saris and such

last night we got all dolled up to go to night under the stars. once you get over paying a bundle to go to a SCHOOL function, this was hands down the best party of the year. school was transformed into a bollywood film. red carpets, spotlights and paparazi and even a hookah lounge. it was beautiful. you can see all pre and party pics on the picture site. we were lucky that skye's maid helped us get into those saris. it is truly an art. i think the sari is just a beautiful thing. notice how all of us wore them quite differently.
i loved it.

chicken schnitzel in paradise

went up to rishikesh this weekend to see eamon. we stayed in town at a cute little place called the swiss cottage. our suite was right behind where eamon is standing and had a killer view of the town and the river. spend the days bumming around rishi and finding little, peopleless beaches. headed up to camp on saturday and got some good reading and tanning done, even got a little rafting in on sunday with some indian clients. ha. that was a trip. of course, a trip well taken with fabulous company, and great food, see title.
back to the drawing board here, only 10 more weeks of work. who is counting? i am, for sure!
much love, and happy mondays!

what do you know about crickets?

i have one in my guest room. super loud chirping. apparently that is the mating chirp. only males can chirp. who knew? some people think it means money is coming in....or that rain is coming. i prefer the former.
:)

have you seen juno?

i love that movie. it is most definitely on my top 5. a little obsessed with the soundtrack as well.
hi blog. it's been a while. since i have last posted there have been several exciting happenings. these are the top 8.


1. i changed my blog layout. clearly

2. i went to kashmir. indian kashmir i guess it should be called. kashmir has been disputed land ever since the british left. the paskistanis also have a kashmir. because of this closely disupted land it is heavily occupied by the indian army. i heard that more that 75% of india's soliders are up there. i don't doubt it. kashmir, and it's people are just beautiful. the british used to holiday there because of it's pleasant temperatures when it's hot as ever in delhi.

we cabbed it from srinagar up to tangmarg, where we transferred into another 4x4 with chains. it was fabulous for us that the kempers were part of this journey. never would've thought to bought a bunch of water at the gas station on the way up...ah so many things to learn about traveling in india. once we made it up to gulmarg the first thing that made me giggle was the dudes who pull toboggans around. sometimes with indians sitting on them. the giggles continued, but were sometimes just a mask to the incredible frustration that lack of infrastructure that exists even there. i'm slowly learning i need to be a little, ok, A LOT more patient with my indian friends. of course, i paid a deposit for the powder 160 skis, but i understand that you already rented those out. sure, the 170 early model parabolic skis will do. giggle giggle.

the skiing was beautiful. there aren;t any cleared trails, only the trees and the groomed road option. and then there is the beast that was the top of the world. i should've trusted my gut instinct to ride the gondola back down, but i couldn't help but want a taste of the pow pow that the top of the mountain held, but 45 minutes into my pursuit down the mountain, i was defeated, physically and mentally. glad i did it, even more glad i didn't take of my skis and walk down the mountain like i wanted to. another crazy indian experience.


3. i bought a sari! last weekend my friend skye took laura, kendra and i to the sari wallah at sarojini nagar market. it's much like carpet shopping in india. you are memorized by continuous patterns and colors being plofted in front of you, and all of a sudden you convince yourself that you know what type of silk that really is, and you justify to yourself why you need the most expensive one you have seen. it's crazy like that. so, again, thank goodness for skye who was with us who taught us all about the buying a sari process. who knew that ladies wore a petticoat under their saris? or that you have to take the blouse to a tailor to custom make it, or that they have to add a 'fall' to the sari. clearly, not kendra, laura or myself:)

4. I practiced wrapping my sari. HA, there are pictures on skye's camera that i will get to show you.

5. i decided what to do when school is over....i'm going to get PADI open water diving certified in bali. apparently my 40,000 united miles will take me from delhi to bali for FREE. get out of here! how rad is that?

6. it's hot here. i spent the afternoon at the pool. yeah for a tan.

7. world language week has come and gone

8. 12 more weeks of school


thanks for not giving up on the blog. will post again soon
love,
b