots were taken but nothing great. :( Next trip! The thing you have to know about Bangalore is right now there is a law that everything shuts down at 11:30.. it's strange, I could have stayed out for hours! Though my feet were thankful I went home and rested.
The next morning I slept in! It was great! I ended up waking up around 11, got dressed and had an early lunch/late breakfast. Jomon and Vageesh came to pick us up at the hotel on bikes and we met up with Muddassir & Shalini along the way. It was about an hour up to Nandi Hills then probably another half to ride up. I will detail the rest of the trip, but for now I must get back to work! Enjoy the pix.. though they're a little out of order :)
Thursday, March 12, 2009
BBQ
We had such an amazing time last night!! Let me preface this by saying, eating beef is not a very common practice in India since the majority of the population is Hindu & they concider the cow to be sacred. So it's just known that we won't find much meat here, let alone beef... and you just accept it.
There are a few in the group that are Muslim or Christian and they suggested we have a BBQ and cook some meat! It was sooo delish... and not a way we are used to seeing meat cooked! A grill with REAL charcoal... pieces of charred wood, not bricks like we use back home. Started by hand with gasoline from the station down the road and coconut shells! It was one of the best nights here! We started the night off on Shalini's terrace on her roof, but within about an hour it started raining so we moved downstairs into the backyard to find some shelter.
Muddassir cooked beef and chicken on the grill and I pan fried some smaller beef pieces. Shalini bought some veg and non veg food from a local resturant and we had an amazing meal!
Today was Karthik & Yashoda's birthdays and Christina stopped on the way to work to pick up some cakes from the Park Hotel. They were AMAZING! This was my first experience in the office with a birthday! The birthday person feeds everyone cake!
This weekend has filled up very quickly as well! Tomorrow morning I'm getting up and playing soccer with Muddassir, Abdul & some of their friends, hopefully resting in the afternoon then heading out to a local club at night.
Sunday 6 of us are all taking motorcycles down to Mysore to meet up with Vijaya who will be down there already. It's 2.5 hours by bike.. should be an interesting day!
Keep looking for updates. I will try as much as I can!
There are a few in the group that are Muslim or Christian and they suggested we have a BBQ and cook some meat! It was sooo delish... and not a way we are used to seeing meat cooked! A grill with REAL charcoal... pieces of charred wood, not bricks like we use back home. Started by hand with gasoline from the station down the road and coconut shells! It was one of the best nights here! We started the night off on Shalini's terrace on her roof, but within about an hour it started raining so we moved downstairs into the backyard to find some shelter.
Muddassir cooked beef and chicken on the grill and I pan fried some smaller beef pieces. Shalini bought some veg and non veg food from a local resturant and we had an amazing meal!
Today was Karthik & Yashoda's birthdays and Christina stopped on the way to work to pick up some cakes from the Park Hotel. They were AMAZING! This was my first experience in the office with a birthday! The birthday person feeds everyone cake!
This weekend has filled up very quickly as well! Tomorrow morning I'm getting up and playing soccer with Muddassir, Abdul & some of their friends, hopefully resting in the afternoon then heading out to a local club at night.
Sunday 6 of us are all taking motorcycles down to Mysore to meet up with Vijaya who will be down there already. It's 2.5 hours by bike.. should be an interesting day!
Keep looking for updates. I will try as much as I can!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Week end review :)
This week has flown by, as I knew it would! My last weekend is coming up, I can't believe it's almost here already! I have gotten alot of work done with the group so it was defiantly well worth it, but I could so easily stay for another month and STILL have work to do, so it's interesting.
I don't even have many plans for this weekend yet, hopefully some shopping for last minute things I need before leaving.
I don't even have many plans for this weekend yet, hopefully some shopping for last minute things I need before leaving.
Monday, March 9, 2009
3 Weeks and counting!
I can't believe I'm in my third week of this trip already! This weekend was great :) Saturday I ran around and got some shopping done. Sunday we went to a National Park where they have a Safari to see tons of animals and then they have a zoo portion also. There were some great animals there and we even saw a baby elephant! That was my favorite part :) he was a fiesty little one, but so cute! It was funny seeing monkeys in cages because there were wild monkeys all over the park loose too! Ontop of that there was a baby monkey, he couldn't have been more than 10 inches tall, running around by the monkey cages.. apparently he is small enough to fit outside the cage and likes to run away, he was following us around! The day was long and I ended up with a sunburn but it was so well worth it! We had a great time and even stopped for Pizza on the way home :)
Last night after work we went out to an area called Chickpet to go scarf shopping! They love us there, the guy comes down and meets us on the street and he stayed open late to let us shop. Chickpet is mostly distributors so there are not many foreigners down there and the guys in the shop like to take pictures with us, it's quite amusing.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Power, Network, what else?
The one time the power is on (we can work even with it's off, but no AC :P) the network is down right now. So I figured it would be a good time to update everyone with some pictures.
Things have been crazy, I didn't get home to the hotel until 8:30 last night and then we headed up to dinner. Ah, it was so good! There is a restaurant on the top floor of the hotel that has an interesting mix of food. By the time we got back from dinner, it was 10:30! And people wonder why we are so worn out all the time! The days are just so long here!
Things have been crazy, I didn't get home to the hotel until 8:30 last night and then we headed up to dinner. Ah, it was so good! There is a restaurant on the top floor of the hotel that has an interesting mix of food. By the time we got back from dinner, it was 10:30! And people wonder why we are so worn out all the time! The days are just so long here!
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