A Week in Toscana... Part 1

Hi all, it's been a while. Life has been buys here in India hence I haven't been writing as much, but we have been doing lots of fun stuff. James and I were invited by a friend to go to Florence at the end of October. Since we have never been and I've always wanted to go, we started to look at flights and when we found the perfect ones we decided to go. 

On the night of the 23rd we flew from Mumbai to Zurich and then took a short plane ride over the Alps to Milan. We decided to stay for 1 night in Milan before taking the train to Florence on Saturday.

Milan is a wonderful city filled with beautiful people, styles, restaurants, and sights and of course gelato! Once we made our way by bus (its a long story) to the center of Milan, we found our hotel (AC Milano by Marriot) and checked in. Since we had been flying all night, by the time we made it to Milan it was afternoon so we embark on a mission to find coffee and good food. We settled for a little coffee/pastry shop that also sold pizzas. On the way to the hotel we found a great gelato place and decided to indulge in the tradition. We went to the hotel so we could take a nap; since we flew all night and we hardly sleep in planes.

After our nap we decided to explore Milan so we set off on foot where the wind took us. When I was doing research on Milan I found that The Last Supper by Da Vinci is on display in Milan, so we went there first. To our surprise (not really) the tickets were sold out for the day, so we could not see it. We decided to walk down to Il Doumo in the main piazza, stopping in intricate stores along the way. Once we reached the Cathedral its beauty wowed us. This Gothic white marble structure took almost 6 centuries to build and it is the largest cathedral in all of Italy (Wikipedia). 

Once we exited the cathedral we decided to keep walking and we stumbled upon the "5 star" mall, filled with Prada, Versace and LV, of course. Since we were still in Mumbai time, we got hungry earlier than normal, so we decided to find a restaurant. We stumbled upon a great Mozzarella Bar called Obika. Here we indulged in the best caprese salad I've ever tasted and a delicious traditional pasta dish. After dinner we walked back to the hotel and decided to turn in early since we had been traveling for almost 10 hours and we were leaving Milan early the next morning. 

The next morning we took the train out of Milano Garibaldi Station, which was, located right across from our hotel. This was my second time on a train (the first being the train from London to Paris and vice versa) and I keep saying taking the train is the way to go. It took 2 hours to get to Florence, which wasn't bad. We arrived early afternoon, so we went to check in at the hotel and find a place to eat. After eating we just wanted to get acclimated to the city and its roads. It was quite easy to navigate. We went from Il Duomo, to Piazza the la Signora, Galleria Uffizi to Ponte Vecchio in no time, of course stopping along the way to take pictures and see the beautiful merchandise around the different markets. That day we decided not to go to any museums and just take it all in and start exploring the next day.

On Sunday we woke up early, because Rick Steves and all the other guides books told us to go early to the different museums. We bought the Firenze Card, which works like a fast pass at Disney. You just show up and got to the front of the line. Once we had the cards, we embarked on the mission to see the real David statue. We walked to La Accademia and waited about 2 minutes to get in, while others made the line. We entered the museum and they had frescos and such. We looked at the map and found where the David and the other Michelangelo sculptures where and set off that way. Once you enter that room you are transported to the Renaissance (at least I was). The David is a sculpture out of this world and magnificent (I never thought about it that way until I saw it). It commands attention, admiration and everything else. I was entrance (and not by his penis), but by the grandiosity of it (no pun intended). I never imagined this sculpture to be this big (17 feet tall) and so perfect (no picture can capture that). Aside from The David, there were several unfinished sculptures leading to the David that were almost as beautiful as the David. These statues are called The Prisoners and Michelangelo also sculpted them. La Accademia is small, so after you see the main events, you can go. 

After La Accademia we decided to walk to the Uffizi Gallery to see more frescos and the Botticelli's. Here we had to wait around 5 minutes to get in. Once inside we had to go up a couple of flights of stairs and once there the Gallery is set up similarly to The Louvre and Versailles. Since I wanted to see Fillipo Lippi's and Botticelli's paintings, we walked a little faster to avoid the crowds among the exhibitions we did not want to see. Both Lippi's and Botticelli's paintings were grandiose and amazing. Seeing the original Birth of Venus and Primavera in front of you is something extraordinary. I've always been an admirer of Botticelli since I read Anne Rice's Vittorio the Vampire and learn all about him, the Medici's and the Renaissance. So being able to see a painting that I have known about for 15 years is quite an accomplishment. Once we saw these wonderful pieces of art we just decided to take it easy and just walk around the Gallery. That afternoon after lunch James had the great idea to climb the Campanille near Il Duomo. I made it to the second tier, while he ran to the top like nothing. After taking amazing pictures of Florence from above, we went to our last museum of the day, The Palazzo Vecchio. Once again, James went and climbed up the tower and I just visited the museum. It is a nice palace with great history about The Medici. 

That night we decided to eat at McDonald's. Yes, I know what you are thinking. You are in Italy and you are EATING MCDONALDS!!!!!!!!!!! Remember that in India cows are sacred so eating real beef is few and far between occasion and expensive. 

The first few days in Italy were magical and adventurous. Stay tuned for Part 2 of this awesome vacation... There is a nice little surprise coming on the next post!

Until Then,

Nats

 The best Caprese Salad ever

 Perseus and Medusa

 Us at Ponte Vecchio

 The David

 The Birth of Venus

After almost dying from climbing the steps

 View from the Campanille

2 month Mumbai recap

Can you believe that we have been in Mumbai for the past 2 months? I don't even believe it. A lot can happen in 2 months and a lot has happened in 2 months. So here is a recap of the things we have done and learned in the last few months:

I have met several lovely ladies from inside and outside of the Consulate community and have developed nice friendships with them.

We won tickets through the Consulate for the Ganpati Immersion. This annual event takes place in Chowpatti Beach, which is south of where we live. James and I and 10-12 other people from the Consulate won tickets to be in the VIP area which was located right in the middle of the action and we were able to see the different Ganesha's as they made their way into the ocean. 

We have only eaten Indian food twice. Mumbai has a diverse cuisine, so it's great for us who are not used to Indian food.

We have paid an estimate of $10 a pint for ice cream, but it's been totally worth it.

Face time, Skype, Vonage and Facebook have been a great way to stay in touch with my awesome friends and family!

Hola (a VPN) has allowed me to keep watching some of my favorite TV shows. 

I do not miss driving, people here are crazy drivers and I'm not sad I am not driving. People here don't believe in blinkers, stop signs or traffic lights. Also, personal space between cars is almost non-existent.

Ubber is a great way to get around when your car or driver is not available.

Volunteering might be my new thing. 

The mall is a great escape from all the people and noises.

I will never honk my horn unecesarrily any more.

I love walking to the market at anytime of the day! 

You can get Pottery Barn, World Market furniture for a 1/3 of the price here. 

Indian People are one of the most kind people I have met.

Running on the streets is not an option here for me. I hate the dreamill. 

The Consulate loves to put on great parties and events for its employees! In the last 2 months we have been here, we have attended Our National Day Celebration (4th of July), Hail and Farewell Party, A Heritage Walk around the Taj Mahal Hotel, a tour around the old Consulate, a White Water Rafting Trip and have many more trips and tours to come.

Here in India there is a party for everything (I love that).

Every weekend there is something to do, whether it is with your friends, or around Mumbai. 

Driving distances are relative to the amount of traffic and not to the miles. If you want to go anywhere south (as in south Mumbai), be ready to be in traffic for at least 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Use that time to catch up on emails or reading.

Jewelry here is handmade and 1/2 the price of what it would cost back in the states. I bought a necklace with semi-precious stone for $80 and the jeweler says he sells it in the states for about $160. 

I haven't bought much clothing here, only a Saree. 

I may or may not have bought about 10+ elephants in the course of being here. 

Blue is IN in the Snoddy household.

There is no such thing as personal space!

We found BEEF and made meat sauce!

I still can't convert money for shit.

We attended a concert in which we were the only white people there. The music was great and the event was awesome! 

We have yet to meet a Bollywood Star (we need to get on it).

Cows here hang out on the sidewalks with no leash!

No Elephants yet! 

Here are some of my favorite pictures:

This is it for now! I'm pretty sure I will have other things to add later on. I'm trying to be as candid as possible without offending anyone.

Until Next Time,

Nats

Nepal, the land of the Himalayas, stole my heart

Labor Day Weekend, James, and some friends of ours sett off to a Kathmandu adventure. I don't remember the first time I desired to go for a visit to the Himalayan country, but, I can say that once we got the news that we were going to be posted in Mumbai, the thought of visiting Nepal started to cross my mind. So since monsoon season has been on full effect in India, going to the beach was not an option for this long weekend, so we decided to go an explore the neighboring country of Nepal.

We left on the 8am flight from the Mumbai airport and landed in Kathmandu at 11am, which is not a bad flight at all. Once we landed we had to get our visas to get into Nepal. Now that was an adventure in itself. You have to fill out a paper with the intention to get a visa, then, you go to a counter and pay for the visa, in which you can only pay with American dollars and then proceed to the visa counter to get your tourist visa. The whole process for us took a little more than 30 minutes. Once we got our visas, we hailed a taxi to take us to our hotel. The ride from the airport to the hotel took less than 30 minutes through dirt roads and the "country" side of Kathmandu.

We all stayed at the Yak and Yeti Hotel, which is a 5 star hotel on the main strip of Downtown Kathmandu. The hotel was beautiful. It has two wings and it is 6 stories high. It has a casino, about 4 restaurants and an awesome bar. James and I stayed on the 5th floor overlooking the pool and we had a king size bed. After we all settled into our rooms, we decided to meet downstairs at the bar and come up with a plan of attack. Two of our friends were waiting for a friend to arrive, so Ben, James and I set off on a Kathmandu adventure. We gathered our Lonely Planet and decided to do one of their walking tours that would take us directly to Durbar Square, where they have beautiful temples in once place.

Our first stop was Rani Pokari, which is a beautiful white temple in the middle of a pond. This temple only opens once a year. We continued along a market street in which had tons of brass shops, which everything you can imagined made in brass, to sari's, to knick knacks, jewelry, etc. Along the market street we saw different Hindu and Buddhist temples and from time to time we would find an alleyway that would take us to plaza looking like courtyards that had different stupas. We kept walking and ended up at Durbar Square in no time. As we were going to walk in, we were stopped by someone saying that we had to go in the area. James and Ben decided that they did not want to pay and we went on our way back to the hotel. We took a different route back and we found other cools shops where we stopped and bought some souvenirs. Once we made it back to the hotel the boy’s friend has arrived so we all met down at the bar for some delicious beverages. A friend of Kevin works at the Kathmandu Embassy and agreed to meet us and take us out for the night. We went to a mall almost across the street to an Italian Restaurant. Since there were 7 of us, they put us in the wine room, with the stipulation that we buy at least a bottle of wine. Here we dined to delicious food, along side delicious drinks. I ordered the pasta carbonara, which I've been craving and it was delish. James ordered a pizza and devoured it in minutes. After dinner, we headed in the darkness (power is both subsided by regular electricity and generators) to Thamel to a bar.

The next day, we all met for breakfast and Kevin, Justin and Corina decided to stay back at the hotel and James, Ben and I set off to the Swayambhunath or Monkey Temple located on the west side of the city. We took a little Suzuki car to the top of the mountain through dirt roads. Once we arrived we were taken aback with all the beauty. Something I can't explain, but noticed that it was the same feeling I had at Notre Dame last year in Paris. I decided to call it a religious experience. Why, you might ask? well this temple is among the most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage sites. Once on the top of the mountain, you have two choices, go left and see the Buddhist side of the temple, or go left, which is the Hindu side of the temple. We decided to go right. Once on the Hindu side, my religious experience started to take place. Up on the side were people lighting candles and ringing bells. I just admired the beauty and peace of the place. In the middle of this courtyard was a giant stupa, with an eye in the middle. To say that this was one of the most peaceful places I've ever visited, it’s an understatement, even with all the people surrounding us; the peace of the place is palpable. After admiring the Hindu side we made our way down and up again to the Buddhist side. This side was also beautiful, but it was smaller that the Hindu side. Also, here is where we saw the most amount of monkeys and I am convinced that they like to have their picture taken, because every time we were going to take a picture of them, they will stay still and look at you... We made our way down the mountain to see the rest of the temples. On our way down, our friend Ben fed one of the monkeys. He was giving the monkey one cracker at a time and after a couple the monkey snatches the whole bag and ran away. After visiting the temple we rode back to town and have lunch and do some shopping in Thamel (a sector of town, which is known for their bargains). We bought all sorts of souvenirs for bargain prices and then made our way down to Durbar Square. This time we paid to go in and we can say that it was worth it. We saw the different temples and did more shopping. 

On Sunday we decided to go south to Patan, which has another Durbar Square and according to Lonely Planet it is the best one. We grabbed another little Suzuki car and 15 minutes later we were in historic Patan. We started to make our way through the quaint streets that had lovely little shops and more temples. Once we arrived at the square, we knew right away that we made the right choice in going there. This square was much larger than the one downtown and had a museum, garden and a restaurant inside the big palace. We had lunch in the palace and then we decided to do one of the walks that Lonely Planet suggested. This walk was neat because it took us through houses and little courtyards that ended in one of the most wonderful places I've seen in my life: The Golden Temple. Yes, this temple is made completely out of gold. Now that is a sight and I had never seen that much gold in one place. After admiring the temple we went back to the square to look for one of the guided that offered to show us where the best shops were. He personally walked us to the stores and we were in heaven. I bought 2 pairs of earrings and James bought a brass bowl. After shopping we decided to start heading back and grab a taxi to head back to the hotel. After a little down time, we decided to grab dinner at one of the hotels fancy restaurant. We had an early dinner, so we were the only ones there. The food was beyond good; it was splendid. James ordered the French onion soup and we all ordered sirloin steak (we had been dying for some steak). Now, I don't know if it was because we hadn't have meet since we arrived, but that was one of the best steaks I've ever had. After dinner we needed to walk of all that food so James and I decided to explore the stores outside the hotel. There we met some really nice storeowners and we bought pendants, shirts and guerka knives. 

Here are some pictures from our travels...


 
 
 
 

Needless to say that Kathmandu treated us very well and we look forward to visiting this majestic place again.


Nats

A month flies by when you are having fun! Janmashtami and National Day Celebration

It is official, James and I have been in Mumbai for a month and so far so good. Last week was another great week that ended with a great weekend away just 1 hour away from home. Here are some cool things we encountered:

Monday last week was another holiday. This particular day is called Janmashtami and during this day according to wikepedia this is what they celebrate: 

The festival is celebrated on the eighth day (Ashtami) of the Krishna Paksha (dark fortnight) of the month of Bhadrapad(August–September) in the Hindu calendar. Rasa lila, dramatic enactments of the life of Krishna, are a special feature in regions of Mathura and Vrindavan, and regions following Vaishnavism in Manipur.^[5] While the Rasa lila re-creates the flirtatious aspects of Krishna's youthful days, the Dahi Handi celebrate God's playful and mischievous side, where teams of young men form human towers to reach a high-hanging pot of butter and break it. 

So basically a group or team make towers to reach the pot and break it. We all wanted to encounter this and we were told of several places we could go and see the events. As always, we set of as a group to see set towers around our little neighborhood of Bandra West. 

But first, we met for breakfast, because if you have not noticed, most of our outings revolve about eating or going to eat. This time we tried The Bagel Shop, which we could say it is the Indian version of Panera.  The Bagel shop has indoor or outdoor seating and they serve bagels, sandwiches, salads, and awesome breakfast foods. I ordered a plain bagel with Philly cream (which is what they call plain cream cheese) with a vanilla latte. After breakfast, we met other folks and set off into our adventure in 2 rickshaws. It was cool getting into the tuck tuck and telling the driver "follow that rickshaw". We traveled through several neighborhoods before we found one of the places where they were going to do the human pyramid. We didn't see a lot of commotion so we asked several locals and they told us that the festivities usually start at 7pm, needless to say, we were about 7 hours too early. 

So that night, we all decided to meet again, this time a little closer to home to see the pyramids in action. When we arrived at Pali Market it was a different story from earlier in the day. Techno music was playing loudly, the teams were making their way to 2 different places where the pots were located and off they went. These pots were located in the middle of the road or intersections. Once we saw the teams approaching the intersection in which they were going to make their pyramid, we saw a police officer and we thought they were going to stop all traffic, once again, we thought wrong. The police officer was just directing traffic so the teams could create their pyramid. We parked ourselves in the median, where we had visibility of both pots. It was really cool to see way the teams created their pyramids with precision and concentration and start forming and seeing them trying to get to a pot of buttermilk that is 20, 30, or 60 feet tall. We saw several teams trying to make a pyramid to knock the pot that was 60 feet tall and just not being successful. A group of girls attempted the lower one and succeeded. 

It was awesome to see how these teams work together to get to the top and the amount of time they put into the practice. 

On Friday after James' work we set off into South Mumbai to the Taj Majal Palace Hotel, where the US Consulate would be celebration National Day, or 4th of July. Although it was a month and a half late, it was worth the wait. The reason for the delay was because both the Embassy in New Delhi and the Consulate in Mumbai were getting new people in charge of them and they wanted to partake in the celebration. Everyone from Officers, partners and local staff volunteered for this massive event. Everyone had a job to do, but once your job was done you could go and enjoy the celebration and meet people that came to the party.

The party started at around 7 and by 8 the party was in full swing. It was great to see the Marine do the presentation of the colors and hear the new CG and CDA give their speeches. It made me proud to be on the US Mission to Mumbai and once again, James and I realized that we had made the right choice by coming here. After our duty, which was setting up a barrier between the press and the stage was done and we set off to party. The party basically consisted of two areas, the dancing and drinking area and the eating area. Once you entered the eating saloon, you forgot that you were in India for a minute. There in the middle was a buffet set up of all our beloved foods: fries, burgers, cheesecake, and mini hot dogs, key lime pie. The food was great and the people we met were wonderful. It was great to chat up the CG to Turkey and her son, who invited us to Istanbul and the principal of the German School here in Mumbai. 

The party was over at around 10:30 and a big group of us were staying at the Taj, so we went to the bar to continue our own little American Party. We did not know were people were going at first, so James, Joel and I went to the first bar in Mumbai called The Sea Lounge, where we enjoyed some drinks. A little bit later we got a text from a friend asking were we were and we told them and they told us to join them at the other bar Starboard, which is also a Mexican restaurant. 

After a long night of partying we set off to our room in the 14th floor of the hotel and slept like babies in one of the best king size beds I've ever slept on.

The next morning we met some of our friends for breakfast and then at the pool. Later on that day James and some other friends went on a shopping spree around Colaba, where I found my new China pattern. That night I treated James to a nice birthday dinner at the Starboard restaurant and ended the night watching a movie in bed. 

Last week was a great way to end our first month here in India. More and more everyday Mumbai is stilling my heart. I am glad that we are able to experience these fantastic things and how many great people we have met in the past month.

Now a little bit of humor to end this great month:

Number of cows seen: 10

Number of rickshaw drivers that don't know where they are going: all

Number of donkeys seen: 2

Number of monkeys: 0

Number of parties attended: 4

Number of times I have haggled with people: 2

Number of people I have seen doing their business on the street: 2

Number of elephants seen: 0...

Seriously people, I was promised elephants, where are they?

Until Next time...

Nats

Mumbai living... Week 3

I know I'm a little late on the post, but this has been a very busy week. Things are starting to get real and I'm starting to find things to occupy my days with.

Last week was one for the books here in Mumbai. Aside from being a long weeknd, it ended up being a fun and very busy weekend.

On Monday I asked our housekeeper to come in earlier so she could take me to the market she usually goes by herself, but  I wanted to go so I could see what they have. I really enjoyed that because it gave me a sense of how things work around here and what are the good places to buy fruits, vegetables and meats. It also didn't hurt to see my housekeeper bartering the prices...

Tuesday was a little lay back. I went over the Cosulate to use their gym. Their gym is way nicer than the one we have and James wanted to stay for Cross Fit. It felt good to be back running and in a good treadmill too. I am hoping that once I start working at the Consulate and Monsoon season is over I will be able to start running outside.

Wednesday was the busiest and funnest days I've had since I arrived. I went to the Trident Hotel near the Consulate for a coffee and tea date with some of the women at the American Woman's Club of Mumbai. During this event I was able to meet several women expats from different parts of the world and chat about our time in Mumbai. I made a couple of friends and decided that we would meet the following week for some coffee. After the coffee and tea I met James at the Consulate for lunch and a little workout. That afternoon I got to volunteer at the American School of Bombay for the Avarasa Leadership Academy. During this time I met with 5 teenage age girls that attend this program several days a week and they participate in STEM classes, as well as, with the volunteers help, the girls have a chance to learn about US History/Culture, Art, Math and Reading. On this particular day the girls would be participating with me in an Art activity. Since it was my first time, I did not know what to expect and wat the girls would do. The girls came in the room we were in and we all introduced ourselves and I procedeed to tell them what we were doing during their time with me. I told them to draw about something they would be doing during the weekend since it was Independence Day that Friday or whatever they wanted. I noticed right away that all girls did 1 of 2 drawings, 1 of them being of an Indian mountain landscape and the other one a drawing of the Indian flag in a pole and students standing at attention. When I asked them about what they drew (like I did with my 1st graders), their response was minimal or rote. They described in little words their drawing without any deviations and all very similar. After listening to their response it made me realize how rote memory is still a big part of education in some parts of the world. After asking them more personal questions they started to get out of their comfort zone and they were able to tell me what their favorite subject in school was and what they were doing that weekend. This experience got me to look forward to more volunteering work with this program.

Thursday was a chill day in preparation for the weekend. We attended a going away party for some awesome folks and this just brought back memories of my College Program Days.

On Friday we took it easy during the day. We met some friends at Smoke House Deli for lunch. This is a great Brunch/lunch place since they serve breakfast all day. Then we procedeed to a spa where the boys got a massage and I got a pedicure for $6. Later on in the afternoon, we invited our neighbour Joel for some Domino's pizza and beer, that followed with a trip to SMAAASH. SMAAASH is an arcade haven for children and adults alike. You can call it the Disney Quest of Mumbai. It is a pretty cool place that have criket cages, instead of batting cages, great arcade games, bowling, a 9D movie adventure and paint balling. The 3 of us had a great time, but we realized that it would have been more fun with a bigger group of people, and, if it wasn't India's Independence Day and a dry day (you can't have alcohol).

We spent Saturday afternoon down south in Colaba at the Taj Majal Palace Hotel where we were given a tour of the premises that followed High Tea. This was an excellent event. Our tour guide Viren was wonderful and very knowledgeable. He took us into a time traveling journey of the hotel and explained the history behind the hotel and all the famous people that have stayed there. We were taken to the Presidential Suite in which President Obama stayed when he came to visit Mumbai in 2012. He was the first peson to stay there after the terrotist attacks in 2008. This room is also bullet proof and has one of the best views on South Mumbai. After the tour we headed to the tea room where James and I and the rest of the group had the experience of High Tea for the first time. We were served delicious Ice teas, latte's and delicious "street food". The Taj Hotel decied to bring the street food experience to the hotel. It was a great and delightfull afternoon with wonderful people from the Cosulate. Experiences like this have me looking forward to exploring more of the city.

Sunday was another epic day. 6 of us packed ourselves in Joel's mini van and drove 2 hour outside Mumbai to the land of Adlabs Imagica. This my friends is the "disneyland" of India. Rumor has it that Disney did not want to build a Disney World or Land here, so someone here in India decided to build one themselves. I'm telling you, I'm pretty sure that they sent some young kids to work at Disney, Universal, Six Flags or any other theme park in the states and had them come up with ideas for the theme park. The park has "different lands" or rides which are all super fun. I went on almost every ride there. They have really good roller coasters, one that simulates Jurasic park at IOA, other ones that resemble Big Thunder Mountain, Haunted Masion, Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom. We ate lunch at an "American Diner" which was great. We bought express passes which took us to the front of the line everytime, so we never waited more than 5-10 minutes for a ride. This was a great experiece because I got to go to a theme park, but also, I got to get to know some of the people I will be working with.

In the 3 weeks that we have been here, although I have not explore things by myself, I have been able to experience great places among great people. These experiences keep reassuring me that James and I made the right choice in coming to Mumbai. I know that the next 2 years are going to be memorable and I am really happy that I will get to experience this Maximum city with awesome people, my husband included.


Until next time and please keep your feet traveling because there is no better experience that the experience of traveling and exploring places with people that matter. Remember life is too short to sit and wonder where your life is going or why you haven't done anything with it.


Nats 

Oh, Mumbai... How I love thee... Week 2 re-cap

I really can't believe that James and I have been here for almost 3 weeks. It's a surreal thing. Needless to say, we are getting use to life here as much as we can and we are taking full advantage of what the city has to offer us. Since it is still Monsoon season it still rains on and off constantly, so we have to bring an umbrella with us wherever we go.

Although I did not go out that much last week during the day, James and I manage to find things to do in the afternoon/night/weekend.

On Tuesday, I got to spend the morning at the Consulate and had lunch with some great people. That afternoon I experienced Uber India alone and it was great. You may not know this about me but, I always get really nervous when I get into a cab/uber by myself no matter where I am. Why? Well I think I have a fear of being kidnapped. My driver was very nice and he got me home safely and with minimal directions from me. That afternoon James and I interviwed our new housekeeper Greta. She is a very kind and helpful woman and we are happy she has joined us.

Wednesday was a little bit low key since I wanted to be home for Greta's first day with us. That day Greta when to the market and got us delicious fruits and vegetables and she also cooked for us. I told her that we did not eat a lot of Indian food, but, that we wanted to learn to eat it and enjoy it, so I left it up to her to make us something. She ended up making us rice with chiken in Hoisin sauce, which is a milder sauce. We invited our friend Che for dinner and we all enjoyed Greta's lovely meal.

Thursday was a great day. I met James at the Consulate in the afternoon and watched him as he did his first Crossfit WOD. He really enjoyed it and I had a great time watching everyone do the workouts. Maybe one day I'll join them. That night, we set off to the Sofitel Hotel, a hotel near the Consulate, where the Brits were hosting Cigar Night. Here we had the chance to meet other people that work in the Consulate, people that work in the High Commision (British version of the Cosulate), and some other German, French, Indian and British business people. This event is a once a month event and it is great.  For  rp1200 ( $20) you get an open bar, all you can eat food and endless conversations. It was nice to meet people and get to network with them.

On Friday, I stayed home and just hung out. That night one of our neighbors invited us for a small gathering for some food and good conversation. And man, did he deliver... He welcomed us with some bubbly and cheese. Then he enamoured us with his mushroom soup. Now, if you know me, I am not a big fan of mushrooms, but this mushroom soup is the best soup I've ever eaten in my life. Then, he wowed us with Water Buffalo Steak. Now, once again this was the first time I had Water Buffalo meat and it was great. When we were all full, he surprised us once more with homemade chocolate mousse. Nevertheless, we continued the night among new and "old" friends just making memories.

Saturday was a little different due to the fact that I woke up with a massive pain in my lower back. James took me to breakfast at a french creperie named Suzette. Now, this is a place we will be returning many times during our 2 years here. After that we set off to do a little shopping, but both my back and the monsoon did not allow us to continue. That night we were supposed to go to a pool party at the same hotel we attended Cigar Night, but, due to my back, we decided to stay in. We settled for an Indian movie named Midnight's Children. It is based on a book by Salman Rushdie, and it is about the Indian Partition from the British. It is really interesting movie and I'm pretty sure those of you who are history buffs will like it.

On Sunday I still woke up with backpain but we still met Che and Michael for Brunch, but where else but "Suzette's". Michael wanted to do some shopping so we set to explore the Pali Market area and found some cute little shops that I want to explore later. In the afternoon we were invited to take part in "Narali Poornima is a Koli holy day welcoming the new fishing season. Boats are cleaned up and repainted, repaired, etc. And a parade full of dancing fishing villagers march down the road. Then at the waterfront, they perform religious ceremonies altogether and throw coconuts into the ocean." 

I will write about this experience on the next blog because it deserves its own entry. 

I hope you all enjoyed this entry. I will keep the post coming as fast as I can write them.

Nats

Week One Down, 103 weeks to go

I can't believed that we have been in India for a week already. It's been a big adjusting period for me due to both jet lag and monsoon season. If you have never experiences Monsoon season, like me, then it can be quite frustrating. Why you might ask? Well it's simple, you might leave your house and it can be sunny and 2 minutes later the rain comes. And it is not the drizzle rain that we might get in the states before a huge storm, no, it just starts pouring down and in the next 2 minutes it can stop and start again.

This is one of the reasons I haven't gone out and explore, but also, here there are no street signs nor sidewalks, so I am a little apprehensive about going out and about. I think that once we get a driver, I would feel comfortable going out in the neighborhood by myself. 

Rest assure that we haven't spent all our time inside, we have been invited to going away parties, dinners, brunch and sight seeing and we have done all of those. 

If you did not know, there are a lot of things to do and places to eat around here. So this is what we did the last week:

Monday:  We went to the Consulate where we met a lot of James' co-workers and some of my future co-workers. That night we went to a going away party for an officer that was leaving post that week. Here we met more FSO's and their spouses and everyone was very welcoming and great and gave us some suggestions on places to visits, shop, etc!

Tuesday: We were suppose to meet friends down south at Chowpatty Beach and Marine Drive but James wasn't feeling well so we had to turn around and we actually spend the afternoon at home and getting some grocery shopping done.

Wednesday: I stayed home and cooked us a delicious dinner.

Thursday: Our UAB or Unaccompanied Baggaged arrived so I stayed home an unpacked and once James got home we went a farewell dinner nearby at Pizza Metro Pizza, which is an thematic italian pizza place in which their pizza is really good.

Friday: We got cable and our phones installed and then we met some of our friends at Sancho's, another thematic restaurant, this time Mexican, which we know we are going back to because the food was delicious and the atmosphere was great, not to mention that they played salsa and merengue the entire time we were there!

Saturday: We actually made it down south to Chowpatty Beach and we went to the High End Mall called the Phoenix Hotel and Mall for some shopping. After that, our driver for day took us around South Mumbai where we saw the Gateway to India, Taj Majal Hotel, the Train Station, a Mosque in the middle of the bay and some other beautiful monumets. We wanted to walk to all the different places, but, once again, the monsoon took over our plans. After that we went shopping at the "Walmart" of India called Reliance. Now, this store was great, because it has all the basic things you need plus food! It felt as if we were home, except, we are in India... 

Sunday: This was James' and I's 1st year anniversary and we spent most of the day apart. Yes, apart... I was invited by some of James's co-workers to go and explore some of Mumbai's cool stores and then go to Brunch. This was great, because we went around some cool home stores with someone who has been here for a while. We all wanted to buy everything but decided against it until we get our Household Effects later on in the month so we have an idea of what we really need.

After some shopping we visited SmokeHouse Deli for some brunch American/English style. It is an amazing little restaurant near our house with both Indian and Continental Cuisine. I ordered the Banana Bacon Pancakes with a side of bacon and it was delish, while another one of us ordered Eggs Florentine, another ordered Rissotto and Fish and the other ordered a lamb burger. All of these looked fantastic and we all left satisfied and full. 

Later on that night James and I set off to dinner at the fantastic and luxurious Taj Hotel Lands End which is located about 10 minute drive from our house. We dined at Vista, which is a lounge on the 2nd floor of the hotel which overlooks the water. The food was really good but the company was better. 

As we closed on the 1st full week in Mumbai, I can honestly say that this place is growing on me and I like it! I can't wait to see what other things this city and country have to offer.  

Nats

Mumbai Day 1

James and I arrive in India 2 days ago at 12:20 am local time after traveling from NYC with a stop in Heathrow. Once we arrive the journey began. We had a person waiting for us as soon as we got out of the plane and they told us where to go. We arrived in the new British Airways terminal which was a beautiful building that had amazing local art diplayed all around. After walking almost a mile, we arrived at the border and handed out passports, which did not take long. Once we were cleared, a British Airways worker meet us and helped us with our luggage. That took a little longer that expected and we had our social sponsor waiting for us outside the terminal. Immediately following getting our bags we thought that we were done, we were mistaken, now we had to go an clear customs and check what was in our carry on bags. We are glad that did not take that long and we were able to meet our social sponsor after that.

He had a car waiting for us at the airport and once we got all of our stuff in we were gone. The trip from the airport to our new home only took about 20 minutes. Once we arrive at the apartment it was about 1:30 am. Kevin showed us our apartment and explained what worked and how some things worked, what he failed to show us and explained to us was that our balcony sliding door laches behing you once you close it... So if you're thinking what I'm thinking... you are correct, James and I got stuck on our balcony for almost an hour. At the beginning we tried opening it, trying to get it out of the rail, ect and nothing worked. I got the idea of yelling out to see if anyone could help us. Thank God, Allah or whomever for 24 hour security that was able to hear us and they were able to call someone to get a key to our place to let us out. All I kept thinking is that, I can't believe this is happening to us on the FIRST DAY... and I did not want to take it as a sign of what our lives here would be like. I panicked, of course, I panicked, you do not want to be stuck in a balcony in a foreign country on your first night or ever...

Once they helped us we were too awake and shocked that none of us could go to bed. Instead, we started unpacking, took a shower and at 5 am actually went to bed. We woke up about 11ish and we looked to see what was around us that we could go to. Our sponsor lend us his driver for the day, but we did not take advantage of it right away. We walked down to the ocean front to get some Costa coffee. Now is where the fun starts.

You know how in the states we have sidewalks, well here they have them too, BUT, shocker... No one walks on them... People here walk against traffic on the road and when I say road, I mean 2 cars can barely drive on them.

As we walked down I was taking in the scenery and realizing in what a different world we are in. People here walk a lot, there are not as many people (at least in our neighborhood) as I thought we were going to encounter, that there are certain places where the smell is greater than other places, and that sometimes, if you have to go, you have to go... Yes, you guess it, I experienced my first person (it was a kid actually) pooping on the street!

We made it to Costa and the coffee and muffins were both delicious. We walked back to our apartment and we decided to take the advantages of having a driver for the day. The driver met us in the lobby and took us to Choice Market... Now this market will be our friend. This market has a lot of the comfort food items that one might need and if you call them... they deliver it. We bought some stuff there and we asked the driver to take us to see if we could get new Sim cards for our phones to use them here in India, but it turns out that you need an Indian reference, so we have to apply for one through the Consulate.

Once we made it back to our apartment again our sponsor called us because he heard the story of what happend to us and he wanted to check up on us. He invited us over to his apartment later on in the afternoon, so I went and took a nap.

Around 6:30 we went down to Kevin's apartment where we met Justin and Michael. We had some beverages and Michael invited all of us to dinner because he was going with James' fellow 176ers to dinner. So we set of on a night adventure. We took a rickshaw to dinner to fnd out the place was closed, so we walked to another place in which we founf iut it was an Indian restaurant. Once there I explained to Kevin that it was my FIRST, yes my first time eating Indian food, so he was kind and ordered for me. As it turns out it wasn't bad nor spicy (at least what I ate). James and I only ate a small amount of food because we feared that we would get sick. The best part about it was the cost of the food, we paid 200 ruppees each, which means that James and I had dinner for $6.00.

After dinner we ended up at a local bar for a little bit and we left since we were tired after one beer.

Needless to say, James and I are happy to be here, and yes, this will be a big adjustment since there are a lit of things that we need to get used to (smells, poverty, standards of living, etc) but I am certain that we will learn to love this place.

Mumbai is a great place and it has very kind and manificent people and I can't wait to explore it more. For now, James and I are taking it easy and just exploring it in smalls amounts of time to not over stimulate our senses and experience.

As you can see we accomplished a lot in one day. We can't wait to see what day 2 and the rest of the days are going to bring.


Nats

Au revoir USA

I can't believe that James and I are moving to India today. We have been talking about it for the last 3 months and here it is.

The last month have gone by rapidly since we have been doing our goodbye tour. At this point Both James and I are ready to go and start our new adventure, but before we do that here is a recap of our last month.

June 23-25- I finished working, sold my car, and my parents came to visit.
June 26-27- pack out happened and moved into The Mayflower hotel in Downtown DC.
June 27-July 2- vacation with my parents, seeing friends and doing last minute shopping.
July 2- July 6- James and I did our own version of a staycation in DC, where we visited places we have been before and got to spend time with some friends.
July 6-11- James went to crash and bang school and I stated at my friend Rebecca's house so I could hang out with some friends before I left. Rebecca and the girls threw me a farewell dinner, I went to dinner with Virginie one last time and I just relaxed.
July 12-15- we visited our family and some friends in Orlando. Also, we visited Islands of Adventure to encounter Hogwart's for the first timeline spent a day a the pool to watch the World Cup finals and visited my old stomping ground, Hollywood Studios, one last time.
July 15-21- now we made our way to Puerto Rico in which I had to say good bye to my family. During our stay we visited my brother and sister in law in Manati, Old San Juan, La Playuela in my hometown, spent some time with old friends in town and above all spent time at my childhood home with my parents relaxing and meditating about our journey ahead.
July 21-23- we made it to the Big Apple with big plans and conquered none because of our mental exhaustion. One thing we did accomplish was hanging out with our friends Chris and Joanna, who always show us the best places in NYC.

As I think back on this last month a lot of things have happened, all good of course, but some sad:

I quit my job, got a job at the Consulate, sold my car, sold our house, said goodbye to our awesome friends and family, got to go and enjoy Disney one last time and became a Harry Potter fan.Also, I got to enjoy spending precious time with our families.

I am ready to embark on this journey with my honey and see what this life bring us. Are you ready to embark it with us? I hope you are.

Next time I post James and I will be in India already , so stay tuned because the traveling feet are about to embark on a journey of a lifetime.

Nats

Our first Packout Experience

I can't believe that packout happened a week ago. I had no idea on what to expect, so my expectations were pretty low.

Day 1:
Our day started at 9 am when the movers came and knock on our door. It turned out to be 3 really nice Hispanic men, 2 Mexican brothers and 1 Peruvian guy. Immediatly they told me that the 1st day they were going to pack our UAB (Unaccompanied Baggage) and our HHE (Household Effects). I led them to the basement to show them where most of our HHE and UAB items were. While my dad supervised the movers packing the basement,  my mom packed and empytied our kitchen and my sister and I packed the suitecases that James and I will be traveling with us for the next month or so. By noon the Germany vs USA game started so I took a little break from packing to watch the game.

The movers continued packing until about 1pm when I asked them if they were hungry. They nod a big yes and my mom made all of us hotdogs. After lunch, everyone continued packing. The guys started bringing most of the boxes from the basement and we really thought they were done.

Boy, were we wrong!

The movers continued packing our stuff, seriously, where did all these things come from? I guess you really don't know how much stuff you really have until you pack your house!

By 5pm I was over it and we still had a long night ahead and the next day too. Needless to say the packers didn't leave until 9pm and they still had another job to go to!

Day 2:
On day2 things were a little different. The movers did not show up until 11am, and intead of 3 6 people showed up. Since they were moving our storage stuff, we knew that it would take less time. As soon as they got to our house, they all took a different floor and started packing. It took a while to packe James's office dur to the fact that we both had about 1,000 books to put into storage. Also, the basement took longer because that is where we had most of our  storage things were located. It took a long time to pack due to the fact that the movers have to wrapped everything, if you have articled in a box they take it out of your box an put it into their own boxes.

By 7pm, the movers were almost done and we were pretty happy about it nd so were the movers! Why, you ask? Well, we were excited that they were done and they were happy because they left our house with things that we did not need or want. They got towels, pillows, cleaning supplies and food! They were grateful to us for giving them so many things and I was humbled to be able to help them.

Overall it was a great experience and now we know how to deal with packout in the future.

Here are a couple of hints:

Dont put anything into boxes, because they have to take it out of the box and put it in their own boxes.
Try to have a designated areas in your house for HHE, UAB and storage so it is easier for the movers and you.
Don't leave the packing for the last minute.
Be organized and now what you want to take with you so you don't end up with things you don't need or things you need in storage.
Tip your movers and at least offer them water and food. They are here to help you in this process.


Now that pack out is over, its time to enjoy our last month in the states. Be on the lookout for our DC, Orlando, Puerto Rico and NYC adventures.

Nats