i've got dozens of friends and the fun never ends...that is, as long as i'm buying

I left the office a little before seven tonight to go to a team dinner at Angeethi (home of the famous murgh makhni). We have these dinners every quarter, and so it was no surprise that we were going--but it was a surprise that it turned into a going-away dinner for me, and that the team gave me presents and got me a cake. I really love that particular team; it's a smaller team that I started working with on some projects when I first got to Hyderabad, and they're very near and dear to my heart even though I haven't been that involved with them since I went to Europe. It was hard to have a going-away dinner now, because it doesn't feel real yet--I still have two and a half weeks here, and that is no time at all, but it's still enough time to pretend that I don't have to leave. They got me some cool gifts, though; my favorite is a hot-pink dupatta (scarf) covered in white circles, big silver sequins, several half-dollar-size mirrors, with a seashell-and-silver-bead fringe on both ends. It's horribly fantastic; it is so far past 'bad' taste that it's back to fabulous taste. I really, really love it, and I need to find an outfit that I can wear it with. Arod took pictures tonight, so when she sends them to me I'll post a copy of me with the scarf for your edification.

As mentioned before, I'm staying in Hyderabad this weekend; unfortunately, the planned trip to Ajanta next weekend fell through. It turns out that the railroad between here and there was washed out during the rains, and so we can't take a train; Ismail showed me a bus instead, and the bus itself was posh enough, but the seats didn't fully recline, and so it would be like sitting and sleeping in an airplane encountering massive turbulence for twelve hours there and back, since the roads are so terrible. So, we're trying to find someplace else to go--wish me luck. For now, though, it's time for bed.