Back

Sorry I kind of gave up on this blog.

In case anyone was still checking or wondering.... ha ha ha!

I'm back. Finally.

I can't tell you how happy I was to hear the US Customs Officer say "Welcome Home" as he stamped my passport. Bliss.

America...

Trip superceeded expectations.

I have so many amazing photos I have to some how recover after my camera sticks and laptop got infected by the Indian Cyber Cafe virus. Hopefully I can do that soon.

At any rate, thanks for coming along on my trip! Hope you enjoyed.

Love, Janelle

Amesha's Birthday.....is Tomorrow!

Gamer told me "No gift - only bubbles". Ha - like I'm really going to listen to that nonsense.

I already had a few more things (not pictured below) - like 2 mini fans - they are going to loooove! And I'm going to give mine to Gamer's mom. She is so happy and greets me "Namaste" with the biggest smile every time I see her.

But I couldn't resist. Today I went to Crosswords - a very nice bookstore here. And bought them some scholarly items, pencils, crayons, paper, erasers, sharpeners,a puzzle, etc.

I told Gamer about it today and his face lit up like you wouldn't believe. I can't wait.....

Dinner tonight with Gamer & Gunga and then back to his house for visiting.

Hope everyone is well. I'm NOT looking forward to my trip back tomorrow....AT all. I had to purchase a new plane ticket to Delhi because of the prevalent cancellations and delays over here.... nothing is ever on time. I don't want to risk missing my flight back to the US. So...a lot of sitting in the Delhi airport tomorrow. Then a lot more sitting on planes...

Talk to you all later! I'm off for my last night here and I also have a tremendous amount of smart packing to start.

P.S. Mom, because I know you're going to ask, Amesha is going to be 7!
Love, Janelle

Mehndi

Well today I said screw it and went to the spa at the hotel. It was interesting because I asked for a manicure and pedicure they said "Certainly maam" then ask if I wanted "Nail polish?" Ah.... (?) I said "yes" and they replied not enough people were requesting it, so they don't have any.

Ok... so I took a trip to the mall. Bought two tiny bottles of nail polish for over 2 dollars each and came back - only to have my toe nails and fingernails both get entirely messed up because they don't know how to paint. (I know I probably should have anticipated that.) But anyway I couldn't deal with the toes - so I asked them to remove it and just re-painted them and my finger nails a 3rd coat in my room.) ANYWAY... the point of this post was... The woman at the spa told me the stamping is done with HAIR DYE!!! That's harsh chemicals on your skin and also the reason it burns and stays on so long. I'm sooo glad she told me that. So Gamer and I went to the mall and had this henna done instead. Much better- no long bus ride, fighting through crowds at the market - plus we stopped for a slushee afterwards.

Manicure and pedicure = a complete waste of money. I did however get a 45 minute massage that was heaven.

Love, Janelle

Bubble Delivery

I brought along a few suprises for JDeep & Amesha from home. The first was some bubble wands from WalMart - that literally cost 1$ each. Words can't describe how I felt sitting there with his family last night watching these two little kids go completely NUTS over these bubbles!I'm pretty sure they've never seen anything like it before. It was just... - well, I can't even say... Priceless is as close as I can get. (And I hope that doesn't come across as hoaxy. I probably shouldn't even attempted to explain it - lol.) Today gamer told me they were up until 12:30 last night playing with them and then JDeep woke him up at 5:30 this morning and asked to play some more. Lol.

P.S. And I think it's super cute the family (when talking to the kids) refer to me as "Auntie".

Love,

Janelle

Dinner With Shailesh & Surla by 26 Mile Motorcycle Ride..ugh....One Way

The language barrier does pose some problems. Lol. For example last night I thought Shailesh and his wife were coming to Gamer's hus (less than a mile from my hotel). Well....I was wrong. Instead Gamer picks me up and we ride 20 some miles on his bike to Shailesh's house. Then even further to the restaurant. OMG! And it started raining on the way and of course neither of us had a helmet... this is India. The thought crossed my mind more than once that I might not live to tell this tale on my blog.

Main Room of Their House (has this one and the kitchen - Gamer told me "Shailesh big house. (Because his house only has one room.))

Once we get to Shailesh's house all of his neighbors had ccome to gather around outside to see the white person - lol. It was really cute. Gamer said "Shailesh very happy!!"

Shailesh's Brother
Shailesh & Surla in their kitchen (2nd room). We had a nice dinner at a Punjabi restaurant and tried our best at conversation.

Shailesh is taking me to the airport tomorrow. He and Gamer have requested 2010, "Sean & Janelle Return to India?" Then Gamer followed his own question up by replying "We will be waiting..." Lol. I soooo am not ready to leave yet. I wish I had planned more days here. But I guess I should get back to work soon to pay for this trip... It's been ever worth it.

Love, Janelle

Blame it on the Cold Drink

Well like many things in my life.... I had way too high of expectations for losing any weight. Lol. Melissa and I have had so many talks starting and ending with "We HAVE to have lost weight!" Because we hardly eat and it's so hot. Well, low and behold, I don't think I lost any weight at all. Which is just... well... not right - lol.

After being a little more honest about contemplating these last 3 weeks... I guess we did endulge in several "cold drinks"... and trips to Palampur for chips and Kit Kats - lol. It was our saving grace. We convinced ourselves, basically that we couldn't survive without all 3. Lol
Oh well! This trip has been amazing and I wouldn't change any of it.

Perhaps our mangos & momos diet will start at home. At least that's the plan...

Love, Janelle

Precious Time with the Desai Family

The greatest thing ever. I checked in at my hotel the other night around midnight and the receptionist hands me a business card and said "Your friend stopped by". I look and it was Gamer's card with his new phone number. OMG, I was soooooo happy! I had sent him a letter telling him I was coming to visit and the dates and the hotel I was staying at.

The tall boy on the right is Gamer's brother's son. Gamer's brother died 4 years ago in a driving accident, so now his son lives with Gamer's family.So - since I arrived in Ahmedabad, I've been spending a lot of time with Gamer and his family. We fell in love with them all. And my gosh, they are so sweet. They're sooooo happy I am here visiting. It's crazy.

I've been cruising around town both days and nights with Gamer on his motorcycle. Which actually I can hardly believe myself. I haaaate motorcycles. But Gamer is a good safe driver, and he is very proud of his motorcycle and city and wants to make sure I have the best time while I'm here, so I'm happy to go with him:)

Shailesh & Gamer. (I swear guys have a thing here about specifically trying NOT to smile - because trust me - they were both super happy earlier today.)

Today Shailesh calls me also. I was sooooo happy! Gamer said he did not believe I was in India again - so he had him call. Then Shailesh says "Me pick up, Pride Hotel?" I said "ok" and went outside to see them both standing there waving and smiling. It was the best ever :)

Of course now I must mention... both of these guys adore Sean. And they both were slightly confused as to why he isn't here with me. And I think mad - lol. They both have so much respect for him..., "Hi, Sir!" And me, I think they just think I'm funny and like to shop a lot. :) Both true though. Gamer was interested in the pictures I brought of me teaching in America though. And Amesha particularly liked these pictures too.

Today Gamer drove me all around town looking for purses, even though I told him it's fine, I can get in Delhi on Wed. Then we stopped for 2 cold drinks.

Tomorrow night we are taking the city bus (scary & hot!) to Old Ahmedabad because I want to get henna stamping done. I'm super psyched. Gamer knows all the best places to go. I wouldn't get half my stuff done without him:)

OH (side bar) - Babe he took me to the "map" store and I got a really nice fold up India map and book for 50 rupees. Also, when we stopped for the first drink he pointed to the menu at "vegetable burger" and said "you & Sean, Old City- Mc Donalds?" I laughed and said, "Yes, Janelle & Sean = no money, Gamer money!" and he laughed and said "Yeah!". He seriously remembers everything. It's so cute.

Amesha, JDeep & Gamer. OMG :) Amesha was wearing the outfit we bought and had tailored for her 2 years ago. It was big then, but fits perfect now. I was so happy to see her wearing this :) Isn't she cute?

Gamer & his wife Gunga.Gunga & Me. Gujarati meal last night. Gamer's house. The whole family sleeps outside on beds. They have 1 indoor room, but it's too hot for sleeping. You can see in this picture a little to the right are the other beds.

This will sound awful, but I am still not sure if this is Gamer's mom or Gunga's mom. Anyway, she's super nice and here she is making citcheri - I know I spelled that wrong, but it's a mixture of rice and dal and you eat it with butter and/milk. We had some last night with our meal - this is what it looks like prepared.

This one is inside his house. They have a ton of cooking utensils/supplies, a couple cabinets, this bed, a black and white tv and that's pretty much it.I'm soooooo enjoying Ahmedabad and seeing our friends again. Life is good... and I am happy. (I do wish you were here though, Sean. I miss you and so do they. Immensely.)

Love, Janelle