We have now been in Jodhpur for 2 nights.  Jodhpur is a good mix of the Delhi/Mumbai hustle bustle and the village experiences.  The old city is walled with the Meharangarh Fort rising above.  Here I got my way and we got to stay in a Havali.  :)  Havali's are old buildings in the old city that are converted into guest houses.  Well, this is a 5 star beautiful Raas Hotel/Havali that is like staying in a spa.  At night when the fort above is lit up and we are sitting enveloped in candlelight, there is nothing better!!   Next door is a mosque where 5-6 times per day the people are called to prayer over the loud speaker.  Atmosphere of the area, or an interruption, it is quite unique and adds to the experience!

Yesterday we ventured to the Meharangarh Fort and toured with guide.  Rajisthan is an area imbedded with history of kings and queens and palaces.  The fort is absolutely gorgeous and you can touch artifacts that are 500 years old.  Actual breaks in the stone where cannons had hit and stories of British rule, it was very much another learning experience for me.  Looking down onto the blue city and seeing the wall, looking across to other palaces in the distance, lakes, and desert, it is quite the view!  Later we took a tuk tuk down to the Jodhpur clocktower and old city market.  Cows sitting in the middle of the road watching the tourists and locals exchange rupees, it was fun.  A coupl.es massage at the Raas and another dinner under the lit Fort, our time here has been an overload of the senses.  After 2 weeks in the desert sleeping on a bed that is reminscent of a summer camp mattress, the thick mattress and pillows of the Raas will be surely missed.

Today we leave India and head to our next stop in Australia.  Leaving for me is bitter sweet.  I have surely enjoyed my time in India and have appreciated a culture that I have known little about.  I look forward to my return and to see and learn more.  Where otherwise I would be intimidated on a 1st visit, I'm learning enough Hiindi to be pushy back.  I can return with confidence and experience to not be a typical "Gori" (white woman)!!

Pseudo American Meal

So my Cheeseburgers and Scampi extraordaire didn't turn out exactly how I had anticapated but it was good enough.  We had ordered ground buffalo, in lieu of hamburger, and shrimp and we were to have mashed potatoes and asparagus.  The highlight for me was that they found iceberg lettuce and I could have a salad that included lettuce!!  I went to the kitchen to begin my prep work only to find more men who didn't quite know how to take me.  They walk a fine line of being polite and wanting to do everything for me, to not being able to take direction from a woman, to allowing me to do everything because that is the role of the women in their homes.  Very interesting dynamic!  I fought hard to make the mashed potatoes myself.  In the end the chef asked if these are the "American potatoes" that are served with chicken fried steak.  YES! - I taught him something.  I was able to season the shrimp and season the buffalo to include the seasonings from home.  No garlic powder only garlic paste and a few other modifications.  I brought Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce so it was close.  :)  Once all the prep work was done I informed the chef as far as how to cook the rest and left it in his capable hands.  The picture above is what was served.  The potatoes were not heated up and were served ice cold.  The buffalo burger was a bit on the rare side, a little too much for me.  The asparagus was as good as you can get from a can.  The bun fell apart as if it was in the freezer wayyyyy too long.  BUT oh the iceberg lettuce... YUMMY!!!  We were close and it was good!!

Now, I won't go into detail about how the US regulates food safety and how the entire world should!  I won't tell you how OCD I get about washing my hands and cross contamination.  I won't mention about how they don't have a proper potatoe peeler or how there is only 1 pairing knife in the entire kitchen.  I won't tell you about the one spoon they use for ALL their seasonings or the one knife they use for all non-veg regardless of origin.  I will say that I am thankful for our drinking straws being in a paper sleeve and thankful for hairnets and proper sanitation techniques we have grown accustom to.  I will say that I am thankful for all the inspections that restaurants receive and I will never complain about my OCD of using a different cutting board for each item.  Tonight when I go into the restaurant and order food I will order something that gets boiled for a longgggg time and will think twice about how my food has been prepared. 

Signing off with love from India!

Camel ride

Let me put this in perspective.... prior to yesterday, the only camel ride I had been on was at Marine World approx 40yrs ago (don't do any math!!) and there was a raised platform to get on and then a hand rail to hold while on the "ride".  This was the real thing!  The camels came to get us at the hotel where we mounted and hung on for dear life as the camel raised to the front legs and then on to his back.  Now 8 feet in the air we traveled 10km for our trek through a village and up to the sand dunes.  We were able to see real homes, working farms and more families fascinated by the white people.  All the women working in their saris and covering their faces out of respect for the elders.  The children helping and running and playing outside.  No tv and video games here!  We reached a home, got off and took a break in one of their huts.  The elders did an opium ceremony which we proceeded to pass in partaking but it was very interesting watching the men drink from eachothers hands just enough to relax their bodies.  :)  Randy and a friend from before shared hooka and I even tried it.  Not for me but it tasted like cherry!  LOL  Off to another hut where they served us a cold corona (yep!  Corona in the desert of India!) and a fabulous dish of fried buttermilk.  Absolutely delish with naan baked in a brick oven.  What an authentic and wonderful experience and one I will not soon forget.  2 of the boys that befriended me yesterday followed along with a few friends and walked along with us the entire time, approx 6 miles.  They thought nothing of it.  I kept thinking of how many children in the US would voluntarily walk the distance and not fight their parents to get off the tv, computer or cell phones.  What a difference!

Later yesterday we went into Decchu, the local village, for a little shopping and then continued to Uncle's home for happy hour.  Uncle, as he is affectionately called, is a land owner and I would guess middle class.  He had for us corona for Randy and Sula Sauvignon Blanc (my new favorite Indian wine) for me.  His wife put together snacks of apples and cucumbers.  Just lovely!!  We toured his home and was impressed again of how proud everyone is.  The warmth and hospitality puts life in perspective.  It's not what you have or what you don't have that is important, it's the love you share with others and the time spent enjoying your friends and family that is what makes you rich.  (Having said that, I was sooo jealous of their pantry with large shelves and storage and pots and pans large enough to cook for the entire village - which I am pretty convinced that they have done!)

Sounds like my Eat, Pray, Love is kicking in and it is.  :)

Tonight I am cooking in the hotel kitchen for the men working at the site.  Since we cannot eat beef and a burger is what everyone is craving, I ordered ground buffalo (embrace the buffalo!) and shrimp to make scampi.  Randy wants cheesy mashed potatoes and I am cooking aspragas.  When I asked for fresh, they got me a FRESH CAN!  Love it.  Add garlic and Sula wine and I'm sure it will be fine.  I will pretend I'm on Iron Chef or Chopped and do the best I can with what I can find.  :)  Looking forward to the challenge!!

Until next time.....

Children

As I went for a walk yesterday I was befriended by some children.  They live outside the wall of the hotel and are all brothers and sisters.  They didn't speak 1 word of English but were fascinated by me, as I was with them.  They followed me on my walk and we ended up playing tag.  Very fun!!!  Their smiles and laughs are contagious.

I've had a few lazy days which has been nice.  I've caught a cold and a bit of the "Delhi Belly" so it's nice to have some down time.....A little pool time and alot of reading.  A client suggested the book The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which is set in India and it's a great read while experiencing it here.   

Mission Accomplished

It's difficult to say which experiences are at the top when each day surpasses the previous.  Yesterday was another highlight!!  The crazy white woman came in and whipper snapped these poor laborers, flooring  guys, electricians, IT people, drivers, housekeeping boys and stand arounds into shape.  I don't think they knew what hit them.  I'm sure they had a pact in Hindi to never discuss this outside of the building.  We had a job to do and "tomorrow" wasn't the answer.  It was all getting done TODAY.  I didn't care who was where in the line of worker they all needed to help me.  Once they realized that I WOULD chase you down and put you to work they did it.  Hysterical!!  I had my guys and made new friends.  They would laugh at my Hindi words and then try and teach me more.  I asked about their arranged marriages, children and homes.  I learned ALOT and so did they.  It was HOT, humid and I worked as hard as they did.  The fine line of whether to be polite and let me sit or watch me work and take direction was the question mark on their brows.  At the end of the day, I shook everyones hand, said thank you and good night and felt like an amazing feat was accomplished physically and culturally!! 

Good morning from the Thar Desert

As I sit and wait for my driver to come take us to the site, I reflect on how hard and fun my day is going to be.  After 1/2 day of reading and relaxing I asked the site director to put me to work.  My challenge today is to get a bunch of trailers ready for a meeting.  They were just delivered and need to be set up, cleaned, electrical connected, wi-fi hooked up and all the tables/chairs set up for tomorrow.  Presentation area, breakout rooms and screen for a presentation.  This is right up my alley!!  Challenge #1 is having the Indian laborers stop staring at me because I am a white woman and start taking direction from me.  Yes, this is going to be interesting.  On the way back to the hotel last night we stopped off at the largest village and bought cleaning supplies.  This was another high point.  So it's after dark, lights hanging across the road, load music blaring from speakers, the people on their pigrimage to Ramdeora have stopped for the night, and white people drive up to a "general store" and I use the term loosely.  We are looking for windex, floor cleaner and rags.  These are villagers and trying to get our point across was hysterical ..... BUT mission accomplished.  We got all we needed plus cashews to put on the tables.  :)  Mop will be a stick and the rag at the bottom.  Bucket will need to be figured out.  Screen and separation will be bed sheets from the hotel.  I feel like McGyver Linn and having a ball!!  I don't think these laborers know that I'm a woman, mom and I can bark orders in any language.  They are going to wish that the crazy white woman will go home.  :)  I mean it all in jest but I will report back on my progress!!

Embracing the Buffalo

You know how you want to eat something that tastes like home??  Last night I was craving a plain ole grilled cheese sandwich to dip into soup.  I'd had hot and sour soup here before and it's good but more like a tangy vegetable soup.  I asked but the kitchen didn't know what a grilled cheese sandwich was.  I offered to show them and they took me up on our offer. :)  Randy and I headed into the kitchen.  They sliced the white bread and grated some white cheese.  I got the frying pan hot with butter and showed them when to flip it.  Yeah!!  Home, comfort food.  I get my sandwich and I get my soup and dipped the first corner.  Just when I'm ready to take my first bite of HOME, Randy says, "you realize the cheese is made from buffalo milk, right?"  DEFLATE my bubble, thank you very much!!!  This is just hours after I was finally decided to try the chai tea and then realized the milk was a little too rich and was buffalo milk.  Time to embrace the buffalo!!

Thar Desert, Rajasthan

We have now flown from Delhi to Jodhpur, and driven 3 1/2 hours into the desert.  We are finally out to Randy's home away from home, although he spends more time here than at home.  I LOVE seeing where he spends all his time, eats, sleeps, works and the struggles he deals with on a day to day basis.  Being here puts all the stories in perspective.  I am sitting at the desk and being brought tea by the same boy that I have only seen via Facetime.  

Yesterday the drive brought in more sites and animals.  Now we have camels in the road, buffalo, and peacocks. Pretty sad that the shoulder of the road is less bumpy than the road itself in places.  Things that I'm getting used to.  :)  Lakes and temples along the way and many, MANY people walking along the road on their personal pilgrimage to a holy temple.  Walking 100 + km carrying flags, bags, and children.  Their faith, determination and passion intrigues me!! 

The food... oh, the food!  I'm REALLY liking the food.  I'm being cautious and thankfully have had little problems.  My friend Judy told me of surviving on bread and water so I was afraid.  Dal and chipati are my favorite.  Butter or garlic chipati, I'm not picky!  Samosa, lentil salad, Indian salt spice, .... YUM!    I draw the line when it comes to buffalo milk and mutton!  I tell you what, I'm visiting the Indian grocery when I get back to the states for Indian spice, cardamom, coriander, cumin, curry, ginger, chilis etc. 

Okay....... things that will get old very quickly .... that lack of reliable internet, solar heated water that only allows you a hot shower at night, the bugs... YUCK!  big bugs and lizards, snakes... no thank you!  The power goes out tens of times per day!  Besides the fact that I'm going to want the biggest, juiciest BEEF burger and/or prime rib when I get home, hands down!!

I will close for now.... wishing you all a BIG hello and and even BIGGER I miss you!  Cheers! 

Good evening from New Delhi

This evening finds us in Delhi looking forward to a dinner at our driver and friends home.  Suresh has been so good to Randy when he's been over here and has taken us many, many km while traveling this week.  I look forward to having a home cooked meal! 

Yesterday was a day of literal tears for me.  All my life I've wanted to visit the Taj Mahal and until recently never truly thought I would get there.  We took a horse drawn carriage to the entrance and Azim our tour guide took us in and explained all the details.  It's an amazing feat and love story.  Words nor pictures can do the marble and beauty justice.  I was in awe.  Then add in that probably every country was represented and every color, religion and tongue and it was such a spiritual place.  We sat on the Princess Diana bench and tears began to fall.  Speechless!!

Today we saw embassy row and all the parliament buildings, presidents home, and Delhi gate, replica of the one we visited in Mumbai.  Then I got to visit the Muslim Mosque in Old Delhi and then we went to the HUGE Sikh temple and went inside.  Another amazing experience.  Our driver attends this temple and toured us in areas not seen by visitors.  He was sooo proud and we loved sharing in his love and pride.  Then the shopping mall.  AHHHHH.... a glimpse of home!  An actual indoor shopping mall with all the name stores.  Lunch at TGIFridays and a Harley shop.  It truly felt like home.  :)

Well.... better get ready for our dinner at Suresh's home.  Tomorrow takes us on another flight into Jodhpur and out to the desert where I can unpack, do laundry, and see what Rajasthan has to offer me.   I miss home but having a fabulous time!!

Good morning from Agra

This trip is such a learning experience.  As Americans we are so lucky and fortunate and take alot for granted.  You all know that I love to ask questions and culture is so fascinating to me.  Well, I'm on complete overload.  I'm beginning to notice the difference between Hindus and Muslims in dress and mannerisms.  The class system, cast system, arranged marriages, religion, womens role and lack of respect from men. Very, VERY interesting! I am very proud to be a woman, even prouder to have a full time job, keep a good home, raise children, do the cooking and cleaning and whatever else needs to be done.  To have a system that expects and still looks upon women as "the bottom of your shoes", would drive me mad.  My hot head would get me in trouble in the villages here!  Having said all this, the people are so very kind, happy, have large cirlces of friends, have a faith that puts alot in perspective. 

We had a fabulous touring day in Goa.  Our driver took us to a museum of Portuguese architecture and home decor.  Then we went to visit churches.  Beautiful!!!  The church of St Francis of Assissi where he is still seen mummified in the tomb.  Solid gold alters, stories of miracles and we were able to walk right up to artifacts from the 9th century.  It's a very powerful place.  Then off to the spice plantation.  They gave a tour through the plantation and showed us how spices are grown and gave us "recipes" for holistic cures for anything from sore throats to poor mans viagra!  This followed by a buffet of Indian food.  Back to Panaji and the casino!!  Yes, we found casinos.  Hahahaha... you take a jetty to a floating boat and then have fun.  Randy was in his glory!  The blackjack table was his home for hours.  It was a blast.  Let's put this in perspective.... I was the 2nd woman on the entire boat, all drinks included except I am female.  I literally had to get woman staff to get a man to get me a glass of wine.  That is, once I explained to the woman what wine was!!  When we would win, I would clap, yell and act like I'm in Vegas and, well, that's not exactly kosher, no pun intended. 

Yesterday started at 4am because we had an early flight from Goa to Mumbai and on to Delhi.  Got to Delhi about noon and finally met Suresh who has been Randy's driver for the past year.  Suresh took us by car from Delhi to Agra.  I heard it was 2 1/2 hrs by car.  Then we had to take another road so it would take 4 hrs.  After 5 1/2 hrs we arrived into Agra.  Cows, sheep, goats, monkeys, dogs, horses, donkeys oh my!  What an adventure.  I did get to hold my 1st monkey and he was such a love, just like a little baby.  Oh and a cobra doing the dance to music.... yuck!

So this morning I awake in Agra to rain and thunder, thanks to the monsoon season.  Today we are going to visit Fort Agra and who knows what else I will learn and experience.  I've learned to go with the flow and slow down.  Sometimes I think that is my lesson.... slow down, don't hyper organize, open my eyes wider and just take it all in.  

Goa

This morning I wake at the Marriott goa resort watching the Arabian sea lash the sea wall. Beautiful hotel. Looking forward to the infinity pool and swim up bar later this afternoon. Yesterday our driver took us to see the 3 classes of Mumbai. High rise gorgeous marble palaces. Middle class would surprise most. Not at all what the USA calls middle class and then the slums, based on slumdog millionaire.  Sad BUT everyone seems happy.  Our driver took us to the middle class market that he shops at. Roadside shanties each selling one type of item or fruit or vegetable. It was amazing.  People stared and stared and would walk up to get a better look. I had one lady say HI and I said it back and she was sooooo excited to say the 1 English word she knows. Our driver introduced us to his children, 4 yr old daughter and 10 yr old son. His daughter grabbed my hand and we walked holding hands through the market. Lots of stares but my smile was contagious. Regardless of culture differences she still loved my lipstick! Little girls are all the same. :)

Our domestic flight to goa was interesting. Security line for women and another for the men. A group of monks traveling to Kathmandu. Military security with automatic rifles at the ready. I will no longer accept people's complaining about the us security system to fly. They ain't seen nothing! Goa airport is a lot like 1970 Honolulu. Our driver whisked us on the road to the hotel. This is lush and green, coconut trees, ALOT like Hawaii or what  people say Bali looks like.  There are actual homes with yards and the Portuguese architecture is dominant. The biggest change is the addition of sidewalks. You can stroll.  Since its monsoon season the roads are unaccessible to get to the famous waterfalls so we will visit the spice plantation and old goa with the churches and temples.

I am really enjoying it here!!!!

Mumbai

Wow!! Mumbai is amazing. I don't whether I'm on the set of a movie or if this is truly real. We had a driver and guide take us around Mumbai yesterday. The architecture is European to slums . The traffic is horrific. Red lights don't matter, no lines in the road, trash, goats, cows, people, traffic stopped cuz someone had to poop on the side of the road. Hospitals that I hope never to see the inside of although our US best drs come from here. The Trident Bandra Kurla is gorgeous and totally service, service, service.  Our room is straight out of the ikea showroom and since it's a disables room we have 2 baths.  Randy keeps using mine though. Haha

We saw the the taj hotel that was hit by missile from Pakistan and across is the famous Victoria gate sitting on the Arabian sea. Hot humid and sweaty!!

Not sure why we attract so much attention.... Could it be that we are white? I'm blond? Randy has a prosthetic? Or because he looks like some guy on ice road truckers? Haha or that there is some show on power plants on discovery channel that highlights randy? Okay so we are not the next bradjalena but by the stares you wouldn't know it.
My bucket list is crossing thing off left and right.... India, Mumbai, Balinese massage, claw foot tub with red rose petals,

All systems are a go....

All systems are a go..... Leaving work for my 1 month sabbatical.  Next update will be from on the road.  Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 days and counting ...

Getting so very excited!!  Following the Lufthansa strike situation.  Nothing is going to hold me back from this adventure.  :)