Friday, February 27, 2009

Road Games

On Friday I went to Delhi to drive from there go to a wedding in Rohtak. The drive was beautiful but long so we needed some entertainment. We found it chasing this car that we suspected had a kid in the trunk. 4 of us and our driver were crammed in a sedan for 2+ hours to drive to the wedding. We had been driving for awhile when our driver said he saw something moving in the car in front of us trunk. The trunk was open so he pulled next to them to tell the car full of people that they forgot to close the trunk. They entirely ignored us so he joked, "what you got a kid in there or something?" which they did not respond to! This led us all believe that there had to be a kid in there so spent the next 45 minutes tailgating this car to see if the trunk would open over a road bump and we could see the kid. A couple times the door opened slightly more and everyone swore they saw something wearing a sweater move in the back. I yelled out the window "hey let the kid free, or kid we got some cookies you want it." But none of our please got us closer to getting the kid out of the trunk. Then it stopped on the side of the road and some of their kids (the privileged ones who got to ride in the car) came out to get chips and stuff. While they had stopped the trunk opened slightly more on its own. There was definitely something moving it and it wasn't a dog. We tried tailgating the car after the stop to open it ourselves they got wise to us and speeded away. Hopefuly the kid made it ok.

Disclaimer: this is not legal in India and could be entirely fictional but very funny (at least to us bored passengers).

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

You can learn a lot from a walk in the park




I have found Indians in general to be more sentimental than Americans. Often I see inspirational quotes at the most random places. On Wednesday Gina and I went on a walk at one of the major parks in Hyderabad and discovered all kinds of things. We saw peacocks, rabbits and got all kinds of life messages along the way. I uploaded some of the best ones.
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Sunday, February 22, 2009

Learning The Art of Giving



On Saturday we went back to the Rainbow School to visit the kids. You may remember we went a month ago to help paint the new preschool structure. If you've forgotten, the Rainbow School was started by a Googler's wife. It is a public school that is partially sustained by the government, non-profits and contributors. We wanted to go back to spend more time with the kids and see the teachers again. Last time we visited we noticed that the book library could use some new books and that the kids love to draw, so we wanted to also take some drawing materials.

Jen, Adam, Mike, Gina and I were all excited to stop at the bookstore on our way to the school to get the kids fun things. We all picked things that we liked. I wanted to get them drawing pencils, crayons and coloring books because those are the things I always like playing with my nephews. I was like a kid at a candy store in the bookstore. I was overwhelmed with all the options and wanted everything. I kept thinking what would my nephews like because they are around the same age of the young kids. After getting all the gifts we headed to the school. Each of us had at least one bag of goodies in hand.

When we walked in it was lunch time and all the kids were seating outside eating. They were all so excited to see us. There was a chorus of "hello madame" followed by big smiles. I was really struck that not one of the kids asked what was in the bag or made a dash to get a gift. Even when we took some of the things out to read books in classrooms or show the teachers no one seemed really interested in the gifts. I can't think of a time where I have walked in a room with kids somebody asking what they were getting. When I go to my sister's house my nephews first question is usually did you bring me a gift? I mean, who doesn't like a present, especially young kids.

I really learned from the kids that day because they were not interested in the gifts. What they were most interested in was sharing with us. Instead of asking to use the new color pencils and drawing paper, they had me seat down and one by one the second graders would bring me the things they drew as a gift. They were so excited to give me their few drawings as a gift and have me pronounce their names. When I tried to teach them a song (the only nursery song I know) they shared five amazing songs with laughter and clapping. Then they wanted to teach me how to dance, which was very comical. More than anything the kids just wanted to share with us and just wanted our time. The kids were so full of joy, laughter and genuine interest in sharing. Our time and interest made a bigger impact on them than anything we could bring them. I really enjoyed my with them and want to go back soon to learn more.

A Night To Remember


Shannon and Pratap's engagement party was a magical night that I will always remember. Here's a picture of the expat crew with the beautiful couple in the center.
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This isn't what it looks like

Wearing a sari may seem easy to someone who has never worn a sari before but let me tell you it's not as easy as it looks here. I am proud to say I pulled it off with a little help.

Let me tell you why it's not as easy as it looks. First of all the skirt and wrap is one piece of cloth that you wrap around your waist into a petticoat and then you wrap around your body. So just imagine if you don't do it right how it can turn into a wardrobe malfunction.

When I got the sari the lady at the store showed me how to do it. She did it effortlessly so I thought this can't be hard. I'll just watch her and imitate later. When I was telling some of the ladies at work that I got a sari they all had one question, "whose gonna help you put it on?" A few people said they hardly wear saris because its hard to put it on. This is when my bubble burst and I started worrying about the whole getting dressed aspect.

The night of the engagement I put on the top more or less effortlessly, then came the bottom. I just did what the lady at the store did. Wrap the sari around my waste and stuff it in the petticoat. Except it was scratchy and not sticking. This is when I lost my cool and declared that I needed to go to the hotel with my clothes and ask one of Pratap's aunties to help me. Luckily, Gina had read in the expat magazine an article on how to wear saris. She took one look at me and realized I was wearing the bottom upside down! It took 5 mins to fix it. Actually, wearing the sari was not as hard as just learning how to put it on. Although I could not walk in my attire as gracefully as all the experts, I have to say it made me feel like a queen. The top had so much bead work. I loved it! All of us expat girls wore traditional Indian clothes and could hold are own it. We danced til 2am at the afterparty and not one of us had a wardrobe malfunction.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

No Monkey Business For Me



Elephanta Island has a lot of monkeys. Sam, our guide, said that there are less than 1,500 people that live on the island and over 2,000 monkeys. We didn't see that many in the morning when we went to the caves. But as we came out, there were a few hanging around. They seemed harmless and cute. I was making my way towards Jen to take a photo when I noticed one of the bigger monkeys coming towards me. I didn't know what he wanted so I started to step aside and walking a little faster but he started to do the same. This is when I realized the monkey had some business with me and I was not prepared. I mean I thought I was prepared for all kinds of travel situations but I had no idea how to handles this one. My mind was racing and I kept thinking I was saying out loud to Jen and Sam "hey what do I do to get the monkey away is there a gesture or word I can shoo him." I thought that this is what I was saying and wondering why nobody was coming to my rescue as the monkey got closer but later Jen said I was just mummbling " jeyvendi, jeyvendi, jeyvendi!" Sam was hanging back with my camera relaxed taking photos. The monkey kept coming at me and started to scratch my leg. All I could think of doing in my panic mode was to throw my bottle water at him. Before I could throw it he just grabbed it with his two hands. He sat down and slowly opened the lid and started to drink all my water! He propped one leg under the bottle and looked at me dead and seemed to be saying "whose the monkey now." Only in India the monkeys even outwit the tourists! http://www.tripwolf.com/en/guide/show/16115/India/Mumbai-Bombay/Elephanta-Caves
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Mumbai's oldest and biggest humanpowered washing machine



We visited the Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat. This is a 136 year old dhobi ghat (place where clothes are washed). Every day hundreds of people wash clothes in 1026 open-air troughs. These are small 3X3 stone washing areas. We watched as the traditional people soaked the clothes, then thrashed them on flogging stones. Not only are dirty clothes washed here but a lot of items are prewashed before they are sent to stores for sale.

Welcome to Mumbai


I love Mumbai! It reminded me very much of San Francisco. It's a vibrant city by a bay filled with a lot to do and see. I think we were lucky this weekend to be able to get to see so much of the city in such a short time. Everything went fairly smoothly. It was definitely an ausipiece weekend because there were a lot of weddings on Marine Drive.

Some of my highlights from the weekend was the Kala Ghoda Art Festival, fresh seafod at Trishna, the view at Dome, tea at Tea Centre, lunch at Leapold's Cafe, visiting the caves in Elephanta Island and finding (and now wearing) the bangles that the actress from Luck By Chance movie wore in the film. These are just a few. I could have definitely spent more time in Mumbai.
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Thursday, February 12, 2009

For the record I don't have a delhi belly

I've been trying to get a hold of my cousin in Dubai for a week now to coordinate my trip to visit her. She moved to Dubai a little while ago with her new husband, who I've met only once before. She told me she uses Skype under some name so I keep harassing the account that turns out to be her husbands. Tonite, he finally responds that it's his account. Despite the constant IMs and whatever u can do on Skype to harass people, he was nice enough to invite me to visit them at the end of my trip. He starts to ask me how India is going and if I have a delhi belly. Well, all I know about delhi belly is probably the effect of eating so much good, greasy Indian food. I am actually little sensitive about my new India pouch. So I proceed to defend the little weight I've gained by letting him know that I promise to lose it before I visit. In fact, I am going to put it in check so I don't take too much room in their apartment. He seemed to think it was important that I lose it too. I mean I realized he was joking but I am also thinking to myself jeez new cousin-n-law is a little bit of a fatist (against people with big bellies). So I go home tonite and off course the chef has made this amazing delicious (fattening) Indian meal. I am seating there with all my housemates guiltily eating the food and sulking. I start telling them how, I got to watch it with the food because people are asking me about my delhi belly. That's when Jen says "Um, your delhi belly? You know what that it is right?" If you don't know what delhi belly is, it's too gross for me to describe it but I found a tame definition of it. I almost lost my belly from laughing tonite thinking of the chat I had with him. The last thing I said was I hope they have room for me and my delhi belly. I hope I am still invited to stay with them. This is the funniest chat conversation, I've had so I had to share it.

[8:38:27 PM] SN says: watch out for delhi-belly
[8:38:34 PM] Sherry Zarabi says: OMG u call it
[8:38:39 PM] Sherry Zarabi says: its here and in effect
[8:38:48 PM] Sherry Zarabi says: i am on a carb and grease diet
[8:38:51 PM] SN says: no more description needed
[8:39:03 PM] N says: but thanks for sharing
[8:39:09 PM] Sherry Zarabi says: ha ha
[8:39:23 PM] Sherry Zarabi says: yea i hope u guys have room for me and the belly
[8:39:42 PM] Sherry Zarabi says: i'll have to get into control by next month
[8:39:50 PM] SN says: delhi-belly is an expression usd for eshal-e shadid-e hendi
[8:40:13 PM] SN says: do plz do try to get it in check by the time u visit!
[8:40:33 PM] Sherry Zarabi says: ha ha
[8:40:46 PM] Sherry Zarabi says: i will gonna tonite
[8:41:11 PM] SN says: take care. look fwd to seeing u here
[8:41:15 PM] Sherry Zarabi says: k i will stop harrasing u on skype
[8:41:30 PM] SN says: good talking to ya

I mean he even tried to explain it to me by spelling it phoentically in Farsi and I still didn't get what he was talking about. So here is my attempt to set the record straight that I am house broken.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Friday, February 6, 2009

Saris are my new black

Jen, Shannon, Anu (Pratap's mom - Shannon's future mother-n-law) and I went shopping earlier this week for Shannon and Pratap's engagement party. We went to Neeros one of the shops in Hyderabad. Jen and I started with the most simple outfits - the salwar kameez. There were so many styles and the outfits were so beautiful. But then our eyes caught the other styles -saris and ghagra cholis. I was overwhelmed with all the choices but Anu had the whole place under control. She pointed out all the cute outfits. Jen ended up getting a beautiful aqua with bronze ghagra cholis and I got a salmon colored sari. I had so much fun trying the outfits on. I fell in love with each one I tried on. Unfortunately, the relationship was not mutual because a lot of them were above my budget so it wouldn't work out. I also realized that I wouldn't have many occasions to wear them. I was to get invited to some Indian weddings so I have an excuse to go back and get more saris. The other day my dream came true...one of our co-workers that Carla knew from before invited us all to her wedding near Delhi. This is so nice of her to include us. I am so excited to now have 2 occasions to wear my new sari.. If I get another occasion, I am definitely gonna get another one.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Is Goa the Palm Springs of Southeast Asia?


We landed Friday afternoon in Goa. Goa has been on my list of places to visit forever. But when we were walking around Friday afternoon on Calangte Beach, I started to wonder if this was the Goa I had heard about... Where were the young people partying on the beach? We were looking for a chill bar shack to grab a drink at and half of them were empty. After walking on the beach for a bit we walked up to one and I stopped in my track. Everyone in there was over 60s, sunburned and sipping on some beer.. Did somebody forget to tell me that Goa is the Palm Springs of Southeas Asia? The waiter told us that a lot of older people come to Goa to semi-retire because its relatively cheap. He said a lot of Europeans and Australians come there. We were actually the first Americans he had met. But, tourism in general is down and particularly among young people because of the economy. Luckily, we found a local club Titos to go dancing and there were a ton of "young" people. Goa turns out to have a little something for everyone no matter what age, style etc.
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Lucky Cows in Goa

This weekend we went to G-O-A!! I loved it. I am so jealous of the cows there. They get to chill on the beach all day with this amazing view.