My Welcome Home Surprise

The Story:
I was really excited to come home and even more excited when I got to the airport because Riki proposed! To say the least, I was extremely shocked and could barely understand what was happening! It was really sweet tho - he flew in my parents and had everyone at the airport waiting for me. After I became a bit less hysterical, we had a champagne toast in the airport and I got a nice little welcome home basket. Oh yeah, and Riki talked to my manager and got me a business class ticket home so I wouldn't be so tired when I arrived. (My manager told me it was b/c I did such a good job...what bullshit :)

After the airport, we went home, and got ready for a big party Riki planned at my favorite restaurant with our closest friends and family. It was really amazing. We had such a blast and I was in heaven with yummy wine and ceviche. Take a look at the pictures - as you can see, I'm a complete scrub when I fly, but at least we got a few presentable pictures at the party :)

My Hyderabad Family

My last weekend in Hyderabad was all about spending time with my India family (aka - Facebook landing team). We had a great night dancing on Friday and went out for a family dinner on Sat. Here is a link to all pictures and below are a few of my favorites.

Bali!

I spent a wonderful 10 days in Bali, which was a nice way to pass my last days in India. The trip was characterized by the really cool things we (Tiff, Carrie & Traci) were able to do - below are the highlights.

1. Surfing
Not gonna lie...I was a bit nervous about surfing since I heard it was so hard. But...we all killed it! Got up on my first try and we had SO much fun! Pretty sure it'll be harder in the freezing rough water in SF, but I'm willing to try :)


2. Hiking a Freaking Volcano at Sunrise
Yeah...awesome! We got up at 1:30am to head to the volcano...that part sucked, but the rest was amazing. So we all got mini flashlights and hiked 2 hrs in the dark to the top of the volcano. We got there just in time to see the sunrise - it was beautiful! The one thing we were all surprised about was how freaking cold it was at the top...we totally froze.

Also, one of the reasons they do sunrise hikes is because people would never actually go to the top if they realized how steep it was. It was pretty intense! This is us trying not to die on the way down - it was all volcanic sand and was quite loose...

After the hike, we stopped at a beautiful hot springs hotel and hung out in the pool. It was a pretty amazing day :)



3. Bike tour of Ubud & Rice Fields
We took a day bike tour of Ubud, which was amazing! We stopped at an amazing viewpoint then went to a coffee making area that does Luwak coffee, which I call shit coffee since it requires a "Catfox animal" to eat the coffee beans and shit them out. Yeah, and it's the world's most expensive coffee. I'm not a big fan of black coffee, but I will say that it was the best black coffee I've ever had. I love shit coffee!

Next up was biking in the countryside to see local homes or compounds as they call them. It was really cool to see - life is so different on the compound! Outside of the entrance is a cock - or a fighting rooster that the husband spends hours massaging every day... Cock fighting is huge in Indonesia. There are multiple families living there, they all share a kitchen and never leave their family compound. They also have compound cows and pigs, which are prized possessions in the back.

Then it was off to the rice fields to see how they process rice. We got to see the end of the harvest, which was really cool. On the way to lunch, we stopped at a massive banyan tree, which Tiff and I attempted to climb :)

On the way to lunch, we had 2 options: 1) bike uphill for 45 minutes to lunch or 2) get a ride to lunch. I thought it was a great opportunity for a workout since I hadn't been able to work out in India for a few months. Uhhh...yeah, almost died. The guide said it "wasn't a bad ride", which is total bullshit. It was hard - not a good first workout!

4. Cooking Class
We learned some mad skills for cooking Indonesian food and I have to say - it was the best Indonesian food we had in Bali! And I didn't even blow anything up!

5. Dolphin Watching
Another early morning - we got on the boat at 6am to go watch the dolphins. It was pretty amazing to see so many dolphins out there and the scenery wasn't too bad :)

6. Monkey Forest
Yup, the name describes it. It's a huge forest with thousands of monkeys just roaming the area freely. And they're quite smart and aggressive - one chased Traci to get her water bottle and was jumping all over her! Overall - a little freaky, but pretty awesome.

Tripping Seems so Harmless

So I was walking up these big concrete stairs to get into a store and tripped. No big deal right? Well, considering these were ghetto concrete stairs and jagged (yes, I'm in India) it was a bit worse than expected.

I didn't think anything of it and got up and walked into the store. Then I realized my sandal was slipping because blood was pooling up and I looked down to see a huge chunk of my skin hanging off my toe. Awesome.

Thank goodness the Facebook crew had hydrogen peroxide (painful!!!) to clean it with, otherwise pretty sure it would have gotten infected! I guess my plan to go crazy dancing and workout this weekend is ruined since it hurts to walk...

Kerala

Kerala translates to "God's Own Country" and I have to agree. It really felt like an entirely different country than India. It was seriously beautiful. See all the pictures!

We arrived in Cochin on Friday night and drove into town. Since we were getting up and leaving at 6:30 in the morning, we decided to take it easy and went out for dinner & some beers. Then, like the grandmas we were on this trip, we went to bed early. In the morning we woke up early to give elephants bathes at this training center. I LOVE elephants!

Munnar
Munnar got hyped up a bit from friends who have been, but it surpassed the hype. It was one of the most beautiful and unique mountain areas I’ve ever seen. Munnar is all about tea plantations so when we arrived, we had some fresh squeezed tree tomato juice (kinda tastes like strawberry/banana) then went to learn the history of the tea plantations & how they make tea. Interestingly enough, black tea is made from green tea but oxidized more – who knew?! After some quality tea time, we went to a spice market and bought fresh spices for about 50 cents per bag. Pretty sure I would have paid $5 in the states. Then our homestay dad (Anil) took us a for a hike through the tea plantations, which was breathtaking.

Day 2 consisted of driving around the beautiful mountains and soaking it all in. About 30 min in, I had to go to the bathroom so we stopped at some random restaurant that was filled with 20-something boys. As soon as we walked in, about 40 eyes were on us. Then they crowded us in the sink area to get pictures with us. We literally had to push our way out of the crowd. We were also wondering where the hell are all of the women?! Oh India… As for the views, I think the pictures speak for themselves. Not gonna lie though, driving 5 hours through windy roads with crazy Indian drivers…we were happy to get out of the car.

And since it was Holi in India, we had to partake in the festivities. Even though Munnar is mainly catholic and they don’t really celebrate, we brought the party with us. Pretty sure everyone thought we were crazy running around the yard throwing colors :)

At night we went to see a traditional martial arts show, which was totally nuts and awesome. Of course, we had to go in the ring and try some fighting ourselves – Elisabeth looks so angry!

In Munnar, we stayed at a homestay with the owners Anil & Jeeva, who were amazing! We got delicious home cooked meals and got a little cooking lesson from Jeeva. And the fresh fruit was also a highlight (yum passion fruit!).

Houseboating on the backwaters in Allepey
Houseboating got a lot of hype, but it’s all true. It was pretty much the perfect day: gorgeous views, afternoon drinking & card games, nap, some laughs and of course huge amounts of food. When we docked for the night, a few boys took us out on a canoe to watch the sunset then we went through these narrow canals and saw all of the families out. The highlight of the night was the lake prawns that we bought from a little market that were GIANT and blue. The chefs on the boat made the most delicious prawns I’ve ever had…pretty sure I could have eaten 5 of those bad boys.

The whole experience was amazing and it was pretty crazy to see how much of their lives revolve around the backwaters. We saw people doing everything in the water: washing clothes & dishes, showering, drinking water, swimming, fishing, etc. The entire town was out on the edge of the water…pretty cool.

Varkala
Varkala was beautiful and uber relaxing, which is just what we needed. We basically, sat on the beach all day, read, and ate yummy fresh seafood. Perfect.

The one big outing that Rachael and I did do was to get an Ayuvedic massage, which is a Kerala specialty. We got a recommendation from the hotel owner and got picked up by a rickshaw to take us to the massage parlor that also doubled as a poorly lit, slightly dingy home. On to the massage – if you don’t want to get up close and personal with me, you should stop reading now 

I went into my massage room, which was decorated with a vinyl table and a step stool. There were some ants on the floor keeping me company & of course the window to the backyard was open so anyone could walk by and see me. I was immediately instructed to strip (while the masseuse stood there) and then told to sit on the stool that had a questionable cloth over it. So there I was sitting butt naked on a tiny stool with a random woman “rubbing” oil in my hair. Her head massage was a bit more like a giant noogie. Then I was told to lay on the vinyl table (no sheets mind you) while she poured oil over me and vigorously, I repeat vigorously rubbed everywhere… When I had to flip over, I thought I was going slid off of the table, no joke. When it was all over, I was told to enter the adjoining bathroom and sit on yet another step stool. Then the masseuse proceeded to bathe me…oh yes, you heard right. By that time, I had given in to the experience as was just going with the flow.

After the massage, I walked outside and saw Rachael. We immediately burst out laughing and knew we both had the same interesting experience. Definitely something I won’t forget. As we left, I gave the masseuse a nice tip – not because I enjoyed the massage, but because anyone who bathes me, deserves a solid tip.

The Trip Overall (pictures here)
Overall, we had an amazing time. I haven’t laughed that much or hard in a long time. It was also the perfect relaxing trip and just what I needed.

We also discovered something called Laugh Yoga, which is pretty much the most amazing thing ever. Rachael was cracking us up with her version of laugh yoga the entire time...love it.

Our driver - Mr. Das
Oh Mr. Das was an interesting character. Within minutes of us meeting him, we learned that he was a bit of a Debbie Downer. Here is a select few of our conversations:
Das: It’s my grandma’s birthday.
Us: How great!
Das: She died last year (and indicated died with a squashed bug noise).

Das: My mom lives in NYC (where Rachael lives)
Rachael: Have you ever been there to visit?
Das: No, I hate my father-in-law.

Das: Do you like motorcycles?
Me: Yes – they’re so fun to ride!
Das: I got in an accident a few years ago and cut open my head.

We also learned that Mr. Das has 3 girlfriends that don’t know about each other which helps explain why his phone is constantly blowing up. But don’t worry - he keeps them all straight with separate, but equally annoying ringtones.

Golden Triangle

Of course Rachael & Elisabeth wanted to see the Taj so I said "what the hell - why not see it for the 2nd time?"

We started off in Delhi taking a bike tour of the old city. Here is the start of Delhi pics.


Then off to Agra to see the Taj. We got up early to see the Taj at sunrise...pretty gorgeous. Start of Taj pictures.


Then we went to see the Baby Taj, which is really underrated... Start of Baby Taj pictures.


Finally ended at the fort where Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (who built the Taj) was imprisoned by his son.

In the afternoon, it was off to Jaipur! We chilled for dinner then got up early to see Amber Fort, which had a giant wall surrounding it in the mountains like the Great Wall. Start of Jaipur pictures.


FYI - this blog post is so short because I just edited about 500 pictures and am way too tired to write more...but it was a great trip!

So many good bathroom suggestions...

Google in India has been extremely helpful to me with regards to how to use a toilet, flush it, then clean up after. Below are the simple steps for your reading enjoyment:

Step 1: Use the toilet properly (1st image)
Step 2: Women, please be courteous (2nd image)


Step 3: How to wash your hands

Salve: The Big Debate

I know people are kept up at night wondering how to actually pronounce the word "salve". Well, believe it or not, I've run into many many situations where people think I'm crazy because I don't pronounce the 'l' in the word salve. In fact, I had a debate with Rachael & Elisabeth last night so I finally looked it up on dictionary.com. And...drum roll...I win! It is pronounce: [sav, sahv]. Check out dictionary.com to listen to them saying it - trust me, time well spent :)

Spam Text Messages

India seems to provide endless entertainment for me. I get these spam text messages ALL the time. Some are offers and deals, etc, but some are just plain weird. Here are a few of my favorites:

"I called u 5 times but the line is busy so come outside... Iam standing outside ur home...
my name is MOON...i just came to say good night...,ur sudheer"

"plz forward to many gud hearts like u... If anyone met with fire accident or people born with problems in their ear, nose and mouth can get free Plastic"

"Journey of life strts wid a full bag of luck &
and empty bag of xprince, The goal if to fill the bag of experience before the bag of Luck gets empty GUD 9T"

"Plz fwd dis msg 2 atleast
5 ppl b4 deleting. PLZ 'DONT DRINK WATER PACKETS'
Becoz A new virus HBF (High Bone Fever) Is spreading now, gudnt....."

"Hi I'm SUN & specialy rise through ur inbox 2 say U GooD MoRNinG Have a nice day"

"MOON has come to color your dreams, STARS to make them musical and my SMS to give you warm and Peaceful Sleep. Good Night. sweet dreams."

"I've made so many mistakes in my life, but something I did right was to have you as a friend and I definitely won't make another mistake of losing someone like you. Gud ngt.."

Now that last one is just plain thoughtful :)

My upcoming schedule...even I'm a little jealous of myself...

In 7 weeks, I will accomplish the following...

1. Delhi
   
2. Agra - sunrise at the Taj Mahal
3. Jaipur
   
4. Kerala - 3 white girls traveling in the backwaters should be interesting :)
   
5. Bali - finally a trip with Tiffany!
   
6. Japan (ok, Japan was canceled. Get this - this was supposed to be for the same conference that I got stuck in Dublin for. Natural disasters are out to ruin the events!)
   

May 1 - coming back to the states! Get ready for Indianized Gina!

Goa...both times :)

So yes, I managed to go to Goa 2 times in a matter of 3 weeks...I was ambitious!
1st Goa Trip
AnnMarie came to India and we headed for a much needed relaxing weekend. We (and the cow) enjoyed the view & beach. AnnMarie was pretty much the hit of the town and got hit on every 2 seconds. We also were able to find a little hole in the wall gambling joint and loose big time...I lost $20 :)







In preparation for the beach, AnnMarie shaved her legs with an electric shaver. She then started complaining about her legs burning and when we got home, we found out her legs looked like this...only AnnMarie could make this happen :)

2nd Goa Trip
Now on to the epic birthday trip. As you all know, the Facebook landing team has adopted me so we all decided to go to Goa for Sarah's bday. There were 8 of us: me, Vik, Dmitry, Sarah, Joanna, Aruna, and Vik's parents (yes, you read correctly). Night one consisted of my usual face stuffing followed by drinks, hookah, and dancing on the beach. A few of the crazies in the group also decided to jump into the ocean at the end of the night as well (no, I wasn't one of them). The bad news is that a few carried items such as an iPhone, which of course is not friendly with water...

Then Saturday...and the big party. We chilled on the beach then decided to go for a sunset boat ride. We were able to charter a boat, bring on some beer and food and head out. The view and ride was amazing and well worth it. After our ride, we headed off for Sarah's bday dinner. The place was amazing - it was on the beach, all white, and had SUSHI and non-Indian food! WHAT?! I also was able to a massage during dinner, which might have been the best massage ever. Since we were so awesome (read: loud), we were able to get the owners laptop to create our own playlist and thus the dance party began.

Giant Sparklers & Cake on the face













And of course you can't miss Sarah's progression of falling asleep in Vik's lap... All-in-all - pretty epic night :)

ALL GOA PICTURES (still waiting for Vik to give me the rest of the pictures...sigh)

Start of 2011

And welcome back to my blog. It's been a long time since I've written because I went home for Xmas & New Years, which was amazing. Then I made a few great weekend trips, but have been sick for the last week so didn't have the energy to muster up any witty comments for the blog. So here you go - the last few weekends!

Sankranti (Kite Flying Festival) pictures
The first weekend back was the kite festival welcoming the harvest called Sankranti. The kites are supposed to be offerings to the sun God to help that year's harvest. All weekend there was kite flying and fighting. So if you haven't read the Kite Runner, kite fighting is awesome. They make string out of little shards of glass so when you cross kites, you can cut the other person's kite loose.

My favorite chef Gnane invited me, Vik & Dmitry to his home to fly kites on their roof. It was so cute - when we got there, Gnane immediately started showing us his wedding pictures & then served us lunch. His entire apartment for him, his son, and wife was about as big as our living room, which is crazy. After lunch, we went up to the roof and experienced a legit Indian tradition in a legit Indian neighborhood (we don't really see a ton of "real" India where we live). Dmitry said it was pretty much the coolest thing he's done in India. It was pretty cool to see how the entire neighborhood goes to the roofs and everyone celebrates together. And getting those kites off the ground weren't so easy as evidenced by my attempts :) But I was able to actually cut another person's kite - very exciting! Gnane's extended family were possibly the nicest people ever and were amazing hosts.

Oh - and once again, I managed to offend most Indians by wearing a very conservative tank top. Gnane wouldn't let me on the roof or stand outside his house without wearing one of his jackets. What a scandal! It's so funny - there are ads all over with half naked women on them, but my shoulders are just too much...

Srisailam Tiger Trip pictures
I know all everyone wants to know is if we saw a Tiger. The answer is no. Those bastards are great hiders :) But, it was worth trying! We left Hyderabad at 2am to get to the Tiger Reserve at 7am, which is when they were supposed to open (and is the best time to actually see the tigers). But seeing we're in India and nothing is reliable, the reserve didn't open until 10am. Thankfully, since this is India and you can pretty much get whatever you want if you have money, we bribed the guard to let us in with our own cars (which is illegal) for our own private tour. Best $50 the 8 of us ever spent :)

We proceeded with directions from the guard and saw Sambar (Indian deer), peacocks, monkeys, etc. on the drive. Then we hit a dead end when we thought the path was a loop and would lead us out of there. Thankfully the dead end was a gorgeous cliff and ideal picture spot. So we got out, took some pictures and walked in the jungle a bit. The guys saw giant 5 foot monkeys that were unreal, but I missed out. In order to see them, you had to get about 10 feet away from them and I wasn't about that :) So we were 3 hrs into the tour when we were supposed to only be in there for 1 hour so we headed back the way we came. The guards were pretty pissed and there was a lot of arguing in Hindi, but our drivers were able to get us out alive!

The rest of the day, we went into the town to visit a famous temple, which was an experience. If you ever want to be almost trampled, you should go there. The funny thing was the biggest offenders were elderly people! They kept pushing us and cutting in front of us. What the hell?! Needless to say, we were all excited after we were out of the temple (it was about 20 min of sardine-ville).

On the way home, we found ourselves driving through a herd of cattle. Just another day in India :)