Kiss the cube goodbye...

As I sit here, on my last casual Friday, at my cube, I've been reflecting upon my time spent sitting here at my cube.  

I have thoroughly enjoyed my cube and the company next to me.  And my projects have been fun- or at least they've kept me busy enough to only miss home a little bit so far (ok fine so I'm ready to come home, let's just not talk about that).  I have scouted out companies, learned to code stuff in HTML (yes, me, the most un-tech-savvy person alive) and gotten some good laughs in while being scolded for eating up too much bandwidth (oops lol).  

Every morning, taking in the sites and smells on the way to work I always think about how I need to write a blog post about the stench and never do (seriously this talk goes on in my head everyday) so I figure it is fitting to pay tribute to the smells we smell, not just on our way to work everyday but pretty much anytime we go anywhere here, after my last ricky ride to the office.  

I'm sure you have all heard that the smells here can vary from quite fabulous to putrid.  Most of the time it is putrid.  This is a kind of putrid smell that even a Darling truck can aspire to smell like.  In general when not wanting to smell something bad, you simply breathe through your mouth; this is the kind of smell that is so strong that even that does not work.  You can breath out of your mouth, plug your nose and the smell still gets in there!  There is no avoiding this stench and oddly enough it happens a lot when driving over the river...annnd then just randomly everywhere else.  It's so annoying because you're just going along, on your merry way and then, WHAM! Like a sack of bricks it hits you!  Sometimes it smells like sulfur, other times... well after looking at the dead dog on the side of the road today swarmed with flies... I don't even want to know what kind of combo of smells that I am smelling.  Some things are better left unknown.

This afternoon, I will be making my last trip to the Chinese cart on the street in front of the office.  My last batch of Chili Garlic Chicken Chowmein *sobbing*!  I'm telling you, they have to put something in it because I literally crave it...all of the time!  If I could take the cook home with me to make me chili chick crack noodles everyday, I would do it in a heart beat!!!  Not to mention I'm going to miss the sweet guys that work there... lets just say that foreign girls are a novelty around here and their big smiles and practically tripping over themselves to help me place an order and pack up my food attitudes, never cease to make me "googles hard all around";) (for those of you not in the loop- Giggles had all around)

We did one last dinner and drinks w/friends from the office last night...annnd who knows me might have a repeat of the fun again tonight since our flight out tomorrow isn't until noon or is it 1pm...eh sometime around there.  It was fun, but sad at the same time- Not gonna lie, I'm going to miss Kunal's blunt honesty and sarcasm and Nirdesh's hilarious commentary!  Although, Kunal might be meeting up with us in Goa on Tuesday, and we have stocked Nirdesh up with tons of new music to jam to (all music from the 90s...1992-1996...haha really, we wish he would move back to the states!) so I suppose last night was not the last time that we will all light up the town.  It has been a fun month- who knew you could have so much fun sitting in a cube being totally unproductive and yet still get so much work done in the end!  

Time to be semi-productive, get crack noodles, say my goodbyes and get packed for a month of adventure...

The Best Eclipse of the Century...

After getting about 2hrs of sleep it was time to rise and shine...or shade our eyes from the sun's rays as we ventured out to watch the eclipse from the 9th floor roof at our office.  4:30am we were up and moving, ready to begin the adventure of taking in the longest solar eclipse of the century...only problem...getting out of our house at night is like trying to escape a fortified castle!  Once everyone is home for the night, the front door is locked and bolted from the inside- funny thing about that is that we don't have a key with which to unlock the door (yes, it is needed to unlock it from the inside).  So we went out via the balcony, down the side stairs and finally made it to the gate.  The gate which was padlocked shut...oops, minor detail.  So, of course the only logical answer is to jump the gate, to freedom.  Only problem with jumping a 6' wall when you are a 5'1", white girl with no hops, is how do you scale something that tall!?  Solution: your tallest friend lifts you up.  Safely perched atop the gate, I next pondered how in the world I would now get down.  Thankfully, flip flops provide fabulous cushioning and support for your feet when jumping from 6' high metal gates onto cement.  Finally, the Three Musketeers, all outside of the fortress, we began our search for a ricky which is tricky at that hour.  We found one, accepted his outrageous price of Rs.100 to take us to the office (we usually pay Rs 80 lol) and were on our way, until one Shatabdi head realized, he forgot his camera...oops!  So, detour back to the fortress, and some gate hopping and stair running later, the camera was safely secured in the ricky and we were really off.  

When we got to the office, the security guards were all hanging out playing cards and greeted us with mixed looks of surprise and the customary cheery "good morning!" and we trudged on, sun beginning to rise.  The elevator guard gave us a look as we hit 9 and were on our way.  Once we got to the roof, we were told that in a few minutes, the elevator would no longer have access to the 9th floor and we would have to take the stairs down... 

After sleepily stumbling out onto the 9th floor/roof we look out the side windows (think a giant room, with walls and all of that, just without a roof) while the security guards stared at us wondering what in God's green earth would bring us to the roof at 5am.  Puttering around we discovered some stairs that lead to a roof where the lightening rods reside.  We climbed the stairs and then a rickety bamboo ladder, squeezed through the metal bars that roofing should cover and perched ourselves on the highest point of the building.  Taking it all in, we sat and watched as the sun tried to peek through the clouds.  Alas, the clouds proved too powerful and started dumping their contents on us.  Of course if FINALLY rains, while were sitting on the metal stuff that connects to the lightening rods- genius!  So, tired and defeated, we scurried back down the ladder (after Sadie, unhooked me from the rusty nail i got my pants hooked on while teetering over the ladder), squeezed through the metal and under the cover of the building.  

It was nice watching the sunrise from such a great view point buuut not quite the view we had hopped for.  We walked to the mall and kept going and finally found the ricky drivers to take us home.  Once we got home, the rain had stopped and the clouds began to part.  From the very patio that we snuck out onto hours earlier, we were able to catch a quick glimpse of the eclipse.  After partially blinding ourselves, staring at the sun like all smart people do, we headed inside.  We were just going to lay down for a little bit and then go check it out again when it was more eclipsed...2hours later we are awoken for breakfast...oops!  4 more hours later we decided to actually get up and go to work.  So, after all of that, the most that I really saw of the best eclipse of the century, I saw on the India Times website...oh well, it was a pretty good nap :)  And so far all of the doomsday predictions today have been hogwash and it is business as unusual here.  

Solar Eclipse

Tomorrow could be a fun day in India!  Hopefully we will be able to see the eclipse from our patio.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090720/sc_afp/scienceastronomyeclipseasiatourismsuperstition

*update* Ryan made a good observation- one of the Dr.s that they quote in here works for Fortis- the hospital I ended up at :)  And not to worry, should anything go down tomorrow, I'll be safely tucked away in my cube at the office all day away from the fun.

Silly Terrorists

So apparently we're not meant to go to shopping at Connaught Place.  Twice we have gone, the 1st time was a Sunday- the whole place is closed on Sunday.  We go yesterday to meet up with a friend from work and wonder why the driver drove past and told us no we couldn't turn in as tons of army men w/shields and all of that excitingness were filling the streets.   So once the ricky drops us off farther down, we are informed that there is a bomb threat and that they're doing searches for bombs...seriously!?  I mean REALLY someone had to plant a stinking bomb or make some stupid empty threat the day that I want to go shopping- are you serious!?  The whole way there the song Girls Just Want To Have Fun was running through my head but more like Girls Just Want To Shop annnnd well clearly, that didn't happen!  Stupid would-be bombers...if I could get my hands on whoever made that threat, and made me miss shopping- lets just say that the Indian government would have one less terrorist to worry about!  But alas, this is apparently a somewhat frequent occurrence and of course with my luck it's the day we decide to go!

Beggar Kid

So, I haven't been feeling so hot lately. I've got eczema cropping up all over my hands, these really weird bites that turned into big bubbly sores and to top it off, have developed a sweet grating cough. Today for lunch I decided that I didn't want cafeteria food, nor did I want Chinese food from the awesome cart across the street from the office, what I wanted, was ice cream. I am a firm believer in the fact that ice cream can indeed make anything better- seriously you want to know the answer to world peace? The answer is, ice cream. So as my comrades were working through lunch, I headed to Shipra Mall for you guessed it, ice cream! Located on the second floor of this sparkling air conditioned shrine to all things holy, is Baskin Robbins, or in this case Heaven. I waltz up the stairs already on cloud 9, look at the ice cream sundaes and decide upon the Banana Royal. Two scoops of banana-strawberry ice cream, sliced bananas, strawberries and whip cream. I sit down with my slice of heaven and dig in...5min flat and I'm off to the grocery store for Chocos, and two bars of Dove soap per the request of my comrades and cough drops- but alas, cough drops they do not have. But no worries, I had ice cream- nothing can rain on my parade. Walking out, past Mc Donalds, I see it, their giant McNugget poster. Curses upon their marketing department, capitalizing on my weak American will to reject such foods. Next thing I know, I'm ordering 6 McMysteryMeatNuggets, with ketchup. No, I do not want BBQ Sauce because it tastes weird here and no I do not want honey mustard because it looks like...well you don't want to know what memories the sight of it conjures up, they're not good...all I want is ketchup- baffled by my desire for just ketchup, they give me one packet and I'm on my marry way back to my cube. The world is mine! As I'm walking out the front of the mall past the rickshaw wallahs calling to me, I decide once again to give into my inner fattie and take a bike rickshaw for Rs10 back to the office- it's a lot faster and lets face it, in this heat getting back inside asap is a general priority. I point across the freeway to the giant building that I work in and tell the driver Rs.10? He taps the seat and I hope in. As I hope in, the beggar children begin their descent upon me. But it is too late, we are on our merry way, free of the sad sight of children tugging on my clothes...until, one of them starts chasing the rickshaw. He runs behind it shouting at me words that I do not know, as he is running along side us he grabs the cart thing I'm sitting in. The driver swerves to try and knock him away, but this kid is persistant- a quality that I under normal circumstance admire in people- he keeps on running, shouting at me. He's running and shouting until it comes down to him running head on into a very tall, well built gentleman, that looks at me, looks at the kid and then arms folded across his chest gives the kid the you leave her alone face and just like that in a matter of seconds we are once again zipping down the street; mean while my head spinning with what just took place. One second I am on top of the world buzzing on an ice cream coma, on my way back to my AC cube to listen to music and do research while eating my nuggets, but now, I have just witnessed something that I have never seen before. I have gotten use to people begging and tugging on me, it is a sad fact of life here, but this, this 8year old kid running after me as if I was the last boat from a ship going down, was altogether different. My head still doesn't know what to make of it. Do I feel like a terrible person for zipping by, do I just accept it as one of those things that happens here that you get use to? Even now my head is spinning- I don't know what to make of it. Perhaps a kid running after me begging for money isn't a big deal but after dropping more rupees in the last 30 minutes than he probably gets in a week or two, I don't know how to feel. So thanks beggar child, for reminding me that maybe I'm not as calloused as I thought I was, because man kid, you shook me up which is a hard thing to do. As I sit here, AC on, having juice that the maid brought up, while munching on Chocos, I still don't know what to make of it all.

Riding Motorcycles Without Helmets

15 July 2009 This morning started at about 4:30am, we left the house a little after 5am after waking Kelly up since his alarm didn’t. It took a little searching and some luck to get a cab this morning- apparently rickshaw drivers are hard to come by at 5am- who would have thought!? Thankfully our guy was driving down the road our direction with nobody inside- we were thankful to get him and didn’t argue with the Rs. 250 price to take us to the Delhi Railway Station. We get to the station, find our train- the Shatabdi Express, and are wowed by the luxury and the amount of white people! We discovered the key to how foreigners and the wealthier Indian train riders ride, they ride in the AC car! Seriously this thing was nice (in comparison to second seating non AC). It was clean, and had individual seats- the kind of seats you sit in on a tour bus. They came around with newspapers, bottled water and tea w/biscuits! Man what an extra Rs.600 can get three people! The train, being an express train, got us to Mathura in just over an hour. The train station in Mathura…haha where to begin! Well the only thing that swarmed more than the drivers were the flies- literally 20 flies on Sadies backpack…and about 10 rickshaw drivers at any given time encircling us. By no means was this the dirtiest train station that I have been to here but it was the worst. It was small and smelled of urine- everything smelled like urine, there was no escaping it! I still can’t get over how men just urinate everywhere here- and there are TONS of naked kids running around everywhere. Anyway we try calling our contact that is suppose to meet us there and Kelly’s phone wont work, we go to the phone stand, that’s not working either, a ricky driver calls the number for us and we tell our guy that we have arrived. Being a combo of poor cell reception, language barriers and the overwhelming experience, we decide to head towards the gates of the station where all of the cars drive in because you can’t miss three foreigners standing on a median can you and after all he would be there in 2min because the office is within walking distance. 45min and a million ricky drivers harassing us later, they finally find us. Apparently there is more than one entrance to the place and we should have stayed in the station’s lobby (funny because I feel like I had made that argument/suggestion)…annnnyway they found us, we do the 5min walk to the office and sit. The branch office is well very different from the corporate office that we work in, but it works and we even made a new mouse friend there too! Lol After relaxing for a bit and meeting some people, we hopped in a mini-vanish bus thing and headed out. It was a quick trip and I didn’t get too car sick which was good considering the roads were being built…it was a bumpy ride. We got to the 1st village and met the education kiosk owner. It was a small room with three computers. We sat down with our Drishtee guy and the kiosk owner’s Dad (the owner was away for the day), who is apparently a very rich farmer in the village. At this point it is maybe 10 or 11ish and apparently classes don’t really start until 4pm so I chilled while Sadie and Kelly asked questions. I really had no questions, between Drishteepedia (the wikipedia site I’ve been working that has ALL info on Drishtee) and not having a project that directly involves the villagers, I really had nothing to ask so I just sat and absorbed. Per usual everyone was very nice- they brought us water (well water- not sure how clean it is soooo I opted out of more quality time with the porcelain bowl) and chai (tea) with milk from their boofellow (buffalo) …I’m not one for Indian tea- I don’t really like sugar and milk in my tea but this was actually pretty good! After talking for a good while we walked around the village. Needless to say they don’t see many foreigners so people were staring and coming out of places to watch us. We stopped at a math and science school and a Drishtee FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) Kiosk. After that it was back to the car to head to another village. The next village was much larger but the kiosk was quite small. At one point there were at least 15people in a room probably ½ the size of my bedroom at home…clearly it is necessary to check out the foreigners (and take pictures of them)- and I mean really who can blame them we’re a pretty cute bunch (and by cute I mean we were already pretty grimy by that point lol). We sat and chatted with the owner for a bit- there weren’t any students there because it was still early in the afternoon which means they are at their regular school (think of the kiosk classes as more of an after school program or enhancement) and on top of that apparently today was a holy day so fewer people would be showing up. After that we strolled down the street to another Drishtee FMCG Kiosk and were literally surrounded by at least 20 people and more on lookers…it was almost like having an entourage- always thought I wanted one until that moment lol after that, back to the office, then to a hotel down the street for lunch which was quite tasty. After lunch we headed back to the office…with nothing to do and 6hrs to kill until our train back home. Somehow Kelly convinced our guy to get some other guy to let him borrow his motorcycle for Rs 200 for the afternoon to go around in. So I hopped on back of our guy’s Vespa and Sadie and Kelly hopped on the motorcycle w/Kelly driving. Not gonna lie, I felt safer with the guy who lives in India vs. Kelly who I would trust driving in the states but here driving is a whole nother level of crazy! We drove around town, and to the outskirts to this really cool temple. It is 9 stories of white marble- sadly I left my camera at the office thinking I wouldn’t need it- this place was pretty impressive. On the way back to the office we stopped at another massive temple that is dedicated to all religions- it isn’t the religion that matters but more the golden rule if you will (in a nut shell). It was pretty fun spending the afternoon riding around! ☺ Once we got back to the office we sat down and Sadie and Kelly PASSED out in their chairs…I wasn’t tired- 4hrs of sleep and I wasn’t tired! What’s wrong with me!? So I just listened to my iPod, checked some email and read the NY Times online and then finnnally it was time to head back to the nicest train station in the world. We were about an hour early to departure time and so we chilled on the platform w/our guy and the beggar kids tugging at our clothes while watching rats run across the tracks. Finally out train arrived- the Taj Express (same one we rode to and from Agra)…we were once again on in the second class seating area- at least this time it wasn’t packed like last time; although this time it felt like the longest ride ever and I felt more filthy and grimy than our last adventure… my hair grimy and sticking out of the ponytail in every which way, dirt lines in the creases of my arms, dirt caked onto my face…feeling like a million bucks! After about 2hrs we made it to our stop, argued with ricky drivers and made it home. It’s nice to be home. On the way home Sadie and Kelly were discussing how much of an eye opening experience it was and how after seeing the villages the train no longer phased them…I don’t know what is wrong with me because I don’t feel any more enlightened than before.  The beggar children tugging incessantly at my clothes is sad, but even as sad as it is, I don’t feel that I have any different kind of an outlook on life than I did before. The village really didn’t phase me either- it’s a poor village, what do you expect? Perhaps it’s because I’ve seen a lot of this already in China so I get it and it isn’t new to me- although the massive scale of poverty in India far outweighs the amount I experienced in China. I don’t know it just didn’t phase me- the world is poor, we live in a country where thank God we grew up not having to live in abject poverty, but overall the world is poor and it is not going to change. Thankfully we get to work for a company that is helping these people and is trying to tackle huge issues like poverty and the problems that come along with it, but we will never be able to save everyone, and I’m happy I get to do what I get to do to help; but the poverty no longer really phases me- it just is what it is. Maybe that is a cynical look at things or maybe I’m heartless but currently that is how I am feeling…perhaps yoga tomorrow morning will clear my head a bit and I won’t be so calloused- though perhaps a little callousness is a good thing because without it I’m not sure how one would survive staring thousands upon thousands of impoverished people in the face everyday without going crazy.

No, I would not like to buy a whip, thank you.

Today was a normal day, back at the office after a long weekend of no sleep and whirlwind touring…it was a good day. To reward ourselves we decided that we needed mani pedis (Manicures & Pedicures) …reward ourselves for what I don’t know, maybe just to feel a little less grimy lol So we found a couple of places online, called one place to make an appointment- and decided there was no way we were going to pay $40 for a mani pedi here…so on to the next place’s website. Angel Salon- Rs 700 for a manipedi- can’t beat that! So we bustled out of the office right at 6 and headed to the location except for our ricky driver had no clue where sector 29 was! Seriously about an hr later he finally has found the place we are looking for- thank God for the human nav system that they all use here (ie stop and ask for directions a million times- totally the opposite from the male stereotype of never asking for directions). So we get to this bustling shopping center annnd can’t find the place- but there is another salon place and we went there. We decided against mani pedis because God knows how sterile it probably would not have been so we opted instead for brow and lip threading. That was a 1st and she did a great job- finally no more unibrow (seriously that’s what it was coming to) and I got a mini facial which was nice ☺ So for about $11 I got my brows, lip and face done for way less than I get my brows done for back home- LOVE it! After Sadie found out that she could get another inhaler from the chemist (pharmacy) I decided to see if they had any Doxycycline (malaria meds) annnd they did! For Rs 140 I got 36 totally legit pills! Why did I even bother getting any at home!? When we got home I took my 1st malaria pill ever…and now I feel nauseous! Thankfully the nausea didn’t hit until we were almost done strolling through the market by our house. We go by this place everyday but today we actually ventured to it! I got an Indian DVD called Lucky w/English subtitles ☺ Hopefully I’ll have time to watch it tonight before I pass out! Anyway what I know Mom is waiting to read about…our weekend in Agra visiting the Taj! (This could get long so sorry in advance). So we started out leaving the house around 6:15am to catch our train at 7 something. The train station was basically like a giant slum- way worse than the other ones we had been to…so treading cautiously over lord knows what in flip flops we made it to our train- The Taj Express. Got onto car D8, no AC second-class seat car and the journey began. It was a nice, easy, quick 3hr ride to Agra. Although the train was pretty dirty (by this point in living here dirty to me is probably disgustingly filthy to anyone else but I’m use to it and should have an immune system of steel by the time I get home) it wasn’t too crowded and since it was early morning it wasn’t too hot. Along the way we passed many many slums- the kind of stuff you see in those TV commercials- for a $1 a day you can sponsor this child…sadly here you start to get use to it. On the train (they don’t come through to check tickets- at least not in this class) people would hop on begging, which is standard, but there were street performer kids on the train. This little girl was performing in the isle. She was double jointed pretty much everywhere and had this metal hoop no more than about a foot in diameter- she could lay on the floor and arch her back and twist herself through the hoop-I wasn’t sure if I should be impressed or depressed. More of the scenery along the way included rice paddies- it reminded me of China. I realized I had been there for both the growth seasons and harvest seasons and had hiked through the rice fields in both seasons- and for a minute I really missed China. We arrived in Agra and were immediately bombarded by relentless Taxi drivers (sometimes you just want to hit people but because you don’t want the mob to attack you, you refrain- this was one of those times) we made our way to the prepaid taxi stand and headed to the hotel. Along the way (drum roll please) we saw our 1st elephant!!! It was chilling on the side of the road w/it’s rider. Best part of it was that our taxi driver said that there are a lot of them in Kerala- guess where we will actually be in a couple of weeks…oh that’s right Kerala!!!! Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to ride an elephant- and I shall call him Babar! The Hotel Taj Plaza- sounds lovely doesn’t it?! Kind of like the Monterey Plaza…hahahahahaaaa yeeeeah…soooo it’s a fine place, and for $15/night for 2bedrooms we REALLY can’t complain but there was no AC in the room because I’m sorry but a swamp cooler in 100F and something degree heat doesn’t do squat! With the fan on and the “AC” it was still insanely hot and humid! But we had friends staying with us…lots of flying bugs and crickets…everywhere! Anyone reading this who knows me very well, will know that I don’t have a high tolerance for things of this nature but c’est la vie, I have learned to be one with nature and embrace the fact that I am a great landing pad for all flying creatures! …at least this trip I didn’t have any in my food (that I noticed…key word noticed) Our taxi driver to the hotel also worked for a private taxi service and so we called him up and had him drive us to Akbar’s tomb, not too far outside of Agra. When people say there is nothing in Agra they really mean that there is nothing in Agra- every part we drove through was pretty slumish. I’ve noticed that all of the places to see here are either tombs or forts (forts that have- you’ll never guess- more tombs!) oh and temples many of which have guesssss what (answer: more tombs)! Morbid obsession of some sort perhaps?! Anyway Akbar’s tomb was of course amazing as are all of the tombs and what not…although they’re all starting to blend- red stone, marble, all inlayed- all amazing. This place was super cool though, because they had gazelle and huuuuge peacocks…even got to see two of them all fanned out from a distance! That was pretty cool! Then back to the car with our driver (Ashlof) and his “friend.” His friend (Khan) was quite entertaining- he liked to sing…lmao…we all have a new favorite song w/coordinating head bob and finger snap and click action thanks to him! After the tomb, we headed to Moon Garden, across the river (or what use to be river- now its almost completely dry) to watch the sun set over the Taj. It was of course incredible- quite a lovely view! We hung out for a while took pics and watched the sun set and then back to the car. And of course in true tourist fashion they took us to two extra stops along the way to “show” us local art- what GREAT guys!!! (Seriously another I want to strangle you moment) So we went to one start that was selling black star of India jewelry and stuff. The back star of India is actually pretty cool looking (google it) and then we went to a marble store where they showed us how they do all of the inlay work- it is quite impressive and take an insane amount of time and effort to do. But really by this point I was tired from getting maybe 4hrs of sleep, filthy because well when traveling here when are you not, and sick of being taken advantage of because I’m white so after one more stop at the liquor store for a couple of beers (don’t worry Nanny and Papa- I don’t drink beer), got back to the hotel. That was a pretty awesome shower until literally seconds after I felt gross again…oh well. Dinner at the hotel’s restaurant was good…we ended up eating every meal there- curry chicken and butter chicken are good any time of the day. I went to bed early because I was super tired and knew we were getting up at 5:30am to see the sunrise at the Taj, but Sadie and Kelly stayed downstairs playing cards and what not until about 2am. 5:30am comes around and well waking the still drunk is kind of like trying to wake the dead but we made it to the Taj in time to see the sunrise and beat the crowd and it was well worth the lack of sleep! The Taj is some crazy kind of love story! Sadie and I have decided that any future husbands have a lot to live up to! So the shah built it for his 3rd wife, obviously his favorite wife. His 1st wife was Hindu and it was an arranged marriage, the 2nd wife a Muslim- again arranged but the 3rd, was a Catholic from Portugal and that one was for love. His love of his life gave him 14 kids (gross I know) and died giving birth to #14 so of course the logical thing to do is to camel in tons of white marble from Rajasthan along with precious stones to build her an epic tomb…that is done 22yrs later…along with royal guest house and mosque (Shah Jahan was Muslim). They now are entombed next to each other. The Taj is absolutely gorgeous…as are the paper shoe covers you have to wear as to not damage it…I understand why it is a wonder of the world- it’s amazing! After strolling back to our hotel, fighting off people trying to sell us stuff, we had brunch (curry chicken and butter chicken of course) and then checked my email and passed out! While having brunch on the roof looking out at the Taj, we got to talk with a couple of guys who work for Deutsche Bank, which is opening a branch in Rajasthan. These guys seriously have my dream job- one lives in London the other in NY and they’ve been to India a couple times for a few weeks at a time to set up this new branch and the NY guy was on a plane later that afternoon to Germany to go to head quarters but usually he works at the branch on Wall Street! Wall Street = the Mecca of finance…like seriously he said that and I heard angels singing. Anyway we all took epic naps, and I woke up wit some of our little friends sweat glued to my legs- oh well maybe bugs are good for the skin? After nap time we called Ashlof and had them send another driver so that we could go to this place about 20km outside of Agra to see a fort and mosque. We drove through some pretty rough places- it is really weird seeing the places where the sponsor a kid commercials come from. While on our way we hit some rain (finally) and man was it POURING! Seriously the wipers did nothing, literally there was no seeing in front of us- thankfully it was a good highway that was well maintained and had hardly any cars on it. By the time we got to the mosque we only had an hour so we got a horse drawn carriage of sorts to take us up to it…this was after almost literally pushing a “tour guide” out of it…like seriously these people do not take no for an answer and I would have felt no pity for him had he “accidentally” fallen out of the carriage. We get there and a guy tells us he is not a tour guide he just works at the mosque and wants to take us around and will not ask for money at the end (yeah right) anyway since he doesn’t take no for an answer and says he doesn’t want money we just go with him and he took us around the mosque and told us about it- actually a really nice guy. It was really weird walking around here because, even though it is a “holy” place there are people all over trying to sell you junk that you don’t want. Made me think of the story in the Bible, where Jesus goes to the temple and flips out at all of the people there selling stuff and all of that. Anyway end of our tour and he shows us what his family sells there- they carve stone and it was all really nice work. I ended up actually getting 3 tea light holders that are pretty cool and hardly paid anything (China taught me well on how to bargain) lol anyway after that we didn’t have time to see the fort that was there too (I’m not heart broken) then back to the car to go see Agra Fort. Agra Fort was pretty sweet- apparently when it was in use the mote had alligators in it!!! The Indian Army currently occupies 2/3 of the fort and so only about 1/3 is open to the public and its still HUGE! It also has great views of the Taj from it. Funny story, Shah Jahan who built the Taj also built the fort- his son imprisoned him in the fort…apparently the Shah had a bit of a spending problem (although that’s not the only reason his son locked him up but ya know)…so basically he was stuck there looking out over the river at the monument that he built. After strolling around for a good while, we headed back to the car…finally found our driver and headed to the train station. Ahhh the train station- where the adventure is! So we’re chilling, begging children swarming us, get on the train, boot people out of our seats (since we actually had real, confirmed, we belong here seats this time) and are sitting. And I’m sitting there on the isle seat (think school bus type seats but not as comfy and 3ppl sit on them) and wondering when all of these people are going to be taking their seats. Buuuut apparently that was wishful thinking! We were in the same class going home that we were coming and it wasn’t the 3rd class cattle car but omg after this, I can’t imagine what the cattle car must be like. So Sadie came up with a great theory- the larger you are here, the more skin you can show (by wearing a sari). Anyway this rather voluptuous woman was practically sitting on me- I like my personal space bubble and love it when I don’t have some strangers bum practically in my face. Anyway she finally moves and this guy is standing there kind of blocking my seat- I appreciated him saving me from her (though I don’t think that was his intention). And of course even though its crowded beyond belief the chai man has to walk up and down the isle a million times which means all of these people crowding the isle have to move enough for him to get through. I plugged into my iPod and tried to go to my happy place. My seat was really uncomfortable- I was essentially sitting on a metal bar but when the guy in the window seat moved to go to the bathroom (I can only imagine what they’re like on the train) the large lady who liked to sit on me, shooed us over so she could sit and so Sadie moved window and I moved middle (Kelly was in the seat behind us), the middle seat actually had some cushion to it so when window guy came back he just booted the lady who was practically (once again) sitting on me and took isle…it was glorious! No more people sitting on me, airflow, and some cushion. Finally we made it to our stop, harassed some ricky drivers and finally haggled a price, got home and passed out! Although I passed out after multi tasking a skype date and finishing a power point presentation for work. I was suppose to present my research and give recommendations to the head of business development today but he came to the office at like 4pm today sooo I’m giving it tomorrow- thaaaanks buddy for one more day of feeling nervous even though I know I know I’ve got this in the bag! Oh well time to skype and pass out so that I can be well rested to go in there tomorrow ready to give them my two cents- Accenture here I come! ;)

*sorry about the formatting i've tried everything to get it to format right and it wont:( )

Stowaways

So yes, we are officially stowaways... I got an email from India Rail and it said that we were being refunded our tickets from last weekend since they had been canceled...hahaha oops! That was the train that we argued our way on- in our defense we did not actually know until a day later that our tickets had been canceled; we really did think we belonged on that train. So we basically got a free ride home from Rishikesh to Delhi. We will actually have real tickets this weekend though to Agra for the Taj!

Oh Holy Cow

Oh Holy Cow

(tune of Oh Holy Night)

By Lette Tipton

 

Oh Holy cow,

You are so fat and yummy(juicy)(ulgy),

I wish you were,

sitting on my plate,

 

Oooh beef, oh how I truly miss thee,

Oooh oooh cow, you are a walking steak,

 

Waaaaaalk onto my plaaaate,

So that iiiiiiii may eat you,

Oh hooooooly cow,

holy cow,

I’m so hungry,

Oh cooooow,

im so hungryyy,

Oh cooow, please feed me.

 

Oh delicious cow,

Oh how my body needs you,

My tummy criiiies, cries for unity,

Oh cow, you look so tasty,

Holy cow, you look amazing

Oh hoooolllly cooooowwww

 

Oooh cow, you make me want to eat you,

Walking around, four legs on a burger

Steeeeak, tri-tip, burger,

Oooh cow, you make me hungry

Oh cow, oh holy cooow oooh holy cow

 

 

A Few Pics from Rishikesh

waterfall we hiked to view from the road to the waterfalls/hotel Our hotel entrance of the Beatles ashram sign for the ashram...and jam sessions? lol after the crazy guy dotted my forehead lol

Insanity Part 2

*Disclaimer* I'm too tired to edit this so please excuse any misspellings or poor grammar. Day 12 (written Day 13) and Day 13 We woke up around 5am so that we could leave the hotel at 5:30am for our 6:30am yoga session in town at Sanskriti Yoga, Spa and Café. Of course we couldn’t get out on time and checkout took forever at the hotel so we ended up in the car at 6am getting to the studio at 6:45am all really bummed about missing yoga but we figured we would get a massage instead then. We get there to find that we are the only people there for yoga for the day so we ended up getting a lesson for the 3 of us at this really nice place overlooking the Ganges for about $4/each. After an amazing 2hrs of yoga and chatting with our yogi, Akshay, we told him we planned on going on a hike and he offered to take us to his ashram, and on a hike to a waterfall not far from it. We agreed to go with him but we wanted massages first so, we had some amazing tea with him and then he hung out reading the newspaper while we got our massages. These massages were crazy!, but overall, an awesome massage- very relaxing and left our skin and hair nice and soft. After the massages Sadie, our new friend and I waited for Kelly. Once he was done we headed out. He had his motorcycle with him so we got in an atuo-ricky which dropped us off a little ways up the hill and then walked about 1km from there to his ashram. We had to walk down a path, past a couple of hotels, past a cow and trash and there we were there. We sat on the front porch looking at some great scenery. He has almost any kind of fruit you could want growing, along with corn and other veggies, sitting at the base of the mountains. We got to meet his mother too, a very nice somewhat older woman. We had some lemon tea and talked more, and then went inside because Kelly wanted to send an email so we hung out looking at some of our friend’s pictures on his computer. We ended up talking about the Ganges and he had a movie about it and what the Hindu people think about it that we watched- it was pretty interesting. Kind of cool to now know what some of the things that people do there mean and what not. After pictures, chatting, movie time and email we headed out to the waterfall. The debate was to walk along the river or the road. We opted for the road because lately a tiger has been coming around at night and has already eaten to calves…darn I really wanted to see a tiger. As we were leaving his house, we had to walk along this very narrow cement canalish thing and of course what is sitting in our way, a monkey. I hate monkeys! He was like hmm what do we do, so we grabbed sticks and shooed it away…we carried our monkey sticks the 2km to the waterfall just incase we needed to fend of monkey or tigers. As we strolled along we all chatted and checked out the awesome views of the city (Rishikesh) below. Once we got to the waterfall entrance we paid the entrance fee and started our walk up the hill. Talk about out of shape, it is only a 2km hike up and I had to stop twice- granted I was going on only a few hours of sleep, no real food and it was super hot out so that could have had something to do with it. Once at the top we hung out, wishing we could get in. There were people swimming in the pool that it created but we just hung out- with my luck I would be the one person to get in and get some weird skin infection. The top top of the fall was another 5km hike UP but we opted out of it because the “top” where everyone else stops was good enough lol After hiking back down we stopped at one of the roadside shops to get more water and snacks. I was starving and got a bag of chips, a Limca (my new favorite soda) and a bottle of water and we all got this really crazy watermelon/strawberry bubble gum to try…pretty awesome stuff! When we got back to Akshay’s house, our buddy’s Mom had made us dinner! We were kind of floored- totally not expecting anything like that! She made a standard Indian dinner- soup, veggies, bread and rice…so delish! After an awesome dinner and chatting we did the dishes and then to the porch for more lemon tea and convos. He took us around his garden a little more, showing us more of the fruit he has growing on his property…we picked a pomegranate and ate it while strolling. Then we went scorpion hunting in a rock pile…sadly we found none. We were really hoping to see some crazy wildlife this weekend and all we saw were monkeys- that’s cool though right? We went on the roof of the house (the roofs here rock because they’re all flat so you can walk around them) the view was awesome! While on the roof for some reason we started a game of toss the lemon (lemons here are about the size of a ping pong ball)…this lasted until both lemons got tossed off the roof - oops!lol At this point it was about time for our taxi to be there so we hung out a little more waiting for our car. Before we left we took a picture with Akshay and his mom. When we were leaving she picked roses off the bush for us as a symbol of wishing us a good/safe journey. These people were so incredibly nice it is unbelievable. They took us in and asked nothing of us- we were wondering if it would be one of those here I’ll show you this, now give me money, but it wasn’t they were simply just that kind. The hospitality in the country is kind of amazing, for as crazy as it is here people are always (ok in general) very helpful and hospitable. Our day that started off on the wrong foot ended up to be one of our best days here so far! The drive to Haridwar was your standard Indian driving experience- I fell asleep for about 10min and woke up as we got to the train station. OMG this place was insane! People on the ground EVERYWHERE sleeping or waiting. It was sooo dirty and well lines really don’t exist here AT ALL!!! Funny thing is we were wait listed #s 8-10 for this train and so we figured out that we got bumped up or well down to #4-6 which was good news buuut time was going by and we still weren’t confirmed. After being bounced to several different windows we were told to get a “simple ticket,” so for Rs 219 we got a ticket for the 3 of us. Basically I guess it’s like buy this general ticket (after you already bought tickets) and beg them to let you on. The people here are like DMV workers- all of the life sucked right out of them- they despise everyone and don’t try to hide it. So right before the train got there (about 30min late) we found out we are no longer on the wait list which means we have bunks then right?...hahahaha this is where it gets REALLY fun! (Mom, Nanny & Papa, you may continue reading this ONLY if you don’t forbid me from traveling again) So they have the wait list in hand but only #6-20…soooo what happens to #1-5 do we not exist anymore? Umm apparently not! All we kept being told was no room on train and so we were like what do you mean no room were not on the waitlist anymore which should mean we’re on the train. Soooo we get on the train anyway and find 3 empty beds in the car we should be on because we resolved that we were getting home one way or another! All was good until the guy who’s bed Kelly apparently swiped by accident came, right at the same time as the ticket (or whatever they do people) were walking through- the same people that told us there was no room for us…oops! Thankfully by this point the train was moving but we were all caught. We had to come to the end of the car and sit…like kids in detention…they told us that at the next stop we had to get off because there was no room and we weren’t on the list. We told them no way we are not getting off at God knows where in the middle of the night (it was around midnight at this point). The train stopped, they told us to get off, and we told them no, we have a ticket we will not get off (we didn’t really have paper tickets, just our internet print out saying we were waitlisted…and somehow in the whole process of being put on time-out we lost our “simple ticket”). The guy was mad and walked off to find the real guy in charge and the train started again…at least we were one stop closer about to be two stops closer to home! They came again and we argued more saying that we belonged on the train, and wanted proof that we were not on the train (which they really couldn’t give us since the waitlist they had was #6-20- makes no sense we know) So stop number three they were like ok, come with us, they’re adding another sleeper car (a class below the one we booked) and there is space, stand here. We thought it might be a creative way to get us off the train, but what else were we going to do? So we follow the guy, and wait…mosquitoes EVERYWHERE- thank God we had a million % DEET on. About 20min later they did actually add another car and we got on…to another train guy telling us no room. Basically they pawned us off on new people? This nice Indian man translated for us and so we badgered this guy too saying that we belonged on the train and wouldn’t get off…we found an empty bottom bunk and sat…with allll of our bags. The train conductor man, went down the rows after the train started again and indeed there was room, he found us 3 beds all in the same cabin thing (it’s like China sleepers in that it is like compartments 3 bunks each side of the compartment). He took our print out, wrote down our names on his paper list and we got to go to sleep. By this point it was 2am, but we finally had a bed, we not stuck in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night and were not in Indian jail. We decided early on that we would not get off the train unless they physically removed us and that we would rather pay a fine than be stuck who knows where. 7am came and we arrived at the Ghaziabad station…we made it home! After essentially being kicked off of the train three times, we made it home…and we didn’t have to stay in 3rd class which is quite literally like a cattle car- people are beyond crammed in standing/sitting anywhere they can- hanging off of the rails of the stairs even…keep in mind this was a 7hr overnight train- over 7hrs if you were going into Delhi. Once in Ghaziabad we were able to find an auto ricky since cabs are hard to get here unless you call them- and well good luck finding one that services anywhere but Delhi! This auto ricky was one of the few big ones that exists- it actually had 2 benches! I sat facing the back while Kelly and Sadie sat facing the front. It was the 3 of us, all of our luggage, the driver and two people crammed in front giving him directions lol He took us to the mall right across the street from work- we debated going into work as we were- one look at us and they would have told us to go home. We were FILTHY and smelled TERRIBLE- let’s just say Kelly decided to stop wearing deodorant because well if the Indians don’t then why do I have to?...ummm because we have to smell you Kelly!!! So yeah, going hiking and training and all of that without showering- it was a lovely picture lol. Once we got to Shipra, we got another auto ricky to take us to the new house about 30min away…this was a small one…it was pretty crowded but we made it home and showered…I know I say this frequently but that shower was the best shower ever! We got to the house around 8:30am and left for work around 10am…soon we will be heading home from work to have dinner and talk with the lady of the house about the logistics of our stay. We feel bad because we really haven’t been around so far to chat or anything and they are being so gracious letting us stay with them! Oh and clarification on how we got the house- so the Drs we are living know Kelly like this: his aunt’s friend from HS married an Indian man who is a brother to the man of the house- that’s how we know them lol…gotta love connections! So yeah, in a nutshell that was our weekend…a long weekend with a long day at work and little sleep- pretty awesome!:) Get pumped for next weekend- we are somehow making our way to the Taj! Oh and on our way back to the office from lunch, I was sitting on the back of the bike ricky and this car drove by, honked, rolled down the window and the guy blew me a kiss…funniest thing ever- I couldn’t help but crack up!

Insanity Part One...

*disclaimer* this was written a few days ago but is just being posted due to lack of internet this weekend. Day 11 Happy 4th of July! Where the heck are we!?!? Next time we will look carefully at where we are staying! This place, while pretty, is over 24km from Rishikesh in the mountains, no internet, no cell service, no yoga and a dangerous, sometimes blocked winding road. No wonder this place was available and partially why it was so expensive because NOBODY comes to this place!!! Seriously I think there are no other guests here. After our 7hr drive in the dead of night…which true to form was still as crowded as ever, still like playing chicken, filled with crazy driving skills and the grace of God that we don’t die... we made it to Rishikesh and the hotel was another 20km north and then 4km more…it was great. When we got here, probably because there is nobody else here, they let us check in which was nice instead of making us wait for 2pm or pay for another day...we arrived around 5am. Once we got into our room we requested another bed, which is sketch, and then all passed out for about four hours. Awaking we discovered just how little this hotel has to offer and then the doorbell rang and then a waiter came in to take our breakfast order…they kind of just walk in and say madame/sir? It’s great. And they charge for breakfast lol In better news, the new apt is really nice. It’s a family of two doctors, their son and ailing mother-in-law. They have a big, beautiful house that they’re letting us live in with them. Kelly is on the 2nd floor and Sadie and I occupy a room on the 3rd floor across from a woman who will be the woman cooking for us. We got there after spending an hour trying to find the place, and they had dinner ready for us but we had to eat and run to head out on our journey to Ridhikesh. They didn’t understand why we would drive in the night to RIshikesh since it’s not super safe to do so but our driver was waiting so we said thank you and got on the road. Only downside to our new place is that it is going to be a LONG commute to the office which will suck since we got spoiled with a very short one before. Day 11 Continued…After our outing in Rishikesh Our hotel’s driver took us into Rishikesh this morning and dropped us off at Laxman Julha- a giant pedestrian bridge (that bikes, motorcycles and cows go across too), we just took pictures of it and then had him drive us to an ATM since Sadie and I were out of Rupees from paying Lucky (our driver) to drive us here. After that we said goodbye to our driver and walked down to the Ganges where people were swimming/bathing. The river is solid green and all of the water you see going into it is almost black due to trash and waste…apparently devote Hindus carry a vile of Ganges water with them at all times because they think it is the last thing they are suppose to drink before they die…and well I’m going with if whatever you think is killing you really isn’t and you drink that water, the water will finish the job! After strolling along the banks of the Ganges, we headed for Ram Jula. On the rickshaw ride over to Ram Jula, we saw the most disturbing/saddest thing ever. This man was sitting under his little hut thing next to the street with all of maybe five teeth. He leaned over and liquid was pouring through the gaps where teeth should be as he was lifting food to his mouth. Something about the scene got seared into all of our brains with a sick accuracy that we wish we could forget. While walking around we did some shopping ☺ I got a really cool necklace, ring and two great wood carved boxes as well. First things, besides food and water that I have bought in India. Wait, I take that back I bought a pair of Puma sneakers yesterday at lunch because I forgot to pack any shoes other than flip flops to India…oops! They’re pretty exciting- think white and neon green!:) Thank God I had my shoes though because as usual, it is filthy here and we were walking miles around the city (literally) so flip flops would have been miserable. While out shopping, we got caught in the rain, we had one small umbrella with us, and couldn’t find anymore, but Kelly was able to get a poncho from a kid selling them- it ripped as soon as he put it on so we ended up tying it over his backpack to keep the water out- as soon as we’re done with this the rain stops lol Finally, we crossed the Ram Jula bridge (a “pedestrian” bridge that looks identical to Laxman Julha). Walking around we stopped for lunch at a pretty decent looking restaurant. I ordered pasta w/cheese…the picture looked so good and it was until I saw an “army camel” aka a giant ant in it and so I pulled out that noodle and ate a lil more then saw a gnat and was finally done with eating extra protein. Their tomato cheese naan was awesome though! After that we were finally on our way to the Beatles Ashram!!! On our way there, we ran into a Russian and asked directions, he told us the ashram was closed but we might get lucky and have one of the yogis might let us in for Rs. 50 each. So we ventured on and there it was…The Beatles Ashram!!! SO COOL!!! This is where most of The White Album was written…AWESOME album!!! But anyway, we saw a Yogi and sure enough Rs.50/each he let us in and they gave us a little back ground, showed us around a little and turned us loose to explore! This place was HUGE and almost a little eerie because it has just turned into ruins since it is now government owned and not really maintained. This place was absolutely gorgeous, I can’t imagine how much more amazing it must have been when the Beatles were staying there! We romped around for about an hour and a half exploring and taking in the awesome scenery- amazing views of the mountains, city and river. This place was pretty sweet- Dad will be jealous! We decided to be like everyone else and carve our names into one of the hut things as well…pretty cool. Apparently it has only been abandoned since 1997 but all of the windows are broken and it’s all in ruins…ruins of which we grabbed a few pieces. As the sun was setting we ventured back to Ram Jula and found our driver to take us back home. As the sun goes down here the chanting gets louder as people come out to sit by the banks of the Ganges and listen to mantras. The streets are crowded with EVERYTHING, people, cows, carts, motorcycles, mopeds, bikes, dogs and puppies! We saw our first street puppies here today, which was really sad because they are SO cute and they neeeeed meee!!! Lol But really between the poor pitiful puppies and beggars it can be quite an experience. This one little kid earlier in the day followed us for a while asking for money or ice cream. He had essentially a burlap sack tied around his waist and a vest. Finally when Sadie caved and asked him if he wanted ice cream he lit up and turned to run to the ice cream kid, pointing out the one he wanted…it was a vanilla and chocolate ice cream bar- kid’s got good taste! So for about $0.50, Sadie made this kid’s day and at least we know he got to eat something today…and well if you can only eat one thing in a day and it’s ice cream then the day is not lost in my opinion!:) ** Tomorrow morning we are on the list for yoga at this really nice yoga, meditation, spa place…nicest place I’ve seen so far here…at 6:30am for only about $4. Time for a shower, time to wash out the blackness from under my nails and the caked on sweat and dirt and yellow dot that was put on my forehead by a crazy man right when we got into Rishikesh this morning lol It feels AMAZING to be clean…or at least cleaner. We had dinner at the restaurant downstairs- pretty tasty! Their curry chicken was pretty bomb…my tomato soup not so much though. ** i need to explain the "caved" comment as to not sound like a totally heartless person. if you give money to one kid, you get swarmed by about 20 more which becomes a bad situation and sometimes when you give money to a kid he or she doesn't get that money, it goes to the pimp who has the kid begging so often as hard as it is we don't give money to beggars.

Oh lord...

Day 10

 

Well we are suppose to be heading by train tonight to Rishikesh, but what we didn’t know is that trains have wait lists- we are #31-33 and according to an office friend there is no way we will be getting on this train which means…get ready for it…we are attempting an 8hr bus ride (hopefully w/AC) to Rishikesh.  This is after booking a hotel 20km north of Rishikesh which looks GORGEOUS but oops it’s 20km away…but we can go on a jungle hike!  Thankfully our chances of getting on the train home looks much more promising- we are only #s 8-10!  India…the adventures and lessons just don’t stop coming!  Here’s to making it to Rishikesh in one piece and coming home! Cheers everybody!

Update:  We hired our driver, Lucky, from last weekend who drove us around Delhi to drive us about 100mi to Rishikesh since there is no way that we will be able to make the bus in time...about a $36/person mistake but we have once again learned something new lol...love it!  At least we get to hang out with Lucky for 7 more hours!:)

hallelujah, the south has risen again!

Day 8

 

Oh how the mighty fall…I started the trend and now we are all paying the price.  Now that we all know very well what goes down when you go through your initiation (according to all foreigners in the office EVERYONE goes through, you just have to get through it) hopefully nobody else will have to go to the hospital!  We are now pretty well stocked with meds and glucose & hydrating salts that makes a nice Gatorade type drink to stay hydrated. 

I just started my 3days worth of 5 diff meds…lets hope they work…fast!  Thankfully my fever has gone down almost 2degrees I’m now at 100.2F.

In happier news I started on my 2^nd project today which is basically a research project of duedilligence going over tons of companies finding ones who’s values line up with Drishtee’s so that we can get them on board with us.  It’s kind of cool because one of the guys I’m working with on this use to work for Accenture, which is way cool!

 

Day 9

 

Yay medicine, yay sleep!  All is almost right in my world!  Today, I’ve been living on Chocos (think Coco Puffs but flat) and pills and was able to eat 2 slices of cheese pizza from Papa Johns…tummy is almost back to 100%.  Which is good because tomorrow is a big day for us!  After work, we’re moving into our new apt, and then hopping a train to Rishikesh for a yoga weekend on the Ganges…should be pretty hippilicious!  Last weekend old Delhi, this weekend yoga and next weekend the Golden Triangle!  Good times!