Missing Jody

One of the saddest things about the holidays for me, was that I found out one of my colleagues and roommates, Jody Stiely, passed away a few days after Christmas.  Our expat family is a small one, and I have been so blessed in the amazing people who I've had the opportunity to live with and travel with over the past year.  Even among them, Jody was a bright light.

Bubbly, adventurous, full of ideas, energy, and creativity, Jody had a way of filling the space around her with excitement and fun.  At the same time, she was incredibly intuitive and thoughtful, and always looked out for her buddies, in every sense.  I simply cannot believe that someone so alive is now gone. I know I, and many others who loved her, will carry a piece of her with us forever and we'll be the better for it.

We tromped through the warren of old Delhi to buy stones for a jeweler friend and nosh on chicken Noorjahani at Karim's.  We picked out pillows in Lagpat Nagar that we loved, and Danny hated, of course.  We tried on sarees and salwar suits and strings of pearls.  We clambered over the kamasutra-carved temples of Khajuraho, and wended our way through the palace and cenotaphs at Orchha.  Jody saved all of her food on the train and in restaurants and embarrassed the heck out of me by passing it out to whomever she thought needed it, both because we stuck out like a sore thumb and because I knew she was right. She patted cows and cuddled puppies, and hugged people that maybe she shouldn't have, but again, she was probably right.  I was looking forward to so many more adventures with Jody, that I can't help but feel bereft.  My heart goes out to her family and friends, to Danny, her boyfriend, and to those of you who missed out on meeting her.

Jody, wherever this greatest adventure takes you, I wish you peace and am sending my love.

Home, And Back, And Home, And Back for the Holidays

So, I've been a pretty sorry blogger for the most part of fourth quarter.  Life has been crazy at work as we have been implementing several new projects, and I am supporting one of my colleague's team while she is out on maternity leave.  I love it, but I have definitely reached critical mass this quarter, which has made for minimal time to blog.

I was home for Thanksgiving, traveling via Chicago to our Ann Arbor office to work for a few days, and then heading out to California for Thanksgiving week at home, before coming back to India.  Then, it was three weeks of hustle and bustle to finish the quarter and Christmas shopping in India, before hopping a plane on the 23rd to make it home for Christmas.

It was wonderful to see family and friends, though it is phenomenal how fast two weeks goes by.  I spent New Year's up at Tahoe with Lauren, Shannon, and Sheena and had a great time snow plowing down the mountain for a few days.  Now I'm back in Hindustan and missing everyone, at the same time I'm happy to be what now feels like "home."  

Some fleeting observations and things I discovered in the back and forth... forgive me if it's drivel:

• Starbuck's and a Cinnabon within 30 minutes of landing mean America to me
• I've been away too long when Meredith has grown so much that she looks like Grace to me (sorry Pete and Ann!)... Between that and banging her head on the ceiling when she was a baby, I think I've blown my honorary auntie status for life!
• Marilyn is a beautiful pregnant person and I can't wait to meet the baby boy who will have arrived by the time I get home
• Niels might just about be the cutest thing in the whole wide world, but why should I be surprised, when I love his parents so much?
• Life has moved on in the year I've been gone, but not as much as one might think
• ...And I'm reminded, once again, to "count my blessings..."

Pushkar: A 'Very Special' Place

A few weeks ago, Austin, Oscar, and I headed out for a roadtrip to Pushkar, which is south of Delhi in Rajasthan.  Pushkar is a holy city in the Hindu faith and is most characterized by it's small but lovely lake and ghats where pilgrims go to bathe in the waters.  It's also famous for hosting Asia's largest camel and cattle fair, which was going on while we were there.

I think that Pushkar was a big hit with all of us.  Despite being a fairly major tourist destination both for Hindu pilgrims and for Western tourists, it's charming and essentially is a very small town.  We rolled in late at night and had to call to hotel for a motorcycle escort who guided us through the wending streets to our little hotel by the shores of the lake.  The hotel was bare bones, but clean enough and not too bad given the number of people in town.  We had a rooftop restaurant with a nice view over the lake and town, and were within walking distance of everything.  

On Saturday, we rolled out of bed, had breakfast and went to see the cattle fair.  Let's just say that there were a lot of camels in Pushkar.  And, most of them were being led around by the nose by leathery Rajasthani men with fabulous turbans.  Austin and Devindar sampled camel's milk ice cream and we did some shopping along the main thoroughfare.  Austin and Oscar were over that pretty quickly and soon said they'd meet me and Devindar later at the Pink Floyd Cafe.  I of course proceeded to amuse myself shopping for a couple of hours, and by the time we caught up with the boys, they were happy as clams, each with a 'very special' lassi under their belts and feeling no pain.  Needless to say, our afternoon proceeded at a langourous pace from that point forward.  I was hopped up on antibiotics and figured that adding substance abuse to my list of sins was probably not wise, so I got a spectator's seat for the duration.  The skies over Pushkar boast some of the best stars I've seen in India.  We ate dinner and played cards, watching the sun bury itself in the hills until we were sitting under a sparkling canopy.

On Sunday, the boys couldn't resist the pull of Pink Floyd and its tasty treats, so after breakfast, we detoured to the cafe for more lassi before we hit the road.  The crowds of people coming off of the main ghat were so thick that we had trouble pushing our way through.  I'm still not sure where the flood of people came from or went to, but for a few minutes we were awash in humanity - so very India.

Done with Pushkar, we decided to hit Ajmer before leaving the area.  I have to say now that it was my idea, and probably a bad one.  Ajmer has a famous Sufi shrine that was a pilgrimage destination in the Mughal era.  The complex of temples and shrines is supposed to be impressive and worth seeing, but it was not to be.  The security ladies there are serious.  I apparently had so much contraband in my purse (makeup, an umbrella, etc.) that they would not even consider allowing me in the gates.  Unfortunately, they weren' terribly verbal types, so I discovered this when they bear-hugged me and dragged me out.  Luckily, a quick flash of good sense came before my self-preservation instincts caused me to start using self-defense moves to extricate myself.  For some unknown reason, the only Hindi word that I could remember was "stop," which I settled for screaming at the top of my lungs.  Ugly, but effective.  The whole thing rattled me pretty badly and I'm no much of an Ajmer fan as a result.  But, it was a good reminder the feigning blythe ignorance doesn't always work in these situations.

The rest of our trip home was pretty uneventful, especially after that.  All told, Pushkar was a big hit with the boys, and I myself am a fan.  In the end, it seems like an oasis, with it's tiny jewel of a lake and star-ladened skies.  If you have the opportunity to go, you must.  Take a good book, go to the lake and perform a puja for your heart's desire, or stake out a seat in a rooftop cafe - Life could get a heck of a lot worse.

Taru's Engaged!

Taru, my friend and colleague, got engaged in Rohtak, Haryana on Sunday.  Austin and I headed out fairly early from Delhi, all decked out in our India gear - kurta pyjama for Austin; salwar kameez for me.  The banquet was intimate, with just family and close friends in attendance to witness the ring ceremony and exchange of gifts between the families.   Taru looked beautimous in a hot pink saree; Karun was handsome in a grey suit and lilac shirt.  It was an honor to be included with their family and friends on such an auspicious occasion. Mubarak ho.

Paradise, By Way of Dubai

Oscar, Heather and I took advantage of the long Diwali weekend to head out of India for the sandy beaches, sunshine, and tourquoise waters of the Maldives.  Since we booked everything the week of, our choices of travel times and prices were limited, but we didn't let that put a damper on things.  We ended up flying Emirates, via Dubai, and so were able to acquire two sets of passport stamps in one four-day weekend.

In the Maldives, we stayed at Chaaya Island Dhonveli, and enjoyed our all-inclusive little butts off.  There was truly nothing to do but 'eat, drink, and be merry' . . . Oh yeah. And sunbathe.  We all read a bunch; Oscar developed a gym habit; Heather went surfing with a bunch of Australians, and I went snorkeling in the lagoon. Very relaxing and much needed in the midst of start-of-quarter, performance-review madness.  I saw several sting rays and two of what I think were moray eels.  In addition there were tons of trigger fish, angel fish, butterfly fish, and at least three kinds of blowfish, one of which was about three feet long and wearing and awesome set of camouflage.  The other remarkable wildlife were the bats - not just nocturnal, we saw them out and about during the day much more often than we saw birds, and I'm pretty sure we also saw them fishing.  Very cool.  There were also tons of hermit crabs of all sizes.  On our first day there, Oscar and I were escorted through the bar by a hermit crab about the size of my fist.  Almost every time I went to pick up a shell, it would scuttle away into the underbrush.

After three days of swimming around the atoll, three buffets a day, and cocktails at sunset, we were forced to head back to the real world.  On our way home, we had a seven hour layover in Dubai, so we headed out of the airport and decided to poke around in the Mall of the Emirates.  We found ourselves a seat at the bottom of the ski run in the Kempinzki's Sezzam restaurant and I ponied up to a glass of Shiraz and the biggest (200 g), baddest burger that I have had in months.  Fantastico.  After puttering through the mall for an hour or so, we headed back to the airport to catch our flight to Delhi.  I soothed my nostalgia for home with a Starbuck's run...mmmm, decaf Caramel Machiato with soy milk. Yum, yum, yum.  A

Arriving in Delhi at 3am bites the big one, no matter which way you cut it, but we were able to get home, get some rest and, well, Oscar and I made it into work by 9am or so.  None too shabby.