Sara Does India

see you at the bitter end

2005-10-30T04:30:00.000-08:00

I'm sad to say that my Indian experience is done, and it is with great pain that I have to bring this blog to a close. I'm not even being sarcastic when I say that; I found that tears unexpectedly sprang to my eyes as I wrote that, although I am much too pseudo-stoic to let them fall. My six months in Hyderabad were a life-shaping experience, and the consequences of my journey are not yet fully realized, least of all by me. I made what I hope will be lifelong friendships, I furthered my career growth (which sounds like a horridly adult thing to say), and I experienced a culture that is magical precisely because it is so inexplicably chaotic.

But, all things come to an end, and this blog is one of those things that must fall into the dust. I mentioned earlier that I would start a new blog; and, as some of you know, I already had a blog from my pre-India life, although I rarely wrote in it while I was in India. To maximize confusion, I decided to start a new blog site, but also to transfer all of my previous blog entries to the new site. Thus, it is both my old blog and a new blog; or, as the hypnotic tailor would say, different and totally different.

All you care about, I suppose, is the URL: swampfest.blogspot.com

It will undoubtedly be less interesting, since I'm not in India, and there will be fewer pictures (sorry to all of you illiterates who don't like wading through my thousand-word posts), but I will probably keep it up with alarming frequency.

Thanks for the memories, India. I'll miss you more than I ever thought possible, even though you failed to give me the bubonic plague.

sri lanka recap: irishing up my vacation

2005-10-30T03:49:00.000-08:00

It already seems like Sri Lanka was a daydream, and India is becoming a distant memory--before that happens, I want to record at least some of my trip so that I won't forget everything as I am slowly reabsorbed into California life. Here are some highlights:

1) Sudan. Not the country, the Sri Lankan travel agent. I was sure that we were going to get ripped off by him; the only complaint I have is that he sent us to the Eden Resort in Bentota (which I disliked and which Matt thoroughly hated). Everything else was fantastic--we had a great driver for four days, we stayed in an entertaining place in Kandy and a very nice hotel in Nuwara Eliya, he stored my embarrassingly large suitcases the entire week that we were traveling, and to top it all off he called me 'my little girl'. Not bad for some dude that we picked randomly at the airport, a choice that went against all wisdom imparted by guidebooks.

2) Kandy. Home to the only cultural stuff that we did on the entire trip. I was thoroughly sick of World Heritage Sites by the time I left India, and so we only saw the Temple of the Tooth, as well as an elephant orphanage and a cultural show. It was in Kandy that my laptop was rendered unusable for the remainder of the trip, which made me feel much less guilt about not doing work for ten days. The most amusing thing we did in Kandy: dinner at the Hotel Suisse. We got there so early that we were the only people there for most of the meal. The dining room was cavernous, and there were birds living inside. Their chirps added to the strange, tinny music-box music playing from hidden speakers; the song never changed, although it occasionally skipped as though someone was shaking the music box. So surreal, and v. reminiscent of the music in Bangkok Spoon in Mountain View. The restaurant seemed like the British had left with the intention of returning; everything was shabby but clean, as though they didn't leave money for repairs but paid just enough to keep the place going until the good ol' days of colonialism can return. I loved it.

3) The spice garden outside Kandy. Truly strange. They spent ten minutes showing us spices--and half an hour trying to sell us various medical potions and unguents. Their selling tactics included giving me and Matt fabulous head massages; they also gave Matt a back massage, which they were more than happy to include me in, but I declined since I didn't want to remove my shirt. The proprietor had crazy eyes and selling tactics to rival the hypnotic tailor at Mebaz; I walked away with coconut hair oil which I will never use, and absolutely no new knowledge about spices.

4) Nuwara Eliya. Just like Ireland, only with autorickshaws. We drove up there so that we could get up at six a.m. to see World's End, a stunning drop-off that is apparently well-worth the three-hour walk. We got there around three p.m., after stopping at a tea plantation, and Matt freaked out a little when he saw how similar it was to Ireland. We walked around a bit, it started to rain, and we used this as an excuse to retreat to the bar, where we indulged in lots of Bailey's and ice, as well as Irish coffees, before heading to dinner. Dinner was amazing--it felt like something out of an Agatha Christie novel (before the murder, of course), with lots of different groups of suspicious and intriguing travelers eating fancy meals in a very proper, British-feeling dining room. The food was terrific, as was the wine, and $15/person was an absolutely ridiculous price. We retired to the bar for nightcaps, which turned into much more when we met some Swiss travel agents, who proceeded to keep us up until three a.m. We woke up a mere two and a half hours later for the one-hour drive to World's End; when we got there, the guide told us the hike was pointless because it was too rainy to see anything at World's End, so we drove back to the hotel. The drive was gorgeous, however, and Nuwara Eliya was well worth seeing, so there were no regrets, and we left immediately for the beach.

5) Eden Resort, Beruwela. More like a lowlight; I got a significant number of my potentially-deadly mosquito bites there, and there were flies everywhere. It wasn't a bad place, it was just rather soulless. They did serve fantastic steak there, which was the only saving grace, and which probably prevented Matt from killing a hapless waiter. We were supposed to spend four days there, but left after only two. The only positive was that I finished Haruki Murakami's 'Kafka on the Shore', and I highly recommend the book, especially if you can read it in the comfort of your own home and if you don't get bitten by malaria-carrying mosquitos in the process.

6) Club Villa, Bentota. So much nicer than Eden that it doesn't even warrant comparison. Regina and Rohit stayed there when we went to Sri Lanka in August, and Matt and I had thoroughly enjoyed dinner with them then; when we called for rooms this time, they only had the suite available for the first night, and we took it despite the extra cost due to our desperation to escape Eden. When they later offered it to us for the second night as well, we happily accepted--it was raining at the beach the entire time, but Club Villa made up for it. Those two days were utterly relaxing; I read Zadie Smith's 'On Beauty' (another highly-recommended book), we played an absurdly long game of checkers (aka 'draughts' in Ireland) because the board was 12x12 instead of 8x8, which made the game trickier, more strategic, and much longer, and we drank enough arrack sours that the staff started giggling when they brought more of them to our room. The food was absolutely heavenly, and I can't think of anyplace I would rather be stuck in the rain than at Club Villa. For one thing, it's the only place in the entire world where I have had arrack (coconut liquor) and actually enjoyed the taste; all attempts to export it to Hyderabad were disastrous. If nothing else, that alone makes it a great place to go. If I ever have a honeymoon, and if I am rich by that point, I'm taking the honeymoon in Sri Lanka--it's not popular with Americans because it's as far away from America as you can get (I didn't meet another American the entire time I was there), but it's a wonderful country with friendly people, cheap prices, fantastic food, and a variety of climates, terrains, and activities. If you ever get the chance to go, leap on it, and you won't regret it.

7) Dinner overlooking the Colombo harbor. The last night that we were in Colombo, Matt and I had dinner at the hotel where Sudan's city office is (he stored our luggage for free by telling the hotel that we were planning to stay there; as a courtesy to the hotel, we ate dinner there instead, and since dinner was tasty this wasn't a problem for us). The restaurant was on the sixth floor, with a lovely view of the harbor--but I felt sorry for the staff, who had to wear silly sailor costumes, and who had to deal with a very surly Frenchman who was the only other patron. I spent most of the dinner trying not to cry over the fact that my vacation was over, but despite that, the view was great and the restaurant was an adequate way to say goodbye to Sri Lanka.

8) The drive to the airport. It was completely ridiculous because of my large suitcases; we were in a passenger van, but the suitcases wouldn't fit in the back, so the easiest solution was to put me in one of the back rows, and put the suitcases in the middle row between me and the driver. Since Matt sat up front as well, I couldn't see either of them, nor could I see anything else in front of me except for the suitcases, which made for a strange and solitary trip to the airport. The driver laughed about this the entire way there, which I'm sure was amusing for him.

So, that was Sri Lanka. The only other thing of note happened on the way to Bentota: while the van was moving, I knelt on the floor to pull the seat forward so that Matt could climb into the back and sleep--and the seatback slammed into my face, nearly breaking my nose. Matt had the temerity to laugh, and I forgave him because I could objectively see the humor in it. I recovered quickly and my nose wasn't broken, which was nice.

This was definitely the most relaxing vacation I've ever had, and I am sad that I am no longer only two hours away from Sri Lanka. I miss vacation, I miss Matt (who was an ideal vacation companion because he was just as enthusiastic about relaxing and just as unenthusiastic about monuments as I was), and by extension I miss Hyderabad, the Hyderabadis, and all the other expats. As a way to wrap up my Indian experience, this trip was perfect. See below for pictures!

2005-10-30T02:32:00.000-08:00

claudia and tammy looking oh-so-thrilled to have me back; my welcome-back dinner was a disaster in all the ways expected of my friends, and i thoroughly enjoyed myself

2005-10-30T02:31:00.001-08:00

tea plantations

2005-10-30T02:31:00.000-08:00

the living room in the suite at club villa; the french doors open onto a private patio. when we arrived, it wasn't raining, but that changed almost immediately.

2005-10-30T02:30:00.000-08:00

the mosquito netting in the suite in club villa was far too little and far too late to prevent the 30+ mosquito bites on my legs, but it was certainly picturesque

2005-10-30T02:24:00.000-08:00

the filming location for 'the bridge on the river kwai'

2005-10-30T02:22:00.000-08:00

matt claimed that nuwara eliya (the highest town in sri lanka) was uncannily similar to ireland; given this shot, the frigid temperatures, and the amount of baileys that i drank that night, i have to agree with him

2005-10-30T02:21:00.001-08:00

strangely totalitarian sign in the middle of a tea factory in sri lanka

2005-10-30T02:21:00.000-08:00

elephants walking towards the river and their morning baths

2005-10-30T02:20:00.000-08:00

another buddha overlooking the chaos of kandy

2005-10-30T02:19:00.002-08:00

buddha in the temple of the tooth, kandy

2005-10-30T02:19:00.001-08:00

tastes like burning--the cultural show in kandy, sri lanka

2005-10-30T02:19:00.000-08:00

matt, ismail, and me at our going-away party; ismail runs all transportation for the expats. i like this photo for the intense height disparities.

2005-10-30T02:18:00.000-08:00

me and ranjit, whose cooking i do/don't miss (but i do miss the fresh-squeezed lemonade)

2005-10-30T02:17:00.002-08:00

me and jogi at lunch on my last day in hyderabad

2005-10-30T02:17:00.001-08:00

katzman, looking utterly insane due to an unfortunate trick of the light.

2005-10-30T02:17:00.000-08:00

john and holly--they've lived in ukraine, and they helped introduce me to 'lost'. there should be no question as to why they're among my favorite banjara hillbillies.

2005-10-30T02:16:00.000-08:00

me and arod at golconda--i miss her!

2005-10-30T02:15:00.000-08:00

overlooking the ruins beneath golconda fort, hyderabad

so happy together

2005-10-29T01:04:00.000-07:00

I did nothing today but eat--I awoke at nine to the sound of my cellphone, and Vidya's voice telling me that she was still up for brunch. I met her at ten, we had a leisurely breakfast, and I arrived at the office around noon--and hour before the lunch that I had schedule with Gyre and Lizzie. Having two meals in four hours was completely unnecessary, and it made me sleepy, so I came home at four. I intended to spend the evening napping and doing nothing, but a call from Tammy led to an impromptu dinner at Tamarine with her and Claudia. I was home by nine, we sat around watching TV for awhile, and then Claude and I watched 'Kill Bill 2'. It's funny that the scene where the Bride kills Bill always makes me cry, and tonight was no exception. Now it's one a.m., and hopefully I can sleep since I didn't take a nap all day.

I can't believe that I've only been home for three days--it feels like it's been so much longer, almost like I never left. I need to unpack so that it becomes more solid; my belongings are strewn everywhere, and it's only going to get worse when my three huge boxes of stuff arrive. I also need to start throwing away/donating stuff, since I was embarrassed by the sheer amount of stuff I had in my suitcases in Sri Lanka, and those suitcases were the merest fraction of the amount of possessions I've acquired (and kept) in California. I had to repack my bags in the Colombo airport and switch six kilos into my backpack, and at that point I definitely wished that I had less stuff. I don't think a minimalist lifestyle is for me, but at the same time I very much admire minimalist design, so I may have to make some concessions if I'm going to achieve the look that I want in future homes. Now, though, it's time for bed.

your love is gonna drown

2005-10-28T02:07:00.000-07:00

I seem to have brought the rains with me ever since Sri Lanka; it rained on the beach, it rained in Singapore, and it rained in California during my first full day back. Today was lovely, but since I spent most of it in the office, I didn't see much of it. It was so strange to go back to work today--not that I did much work. Instead, it took the tech guys two hours to fix my computer after the issues that it became afflicted with in Sri Lanka, and then I had lunch with my manager, and then I tried to leave early but spent an hour and a half getting to the door because I happened to take a route past a lot of people whom I wanted to say hi to. I still made it out by four (a glorious achievement compared to Hyderabad), came home, and took a three-hour nap. This is not helping my campaign against jet lag, but I couldn't help myself. Since I couldn't sleep tonight, I went to latenight on campus with Can, Shedletsky, and Joanna, where I ate some absolutely hideous nachos and had a generally amusing time.

Last night was extremely entertaining, although I can't really believe that it was last night--time is flowing backwards and forwards in that strange, surreal way that stems from unnatural sleep patterns and the general sense of loss caused by moving halfway around the world. Tammy, Shedletsky, and Claudia had planned the first of a couple of surprises that required me to be blindfolded for a somewhat significant amount of time--the blindfold wasn't really necessary, but most of what I do with my friends isn't necessary, and so I accepted it as a matter of course. I was hoping and praying for Mexican food, but instead they took me out for Indian food. Bastards! Adit, Vidya, and John crashed the party, and there was some drama involved with that--Adit asked us to switch to Sunnyvale rather than Palo Alto because he was down there, and the place he chose was a fast-food-style dive in a strip mall, when Tammy/Shedletsky had planned to take me to a more upscale establishment. This led to a drama-filled showdown between Tammy and Adit; this actually amused me a lot, and was almost preferable to a regular ol' dinner at a nice restaurant.

Back to the office--it was so strange. Nothing has really changed, and simultaneously everything has changed. It feels like I never left, and at the same time it feels like I'll never find my place again. It's funny--when I was in Hyderabad, I would stay up way too late because I was talking to friends online, but now that I'm home, I can still stay up way too late talking to friends online. That's the beauty of a 12.5-hour time difference, I suppose. I know that I will recover from the wrenching sense of dislocation someday, but today is hard--it's like I was taken out of a puzzle into which I fit quite nicely, and I'm being shoved into a new puzzle where the pieces aren't quite aligned. I'm lucky that my relationships with my friends haven't shown any signs of decline, but I do miss the friends that I made in Hyderabad.

I could go on and on about this strange dichotomy between being happy and miserable, between being home and being homesick, but talking about it doesn't really help. Instead, let's talk about something more exciting: my new blog! 'Saradoesindia' can't continue if I'm not in India. So, what shall my next blog be? Please vote:

1) saradoestheworld
2) swampfest
3) sarawampler [prosaic but professional]
4) other suggestions from you, the reader

I intend to start it sometime this weekend, whenever I get around to creating it. I'd also like to clean my room, unpack (my bags arrived this morning), see some friends, and make some cookies--we'll see whether my ambitions are fulfilled.

california: messed up but beautiful

2005-10-25T23:33:00.000-07:00

I'm home! And I still have twenty-four minutes left of Tuesday, which is insane--today started with me tripping and almost losing my foot on a Sri Lankan escalator, and is ending with me watching 'The Daily Show' and the new, exciting 'Colbert Report' with Terry and Claudia. Weirdest day ever--but it's good to be home. I'll write more tomorrow!

prolonging the magic

2005-10-24T23:51:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in the Singapore airport, in the same lounge where I wrote my first post from Asia so many months ago. Tuesday so far is not such a happy day, but since I'm flying backwards over the international date line, there are still eighteen hours in which it can redeem itself. Tuesday will end with me seeing my friends, my apartment, and the glorious California freeway system (never thought I would praise such a messed-up piece of civil engineering, but times change), so it should all work out. Right now, though, I'm something of a disaster. A thunderstorm is raging outside the airport, which is appropriate; it rained on our last two days at the beach in Sri Lanka, which was also somehow appropriate. I woke up in Sri Lanka yesterday morning, went to Colombo, and caught the midnight flight from Sri Lanka to Singapore. We got here at 6:30am, dropped Matt's luggage off at his hotel, and then had an extended breakfast. We had intended to go and find the funicular that my father has waxed so eloquent about, but we were both absolutely exhausted, and I at least no longer had the mental energy left to pretend to enjoy myself when the last remnants of my Indian experience were crumbling around my ears. So I left for the airport three hours earlier than I had to; Matt was perilously close to being inducted into the small, elite cadre of people who have seen me cry, but I managed to hold off tears with a litany of 'don't cry don't cry don't cry', at the expense of completely missing out on the goodbye because I couldn't concentrate on it. A taxi driver named Chua got inducted into the cadre instead, although I don't think he realized that it was a rare honor and so probably thought that I was insane instead. Considering that I had been on the verge of crying since dinner in Colombo the night before, I actually held it together remarkably well--no embarrasing sobs, just silent tears as I said goodbye to Asia through the car window.

This should not be taken as an indication that the whole vacation was an unholy amalgam of rain and tears--I had an absolutely fantastic time, which probably didn't help my current mood. The week in Sri Lanka was a week during which I avoided most thoughts about Hyderabad and the friends I've left behind; I also didn't think much about my return to California and the exciting but chaotic social swirl that awaits. So today I'm not only mourning the end of vacation and the return to work (which is also depressing), but also the end of six life-shaping months in India, the end of a fantastic little pseudo-collegiate expat group, and the end of my travels with Matt (who is returning to Dublin and who will not be in the California office within the next few months like everyone else). This post is all about the end, but soon there will be posts about beginnings: the beginning of a new blog (since saradoesindia doesn't make sense anymore), the beginning of a new season of the 'Shrimp or Feet' game, the beginning of new projects at work, the beginning of a whole bunch of dinners and parties and barbecues and movie screenings to make up for all the fun that I missed this summer. So, I'm going to use this absurdly-long plane ride to mourn the past, and hopefully I can land in California with a clear and happy heart.

plagues and sand

2005-10-21T01:02:00.000-07:00

I'm still in Sri Lanka, currently at some resort, but Matt and I are switching hotels tomorrow because of a strange plague of flies. Long story, but suffice it to say that the last two nights of my vacation will be spent at the same place where we met Regina and Rohit for dinner on our last trip to Sri Lanka--it's beautiful, with awesome food and a great beach, so we're both happy about this change. Then, on Monday we leave Sri Lanka at midnight for Singapore, and the longest Tuesday of my life will commence. I'll have four hours on the plane (but six on paper due to timezones), then eleven hours in Singapore, then another twelve or fourteen hours on planes, and I'll still get into San Francisco at 7:30pm on the same Tuesday, leaving me with four and a half hours with my friends in California. Crazy!

I'll update on the whole experience later, but now I'm headed for the beach. For those of you in California, I'll see you soon!

days 1-3: steak, steak, and more steak

2005-10-17T22:52:00.000-07:00

I'm safe in Sri Lanka, and the driver is wondering what's taking me and Matt so long in a stupid internet cafe, but we both had last-minute work things to do. And the internet cafe guy broke my laptop, which will effectively stop me from doing any work on vacation. Yay!

Okay, all my loyal fans, I will update you more when I am someplace that isn't 100 degrees and full of dirty computers. Take care! I'll be home in a week.

last post from hyderabad

2005-10-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

It's truly the end of an era. However, for those of you who were wondering whether I've changed dramatically during my time in India--the fact that I had to pack after my going-away party ended, and just finished after three a.m., should indicate that I haven't mended my ridiculous ways. I had some fantastic help and moral support from Arod and Alaska Matt (to differentiate him from Irish Matt), otherwise I would probably still be packing. Here's to hoping that all of my stuff will make it home!

Today was ridiculously busy, and also rather bittersweet. I ran errands, and Matt and I had lunch with Jogi--I worked more closely with her than with anyone else in the office, and so saying goodbye was hard. We had a 'quiet' evening in tonight, rather than going out; we ordered food from Angeethi, the staff did a great job of decorating the apartment, and almost everyone was able to attend. The apartment is a *disaster* now, mostly because a couple of the staff gave me and Matt flower garlands to wear; I left mine on most of the night and so shed a lot of pink flower petals all over the floor. We also watched two episodes of 'Lost' before I finished packing, and now I should sleep. I have many things to say about this experience, but I'm going to let it sink in for a few days before saying anything. It's just impossible to believe that I will be flying out of Hyderabad in six and a half hours. So, I won't think of it, and instead will spend one last night in abbreviated (but blissful) slumber. I will try to post occasionally from Sri Lanka--and then I'll be home on the 25th!

my heart goes mmmmmmm

2005-10-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

Today was hard. It wasn't made easier by the fact that I went to bed at four and still made it into the office by ten. I had some remaining meetings, and I somehow got suckered into doing a training that I used to give but had passed off two months ago--it was funny that I spent one of my last half-hours in the office doing a training that I hadn't prepped for, so I hope that I didn't blight the skillset of a generation of young workers. I said goodbye to a lot of people, but didn't feel like I really had time to do anything or talk to anyone, and suddenly my last day in the office was over. I came home and took a nap in order to stem the rising tide of nostalgia, but it didn't work; however, Ranjit's big plate of mixed-noodle 'spaghetti' did help to excite me about the States just a little bit. Around nine, some of us went over to Maya's and hung out, but I'm exhausted and so took the first car back at midnight.

I think that the Sri Lanka trip will be perfect because it will allow me to mourn this place a little bit before I go home--and then, when I get home, I'll be so excited to see everyone that I hope that intense high of seeing my friends again will help to alleviate the pain of parting. And if it doesn't--well, I can always drag some of my friends to Sue's Indian Kitchen, which makes me laugh because the name Sue seems like such an anomaly, and it's even more of an anomaly that the walls are covered in paintings that are signed by 'Sue'. Good times. Now that I have dreams of Sue's Indian Kitchen in my head, it's time to sleep!

i walked into a club and i found paradise

2005-10-13T15:30:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, I didn't *really* walk into a club and find paradise tonight, but I did walk into a fancy restaurant, and I did find something akin to paradise (in a v. sad way) while saying goodbye to my team tonight. We all had dinner at this new place called Waterfront, which overlooks Hussain Sagar (the lake in the middle of the city, near the IMAX). It was actually really moving and more than a little sad; one guy brought his guitar and several of them sang songs to me in Hindi and English. They also gave me a ridiculous number of gifts. I am going to be so sad to leave all of them--but it still hasn't really hit me. When I'm at the office, I'm pretending that I'm not leaving, when in reality I only have two more days in India.

After dinner, I came home and watched two episodes of 'Lost' with some of the expats. Then I started packing, and managed to pack up two boxes of stuff to ship home. Problem 1: they're super heavy; problem 2: everything has to be itemized and valued. Soooo annoying. And given my bedding fixation, they're probably going to think I'm a shady importer because I'm bringing back about six bedspreads. It's rather unfortunate, but I shall perservere.

Okay, I'll try to post pics tomorrow, but I desperately need sleep--my last day in the office starts in five and a half hours!

every plan is a tiny prayer to father time

2005-10-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

Okay. I had today off for an Indian festival, but I got up at 9:30, which I was rather proud of myself for since I stayed up past four last night. A group of us went to Golconda Fort and climbed all the stairs for a fantastic view of Hyderabad; I took a lot of pics that I hope have turned out well, but I'm too tired to upload them now. Then, we went to Ohri's and had Indian food (murgh makhni and garlic naan, of course), before coming home and relaxing. I meant to pack this afternoon, but instead I did a little work, watched the end of 'Crimson Tide', watched three episodes of 'Lost' with about twelve other people (the 'Lost' crew is getting a bit unwieldy at this point), and then hung out with Lauren and Josh. Now, it's past midnight, a storm is brewing outside, I only have three days left in Hyderabad, and I'm getting rather sad.

It felt like everything I saw today was something that I am never going to see again, and the melancholy and disorientation was only compounded by the fact that so many of us were essentially grounded this afternoon because of a mixup with transportation. I think I'm like one of those colonials who secretly loved the heat, the chaos, the incomprehensible Eastern mentality, and so always put off a request for a transfer back to 'civilization' because the lure of India is too strong. I am getting transferred back to 'civilization' and I'm very excited about seeing my friends and recovering my life, but it's going to take a very long time to get over this transition.

Okay, no more introspection--I must sleep. But first I must report that I got my hair chopped in Mumbai on Saturday, and it looks like a girl mullet. That's not the point, however. The point is that with some quick research, I confirmed that one of the women who was having her hair done at the ultra-exclusive salon that someone got us into with none other than a former Miss Universe, Lara Dutta. She was gorgeous in person, and also seemed quite friendly, and so I'm glad that I went to the exclusive hairdresser for that reason even if I wish she would have given me something other than a mullet. But, judging by what I saw in Italy, the mullets are coming back, and so perhaps I'm just ahead of the times.

all you see is where else you can be when you're at home

2005-10-11T15:21:00.000-07:00

It's too bad there isn't someone here who can convince me not to be stupid. After spending the usual amount of time at work, Arod and I ran errands (Qmart, Himalaya Bookstore, and Mebaz). I failed to find a Sri Lanka guidebook, but I did buy another formal Indian outfit; it's getting stitched now, and perhaps I'll take pictures when I pick it up on Friday. Then, we met some people at Fusion 9...they were intending to watch 'Lost' on the plasma-screen tv in the bakery below the restaurant (weird, eh?), but because we showed up late, they ended up hanging out with us while we ate, and they didn't watch 'Lost' until they got home later. However, Arod, Matt and I stayed at Fusion 9 and had drinks until 11:30, when Matt went to the airport to pick up a new expat. I came home with the intention of going to bed (since I had had five cocktails, including the bartender's own special drink), but instead hung out in the apartment downstairs. We watched the amazing fight scene between Brad Pitt and Hector Bana in 'Troy', talked about work, and generally had an amusing time. Then I got to meet the new expat, and I stayed up until a few minutes ago talking to him and Matt. Now it's four in the morning. Sigh.

Granted, I have tomorrow off, which rocks, but I'm also going to Golconda Fort tomorrow morning at 10am. True to form, the moment I know that I can sleep in, I ruin the benefits of it by staying up later. Silly, silly Sara. But, I am two weeks and four hours away from landing in California! I can't feel too bad about my current sleepnessness; Sri Lanka will be very relaxing, and I'm unbelievably close to seeing my friends again. Perhaps I shall tell you stories tomorrow, but now I desperately need to close my eyes and dream of forts, formal outfits, cosmopolitans, and perhaps the end of the world (apocalypse dreams are my fave). Goodnight!

i'm not listening when you say goodbye

2005-10-10T13:15:00.000-07:00

I stayed home from work today, thus missing 25% of my remaining time in the office. Lame. I'm no longer throwing up, which is a huge plus, but my stomach does cramp up unexpectedly, and I didn't think that I could make it through my endless meetings with such symptoms. I spent a couple of hours at Regina's tonight--it was the last thing that I needed in terms of physical wellbeing, but she and Rohit are leaving for Rajasthan tomorrow and so this was my last great chance to say goodbye to them. I'm just pretending that it isn't happening--avoidance tends to work pretty well for me, and this experience is no exception. I think I will be devastated to leave, but hopefully some Sri Lankan sun and some crazy fun with my friends whill help to alleviate the pain.

I would write more, but I desperately need sleep. I'll post pictures of Mumbai when I have them...until then, goodnight!

your body is a wonderland

2005-10-09T10:44:00.000-07:00

If all possible human bodies were collected into an amusement park like Disneyland, and each body were assigned to a different area of the park, and there were themes such as Tomorrowland (for cyborgs), Adventureland (for Steve Irwin), and Somaliland (for people who are underfed), I would be firmly entrenched in Typhoidland. Not that I have typhoid, but I do have the worst case of food poisoning or something that I've ever had. Since no one else who went to Bombay with me is sick, I narrowed the culprit down to one ill-considered decision on my part to have an iced tea at Barista, since that's the only thing I had all weekend which no one else in the group partook of. I really blame myself; while I was waiting for them to make my stuff, I noticed one shady-looking dude pouring water out of a dirty-looking five-gallon jug into a much cleaner and more presentable pitcher--but then I lost track of the pitcher, and I'm now guessing that it made it into my iced tea. The only way that I could have been more at fault was if I had actually filled the pitcher from the sewer myself. No one I know has ever gotten sick at Barista, but there's a first for everything. So I spent last night rather sleepless, threw up about eight times, and still have rather intense stomach cramps. Aren't you glad that I shared? It's awkward to have food poisoning when you're sharing a room with two of your coworkers, but one of them didn't wake up at all (even though I left the bed every half an hour all night) and the other one didn't realize that I was sick until about six a.m.

Anyway, that's not the point of my Mumbai trip. The weekend as a whole was great, and I really wish that I had gone to Mumbai earlier and more often--the city is so cosmopolitan compared to every city in India that it's almost like going to a different country. It's built on islands, and there are gorgeous views of the water from the five-star hotels where we stayed and ate. The British influence is pronounced (i.e. British architecture and double-decker buses), but you can find virtually anything you want in Mumbai.

I don't have time to write since my stomach really hurts and I want to go to bed (I skipped the party I was supposed to go to tonight, very sadly, because I couldn't handle being in a car for so long and then dancing like crazy as well). But here are some highlights:

1) Seeing Vishal!!! We got into Bombay late on Friday night, and he came over to our hotel. We hung out with him there, then went to this amusing club (Insomnia, in the Taj Mahal hotel), before I bid him adieu. It was fantastic to see him, and while he is a bit more sedate than he was in school, he was still crazy enough to be reassuringly-similar to his past persona. He and I had a good laugh over how my group of expat friends is identical to my groups of friends back home, even if the individuals aren't comparable. Yay for Vishal.

2) The taxi drive to the hotel on Friday night. The taxi driver was trying to rip us off, and I would have just paid him because it was only $3, which he could use more than we could, but Matt put his foot down and the driver spent most of the ride alternating between screaming at Matt in Hindi, and then singing him a song about how he'd been driving for 25 years and that he 'loved big man' (meaning Matt, who is rather tall). He also fell asleep at one point. He liked to stare at Matt while snapping his fingers and abandoning both the wheel and the view of the road; he also liked to scratch his entire body and then grab Matt's arm. Best taxi ride *ever*.

3) Staying up until 6 a.m. Stupid, but v. fun. Since we didn't get to Mumbai until almost midnight, we hung out with Vishal first, and then ordered room service around four a.m. I love staying up late, and this definitely gave me the opportunity.

4) Shopping! I bought ten pairs of shoes yesterday, and they were all for me; since the most expensive pair was around $7, I can't feel too bad about that.

5) Indian doctors. Rohit called the hotel doctor this morning, who initially wanted to give me a shot of something, but I categorically refused. So, he sent up some medicine without any dosage or warning info, as well as some electrolyte packets to add to bottled water so that I won't get dehydrated and die. I love trying to guess how much medicine I have to take. As expected, I got back to Hyderabad and discovered that the medicine isn't approved in the US, but whatever. If the food poisoning hasn't killed me yet, this probably won't either.

6) The last weekend with Regina, Rohit, Arod, and the Matts. I'm going to be so sad to say goodbye to all of them, although I still get one more week with one of the Matts. It was a fantastic way to spend a weekend, and I hope that we'll have similar weekends in California in the future.

Okay, definitely time for bed. And, fyi, I was nowhere near the quake, so all is good for me (although v. sad for Pakistan and Kashmir). Goodnight!

there has never been anyone like you for me

2005-10-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

I'm super psyched about the weekend. Regina, Rohit, Arod, the Matts, and I are leaving for Bombay (aka Mumbai) straight after work, and we're spending the weekend shopping, eating, shopping, drinking, shopping, dancing, and shopping. There's a small kink in our plans since it turns out that this Saturday is a dry day in Mumbai, but I'm sure we can persevere (or stock up in advance). We're coming back to Hyderabad and going straight to a party that requires fancy Indian dress. I'm taking my blue lehnga (which featured in some pictures in June or July) with me so that I can change into in Sunday night, but we're also going shopping for more fancy outfits and then planning on forcing the tailor to make them in a day. The blue lehnga is backup, but I'd like to get another outfit in preparation for my Indian friends' weddings.

Tonight was great fun; six of us were at work until 9:30 for various conference calls, and so we came home and opened a couple of bottles of wine and watched the tape of Regina and Rohit's wedding. Yes, that's a strange way to spend a Thursday night. But, their wedding was lovely and it was great to see that part of their lives--it's really easy to forget that the expats have any life other than the life we are sharing right now, and it's good to get some perspective on life outside the Jayabheri bubble. We hung out talking until 12:30 or so, and now I desperately need some sleep. I don't expect to sleep in Mumbai, and by the time I get back I will have less than a week left in Hyderabad. I didn't know whether to follow that with a sad or happy emoticon, so I'll leave it to your imagination and preference. Goodnight, everyone!

all your secrets and your lies

2005-10-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

After work tonight, eight of us were spontaneous for a change and decided to go out for dinner rather than eat in the apartments. We went to the Exotica, which was the restaurant we were supposed to go to on Sunday night; as you remember, we were thwarted because the elevator was broken (with people trapped in it) and the stairs stopped two floors short of their destination. We made it to the top tonight, and we just had to hope that there were connecting stairs someplace else in case of fire. Luckily, fire was not a concern. The restaurant was gorgeous--it's set up on the roof of the same building that holds Little Penang (the ridiculous restaurant with terrible service that we went to about a month ago) and Kafulok (the Chinese place we went to on Sunday). They have koi pools surrounding the tables, and the platforms for the tables are connected with little bridges. It wasn't hot tonight and there was a pleasant breeze, so it was really nice. Other people complained about mosquitos, but I'm so annoyed about not picking up the bubonic plague that I'm now inviting malaria just out of spite. The food tasted rather similar to the food we had at Kafulok; the waiters all claim that they're separate restaurants, but I think it's clear that they all share chefs (or at least recipes). In my opinion, there's nothing better than a romantic dinner for eight, and so I was quite pleased.

When we got back, I discovered that Ranjit had saved me 'Mexican' food since I hadn't called to say that I wasn't coming home; I managed to put a dent in it because I wasn't completely stuffed from dinner (I boycotted the tofu satay that everyone else ate, and so wasn't quite as full as they were). By Wednesdays or Thursdays I'm so sick of eating a tomato/cucumber sandwich at lunch and whatever crap is served for dinner that I'm psychologically famished and can suck up anything at that point that is mildly satisfying. By my standards, tonight was absolutely awesome.

I hung out and chatted with Heather, Salim, Regina, Rohit, Arod, Jessie, and the newly returned Alaskan Matt until about twenty minutes ago, when it became clear that those of us still hanging out should go to bed. I'm really looking forward to Mumbai--I intend to do lots of shopping, lots of partying, and lots of socializing with some of my favorite people before we all part ways.

Simultaneously, I'm looking forward to seeing my friends again and having all that freedom that I so adore, up to and including the freedom to leave my bed unmade and my clothes strewn about without worrying that all of my possessions will be 'put away' and unfindable by the time I get home. I'm getting a chance to ramp back into my 'real life' this weekend--I'm meeting Vishal for dinner in Mumbai!! I'm getting in Friday night, and unfortunately he has to leave Saturday for business, but Friday night dinner has to happen. I doubt that he will be on his best behavior (and for Vishal, even best behavior can be shocking), but I've missed him a lot and am looking forward to seeing him in his native habitat. And on that positive note, it's time for bed!

they can trigger me but they can never figure me out

2005-10-04T11:55:00.000-07:00

Okay, so no time to write tonight; I'm tired and I have to go to work tomorrow. All is not bad, however. I watched two episodes of 'Lost' tonight before a conference call, which was great, and I'm well and truly addicted. Tonight was also the last night of Anup's cooking. The thai curries that he made tonight were absolutely stellar, and even though I felt some amount of guilt when Ranjit returned in time to watch me stuff my face with curry, I still took seconds. Mmm.

Ismail picked up some boxes for me today, so I suppose I should start packing up all my worldly goods and sending them home. There are significantly more worldly goods than there were when I came here, so this should be fun. I'm also going shopping in Bombay this weekend, which means that I'll have to leave space in at least one box for the stuff that I will buy there. I'll be back in California three weeks from today! Shocking!

That was a pretty worthless post, but you'll have to forgive me. I only have seven days left in the office, and twelve days left in India. It seems impossible, so I'm going to go to sleep before I can think about it any more.

love is not a victory march

2005-10-03T11:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've been rather lax with the blogging, which is unforgivable since I had today off. Sadly, I do not have tomorrow off, and that means that I really want to go to bed. Highlights of the last two days:

1) Seeing a cultural program for Gandhi's birthday (the holiday which resulted in the vacation that I had today). Maya's choir sang a few of Gandhi's favorite hymns, other people read verses from the 'Bhagavadgita' or sang Hindi songs, and the governor of Andhra Pradesh showed up to give a speech. The best part, though, was that during the first half hour of the show, there were still guys on stage rearranging the decorations. It was completely unnecessary and thoroughly distracting, but they insisted on redecorating as the program was going on. Awesome!

2) Lunch at Fusion 9. I'm really going to miss that place; Matt and I went there for lunch today, and while it's not the best food in the world, it's a fun place to go.

3) Shopping at Shilparamam and Charminar. Shilparamam is a bazaar set up near my apartment, and I'm sad that I haven't been there before; they have really cool handicrafts, and while I avoided buying another bedspread, I did pick up three cushion covers. Charminar has an insane bazaar; they sell every type of bangle that you could possibly want, but I was sad to realize today that I already have more than I know what to do with, and so I walked away emptyhanded. Matt bought a turban, hoewver, and Jessie bought some bangles, so it was almost worth it.

4) The perfume seller. A friend of Maya's (whom we call the vampire because we had previously only seen him at night) took us to buy perfume from a street-stall someplace. The perfumes, in varieties such as sandalwood or rose, were extremely strong, and smelled like they were actually essential oils. A tiny bottle was 100 rupees, and will probably last me my entire life. After putting just a drop on my wrists, the scent stayed with me all night (despite vigorous full-arm scrubbing upon my homecoming). Jessie and I shared a car home, and we both ended up with major headaches. Still, trying fragrances and having them filled into smaller bottles at a street shop was v. fun.

5) Dinner at a new restaurant. After the cultural show yesterday, John, Holly, Jessie, Matt and I tried a new Chinese restaurant. We were going to try a new restaurant on the fifth floor of the same building, but the elevator was broken and we couldn't find the stairs. Sadly, there were people trapped in the elevator; it was nice for us because there was glass on the outside of the elevator and so we could see them, but they looked pretty miserable. The restaurant we did try, however, was really good, and may actually make it into heavy rotation at some point in the near future.

6) Lost. Best show ever!!! John and Holly brought the DVDs of the first season back from the States; I watched the first two episodes last night, then watched three and four with them tonight. Jessie got hooked as well, and Matt is already hooked from watching them on TV here (they just started playing the first season in India, although we're on the second season in the States), so I bet that my last two weeks will contain more than a little bit of TV watching.

I have so much to do at work that it's not even funny, so it's time to bid you all adieu!

2005-10-03T11:42:00.000-07:00

the chaos of the bazaar; charminar looms in the background.

2005-10-03T11:40:00.000-07:00

they kept proffering fancy turbans, even though matt only wanted a house turban for everyday wear. apparently this is the store you go to for once-in-a-lifetime marriage turbans, not plain turbans. matt obviously should have gotten the decorative brooch with the ruby-colored stone and the feather.

2005-10-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

the adorable boy at the turban store

sleep is for the weak

2005-10-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

I have actual entertaining things to write about tonight, but I'm so tired that I can't do them justice. I had intended to call my parents tonight, but I just randomly fell asleep while uploading pictures, and whenever I fall asleep with my contacts in is a great indication that I need to go to bed.

I will write about today when I discuss tomorrow in nauseating detail. You may be pleased to know that Matt and I have decided to go to Sri Lanka instead of Bali; we essentially replaing one lush tropical paradise for another, with the upside being that we're less likely to get blown up in Sri Lanka. Yay! On that note, it's time to go to bed!

2005-10-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

the team outside barista after dinner; i'm so sad to leave them!

2005-10-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

me and my new dupatta; it's hard to tell from the picture, but the pink scarf has silver sequins, large mirrors, a silver bead fringe, and lots of rattling seashells. yay!

2005-10-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

jayatri and me at the end of a fabulous dinner

2005-10-02T13:32:00.001-07:00

matt and soumyajit; as this picture indicates, soumyajit can be fired up about things other than cricket (shocking!)

2005-10-02T13:32:00.000-07:00

me and sheeba--we are so obnoxious to each other that we occasionally must declare cease-fires long enough to document our closeness via photographs

2005-10-02T13:31:00.000-07:00

matt and arod at angeethi (unfortunately, neither of them are that into murgh makhni, and it's almost destroyed our friendship)

maybe you're gonna be the one that saves me

2005-10-01T15:20:00.000-07:00

This is the second night in a row that I've stayed up until four a.m. Me and my silly decisions. I didn't wake up until noon today; I ate some easymac, watched a couple of episodes of 'Scrubs', and then went to Mebaz with Matt to pick up his finished suits. We also had a late-afternoon meal at the Taj Krishna, which wasn't particularly satisfying, but was still entertaining. After finishing at Mebaz, we came back home, picked up Jessie, and went to Maya's to hang out and have a v. late dinner. We didn't leave there until after one a.m., and then I came home, read up on the news, and watched some tv. Now it's four a.m., and I should definitely be asleep.

I was very sad to come home and discover (thanks to Vidya, although reading the news would have told me soon enough) that there were bombings in Bali today. So, Matt and I are now investigating other places to go, although Bali will probably be relatively safe again for awhile since terrorists usually go into hiding after things like this. Tops on the list are Vietnam, Cambodia, and Japan--Japan would top my list, except it's really far away from Singapore and is also much more expensive than southeast Asia. So, we'll see; I have to leave India by October 18, so even if Bali doesn't happen, I can't prolong my time in the subcontinent. I'm hopeful that things will work out, but it is so unfortunate that Bali isn't completely safe, since it's apparently gorgeous.

Okay, I'm exhausted, so I should go to sleep and consider all of this tomorrow. Happy October 1, everyone!

you're so cute when you're slurring your speech

2005-09-30T16:02:00.000-07:00

I'm one of the few expats who is still in Hyderabad for the weekend, because we have Monday off; I have stuff that I want to accomplish here, so I didn't travel anywhere. Tonight, I watched four episodes of 'Scrubs' that someone brought back from the States. Then, I went downstairs and watched a couple of episodes of 'Lost' on TV with Matt. I had a beer, and then we split a bottle of wine--I used to be somewhat anti-wine, but after several hard alcohols were forcibly removed from my repertoire due to poor decisions, wine is becoming more and more appealing. It also helps that it is the hardest alooholic beverage to acquire here, and I love the challenge of a hard-to-get scenario. The end result is that we talked until four a.m., which wasn't the smartest thing in the world since I have tons to do this weekend, but my time here is quickly coming to an end and I won't pass up opportunities for socializing.

There's nothing to say of importance right now, and it's 4:35 am, so I suppose I should try to sleep. The goodbyes are becoming increasingly difficult, but I think I'll save that discussion for another time, or else it will become far too repetitive. Goodnight, everyone!

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

2005-09-29T11:16:00.000-07:00

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.

each broken heart will eventually mend

2005-09-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

Today is a rather bittersweet day; it's my sister's birthday, which is a happy thing, but it's also my grandfather's birthday, which encourages memories that I tend to shove away out of self-preservation. He would have been eighty today, which normally would have necessitated a grand midwestern party (or at least a roast beef dinner with the family), but he's gone and so birthday celebrations are no longer necessary. I haven't stopped missing him, but the pain is no longer as sharp and demanding as it used to be--and that, in and of itself, makes me want to cry, because it feels like a betrayal that it's become easier to bear as the years have passed. Hyderabad makes me think of him fairly often, though, because he loved rocks, and Hyderabad has more than its fair share of boulders (and people breaking the boulders up and carting the pieces away on their heads). I suppose it doesn't matter so much anymore; life goes on, I've changed, my family has changed, and every change takes us a step farther away from how life was when he was still here. There would never have been enough time with him to satisfy me--and so all I can do is try to be satisfied with what I had, which was incredibly special and absolutely fundamental to who I've been and what I will become.

True to my avoidant nature, I successfully sidestepped any thoughts of him all day, since I was very busy at work; I was at the office until eleven, and then came home with Matt and ate dinner in his apartment before coming upstairs and finishing some more work. Now I desperately need some sleep so that I can do it all again tomorrow. Goodnight!

we'll become silhouettes when our bodies finally go

2005-09-27T12:07:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that I was operating on about six hours of sleep, today went surprisingly well. However, there is nothing to note, other than that I realized today that I only have 11 working days left in the Hyderabad office. That's insane! I have no idea how I'm going to finish everything that I'm supposed to finish before my last day here, so the next few weeks could be a bit insane.

So, since there's no news to report, and since I could use some sleep, I'm going to go to bed. I've posted pics of my Delhi trip below for your viewing pleasure. I've also posted a new 'picture of the moment'; Sarrol the Barrel of Death was an entertaining moment of my past that was much too short. Errol and I were tied together at the ankle and the thigh, and so were horribly mismatched against an entirely unimpeded (and naturally agile) Walter. However, despite our quick and brutal defeat, we set off a trend of dorm wrestling that lasted most of the year. Man, those were the days--I would try to move that tradition to Hyderabad, but marble floors are even less conducive to wrestling than the carpet-covered concrete floors of Loro. Alas, we all grow up, and so my days as part of Sarrol the Barrel of Death are over :(

2005-09-27T11:59:00.000-07:00

the taj mahal

2005-09-27T11:49:00.000-07:00

downpour in the courtyard between the mosque and the taj

2005-09-27T11:48:00.001-07:00

the calm before the storm

2005-09-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

the taj mahal in the rain, as seen from the nearby mosque

2005-09-27T11:46:00.000-07:00

this was an audience area of some sort; the women of the harem could reach the third level directly from their apartments, and emperor akbar sat in the very top room, looking out over the courtyard below

2005-09-27T11:45:00.001-07:00

a cool platform set in the middle of a pool in fatehpur sikri

2005-09-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

not-humayun's-tomb; but, this other tomb was almost cooler because there was no one there and the landscaping was gorgeous. thank you, driver, for not understanding me.

2005-09-27T11:40:00.001-07:00

humayun's tomb, delhi; this was a precursor to the taj mahal

2005-09-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

a really cool carved marble screen in humayun's tomb, delhi

burn it down 'til the embers smoke on the ground, and start anew when your heart is an empty room

2005-09-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

My flight today was delayed by about 45 minutes, so I didn't get back to my apartment until ten p.m. Surprisingly, there were a lot of people still hanging out in my apartment--some of them live there, some of them were just finishing dinner, and some of them were loitering in hopes of hearing about my experience in the spa in Delhi (see below). I hung out with Arod, Regina, Rohit, and Neel until 12:30, which was a little ridiculous since I need to go to work early and get caught up on emails and things. But, it was nice to hang out a bit before going to bed, even if telling the whole breast-massage thing out loud seems a little awkward.

I did a bit of sightseeing and shopping in Delhi today; I saw a tomb that my driver thought was Humayan's Tomb, and then I saw the real Humayan's tomb, and then I went shopping in Khan Market (home to a lot of booksellers, which explains why my bag was so much heavier on the way back to Hyderabad today) and at the Cottage Industries Emporium. I tried to go to the Bahai lotus temple, but alas it is closed on Mondays. I didn't do as much shopping as Delhi deserved, but I did as much shopping as I had the appetite for, so things worked out v. nicely. I also ate at McDonalds--the service was so much better than the service in most (all) restaurants in India, and the french fries and icy Coke were as good as they are in America. Yay.

I will post pictures tomorrow, but for now it's time for bed; I just wanted to let y'all know that I'm alive and that the sushi did not incapacitate me.

Oh, and if you took my advice and downloaded Death Cab for Cutie's 'I Will Follow You Into the Dark' and liked the song, or if you didn't follow my advice but are looking for new music, purchase the entire album. It's called 'Plans', and it has been on constant repeat on my iTunes for a couple of weeks now. That's where most of the title lines (such as the one above) have come from, since I'm not listening to anything else. While 'I Will Follow You Into the Dark' is still my favorite song (I've listened to it 89 since downloading it, not counting however many times I've listened to it on my iPod), I am becoming increasingly infatuated with 'What Sarah Said,' 'Your Heart is an Empty Room', 'Someday You Will Be Loved', and 'Brothers on a Hotel Bed'. It is well-worth the purchase, even though it is neither techno nor angry poprock. Goodnight, everyone!

if i don't make it, know that i loved you all along

2005-09-25T11:21:00.000-07:00

There's a slim chance that I will die in my sleep tonight, after the second night in a row of tempting fate by eating sushi in Delhi. I'm staying in this swanky Japanese hotel, and they have a swanky Japanese restaurant--and so yesterday and today, I had sushi for dinner. It was so good, and so I really hope that it doesn't make me sick tonight. I felt fine this morning, but that isn't necessarily a guarantee. But, since I hadn't had miso soup, or veg tempura, or california rolls, or any other Japanese food in five months, I was willing to risk it. All of the food was amazing--I don't know whether it was actually a good restaurant, or if it was just a welcome respite from curry, but I left very satisfied after both meals. Now I just have to make it one more month before I have all the tempura and crunchy crab rolls that I could ever desire within a ten-minute drive.

Yesterday was the big day for sightseeing--I hired a driver and made a mad daytrip to the Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri. A few problems with this plan: 1) I spent about eight hours in the car, 2) because we left at six a.m., I didn't have time for breakfast, 3) because I didn't want to get dysentery I didn't eat until I got back to the hotel, thus repeating my European habit of not eating all day, and 4) it rained while I was at both the Taj Mahal and at Fatehpur Sikri. Despite the rain, the Taj was as gorgeous as it is reputed to be, and Fatehpur Sikri was very haunting and memorable. The latter was a city founded by Emperor Akbar, but it was abandoned when he died due to chronic water shortages; the palace and city were inhabited for less than twenty years before being deserted, and now only ruins remain of a architecturally fascinating city.

However, despite the beauty around me, I had trouble properly appreciating it because there were tour guides all over Fatehpur Sikri trying to force people to use them for tours. If you stopped moving for even a second, one of them would pounce on you and start asking if you wanted a tour, telling you that it was 'only 50 rupees, so little when you have spent so much to come here'. It might have been worth hiring one of the damned men just so the rest of them would leave me alone, but I probably couldn't have gotten the hired tour guide to shut up either, so I just tried my best to ignore them. They would even come up and talk about how peaceful and quiet Fatehpur Sikri is, which I of course found ironic.

Anyway, after the Taj and Fatehpur Sikri, I have no need to see any more World Heritage Monuments for awhile. I've seen quite a few major pieces of human history in the past few months; between my tour of Europe and my excursions in India, I have had an amazing summer. Today, though, I felt absolutely no desire to go out of the hotel, since it looked grey outside and I was too annoyed by the prospect of fending off more tour guides to brave the monuments in Delhi. So, I stayed in my hotel all day, and I pampered myself with a massage and a facial. I also worked part of the afternoon and evening, since I'm leaving India in three weeks and have tons to do before I go home.

The facial was quite interesting--I've never gotten a facial before, but I'm pretty sure that most facials don't include a breast massage. The woman asked me to take my shirt off when she started the facial, which I accepted with few qualms because I figured that she didn't want to get my shirt wet. After half an hour or so of rubbing my face with various creams and unguents, she asked me to sit up. Then, with absolutely no warning, she unsnapped my bra, and within seconds I had oil all over my chest and torso. She also massaged my back, which was nice, and the facial left my skin feeling very soft--but the chest massage sort of weirded me out. Granted, I could have asked her to stop, but in weird situations my first instinct is to just go with it unless I'm in actual physical danger (just ask Jasmine and Michael about my tendency to pretend nothing unusual is happening). As I told Vidya, I'm just glad that I got the silver facial, since if I had requested the gold facial, I probably would have ended up having sex with the woman. I'm willing to get another facial in the future--but I bet that American cosmetologists will look at me v. strangely if I specify in advance that I don't want the breast-massage part of the package.

Tomorrow I've arranged for a driver to take me around Delhi (thus eliminating the other thing I didn't want to deal with today--predatory autorickshaw drivers), so I'm going to see some historical tings and do some shopping. I'm flying back to Hyderabad tomorrow night, and then the mad dash towards the finish line of my trip will begin in earnest. I'll post pictures when I get back and upload them; goodnight, everyone!

out on the street are so many possibilities to not be alone

2005-09-22T11:22:00.000-07:00

I got to leave work at 3:30pm today for an offsite, which rocked; as mentioned yesterday, we had tickets to see 'Salaam Namaste,' a newly-released Hindi film. Unfortunately for me, the movie was in Hindi and so I couldn't understand the dialogue; fortunately for me, it was v. heavy on songs and dances, and the plot was easy to pick up even if I missed the nuances of the characters' thoughts. By the end of it, I was ready to leave, since it was about three hours long. The last scene was in an emergency room, where the female star was giving birth, and since the volume of the film was much too high, her incessant shrieking gave me a headache. However, the male lead was absolutely ridiculous, and the storyline was relatively controversial--the costars actually made out and had obvious sexual encounters onscreen, lived together before marriage, got pregnant, and discussed whether to have an abortion before the girl decided to keep the baby. It was also set in Australia, which gave them an excuse to have a dance sequence at a wedding in which all of members of the bridal party stripped off their formalwear so that they could frolic in swimsuits on the beach. I thought that part was completely hysterical.

After the movie, we had dinner at a nearby hotel; the food was decent, and we played fun icebreaker-style games. I didn't get home until almost eleven, and then I had to pack for my trip to Delhi tomorrow. I'm going to leave straight from the office, but i'm taking my laptop with me since this isn't a real vacation and I have work to do. So, perhaps I'll blog over the weekend--Delhi is not nearly as remote as Hampi, and so I should be better able to keep in touch. No promises, however--and if I don't go to sleep now, I won't make it to the office tomorrow, and that would be truly unfortunate! Goodnight, everyone!

when you call my name, it's like a little prayer

2005-09-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

Yay for work. I taped an hour-long meeting at work today for a project that I'm working on, but I didn't have a tripod, and I had to hold as still as possible--the end result was a massive cramp in my arm, and sadness over the fact that I have to do half a dozen more of these in the next week :( I'm going to have to figure out some sort of propping system, since I'm sure that the video contains easily-discernable jerks where my wrist spasmed uncontrollably.

I stayed in the office until a bit before eight p.m., then came home and ate Mexican food. It's rather sad--Ranjit is out for two weeks to visit his family, and so Anup has cooked for the past three nights, and we're all enjoying it much more than we were enjoying Ranjit's food before he left. I feel like I'm being disloyal to him somehow--but the Thai food that Anup made last night actually tasted like Thai food, and the Mexican food tonight actually tasted like Mexican food (sans sour cream and guacamole), which is a huge improvement over the almost-Thai and almost-Mexican that we were used to.

After dinner, I worked on a couple of things that I had to do for tomorrow, and then rebooked my tickets home. I'd booked them way back in April, and had just picked an October 10 departure out of thin air, and so it was time to switch this before the flights that I wanted became all booked up. So, I'm flying out of Hyderabad on the 16th, and returning to San Francisco on October 26. The intervening days will be spent lazing about in Bali, where I will hopefully get a glorious tan and write my romance novel while sipping exotic beverages on the beach. I'll be back in California just in time for Halloween, which should be fun--it will be interesting to see whether anyone in the office recognizes me, and I hope that my friends haven't forgotten who I am.

I also got my tickets for this weekend's trip to Delhi, and I'm in the process of confirming my trip to Ajanta in a couple of weeks. Some people are trying to convince me to go to Sri Lanka for the long weekend next weekend, but I think that I want to spend it shopping in Hyderabad, since I have a v. limited amount of time left in this fair city. I'm going to miss Indian VH1--tonight they played 'The Fabulous Life of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline' for like the fiftieth time, followed by the usual weird mix of videos; a Ricky Martin video was followed by 'I'm Too Sexy' by Right Said Fred, and there was some Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Linkin Park thrown in for good measure. American VH1 pales in comparison.

Now that I have accomplished so much, it's time to go to bed so that I can get up and do it all over again! But, tomorrow is our offsite, and we're going to see a Hindi movie ('Salaam Namaste'), followed by dinner. I won't understand the movie, and I will probably be annoyed by the mice in the theatre, so I may sneak out and shop in the mall beneath the IMAX. However, that's not a very team-oriented activity, so we'll see if my desire to escape the Bollywood dance numbers outweighs my natural inclination towards social acceptability.

as the blood runs red down the needle and thread...someday you will be loved

2005-09-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

The Hampi trip was physically brutal, but emotionally wonderful. Spending so much time on a train was not pleasant and was probably a good way to pick up a nasty infection, but the gorgeous serenity of the rocky terrain more than made up for it. Excluding the quick trip to Sri Lanka, it had been so long since I had actually seen the moon, or been to someplace with relatively clean air; and even though I was with the same people that I spend all my time with, it was nice to be with them in a place other than Hyderabad. I don't think that I'm designed for city living; traffic drives me crazy, and conversely nothing makes me happier than driving around winding country roads with no one in sight for miles. While California hardly qualifies as 'sparsely populated', it will seem completely empty compared to Hyderabad, and so there are definite advantages to returning to America.

I've decided to go to Bali for a week after I leave Hyderabad. I'll be good and not try to smuggle ecstasy into the country, since I have no desire to spend fifteen years in an Indonesian prison. It will be nice to take a break between my India life and my California life so that I can start the process of fitting the two together before I have to go back to the crazy whirl of friends, family, work, and parties. I'm going to get back to the States just in time for Halloween, which means that I should find a costume here--maybe I'll dress up as a Naxalite rebel. Nothing would be better than showing up dressed as a terrorist at an office where most people probably won't recognize me. Sounds like a good way to get arrested!

It's still early (around 10:20pm), but I haven't recovered from Hampi yet, so I should go to bed. But, I've suckered about 14 people into doing another 12-hour train ride in a couple of weeks, this time to the caves at Ajanta. They're all fools, and I'm so excited. Lauren and I decided today that our first expat reunion should be a Greyhound busride to Spokane, just to make sure we make a miserable trip to an unlikely destination. I'm obviously down for anything, but I doubt that the Spokane trip will happen. Sadness.

a little flesh, a little history

2005-09-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

What a weekend! Spending 24 out of 60 hours on an Indian train is not the best weekend one can have, perhaps, but Saturday was one of those perfect days that comes along so rarely. Hampi was breathtaking--we saw lots of amazing ruins, gorgeous rock formations, etc., etc. We also found some great shopping in Hampi Bazaar, some terrible breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and a tolerable dinner in the restaurant bar. Some people found too much malt liquor in the bar as well; by the next morning we were all miserable from food poisoning, hangovers, or both. Needless to say, Sunday was a bit more relaxed; we went back to Hampi Bazaar, revisited a couple of the more scenic vistas, hung out by the river, and then had an early dinner at the Mango Tree. The restaurant was out in the middle of nowhere (an area we had christened 'the killing fields' because of an altercation we had had with a travel agent earlier in the day; we were sure we were going to get killed over 300 rupees, which would be laughably tragic). But, the restaurant was amazing--it was overlooking the river, under an ancient mango tree, and the 'chairs' were actually long, carved stone benches with built-in reclining backs. We relaxed at the Mango Tree, drank lots of Coke and ate lots of extremely tasty food, and then headed back to the hotel. We only kept one room for Sunday night since we were catching a 10:45pm train--and so the seven of us took turns showering whilst watching 'Rocky III' and then part of 'The Matrix' on tv. There is nothing better than cramming seven people into a room with two twin beds, one desk chair, and a questionably-stained couch while the steam from seven showers emanates from the bathroom. Awesome!

Getting back on the train was painful; there is nothing worse than using a squat toilet in a moving vehicle. I woke up around six a.m. and couldn't fall asleep, and so I listened to my ipod and watched the countryside until we arrived in Hyderabad around 10:45am. I took a quick shower at home, went to work, and was rather unproductive. Now I should go to sleep to make up for last night's sleeplessness. Pictures from Hampi are posted below!!

2005-09-19T11:14:00.001-07:00

The river as seen from an uncompleted bridge.

2005-09-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

Apparently you can take two motorcycles and eight dudes across a river in these deathtrap-looking coracles.

2005-09-19T11:13:00.000-07:00

Empty packets of Immodium after the group did Immodium shots in my hotel room Sunday morning--thanks for the memories, hotel restaurant!

2005-09-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

At breakfast in the hotel restaurant on Sunday. Some people (not me!) were a bit worse for the wear after too much Royal Challenge the night before.

2005-09-19T11:11:00.000-07:00

Katzman and Nick near a rock that they tried to climb; the rocks in Hampi are breathtakingly large.

2005-09-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

The stone chariot and the entrance gate to the music temple.

2005-09-19T11:09:00.000-07:00

Josh, Nick, Katzman, Salim, and Heather. Notice the slack-jawed expressions--the tour guide had long since become completely incomprehensible.

2005-09-19T11:07:00.000-07:00

The last temple that we stopped at--the smaller-diameter pillars that surround the large pillars actually make music if you tap on them. The British cut through one in the thirties, expecting them to be hollow, but they're actually solid rock. Amazing.

2005-09-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

Katzman, Josh, Lauren, and Nick at some ruin or another (they all start to blend together).

2005-09-19T11:05:00.001-07:00

The remnants of the king's palace.

2005-09-19T11:05:00.000-07:00

The royal palace in Hampi had a great aqueduct system; I was able to walk under it without ducking, unlike Katzman, Salim, and everyone else in the group.

2005-09-19T11:04:00.001-07:00

The elephant stables at the queens' palace.

2005-09-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

A shiva-linga in a water temple; from what I gathered, Shiva (the destroyer) is not worshipped in a recognizable humanoid form, and so these phallic statues (shiva-lingas) are worshipped instead.

2005-09-19T10:55:00.000-07:00

Standing in front of a statue of one of the avatars of Vishnu.

2005-09-19T10:47:00.001-07:00

The 'Mustard Ganesh'--the guide's explanation of why this is the mustard Ganesh was unintelligible, but apparently this was where the common people came to worship.

2005-09-19T10:47:00.000-07:00

The only Hindu temple not destroyed when the Deccan kings sacked Hampi in 1565.

2005-09-19T10:46:00.000-07:00

Lauren, Katzman, and Josh in an autorickshaw.

2005-09-19T10:45:00.001-07:00

The train as viewed in sunshine--much more innocuous.

2005-09-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

Salim in the top bunk on the train. Indian trains were not designed for anyone over 5'8".

i know your heart belongs to someone you've yet to meet

2005-09-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

After work today, I attended a team dinner at Mainland China. I had not been to Mainland China since the time several months ago when we waited a ridiculous amount of time for our takeout to be prepared. The food is good, although I was startled to realize tonight that I've forgotten what American Chinese food tastes like. I know that the Chinese food here isn't quite right, and I know that I like American Chinese food better, but I have no idea what the differences are anymore. If acclimation means accepting substandard noodles and strangely-flavored chicken dishes, then I think I'm acclimated to India.

Seven of us have train tickets for Hampi, and we have rooms booked for Saturday night. I am really excited about going for two reasons. The first is that Hampi itself should be amazing--it was the capital of a vast empire in the 13th century, and the ruins are apparently fascinating. The second is that the trip has all the makings of a fun disaster. We have 5/6 of the people from the top two teams in the scavenger hunt, which means that we have already proven our collective stupidity. We also have tickets for two overnight trains; while we're traveling in first class, which is as lap-of-luxury as it gets here, the bathrooms are apparently still little more than a hole cut in the floor of the train. So, I intend to wear sneakers so that I don't lose a sandal in the toilet. I only intend to pack a change of clothes, my knife, my flashlight, and a lot of antibacterial hand sanitizer, but I think this will get me through the weekend. Oh, and I'm definitely taking my camera--expect some great pictures on Monday.

Unless I happen to write tomorrow from work, this will be my last post for a few days; we're leaving the office at six, having a quick dinner at home, and catching a 9pm train to Hampi. We're getting back Monday morning just in time to go to work (which will be a blast, since we'll probably be tired, hungry, and dirty). Then, the week's madness starts again, before a really quick trip to Delhi next weekend.

And now I will leave you with some advice that I got from a traffic billboard in Hyderabad this evening: 'Drive slow...unless you have an appointment with god'. Goodnight everyone!

the memories of me will seem more like bad dreams

2005-09-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

If all of the trips that I am planning come to fruition, I only have one more weekend in Hyderabad. This is impossible to believe, and I'm rather sad about it. I was not particularly happy here at first--I was used to my insane, incestuous group of friends, and the group here seemed too grown-up/nice/mature/well-behaved to make for a truly entertaining experience. However, as my shyness gradually disappeared, I became a lot closer to the other expats, and life has once again become as vibrant and ridiculous as I want it to be. That's not to say that they have replaced my home friends in my affections. But, the difference is that I am relatively confident that my home friends will be waiting for me when I get home, while the expat community will cease to be a community as we slowly reintegrate into the California office. Like I've said countless times before, I'm in end-of-summer-camp mode, desperately wishing that summer camp could continue, but feeling nostalgic for it in large part because it's coming to an end. Within a week of being back in California, I'm sure that I will be quite happy to have my life back--but there will be some definite sadness when I say goodbye to Hyderabad.

I was pretty sure that I would learn something about myself on this trip, but at this moment I cannot decide what the lesson is. I'm not sure whether it is uplifting or sad to discover that I've ended up being exactly the same with a completely different group of people as I was with both Loro 1 (freshman year) and Loro 2 (senior year). My life seems to repeat itself in disturbing ways, which I shall not enumerate here. But the intense repetition, the parallel scenarios that seem to occur in vastly different contexts, make me wonder if there is some lesson that I am supposed to learn from all of this that I am just failing to grasp.

Is it true that at some point we all have to grow up? Will I be satisfied six years from now if I continue to view life as a long-lasting ironic joke? My time in India has shown me that, given sufficiently intelligent acquaintances and some amount of social interaction, I can become part of some type of entertaining community. But at some point, entertainment isn't enough, and it's so hard to break out of entertainment to talk about anything serious, to get support for difficult decisions or to just discuss something that doesn't revolve around dead turkeys and fetal corn.

Conversely, I felt like I was going insane at the beginning of the trip, when there was no constant stream of jokes to lighten the mood. With every group of friends I have, I've chosen humor over closeness, at least for the first several months, and then I find it difficult to break through to the next level. So, that doesn't seem to leave me with a lot of choices in the matter.

I think the impending end of my experience is making me feel more melancholy than I should, and the tone of this post is perhaps darker than I mean it to be. I didn't feel quite this way when I was getting ready to leave California--but there, the goodbyes were more like 'I'll see you again in six months,' and so they were focused on doing fun things together and with the expectation that those fun things would occur again. Here, the goodbyes feel more permanent; while I will see the Californians again, it could be years and years before I see anyone from the India or Dublin offices. Sigh. I guess I can create a saradoescalifornia blog and write it for them, but it just won't be the same.

I still have some work that needs to be done for tomorrow, so I'm going to figure out whether to do it now or wake up early tomorrow. Tomorrow will be fun, since I have a team dinner at Mainland China. Then, I need to pack for my extremely exciting train trip to Hampi! Goodnight, everyone!

all the tough girls who never want me to see them cry

2005-09-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

I got two emails from Walter's father today, but because they were labeled as confidential attorney/client communications, I cannot share the contents. However, these emails gave me no information to dissuade my father from believing that Walter is not nearly as popular as he seems--since there was no interest in the Walter Fan Club, my father is now convinced that Walter was a one-time phenomenon and that he would not be able to emerge victorious if the European photo contest was held again. I didn't have the heart to tell him that Walter's popularity is as enduring as it is completely inexplicable; I can't count the number of times I've had my heart broken over the fact that people love Walter more than me. If I could grow sideburns and refrain from talking for more than five minutes at a time, maybe I would be able to give him a run for his money, but alas I cannot.

Anyway, I was at the office for quite awhile today. Then, I came home and ate dinner in my old apartment, rather than the apartment that I live in now; this would break Ranjit's heart if he knew, and so I swore Shiraz to secrecy, but I don't know if Shiraz will be able to refrain from gloating over the fact that he poached me from Ranjit. The sad thing is that despite my guilt, I enjoyed the meal more than any meals I've had in Jayabheri for awhile; he made potato-and-leek soup that was really really good, and some pasta and a vegetable dish that was also tasty. Ranjit has been cooking for too many people, and he's also been slacking a bit so that he can get out of the kitchen and go to the gym. Ranjit is going home for a couple of weeks to see his family, and he's been working out constantly to get in shape before seeing his girlfriend. I can't blame him--but I must admit that Shiraz's food was a nice break from normal.

There is always work that I could be doing, but I believe that I shall go to bed instead. Goodnight!

you say you know what he did, but you idiot kid, you don't have a clue

2005-09-12T09:55:00.000-07:00

It was extremely difficult to go back to work today, but I persevered. I got a birthday package from my parents today; they are the best parents ever. It was basically a box full of preserved meat products--they sent me beef sticks, pepperoni, and three packages of fully-cooked bacon. Despite the fact that the bacon sounded gross, it was the most mouth-wateringly-delicious food that I've eaten in at least two months. I'm glad that everyone else was scared off by its questionable packaging and appearance, since it means that I can eat it all by myself. They also sent me a bag of woefully crushed Tostitos and some salsa con queso, which I proceded to mix together and eat with a spoon. Mmm. Ranjit's pasta tonight was good, but it can't compare to heavily-preserved bacon and fake cheese dip.

I quite suddenly have a trip planned for this coming weekend--we're taking an overnight train to Hampi, home to some apparently-fantastic ruins of a 13th-century palace/fort/capital complex. Seven of us are going, so it should be a very fun time, although we won't get back until Monday morning and we'll have to go to the office immediately upon arrival.

I was going to go off about how much I'm going to miss being in India, but I'm too tired for such introspective musings. Also, my air conditioner self-destructed again; they fixed the banging noise last week, but tonight it started gushing water rather suddenly, and so I'm back to using the ceiling fan. I'm willing to bet money that when they 'fix' it tomorrow, the noise will come back. So despite my sadness at leaving India and all the friends I've made here, at least I can look forward to the blissful silence of my bedroom in Menlo Park. Tonight, though, I shall dream of all the ways that I can eat fully-cooked bacon; these ways have to be tasty to me, but unappealing enough to outsiders that I can conserve my bacon supply. It's a tricky task, but surely my evil ingenuity can lead to an appropriate solution.

if heaven is on the way, we'll wrap the world around it

2005-09-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

I may be vaguely recovered from the effects of last night, but it was a slow uphill slog all afternoon and evening. After I posted earlier this afternoon, I intended to take a nap; first, though, I called my parents, and that turned into a ninety-minute conversation so that we could still be talking when my actual birth time (8:11am CDT) arrived. It was great to talk to them, even though I didn't get a nap as a result, but since they nurtured me through twenty-four years of life, I think I can forgive them. After I talked to them, I went to Angeethi with most of the usual suspects (Heather, Salim, Lauren, Josh, Katzman, and the new additions of Nick, Cian, and Mags); Matt met us there after returning from a weekend in Bombay. Angeethi was just as tasty as ever--I've never celebrated my birthday with garlic naan and murgh makhni before, and I probably never will again, but it's definitely good stuff. I couldn't bake myself a birthday cake because there are no conventional ovens in Hyderabad, and I was sad to realize that I haven't made my grandmother's famous chocolate chip chewies in five months, but despite the lack of baked goods my birthday ended rather well.

After dinner, Matt and I grabbed drinks at Coffee Day (how novel to drink something that does not contain alcohol!), and then I showed him all of the pictures from Swampfest 2005. After he left, I uploaded all of the pictures of the cake episode to my computer; it was a rather hysterical sequence, and I've given a couple of them below for posterity. Actually, I don't know if 'posterity' is the right word; that implies that these pictures are worth saving for my children and grandchildren, and I doubt that I would want them to see pictures of my wild (and now quickly-vanishing) youth. But, I tend not to edit much of my life for my blog, so I don't think that I should start now.

You already got one really long post out of me today (see below), as well as a lot of pictures, so you'll have to satisfy yourself with that. It's quite definitely time for bed!

2005-09-11T10:52:00.000-07:00

preparing to eat cake off of salim's bicep

2005-09-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

josh 'helping' me by vigorously rubbing frosting off my face after regina messily fed me some cake

2005-09-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

josh showing his hillbilly colors; lauren played up the banjara hills lifestyle by wearing white pants, pumps, and pearls

2005-09-11T10:49:00.000-07:00

the very questionable birthday decorations; we came home from dinner to find these balloons all over the apartment, including above my bed

bring the night on

2005-09-11T03:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was ridiculously fun! First things first--as you know, I had ordered tshirts for all the expats, based on whether they identified with being a hillbilly or a posh suburbanite. I was convinced that they would not be ready in time for the scavenger hunt, but they were miraculously ready early yesterday afternoon. I had a little adventure going to pick them up--the store was located in a back alley in Secunderabad, about an hour away from my apartment, and rather difficult to find. Ansari got me there without incident, although I was a bit concerned when we drove over a bridge that had a sign with a skull and crossbones and a warning that said 'Dilapidated Condition. Drive Slow.' Considering how dilapidated things are in general here, a bridge with an explicit warning about poor safety is alarming to say the least. However, we made it, and the shirts turned out really really well. I had just enough time when I got home to mess it up in true hillbilly style (by cutting out the neck and by slicing and knotting the sleeves like a poor attempt at 'fashion'--see photos below) before the game began.

And boy, what a game! We split into three teams: one Banjara Hillbillies team (me, Josh, and Regina, who was surprisingly born as a hillbilly before her complete transformation into a shopping machine), and two Banjara Hills 90210 teams (Jessie, Nick, Saamra, and Rohit on one team, and Salim, Katzman, and Lauren on the other team). Then, we parted ways. My team got a lot of great shots; unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures of dogs, which should have been free points, but we were looking for quintessential veg and nonveg dogs, and that cost us the whole game. We lost by one point to Salim/Katzman/Lauren, who took the 'one point for every empty beer' rule serious and drank twelve beers in their car--they also got lucky and found a bigger-than-usual autorickshaw with about ten people in it, and so they got 22 points between the beers and the rickshaw photo. Oh, well. I don't like to lose, but a) there was no prize, and b) it wasn't a serious game, and finally c) we all had loads of fun, and so I can't complain.

Also, I kissed a water buffalo, so it will be interesting to see whether I get a weird lip fungus from my momentary lapse of judgment. I picked a good water buffalo to kiss, since its horns were curled and so it couldn't gore me--but it was a little skittish and started to move away, and then I panicked, lunged, and faceplanted into/kissed the water buffalo's rear flank. It apparently ran away at that point, but I was too busy closing my eyes at my own stupidity and wiping dirt off my face to notice. I'm very very happy that Regina and Josh snapped the picture at exactly the right moment, because I would have been really sad if we didn't have photographic proof of that moment. We went back to the car and I rinsed off my face and then smeared Purell hand sanitizer on my lips, so hopefully I'll be okay. The drivers definitely think we're insane, though--Ansari claimed to have fun, and he definitely laughed a lot over the fact that I kissed the water buffalo, but I think that we're not doing a lot to improve the image of Americans in the world.

We saw lots of stuff in the city, as well as some parts that I've never seen before--it is criminally stupid of me that I haven't been to Charminar or gone shopping in the old city. By the time we got to Charminar (a mandatory stop), it was dark and raining and we were running out of time--but as we drove back towards the new part of town in the rain, I realized how gorgeous the old city is. Christmas-style lights were strung everywhere, and gorgeous Ganesh statues would suddenly appear next to Muslim clothing stores. The rain was not slowing down commerce, and made everything seem much fresher than it usually does. I may only have one weekend left in Hyderabad, but I'll have to spend at least some of it in the old city.

We reached the restaurant just in time; Ohri's has terrible service (it took them almost two hours to bring out mains after we ordered them), but they do have private rooms, which was vitally important since we were all on the verge of raucously drunk [note: to my underage nieces and nephew--Auntie Sara is not an alcoholic and is actually a rather responsible adult, and did not start drinking until college, so don't even think about drinking until you're in college or I'll rip your heads off]. Dinner was great fun, especially as I got to have my favorite Hyderabad cocktail--the Drunken Shaolin Monk. It actually isn't that good (it's just rum, pineapple juice, and a splash of grenadine), but it has a sparkly cocktail umbrella and a creative name, and so I'm loyal to it for those reasons alone. They brought the birthday cake before any of our appetizers, and said 'surprise cake!', which was a surprise to everyone else as much as it was to me since they had asked them to wait. We didn't eat the cake until after dinner--and by 'we didn't eat the cake', I mean 'I didn't eat the cake', since my coworkers essentially force-fed me half of the cake and then abandoned the other half when I reported that it wasn't very good. I don't have any pictures of the cake-eating right now, but I'll post them when I find some.

Basically, it is some sort of tradition here to feed cake to the birthday person--and someone came up with the brilliant idea that they should all feed me cake in different creative ways. So, I ended up sucking cake out of both a straw and a shot glass, licking it off of people's fingers, and eating it off Salim's bicep, just as an example. The cake was pretty nasty, and it's a wonder that I didn't throw up, but I have remarkable physical tolerance for self-destructive stupidity (probably because of my hillbilly genetics), and so it all went off swimmingly. I also liked being called 'birthday-madam' by the waiters at the restaurant; the head waiter even yelled at one of the other waiters for not giving birthday-madam enough eggplant, which made me laugh.

After dinner, we came back to my apartment, went through a bottle and a half of arrak and a prodigious amount of ice and pina colada mix, and watched/judged the photos from the scavenger hunt. Then, we set off fireworks at one a.m.; it likely woke up everyone in Madhapur, since Salim bought the set of 10,000 firecrackers that seemed to go on forever. Then, I went to bed with the amusing realization that I had thoroughly celebrated my birthday before my birthday had even started in the States.

I woke up today much less miserable than I deserved to be and made it to brunch at the Taj Krishna; now I'm home and writing in my blog so that my parents won't kill me, and I'm contemplating taking a nap before going to Angeethi for dinner. This is definitely the best birthday that I've had since 2001, which I suppose isn't saying much, but I'm glad that it's getting easier to celebrate on September 11 than it was in previous years. Of course, it helps that I'm halfway around the world. And of course there's the possibility that something bad will happen again; Regina put flowers in my hair yesterday (and later added cocktail umbrellas to the mix), and I was thinking that the last time someone decorated my hair for my birthday was when Emily put ribbons in my hair about half an hour before we found out about the twin towers, so we'll see if there's a causal relation between the two.

Now I should probably call my parents--pictures of Swampfest 2005 are posted below!

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all of us at ohri's after the conclusion of the scavenger hunt

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me and josh, the ultimate hillbillies

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salim and katzman holding hands (fulfilling 'men holding hands')

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katzman riding a bus