Saradhas dance and dandia

One of the girls I was traveling with, Regina, arranged for us to attend a community dance in celebration of Saradhas. The women all wore beautiful saris:







There were lots of cute kids at the dance:







It was especially fun when the dandia sticks came out:

Mysore

We arrived in Bangalore and went for brunch at the posh Leela Hotel. Notice the bowl filled with rose petals and the beautiful courtyard behind me:



After brunch, we drove 3 hours to Mysore. Mysore is famous for its silk and sandalwood. If you're not familiar with sandalwood, it's extremely fragrant and very expensive to buy. A tiny carving will set you back $10 (less if you're an amazing haggler). We visited a State-owned sandalwood factory where they also make inlaid tables. There are craftsmen there who can cut tiny, intricate birds and flowers out of different colored woods in a matter of seconds using hand saws:



It takes almost a year to make just one table. The little wooden carvings are inlaid, then the table is sanded down and polished:



Afterwards, we went to Mysore palace:







Later that night, we went back because the palace was all lit up for the festival of Saradhas, which is a Hindu festival in which offerings are made for dead relatives:





These festival was especially exciting for children:





Joanne and I bought some rosewood jewelry boxes from a vendor at the festival. We've been told that we overpaid ($5 each), but we were satisfied customers. We didn't notice Matt lurking in the background of this picture.

Arrival in India

I began my expat experience in Hyderabad, India on Wednesday, September 27th. I'm here for a 6-month work assignment for my company. It's exciting, but it was very hard to leave because I have such a great life filled with so many wonderful people back home in San Francisco.

I live in Jayabheri towers, which is a development here in Hyderabad. This is my insanely impressive (although I wouldn't necessarily say 'comfy') living room:



Here's a view of my bedroom, which to my great pleasure has cable TV with several American movie channels (although they've been playing Hitch repeatedly, which has to stop):



Here's my bathroom, which is roughly the size of my bedroom:



This is the view out my window, which overlooks the 'Jayabheri Club', our apartment complex pool and gym. The gym is so-so, but given my history of laziness when it comes to going to the gym, and the additional obstacles (e.g., getting up uber-early and lining up a driver to take me) that it would take to go to an external gym, I think this is the one for me:



And here are some roses that currently adorn my room. Somehow Matt found a way to send them to me in India for our 1-year anniversary just days after I arrived and before even I knew my own address. How romantic!

Going away parties

Because I have many awesome friends, I had several going away parties. Some were photographed, some were not. Here we all are at the newly renovated Bruno's drinking various types of mixed drinks. I had a yummy mango mojito:



And here I am with the girls -- Alissa, me, Liz and Caro:



I just wanted to take a nice, posed photo but Matt was messing it up. He eventually cooperated:







And these are pictures from the awesome India-themed surprise party thrown for me by Matt, Liz and Alissa (and others contributed as well!). Matt brought a bunch of Indian beer, as well as flavored vodka and diet sodas ("because that's what girls drink", and although we scoffed at the stereotyping, it turns out that's what we all opted to drink). Liz and Alissa provided delicious Indian foods and India/Google themed decor. Kate brought the American snacks. All in all, I had such a good time I barely took any pictures.

Here's a nice picture from pretty early on in the night. Notice how Carolyn's white bra miraculously glares through her black shirt -- but only under the flash of a camera!



And as testament to just how fun a party it was, this is what happened to all of us later on. Caro and Kate were actually pretty 'with it', but this is shortly before Jeff was encouraged to call it a night. Matt and I were looking a little worse for the wear by this point: