it has been a long time since i have updated my blog and i have lots of pictures to share.
the first pictures are of children at the mango house. at the end of every month we have a birthday party for the children. we painted their faces and played games!!!! the marriott donated a birthday cake for the children. i think that they really enjoyed it!!!
last week we had the children do a talent show. they got to dress up and wear make-up. they formed groups and did a performance for the other children. before allan and i moved here we bought a video camera so we were able to record it all. the children got really into it. you will also see some pictures from that. the video is really funny so i will figure out a way to post parts of it or when i come home i will show people.
there are also see pictures of my birthday dinner with allan and the volunteers. first everyone came to our hotel and then we went to a restaurant called hotel venite. i had such a nice birthday. allan and i got to celebrate our birthday together since they are only one day apart.
at the hotel every single staff person knew it was our birthdays. from the moment i left my hotel room in the morning to the moment i entered the lobby to go to work i think i had more people say happy birthday to me than ever before. actually they do not say "happy birthday" they shake your hand and say "many, many happy returns of the day" imagine hearing that about 100 times in five mins. it was so nice. for both of our birthdays the hotel gave us each a bottle of wine, flowers and cake. mmmmmmmm it was so good.
my friends and i just took an amazing trip to karnataka which is in southwestern part of india. we stayed in a place called hampi. it was an eight hour train ride (there are no flights from goa to hampi) from goa but very very well worth it. it was beautiful. hampi is known for stone temples, elephant stables, barracks and palaces. you kind of feel as if u are living in bedrock. if you want to learn a little more about hampi you can look at this web page. you will also find map as well!!!!http://www.world66.com/asia/southasia/india/karnataka/hampi/history
we stayed at a place called garden paradise. it was such a nice place. the owner was great. if you ever go to hampi your really need to stay at there because i think it was what made the trip so much fun.
we stayed in little huts which were pretty much on the river. it was really like camping. we had to pay for hot water and in the morning the owner would knock on the door with the buckets. it was actually really fun to stay in the huts (although i have to admit it was really nice to come back to the marriott after a few days.)
the food at the "hut hotel"was really the best food i have had in india. the chef was amazing. the girls i was with also agreed that it was the best food. the chef and his family are originally from nepal. we tried to encourage him to move to goa and we would help him find a job at one of the restaurants.
one of the biggest population of tourist in hampi are israelis. on all the menu's, at every restaurant we went to there was always the choice of, indian food (obviously), chinese food, tibetan food and israeli food.
since i have been in india (goa) i have only met one person from america. when i was in humpi this weekend i met four people. two were from colorado, one from california and one of them was a student at wisconsin!!!!!! it was so nice to see people from the u.s!!!!!
we were lucky to come across a tailor shop who imports clothing to the u.s and europe. we spent at least a couple hours a day at this shop and tailor made cloths for us. we told him what we wanted and he pretty much was able to do it. he made me two pair of corduroys (just how i like them) and a coat for fall time. my friends got a bunch of things also. the two pair of pants and coat i bought only cost me 20 dollars. i couldn't believe it.
definitely definitely definitely take the train (day train) to hampi as oppose to the bus (that is if you come visit us in goa). it was such a beautiful view. we saw waterfalls and went through and around the mountains. it was fun to stand at the door of the train and just watch (mom and jordy i made sure i wasn't going to fall out!!!)
we also met some very interesting people on the train. the people of india are very fascinated with foreigners. we had teenage girls coming up to us on the train begging us to sit with them, anytime we got up to look out the door of the train people would follow us and ask if we would take a picture with them. within five mins of standing there we would literally have 15 people surrounding us also wanting pictures. we just laughed the whole train ride there. it was a good start to a great trip!!!!!
i can't wait to take allan the next time. he is lucky to have his own personal tour guide. i won't even charge him one rupee!! i wish he could experience all of the things i have been experiencing. i know i say this every time i write in the blog but he is working super hard and doing such a good job. i know that he loves to hear all of my stories!!!!!
the rest of the pictures you will see are more pictures of the children at the mango house and pictures of angelo (our friend and driver) and his family when they invited me to their house for lunch. now, that day alone was quite and experience. i suppose everyday in india is an experience!!!!!!
ok that is it for now. allan and i leave on nov 9th (this friday!!!!) to go to china for one week. allan will have to do a little work but we should have plenty of time to do some really fun things.
after are adventure in china we will be making our first trip home. (we arrive in chicago on nov 18th) we are so excited to see our family and friends. i feel like we have not been home for sooooooooooooooooooooo long. it will be nice to have a break. i should say it will be nice for allan to have a break.
see all of you soon and if i am not seeing you soon we will talk soon
love abby
Monday, November 5, 2007
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Saturday, November 3, 2007
angelo (my friend who is also our driver) his wife monica and his two year old son. they invited me over for lunch one day. it was an interesting experience. i thought we were all going to have lunch together but instead they served me a plate of food, sat on a couch in front of me and just stared at me. they did not talk they just stared. talk about uncomfortable.
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