A Day of Pampering

Monday morning, Rachel had an 8 o’clock appointment for the ayurveda massage and I a 9:30 appointment.  However, we still didn’t have our oils!  So when Rachel went to her appointment, the doctor said he would have the oils sent over and rescheduled our appointments for 2 o’clock that afternoon.  Rachel made her way to work after calling me to let me know the plan. 

Neeta, who works in the Think Tank with Rachel, joined us during our tea break.  It is always so fun spending time with her, and she told us all about her son.  He’s nearly two and looks just like her; he has exactly the same eyes as Neeta.  She promised to bring him in to work one day so we can meet him.  We can’t wait!  She also talked to us a lot about the joint family living situations here.  Most married couples live with the husband’s family.  Because of this, her mother-in-law watches her son while she’s at work.  By the time lunch rolled around, we hurried off to eat something quickly before we had our appointment at two.  We went to Valley View, which is right across the street from the hospital, for lunch.  There were so many delicious foods!  We had naan, biryani, paneer masala, a veg masala, and so many other things.  Valley View is always delicious, and we always stuff ourselves when we go. 

After our delicious lunch, we walked across the street and climbed the five flights of stairs to the ayurveda department.  After signing in, Rachel disappeared quickly, and the nurses ushered me into a large room with a plastic table in the middle.  The nurses handed me a hospital gown and told me to undress.  First off was a scalp massage.  After pouring warm oil on my head, the nurse worked the oil through my hair.  Despite the idea of my hair being saturated with oil, this was my favorite part of the whole treatment!  After the scalp massage, the nurse instructed me to lie down on the table for a full body massage.  The nurses used more warm oil, and between this and the complete silence in the room, I nearly fell asleep!  After the massage, it was time for the shirodara.  This is a treatment where warm oil is dripped on your forehead in various patterns.  It too was so relaxing.  I did fall asleep this time!  I woke up at the end of the treatment, and the nurses helped me slip off the table and slide into the bathroom to shower off.  And I say “shower” loosely.  It was more like a bucket of warm water and a cup.  But I was absolutely covered in oil from head to toe, and any chance to rinse off sounded great!  I used the prescribed bathing powder, which when mixed with water, turned into a kind of exfoliating scrub.  It worked pretty well at getting the oil off my body, but my hair was still a greasy mess when I finished.  I emerged from the treatment room and saw Rachel with equally gross hair sitting in the waiting area.  After agreeing about the necessity of showering as soon as possible, we walked home as quickly as we could. 

Rachel won the “who can get in the shower faster” game, so I waited impatiently for her to finish up so I could have my turn.  I have never been more thankful that I 

brought deep cleaning shampoo!  After two

washes, my hair was degreased and good as new.  Shortly after I got out of the shower, the caretaker and several men came to reinstall the hot water heater.  Yes, hot showers!  After they finished we thanked them, and decided to complete our day of pampering with ice cream and a pedicure.  We had to do our day of luxury right! After a delicious ice cream treat at Piccolos, we visited Profile (the salon where Rachel had her hair straightened) for our pedicures.  Soon we had beautiful toes and we shuffled back to our apartment.  First making sure our toes were dry, we got ready for our workout.  After Insanity, I enjoyed, for the first time since moving into the apartment, a hot shower!  It was wonderful.  You have to understand, I love hot showers.  At home if there’s no hot water, I often refuse to shower until there is.  So needless to say, I took a longer shower than usual. 

After finally getting out of the shower, Katarina texted us to ask if we wanted to go to dinner with her.  Of course we did!  We got dressed as we settled on a time and place to meet.  We decided on Saiba, already thinking of what we could order that wouldn’t be too spicy for her.  What a change to be the ones who know what’s going on!  Soon we were all at the restaurant, excited to hang out again.  It is so fun to spend time with her and hear about her experience with the Indian school system.  We decided to order hara bara kabobs, egg biryani, chicken kurma, and paneer kadai.  We explained to her what everything was, and told her what was spicy and what wasn’t.  After tasting everything,

 she concluded that she liked it all, even if she still had to get used to how spicy everything was.  

I had to laugh because that was me thinking everything was spicy only 2 months ago.  It’s amazing how much we’ve adjusted to India, the culture and the food and even understanding the accents.

We sat and talked for a while longer before helping Katarina get an auto and thanking her for such a fun night.   Then we grabbed an auto and went over to watch a movie with Mike, Nitin, and AJ at Mike’s apartment.  I have never seen Anchorman, so Rachel took it upon herself to fix this catastrophe.  After we arrived, I curled up in a comfy armchair and prepared myself for what Rachel assured me would be a life-changing experience.  By the end of the movie, it was midnight and I was almost falling asleep (as usual).  So AJ dropped us off at our apartment, and we called it a night. 

We’re In Business!

After our late night, Rachel and I slept in until 11 on Sunday!  After we finally dragged ourselves out of bed, we settled on toast for breakfast.  Rachel decided to be adventurous and sprinkled the seasonings that come with pizza on her toast.  I looked at her like she was crazy: oregano, chili powder, and garlic on toast for breakfast?  But when Rachel displayed a look of amazement as she tasted it, I had to try it too!  Much to my surprise, it tasted like garlic toast.  Although not my first choice in breakfast foods, it was pretty tasty.  Rachel was very proud of her creation. 

After a little facebooking, it was time to go meet Divya.  We had plans to meet her at her house to discuss more details of our business plans.  We had to call Divya to explain to the auto driver where she lived, and we made it to her house after a short auto ride.  She welcomed us into her house, and we met her sister, her mom, and her dad.  They were all so welcoming and generous in inviting us into their home.  After introductions, we went into Divya’s room to get to work.  We decided on everything from inventory to shipping costs to profit margins.  We plan to sell our jewelry at “jewelry parties” and will try to get local boutiques to carry our jewelry too.

  After we were satisfied with our progress, we had lunch with Divya and her sister.  Divya’s mom made a delicious rice dish with thin gravy.  It was so fun sitting and talking with Divya and her sister.  As usual, they had lots of questions about American culture.  We had questions too, and the four of us enjoyed learning more about each other’s culture.  We told them how we think all the children here are absolutely adorable.  They laughed and said they think the same thing about Western children.  When we talked about how we always want to play with the kids we see, they told us that here it is acceptable to go play with the babies and tell their parents how cute they are.  As soon as they said that I laughed out loud.  They may have unleashed baby-snatchers!  After sitting and talking a while longer, we decided it was time to head home.  We took a picture of the three of us to commemorate the beginning of our business, and we thanked Divya and her sister for inviting us into their home. 

Soon after we arrived back at our apartment, our friend Aseem dropped by to say hello.   Unfortunately his visit was cut short because I had to get to Mass.  After thanking him for visiting, I said goodbye and slipped out the door to start on my way to Mass.  Walking into the Church, I saw a few of the friends I’ve made and waved hello to them as I sat down.  Mass was wonderful, yet again, and afterwards, I saw some more of my friends and talked with them for a while.   After saying goodbye, I walked home to see what Rachel wanted to do for dinner.  We unanimously 

decided for Planet Café, needing a more American dinner.  After dinner Rachel opted for an early bedtime, while I sat in the hallway to Skype my family.  It was so nice, because my Dad had just arrived in France earlier that day, so I got to Skype with him, and then only minutes later I caught my Mom and Lisa online.  Catching up with family and friends always lifts my mood!  So after I had sufficiently caught up with my family, I crawled into bed excited for our massages tomorrow!

Our Last Weekend In Manipal

Saturday finally came, and thanks to our 10 o’clock consultation with the doctor for our ayurveda massage, we got to sleep in a bit!  Anyone who knows me knows that I love to sleep in and that getting out of bed in the morning is close to impossible for me.  Poor Rachel has had the pleasure of dragging me out of bed several times this summer.  So sleeping in was a great start to the day.  After waking up refreshed, I went down to the gym to do my Insanity workout while Rachel skyped her roommate.  After showering and having breakfast, we walked to the hospital, excited to be one step closer to our massages. 

After checking in, we met with the doctor.  He looked at the two surveys we had to fill out and asked us a few questions.  He looked at our hands, eyes, and nose.  He took our height and weight, checked our pulse and blood pressure, did a few calculations and finally concluded that we were both Pitta-Kapha.  He explained that the philosophy of ayurveda is that there are three different body types, Pitta, Kapha, and Vata.  These body types explain one’s nature and behaviors.  For example, Pitta-Kaphas tend to be disciplined, stubborn, and athletic.  We decided that we agreed with this description.  After making this declaration, he sent us up to the fifth floor to the ayurveda department.  There we met with another doctor.  He explained that based on our determined body types, he would prescribe oils and bathing powder for our treatment.  After talking with us about the treatment, he sent us on our way with prescription in hand.

Back at the apartment, I decided to have an early lunch before I headed into work.  I made one of our boxes of macaroni and cheese for lunch.  It was so delicious.  Macaroni and cheese hardly ever fails.  As I was eating my delicious lunch, we heard a knock on our door.  Our caretaker and several men came into our apartment, telling us that they were going to fix our hot water heater.   At the thought of a hot shower, I welcomed them in with open arms!  Before they were finished, I left to go to work, but couldn’t wait to take a steaming shower when I got back from work.  Little did I know, they ended up taking our hot water heater with them, and we would have to wait until Monday to get it back!

Work went quickly, broken up with a meeting with Mr. Simhan about our trip to Goa and organizing train tickets.  Since Rachel had taken the rest of the day off for a business lunch and a hair appointment, I made the executive decision for a two-person sleeper car and a few other particulars of the trip.  On the way home I stopped at the ayurveda medicine house to get our “prescriptions.”  After guessing as to which shop was the right one, I walked up to the lady behind the counter and handed her our prescriptions.  She studied them for a minute, went into the back room for a minute, and then handed me the slips of paper and shook her head.  I was slightly confused, “You don’t have these?” I asked her.  She just shook her head again, “No.”  Confused and at a loss as to how I was supposed to get these oils now, I walked back to the apartment.  After her business lunch, Rachel had spent the afternoon getting her hair permanently straightened.  I could hardly wait to see how it looked! 

As I opened the door to our apartment, Rachel was standing in the middle of the room with a huge smile on her face.  Her hair was perfectly straight, and she looked so great!  We had one of those squealing, jumping up and down, girl moments, as I gushed over how wonderful her hair looked.  She was so excited and told me all about her lunch and the experience of getting her hair straightened.  As we were talking, Rachel got a call from an unknown number.  Confused she answered the phone and realized it was Mrs. Pai calling.  She invited us to a party she was hosting at Valley View. She told us it was a fancy gathering, so make sure to dress up. We assured her we would be there, excited about the last minute

 change of plans.  She told us the party started at 7:30, and as we looked at the clock and realized it was already 7 o’clock, we had to hurry to get ready. 

When we arrived at the banquet hall, we found out that it was Mr. Pai’s parents’ 40^th wedding anniversary.  What a great thing to celebrate!  We said hello to Mr. and Mrs. Pai, thanking them for inviting us.  Looking around, the hall was a huge room with a stage at the front.  IT was decorated with streamers and a banner that said “Happy 40^th Anniversary.”  Everyone looked wonderful, and we met so many new people.  One girl we met is a German university student, Katharina, who is here studying jewelry management for a semester.  She had only been in Manipal a few days and was definitely still in the adjustment phase.  We were so excited to get the chance to share some of the things we had learned about India and Manipal.  We also ran into Rahul, one of the people we went to dinner with at China Valley.  It was nice to see him again, and he introduced us to one of his friends.  The five us of started a “young people” table and sat around talking.  Meanwhile there was a small presentation going on up on the stage.  There were a few songs, a little boy played drums (quite impressively too), and a few girls performed a dance.  Our favorite performance, though, was when Mrs. Pai, her two daughters, and another woman and her daughter performed a dance they had made up.  They had a surprise dancer, 

when another little girl decided to join.  It was so cute to watch them all having fun up there. 

After a wonderful evening, it was time to go visit Mike and AJ.  We were supposed to go over to Mike’s apartment much earlier, but when Mrs. Pai called us, we made a few adjustments to our plan.  We invited Katarina to come along, and the three of us grabbed a rickshaw and made our way to Mike’s apartment.  A few of our friends were already there: AJ, Aseem, and Nitin.  We all hung out and talked and played games.  It was pouring the whole night so we just had a fun night staying in.  Before we knew it, it was 3 AM!  We wrapped up quickly, giving Katarina our numbers, thanking Mike for having us over again, and went home to get in bed.  

Planning for Goa

For our lunch break on Friday, Rachel and I went to the food court.  We decided to branch out from our usual choice of Saibia and try the North Indian restaurant.  After surveying the menu, Rachel settled on a veg Chinese thali, while I opted for the Healthy Dosa Thali.  Now, keep in mind that I have very bad luck at the food court every time we go.  Usually Rachel is finished with her lunch before I’ve even gotten mine!  It’s turned into a kind of game now.  We’ve even started to experiment by seeing what happens if I order first.  But it never fails; I always get my food way later.  Lunch proved that again.  I ordered before her, but Rachel’s Chinese thali came first.  It looked like so much food!  She had soup and rice and noodles and some kind of paneer.  My food came eventually, and we were both surprised by how similar this meal looked to the regular veg thali.  And even though my “healthy dosa thali” had no dosas, I just assumed that they knew what they were doing and I had somehow gotten confused.  So I dug in, remarking on how delicious this “health food” was.  A few minutes later, the waiter came rushing over to tell me that they had accidentally given me the wrong thali.  This was the regular veg thali, not the healthy dosa thali.  After assuring the waiter that it was no problem, Rachel and I laughed at our reaction.  We had underestimated ourselves.  We knew more about Indian food than we thought! 

We finished our lunch and made our way back to the office.  Shortly after we arrived, Mrs. Pai called us into her office.  She told us all about Goa: the good hotels, the best restaurants, the prettiest beaches, and also the places to avoid.  She even took the time to draw us out a map.  We were so thankful that she took the time to meet with us.  We were getting more and more excited!  We would be in Goa this time next week!  And we had also talked with one of our coworkers about Goa, and he told us about the dinner cruises they have.  He said we absolutely had to go on one.  So needless to say, we spent some time looking up Goa on the Internet.  It is beautiful! 

After work, we stopped at the Gift House to see if they had any of the souvenirs we were looking for.  The owner assured us he had exactly what we were looking for and went off to get them.  We moseyed around the shop, looking at all the knickknacks and jewelry and knock off purses.  When he didn’t come back after twenty minutes, Rachel and I decided that he must have forgotten about us and made our way for the exit.  On our way home we stopped to get groceries for our perpetually empty kitchen.  We stocked up on delicious fresh fruit and our other staples.  The rest of our evening was quite predictable: Insanity workout, China Valley for dinner, and then it was bedtime.  I’m pretty sure we both had dreams of vacationing in Goa that night. 

Hanging Out With the Sisters!

Wednesday and Thursday were pretty uneventful at work.  I continued work on my cost sheet and met with Mr. Kiran about perfecting it.  After work Mr. Kiran dropped me off at the St. Joseph Sisters of Cluny convent for the celebration of the feast day of their founder, Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey.  I walked into the chapel where Fr. Francis had just started the Mass.  The little chapel was packed with the university kids and other parishioners who wanted to celebrate with the Sisters.  It was such a beautiful Mass.   I always love Masses when they're celebrated with a smaller crowd; they seem so much more intimate.  

After Mass, most of the adults left and all the students gathered in the Sister's "living room" to play some games.  It was so fun to play silly retreat games.  We started off singing rounds.  There was one called "Little Tommy Tinker" and another called "O how lovely is the morning." We had 4 different moving parts so everyone had to focus to sing their part.  It’s much more difficult than you would think!  My group’s strategy was to sing as loud as we could so we couldn’t hear anyone else and get confused.  It was so fun even though it's so simple.  Then after singing songs, we played some games.  There was one called Ping Pong that everyone really enjoyed.  Everyone sat in a circle and the leader would point at a person and say ping or pong.  Ping meant you had to say the person's name to your right and pong meant left.  If you weren't fast enough you were out.  And you got up and switched places every so often so you learned more names.  It was such a good way to learn names, but I got out pretty quickly because I panicked under the pressure!  

After singing and playing games we prayed and had dinner that the Sisters prepared for us. There was biryani and white rice with fish curry and toast and salad and a chicken curry.  Then for dessert there was custard and a delicious pound cake.   Dinner was so good and everyone just sat around talking.  I got to meet so many new people.  There was even a girl from California there.  It was so funny because she asked me where I was from, clearly had an American accent, but I'm so used to responding with USA that I just said America. We all sat and talked for a while before we realized that it was already 10 o’clock!  So we thanked Srs. Narcissa, Violet, and Lucia, and all 10 of us started walking home together.  Even though I've only known these kids for a few weeks at most, I feel so at home around them.  And as we were walking, one of the kids who had disappeared on his motorbike came around the corner with a string of autos for us.  How nice!  So we divided up into the autos and went home.  I was so excited about my evening that I couldn’t fall sleep!   

Birthday Cake!

We were so glad when we got to sleep in on Monday morning.  We still woke up tired though, since we had gotten in so late after staying up to watch Spain win the World Cup.  And unfortunately, I also woke up with a cold.  I had felt it coming on for a few days, and I guess not getting enough sleep was the final straw.  Work was uneventful, until Prasanna, Mr. Pai’s assistant, called us to tell us that he wanted to meet with us.  We were a little nervous until we sat down in his office, and he asked us what we would like to do culturally in the last few weeks of our trip.  We told him that we had heard wonderful things about Goa and would love to get the chance to go.  He agreed that Goa is a nice place to visit and gave us next Friday and Saturday off to travel.  It would only take about five hours by train to get there, and he told us that Prasanna could assist us in finding a hotel and arranging the train tickets.  Because of the monsoon, it’s off-season right now, but we are still so excited.  Goa is famous for beautiful beaches, historic churches, and impressive restaurants and shopping.  One of the churches, the Basilica of Bom Jesus, holds the incorrupt body of St. Francis Xavier.  He was, with St. Ignatius, a cofounder of the Jesuit order and played a big role in evangelizing India.  The Portuguese influence can still be seen, and in Old Goa there are a lot of historic buildings and churches. 

Rachel and I were so excited about our upcoming trip, and stopped to say hello to Prasanna and tell her about our vacation.  She was happy for us and got started looking up train times right away.  We thanked her and went back to our desks, both of us taking some time to research Goa for a bit.  Soon our workday was over, and we walked home.  On the way, we got a message from Mike that he was rounding up people for a birthday dinner for AJ tonight.  We eagerly replied that we would be there.  By the time we reached home I had to take a nap before I could start our Insanity workout.  A thirty-minute nap later, Rachel and I were downstairs doing pushups, suicide drills, and squats.  After showering and getting dressed, we were ready to meet Mike, AJ, and all their friends at the restaurant in Valley View.  We took a rickshaw, afraid that we were late, but when we got there a few minutes after nine, no boys!  We forgot about India time!  As it got closer to 9:30, the boys all showed up.  There were seven of us all together, and we practically had the restaurant all to ourselves.  After a delicious dinner, Mike presented AJ with the card everyone had signed along with a gift he had gotten in Kerala.  In Kerala, it is common to find dried palm leaves sewn together to form a kind of paper canvas with

borders carved out by hand and images painted on them.  Mike had given Rachel and me smaller versions.  Mine has a crucifix in the center and is surrounded by different images from the life of Christ.  It is beautiful and so thoughtful of Mike. After dinner, we went to Blue Waters, which had stayed open specifically for us, where three more people joined us to have cake.  

The cake had a great picture of Mike and AJ on it making a funny face.  It was obvious that they always have a good time together.  After making sure to take a few pictures of the masterpiece, including one with them replicating their funny faces, AJ dug into the delicious looking cake and started handing out pieces.  And I do mean handing out; for some reason we didn’t have plates so everyone just ate the cake with their hands.  Soon after that the icing fight broke out.  Everyone scattered as icing flew and faces started getting splattered with sticky icing.  Eventually everyone was covered with icing; I personally had icing all over the side of my face and in my hair.  It was so sticky, and

 I could feel it drying on face.  Yuck!  After hanging out a bit longer, we decided that it was time to get cleaned up and head to bed.  

AJ dropped us off, and we wished him a happy birthday and thanked him for a fun night. 

World Cup Finals!

Sunday was a true day of rest, as Rachel and I let ourselves sleep in until 9:30.   It was so nice!  Especially since we’ve woken up at 6:30 for the last week and a half.  After lazing around a bit, eating breakfast, and catching up with friends on facebook, we got dressed to go to the cultural event the Manipal Press was putting on.  We felt like dressing up a bit, so we wore the pretty dresses we bought the day before. 

We finally made it to the Syndicate Bank Banquet Hall, and I immediately wished we had arrived sooner.  As we walked in a dance number had started.  There were 7 dancers on stage in brightly colored green and orange costumes

and one woman stood on a raised platform wearing a green saree holding a large Indian flag.  We assumed she was some representation of “Mother India” when all the dancers appeared to be performing for her.  After the dancing competition, the winner was announced, and the talent competition started.  The competition included everything from 

dancing to singing to stand-up comedy to short dramas.  Although all of it was in Kannada, the local language, Rachel and I really enjoyed getting to see everything.  Soon there was a break for lunch, and Neeta, two other guys on the cultural committee, Rachel, and I went to Dollops.  We really enjoyed getting to talk with our coworkers.  One, Sandeep, was really excited about his wedding coming up in about 5 weeks.  It’s in Mangalore and sounds like it is going to be quite the event.  When we asked how he met his fiancé, we were so surprised to find out that this was an arranged marriage.  He only started getting to know her once they were engaged.  At first Rachel and I didn’t know what to say.  He explained that it is fairly common here because family and class are more important than love.  I appreciated his honesty, but I’m sure glad that’s not the custom at home!

After lunch we went back to the banquet hall to watch the rest of the competition.  There was more dancing, singing, and acting.  But after a while, Rachel and I had headaches from the loud music and trying to figure out what was going on.  The whole audience would be laughing but we had no idea what was going on!  So we took a breather and went outside.  We walked to Snack Shack to get an ice cream sundae and kill some time.  After devouring delicious sundaes, we went back to watch the performances.  I had to leave shortly after that to get to Mass, but I didn’t mind too much because my head was pounding from how loud the music was.  It probably didn’t help that we were really close to the speakers. 

Mass was great, and I even recognized a few songs!  After Mass, Aditi came up to me and told me that there were some people outside she wanted to introduce to me.  I saw Myron again, and met Clemitha, Salma, and Walter.  We visited a while, and they told me about their Jesus Youth meetings on Thursdays.  I hope I will be able to make one of them!  We also talked with Fr. Francis for a while.  Myron requested some frankincense to burn in his room to get rid of the mold.  Mold covers everything here; it’s so gross.  But apparently frankincense remedies that!  Father showed us some frankincense he had from the Holy Land.  I don’t think I’ve ever really seen frankincense before that.  After a bit, Aditi, Myron, Salma, and I decided to walk back to campus and say the rosary together.  It was so nice to have more church friends, and it only helped that it was a beautiful night to walk back. 

Only when we went our separate ways, did I realize that Rachel had been trying to call me. Oh no!  I realized that she was locked out again since neither of us remembered that she would need the key.  I called her as I walked as fast as I possibly could back to the apartment.  When I arrived in the hallway, Rachel was talking with someone she introduced as Ian.  He didn’t have cable, so Rachel invited him to watch the game with us.  We decided to meet up closer to game time (midnight), and Rachel and I went inside.  After apologizing profusely to Rachel, we went to get dinner at the food court.  After getting back, I skyped with my parents for nearly two hours!  I always love catching up and hearing what everyone at home is up to.  After filling my mom and dad in on what was is happening here, I signed off as Ian came down the hall, and the three of us made our way to Mike’s. 

At Mike’s apartment, AJ and few of his other friends were there too.  They were so nice.  One guy was even from Miami!  Everyone watched the game in rapture, yelling at the TV, throwing up their hands in disgust, and cheering at the appropriate times.  I watched with significantly less animation as I was fighting to stay awake for most of the game.  After two agonizing overtimes, Spain finally won!  About 30 seconds after Spain’s victory, I dragged Rachel and Ian back to Pearl City and fell asleep instantaneously.  I was so tired, and work was going to come very quickly!

Massage!!! Oh wait, just kidding

Saturday morning was our last day of yoga!  Rachel and I both decided to wear the salwar’s Stella gave us.  They are oversized and less than attractive, but we wanted to wear the official outfits for the last day.  Plus we wanted to get a picture with our instructor.  Unfortunately, we can’t pronounce his name.  It doesn’t even fit on his nametag!  We arrived at the yoga department early and each took pictures in our outfits.  When our instructor arrived, we asked if we could take a picture with him, and much to our surprise he said no!  He explained, “A picture is dependent.  Your memory is independent.  Just remember me, it will last longer than a picture.”  Rachel and I looked at each other in confusion for a second, before stepping into the practice room to begin our exercise. 

After our practice, we thanked our yoga instructor and said goodbye.  We had really enjoyed our yoga classes and would miss our instructor leaning over us, “breath normal.”  To celebrate the end of the week, we decided to go to Hotel Vaishnava and get masala dosas for breakfast.  After Mr. Kiran took me to get one, I have been dying for Rachel to get to try one.  So our masala dosas came, and I explained to Rachel how to break apart the center to eat them and how the stuff inside is a tasty potato and onion mixture.  We washed our dosas down with delicious tea, and then marveled at the fact that our entire breakfast only cost $1! 

On our way to work, Rachel and I were so excited because we were supposed to have our massage today!  We only had to work in the morning and then we would get to have a lovely massage and take the rest of the day off to sleep and relax.  How wonderful!  After arriving at work we waited impatiently for Stella to call us and tell us that it was time to go.  After waiting and waiting, I called Stella to see if we were still going to have our massage today.  She told me that she was already at the hospital and would go to make an appointment for us right now.  She called back a few minutes later and told us that the company car was waiting for us outside, so we nearly ran downstairs to jump in the car. 

The driver dropped us off at the main entrance, and we went in to the main desk to try to find the ayurveda department.  With no clue as to where Stella was, we were directed around to the other side of the building and somehow finally found the correct department.  The nurses at the desk were just as confused as we were.  They didn’t seem to know anything about an appointment for us, so finally we called th office and got Stella’s number.  We called her and she came to the ayurveda department.  She had been looking for us too!  I’m not sure what exactly happened, but we went in to meet the doctor, who talked with us about ayurveda as a medicine form and asked what was wrong with us.  He was surprised when we told him we were fine, we just wanted a traditional massage.  He gave us some forms to fill out which would help him determine the correct oils to use.  The form encompassed everything from the size of your teeth to how soundly you sleep at night to your skin tone.  We set up a consultation where we would meet with him again and he would evaluate us further, and then we would finally get to have our massage.  So we had to wait a little over a week before we could get our massage!  We were excited to learn so much about ayurveda, but we had both been counting on having our massages today!  We thanked Stella for all her help and wandered out of the hospital.  By Saturday we are always exhausted.  Add in the disappointment of not having our massages today and the fact that we were starving, and we were pretty close to cranky.  We went and picked up my salwar, then went to Saiba for lunch.  We had chicken kurma with naan, and decided unanimously that we were in the mood to have entirely too much chocolate.  Rachel ordered a brownie sundae, and I opted for the sizzling brownie.  Holy cow, it was amazing!  It was a piece of chocolate cake on one of those hot plates, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, then they poured chocolate sauce and nuts on top.  I finished the whole thing, but by that time, I could hardly move.  I was so stuffed!  Rachel and I nearly waddled back to our apartment. 

Since we had already asked off for the afternoon, we awarded ourselves a lovely afternoon by the pool in the Indian Sun.  Lying out, and hopefully getting a tan, made it feel like summer.  It was so nice; Rachel and I had to force ourselves to come inside after two hours.  We didn’t want to get burned!  After getting dressed, we set off to do a bit of shopping in the nearby clothing stores.  We explored several higher end stores, but the only store that proved of any success was the very first we visited.  A bit off the road, Second Skin proved to be a goldmine!  I had overheard a girl in my office mention how much she liked it, and now I knew why!  There were so many cute dresses and tops that Rachel and I just started a pile of things we wanted to try on.  Rachel emerged with a few dresses and a top, and I settled on a top for my sister and a dress for me.  We were quite pleased with our purchases, but unfortunately, that was the only successful stop of the day. 

After shopping, we were tired from walking around so much and took an auto back to our apartment.  After quickly vetoing Insanity for the day, we ordered grilled chicken burgers to have with a box of macaroni and cheese.  I wasn’t feeling up to a night out, so I watched “Marley and Me” and went to bed early, while Rachel went out with some of our friends.  I really enjoyed getting to have some alone time and just having a calm night.    

We’re Going to be Ninjas!

Friday morning yoga left me feeling relaxed and ready for day.  Walking to work, Rachel and I talked about how quickly our trip has gone.  We only have three weeks left!  Work went on as normal, accompanied by our always tasty tea break.  After lunch at Dollops, we went to “Prem’s Unisex Tailor.”  I had to get my salwar fitted!  We walked into the small shop and a little old man come out from a back room to see what we need.  I pull out the shirt, hoping I can gesture my way through telling him that I want the sides tailored.  Thankfully he understood, and after taking a few measurements, he told me to come back tomorrow same time.  I thanked him and walked out of the shop, eager to get the chance to finally wear my salwar.  

After getting back to work and working for a while, Rachel and I made our way downstairs to the first floor to visit George.  Not only do we enjoy visiting him, but today we wanted to talk to him about getting some Ekam candles to take home.  Ekam is the name under which Primacy and the Manipal Group produce candles.  George had given us a rose-scented candle a few days before.  It made our whole apartment smell so good!  After that and getting to see the factory and how the candles are made, we were convinced that we needed to bring a few home with us. 

After work, Rachel and I decided to celebrate that we only had three weeks left by stopping at “Home Pride Bakery.”  Pushing away the feeling that I had been eating far too many sweets lately, I picked out a delicious-looking pink cake.  Rachel chose a chocolate cake, and both of us just stood there enjoying our after-work treat.  We aren’t often disappointed by the food here, and this was no exception.  Especially given that our snack was only Rs. 12 ($0.25) each, we decided we may need to come back to celebrate again. 

Trekking downstairs to the gym, Rachel and I were both nervous about our Insanity workout.  We’re definitely still at the stage where we stand with dropped jaw as each exercise is explained.  We tentatively started our workout and dragged ourselves through the seemingly endless jumps, pushups, and suicides.  As we finally did our cool down stretches, we confidently declared that by the time we finish this program we are going to be ninjas!  With this assurance, we made our way back to our room.  We hurried to shower and get ready.  We had dinner plans with Prianka!  Prianka is the girl who lives in the apartment right beside us, and also the one who rescued Rachel when I accidentally locked her out.  She is so nice, and we were really excited to get to spend some time with her getting to know her better. 

We decided on Blue Waters for dinner.  We had only been there once for dinner, so it was nice to go someplace a little different.  As we sat down in the booth, Prianka told us about her job as a designer.  Lately though she said her job title is more like “jack of all trades.”  We surveyed the menu and I settled on a fish steak, Rachel on a mushroom sizzler, and Prianka on paneer dish.  We talked easily and our food came quickly.  Everything was absolutely delicious.  As we sampled each other’s food, we decided that we were very impressed with Blue Waters as a dinner spot.  We talked more about Manipal and compared our experiences here.  Prianka is from Jaipur and said that Manipal is very different from other cities in India.  Because the town came up because of the university, it doesn’t really have its own identity as southern or northern.  It’s just a mix of lots of different people and places.  It was so interesting to hear her perspective.  I could tell she is very intelligent, and I hope to spend more time with her.  I appreciate having real conversations much more than the small talk that occupies so much of the day.  We finished up our dinner, caught an auto back to our apartment.  Rachel and I thanked Prianka for the lovely dinner and promised to do it again soon.  We were still so tired from our workout that we fell asleep almost instantly!

House Calls

After our yoga class Thursday morning, Rachel and I hurried back to the apartment to make Rachel’s Skype date with her volleyball teammates.  Rachel talked with her friends as I got ready for work.  At work, I decided to be healthy and walk all the way to the sixth floor.  Despite the fact that I workout every day, the trek upstairs was exhausting!  By the time I made it, I had decided that the elevator would be the new mode of transportation.  I settled in at my desk and got to work.  We invited Prasanna, Mr. Pai’s assistant, to join us for our tea break.  Since Mr. Pai is travelling this week, she was glad to have a distraction.  She told us all about her family, and we told her about our yoga classes.  Soon it was time to get back to work, and we made our way up the stairs. 

After work, I had plans to meet with Fr. Francis and go visiting the elderly and homebound and bring them Communion.  I left work a bit early and started on my way towards the church.  When I arrived, Father and I hopped in his car and were off.  I was excited to spend time with these people again, hoping that I could add something to their day.  We arrived at Lillian’s house first and went inside to find her.  She was sitting on the back porch enjoying the nice weather.  As we said hello, she looked very happy to see us and eagerly told us about her children who were on their way to visit her.  After chatting for a while, she asked me to pray for her and assured me she would be praying for me too.  I thanked her, assured her I would, and wished her a nice visit with her family, before Father and I headed back to the car.  Next on our list was another elderly woman.  Her grandchildren were outside playing cricket when we arrived, and as we got out of the car, ran into the house, “Father’s here, Father’s here!”  After visiting with her and her grandchildren for a while, we went to visit Paul.  Paul had some liver problems and had to go through dialysis, but despite all that he was so much fun to be around.  He spent our whole visit making jokes and talking and laughing.  He lived with his family, his wife, adult daughter and her husband and their two children.  Although a modest home, the family was so generous and welcoming, and brought us coffee and lots of sweets. 

We really enjoyed our visit and had to remind ourselves that we still had one more stop to make.  After thanking Paul and his family for their hospitality, we got back into the car and drove towards Mary’s apartment.  Stepping into her home, her daughter, Liz, welcomed us in.  She was visiting with her friend, and just excused herself to go find her mother.  As I sat down beside Liz’s friend, I said hello, not sure if this woman spoke English or not.  When the clearly Indian woman replied with ease and a perfect English accent, I was quite surprised.  She spoke better English than I!  As we carried on a conversation, she told me that she lived one floor up and had been friends with Liz for a long time.  Soon Father called me to come say hi to Lillian, and I said goodbye.   Walking into Lillian’s room, Father told me that she wasn’t feeling well today so she would stay in her bed.  I sat down beside her and talked with her for while.  I think she understood me, but I could hardly understand her.  Eventually she made her way out to the living room and sat down to take some coffee.  Liz came and sat down as well and told me that her mother understood English perfectly, but had more trouble speaking it.  I asked about her friend, and she told me that she was an English teacher.  That explained it! 

We sat with Lillian and her family for a while, learning that her birthday was coming up.  She would turn 75 in a few weeks.  I also got to learn more about Liz, who told me that she has been a nurse for 25 years and is now going back to school for counseling.  After several chocolates and having to refuse more coffee, we decided it was time to leave.  Father dropped me off at my apartment.  I thanked him for allowing me to go with him and made my way inside to see how Rachel had spent her evening. 

As I walked into the apartment, Rachel told me she went for a run and had already showered, painted her toes, and ordered some food for dinner.  Such a productive evening!  When she asked how visiting had gone, I told her all about my travels and the people I had met.  Then I did the Insanity workout for the day, relieved that it was the recovery day.  Soon our food came, and we scarfed it down before skyping with our Director of Career Services.  After a quick update on both ends, we crawled into bed, both very content with our day.  

Care Package!

Waking up, Rachel and I were both sore from our Insanity workout.  After struggling to pull on our yoga clothes, we walked to yoga, hoping we would actually be able to do the poses.  I felt surprisingly loose, and we both enjoyed stretching.  After getting back to the apartment, I ate my breakfast (thankful that we finally had food!) as I skyped with my parents, catching up on the family tennis nights, picnics, and final swim meets of the season.

We hurried off to work through the rain.  Soon after we arrived, a man walked in carrying a large package.  My heart jumped a bit.  Could it be my care package from my family?  Hooray, it was!  It had taken three weeks and the poor package looked like it had been through quite a lot, but it was finally here!  I was so excited that you would have thought it was Christmas!  I resolved to wait until I got home to open it and set it aside.  Working for the next hour knowing that my package was right there waiting for me was so difficult.  I excitedly emailed my Mom to tell her I had finally received her package.  Finally I altered my resolve and decided that I only had to wait until lunchtime.  But that didn’t work either.  By teatime, I called Rachel over and we dug in.  Opening the box was like opening a treasure chest.   Along with a cute card from my family was four boxes of Kraft macaroni and cheese, a box of Little Debbie Zebra Cakes, Multi-grain Cheerios, and popcorn.  Mmmmm!!!  Did we really have to wait until we got home?  I emailed my mom again to tell her thanks for all the delicious goodies.  Content after getting to see what was inside, Rachel and I went to get tea and looked forward to a delicious macaroni and cheese dinner.  I could hardly wait. 

When I met with Mr. Kiran that day, he told me that I had to move desks.  A new accounting guy was coming in and needed my desk, so I would move up to the HR department.  I was sad to leave my friends in the little accounting office, but excited to get to work with so many of the people I already knew.  As I gathered up my things, I wondered how I had managed to accumulate so much in such a short period of time.  I found my new desk and settled in.  Nitu was very excited that we would be working so close together.  So was I!  I re-introduced myself to the girl who works across from me, Abha.  We met when I first arrived, but that was over five weeks ago.  I also introduced myself to the girl beside me, Sulochana.  She is also here doing an internship, but she is in her masters program.  Nitu asked what my care package was, so I showed her the goodies my mom had sent.  She was only familiar with the popcorn, but I assured her it was all delicious.  I gave her a Little Debbie cake and promised her she would love it.  Happy to be working in such a fun office, I got back to work on my cost sheet. 

I met with Mr. Kiran again late in the afternoon, and after working more on my cost sheet, he took me to get some tea at a nearby restaurant.  Along with the tea, he also ordered a white dosa for himself and a masala dosa for me.  He explained that a masala dosa is a large fried pancake rolled up with a potato mixture inside.  You pull the dosa apart into little pieces starting in the middle, pick up a bit of the potato mixture, and dip it into the chutney.  It was absolutely delicious!  He told me that most of the Americans 

he knew liked this dosa because of the potato.  I observed that Americans eat potatoes much more often than Indians.  He told me about his travels in America, including the Grand Canyon, California, Hawaii, and many other places.  He is so much more traveled than I, even within the United States!  After finishing up our tea break I thanked Mr. Kiran and went to find Rachel.

On the way home we talked again about how wonderful our mac and cheese dinner would taste.  The only thing that stood in our way was an Insanity workout.  After a little pre-workout zebra cake snack, we set off for the gym.  Although I felt that zebra cake as we exercised, we both made it through the workout successfully.  We hurried up the stairs as best we could and put a pot of water on the stove as soon as we got back.  After a few rough estimates, we had macaroni and cheese!  We dumped in on a plate and dug in.  It was so tasty!  After scarfing it down, we decided we also needed to try the popcorn.  That was delicious too.  I finished off with an apple and sat back full and content.  Crawling into bed, we caught the beginning of “What Happens in Vegas” on TV.  We watched for a bit before falling asleep, still thrilled about the care package.  Thanks Mom!

You Can Get Married on a Tuesday?

When we realized that we, yet again, had no food in our apartment, Rachel and I decided that we would treat ourselves to the famous Valley View breakfast.  The hospital where we take yoga is conveniently right across the street from Valley View, so after yoga we made a beeline for the hotel.  Never disappointed, Rachel and I feasted on fresh pineapple juice, dosas (pancakes), watermelon, muffins, and omelets.  When we couldn’t eat another bite, we made our way back to our apartment to change and get ready for work. 

Work went well; I kept working on my cost sheet and met with Mr. Kiran about my work thus far.  We decided that I have done well and learned a lot about costing, and I should move on to learn about a few other areas of accounting.  No sooner had I sat down at my desk, than Mr. Kiran comes bursting into my office to ask if I want to go to a company wedding with him.  Apparently someone from the accounting department was getting married.  A bit confused, I asked if Rachel could come too.  When Mr. Kiran nodded, I went off to get Rachel and see if this made any more sense to her.  We were equally confused.  People got married on Tuesdays here?  And in the middle of the day?  We asked Akshata, who works in the Think Tank, and she just nodded at looked at us like we were crazy.  She told us people get married on every day of the week.  We shrugged and decided we might as well go!  So we went to find Mr. Kiran with barely any idea as to what was going on.

We hopped into Mr. Kiran’s car and asked him if people generally got married on weekdays.  He explained that the actual marriage ceremony was yesterday, but the reception was today.  And people chose what day they got married based on their horoscopes.  Even the exact time of the ceremony is based on their horoscope.  In fact, everything related to the wedding is based on the star signs of the bride and groom.  It was incredible to me how much astrology influenced Hindu life.  We were so surprised, and explained that American weddings are usually on Saturdays, with a reception immediately following.  As we arrived at the wedding hall, the driveway was crowded, and Rachel and I could hardly wait to see what this would be like and how it would compare to the other wedding. 

After taking off our shoes, we walked into the beautiful wedding hall.  The walls were brightly decorated with deep purples, dark greens, and bright pink.  Again there were flower streamers and what looked like a throne on stage.  The room was scattered with 

plastic chairs and people.  As we sat down to wait our turn for lunch, we saw a few people we had met at the last wedding.  We said hello and caught up a bit before going in to the dining area.  Soon we found a seat and started preparing ourselves for what was sure to be another delicious meal.  The same pattern followed as the last wedding: servers moving up and down the rows of tables and serving the various foods.  First they brought the banana leaf.  Then they brought pickles, potato salad, rice, and a few different gravies, among other things.  Then when we had all eaten our fill, they brought dessert.  One was the hot fruit mixture we tasted at the other wedding, but Rachel’s new favorite looked like hardened honey spirals.  I tasted mine, but it was far too sweet for me.  So I passed along to Rachel, who didn’t mind a bit.  After well wishing the bride and groom, we jumped in the car to head back to work. 

After work we finally went grocery shopping.  We got several fresh mangos and even more bananas; I still love all the fresh fruit here.  We also stocked up on other things we needed, but our best purchase by far was what we affectionately refer to as the “bug zapper.”  We mentioned to a few people that we get absolutely eaten alive by mosquitoes in our apartment, and they recommended a plug-in mosquito repellant.  We were a bit skeptical as to how effective it would be, but as soon as we plugged it in, all our doubts vanished.  It was like magic!  We haven’t seen a mosquito since! After our victory over the mosquitoes we made our way down to the gym, hoping that Insanity wouldn’t get the best of us.  Thankfully, we made it through the workout but just barely.  We dragged ourselves up the stairs to our apartment to shower off and order food.  There was no way we were going out after that!  We inhaled our dinners and collapsed in bed, hoping we wouldn’t wake up too sore!

National Strike = Holiday!

Monday began normally enough, yoga, breakfast, then work.  But on the way to work we noticed that there were hardly any cars on the street and the whole town just seemed dead.  When we got to work, same story.  We knew that there was a national strike today protesting the rise in gas price, but we didn’t know it would be this effective!  Everyone stayed home from work to make the statement that the price of gas was too high to carry on day-to-day activities.  It seemed like all of India had come together.  Sitting in my empty office, I started checking emails.  When one of the ladies in my office came in, she explained that Manipal Press was off today but Manipal Group had to work.  After returning some emails and talking with her a while, Rachel came excitedly to tell me that we could go.  I grabbed my things and said goodbye as we started on our way home.  I was slightly disappointed since I still couldn’t get the Internet to work in the apartment, and I was actually enjoying my work.  But Rachel was more than ready to get home as we were both so tired still. 

As I lay down to watch a movie, I mentally decided that I would go back to the office in the afternoon.  Despite my resolve, I fell asleep only minutes later.  I woke up five, yes 5, hours later.  Rachel said she had napped too, but only for three hours, not five.  Apparently I was much more tired than I thought!  It felt so good though, and I guess I needed it.  After I woke up from my epic nap, Rachel and I watched the end of “Like Mike” before working out.  Now, for our Insanity workout program, the first month is about 40 minutes of moderate intensity, then a week of recovery, then the second month is about 60 minutes of higher intensity.   Monday was the first day of the second phase, and holy cow, it was tough!  We did the fit test before starting the actual workout, and I was overjoyed when my computer died halfway through the workout for the day. 

As we nearly crawled back to our apartment, we passed a coworker in the hall who told us that China Valley was open.  We were so relieved!  We had skipped/ slept through lunch because we didn’t have any real food in our apartment.  We quickly got ready for dinner and walked the short distance to China Valley.  We were so hungry!  We ordered chicken lollypops, fried pieces of chicken on a stick, as an appetizer, and a chicken sizzler, grilled chicken with gravy, rice, and french fries, for our main course. After a delicious dinner, we were surprisingly tired for two who had slept so much that day.  Nevertheless, we fell asleep before ten, looking forward to how energized we would be the next day.

Happy 4th of July!

Saturday began normally: yoga at 7, work by 9, tea break around 11, and lunch at 1.  You might say that I like schedules.  Today for lunch, George took us to a restaurant called Dishes.  It had a really good vibe, bright red booths, blue walls, and white trim.  How appropriate for our early Fourth of July!  We sat and talked and planned our trip to Mangalore the next day.  It was a nice lunch, and it’s always nice to have someone who can tell us what’s good. 

When we got back to work after lunch, Akshata told us that we had permission to leave early as a kind of holiday for July 4^th.   We were so excited, but I almost didn’t know what to do leaving work at such an early time.  Rachel did though!  As we walked back home, we called Mike and asked him when we wanted to start cooking.  He told us to come over whenever we were ready, so we stopped to pick up groceries and drop our stuff off in the apartment.  When we realized how many ingredients we had, we decided to be innovative and loaded up my book bag with everything.  Walking through the rain to Mike’s apartment, I couldn’t help but laugh at all the cooking supplies weighing down my backpack.  My book bag was nearly bursting.  After a bit we arrived, and we were so excited to actually get to cook. 

Pulling out our supplies and turning on some music, we got started.  Rachel started peeling the apples for the apple pie while I started making our homemade piecrust.  Meanwhile Mike worked on stuffed mushrooms, and I could hardly wait to taste everything.  We had a few minor setbacks, but nothing we couldn’t manage.  We forgot our apple pie needed a crust, so after looking up a recipe online we set about making a homemade piecrust.  Because of the humidity, I wasn’t able to roll out the dough very well, and we had to settle for a crosshatch design on top.  But despite our innovative fix, we hoped that it would come out all right.  Our lemon bars however, did not have such a sunny outlook.  After accidentally using melted butter instead of softened, the crust on the lemon bars was far too fluffy.  When we gave up on the crust, we decided to pour the lemon mixture in and see what happened when we cooked it.  Much to my horror, the lemon mixture fell through the intended crust.  I called Rachel over and we just stared at it for a while.  Finally we decided that we might as well bake it and see what it decided to do. 

After a few hours of hard work, Rachel and I had apple pie and potentially lemon squares to show for our hard work. Our lemon bars weren’t out of the oven yet, so we hoped to come back to something edible at least.  We left Mike to finish his masterpiece, while we went home to workout and get changed.  An Insanity workout and a shower later, Rachel and I were back at Mike’s door.  The delicious smell of food welcomed us in, and we went straight to the kitchen to find lasagna in the oven, broccoli in a pan with melted cheese, and garlic bread in foil waiting to be warmed up.  It looked and smelled heavenly!  Now you may laugh because this whole meal is more Italian than American, but it looked like home so it didn’t matter.  After surveying what Mike had done since we’d been gone, our eyes landed on the ominous lemon squares.  We grabbed spoons and prepared ourselves to taste our concoction.  Much to our delight, it tasted like lemon squares!  Given its unorthodox look, we affectionately renamed it lemon blob.  We were very pleased with ourselves and snacked on our dessert while we helped Mike finish up.  When Mike jumped in the shower 

to clean up, we searched for dishes to set the table and put all the food on serving plates.

After what seemed like forever, Mike emerged and Aj arrived with his famed cheesecake.  We sat down to eat with our mouths watering.  The food was delicious.  I could hardly believe how good it tasted.  I didn’t realize how much I missed American food until then.  After we gorged ourselves on the wonderful meal and thanked Mike for his hard work, it was time to dig in to the apple pie.  Much to our delight it was delicious!  We declared our homemade crust a success!  We voted to save the cheesecake for later, cleared the table, and started playing games while we waited for the rain to stop so we could set off the fireworks.  We finally gave up on the rain and went out to Blue Waters for a bit.  It closed at 12:30 again, but we found out that it was the club owner’s birthday.  We made sure to tell him happy birthday in between meeting Mike and AJ’s friends.  We were invited back to Sandeer’s birthday party and decided to go for a little while.  Soon we were all getting tired and headed back to Mike’s apartment.  After sampling AJ’s cheesecake, which was absolutely delicious, we went back to our apartment to crash. 

Sunday morning came way too early as I woke up to go to 8 AM Mass.  As I grabbed a rickshaw, I thought about how lucky I was that church was so close.  Mass was beautiful as usual, and as I was walking out the Mother Superior remembered my name and stopped to say hello.  I wish I had remembered hers!  Then I passed Fr. Francis who also stopped to say hello.  It was so nice to have some friends at church.  I walked home content and looking forward to our day in Mangalore.  Rachel and I met George at the bus stop at 11.  Well, Rachel and I got there a little before 11, and George got there closer to 11:20.   We always forget that everyone is on “India time.”  We hopped on the fancy new A/C bus after buying the Rs. 65 ticket ($1.40) and I fell asleep for most of the hour and a half ride there.  When we arrived, we jumped off the bus and started for Bharath Mall.  The first thing we did was go 

to the food court.  We surveyed the different restaurants: North Indian, South Indian, Chinese, a sweet shop, a fresh juice stand, and a few others.  After a few minutes’ consideration, Rachel and I opted for the North Indian thalis. After enjoying our lunch, we walked around for a while looking in all the different stores.  Rachel found a pretty necklace, George bought a new pair of jeans, and I picked out a pair of running tights.     

After shopping, we decided to go see a movie.  Rachel had been dying to see “A-Team,” so we stood in line for tickets, looking forward to seeing what Indian movie theaters are like.  After purchasing our ticket for only Rs. 170 ($3.60), we headed for the concession stand.  Hey, if we’re going to see a move, we’re going to do it right.  When we got to the front of the line, we got to choose between caramel, cheese, or salted popcorn.  Such variety!  Sticking to the classic and getting salted popcorn, we made our way to our theater.  Even with George there, we went into the wrong theater on our first try.  Luckily we made it to the right one on our second try, and sat down in our assigned seat.  The theater was huge, and the seats were so comfy.  Soon the previews started, and finally the main feature began.  As Rachel and I munched on our popcorn we excitedly watched the movie, almost feeling like we were back home.  However when intermission rolled around, we looked at each other in confusion as to why a cartoon was dancing around on the screen.  Since when are there intermissions for movies?  But George assured us that there is always an intermission, so we sat back and talked about how much we like the movie.  Soon “A-Team” returned and we sat enjoying the second half of the movie.  I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to see a hilarious action movie. 

After the movie, Rachel and I were both exhausted, so we jumped on a bus heading back to Manipal.  This time it wasn’t an A/C bus, and everyone was crammed together some even having to stand during the long bus ride back.  Luckily Rachel and I both got seats, Rachel perched on the edge of a row and I squashed between a man and a woman.  The crowd thinned as we went through Udupi and got closer to Manipal.  After what seemed like forever, we arrived in Manipal and Rachel, George, and I gratefully leapt off the bus.  We thanked George for our fun day and made our way back to our apartment looking forward to an early night.  Rachel had some cold lasagna and fell into bed.  But not being a fan of cold leftovers and only sometimes knowing how to operate our microwave, I ordered a grilled chicken burger and some fries.  I seem to eat way more unhealthy food here than I do at home, but I guess it’s the only thing that tastes like home!  After inhaling my food I passed out beside Rachel, and our day was officially over.