First Indian Meal

Well I finally had my first Indian meal at a real deal Indian restaurant. It's called Koyla, on the higher end side. I tried to find things as plain as possible and avoid anything spicy (in order to protect my mouth and my stomach.) It was a valiant effort, I found the tomato soup (above) which was surprisingly really sweet and the plain naan to be my best bets. Everything else had the Indian spice and burned my tongue. I think that's all the adventure I'll have with Indian food for a couple weeks ~

Upcoming Trips

More vacation plans in the upcoming weeks...

The Ganges River

1) Varanasi - a big group is headed to Varanasi this coming weekend. What's there? The Ganges River. It's the river of Northern India and Bangladesh. The river has a long history of reverence in India and is worshipped byHindus as a goddess, often called the "Holy River." It's said to be cleansing in more ways than imaginable. Some have dared to jump in (ie. Schweitz) but I think I'll just watch from afar (not sure what kind of bacteria/living/dead things are floating around.) For more info, Click Here.

Ruins of Hampi

2) Hampi - located within the ruins of Vijayanagara, we're headed here in a few weeks. It will be a 12 hour train ride to get there, 12 hours to get home. Hampi is a place for motor scootering, shopping and temples. Apparently what I'll see will be worth the journey. For more info, Click Here.

The Taj Mahal

3) The "Golden Triangle" (Delhi, Agra, Jaipur) - Taking a trip to see the Taj Mahal (in Agra), Delhi and Jaipur. The cities are within a 5 hour driving distance of each other. Here's some touristy info on the triange, Click Here.

First Massage in India

This weekend I stayed low-key in Hyderabad taking care of a bad cough. To lift my spirits I treated myself to a massage at Latitudes Spa, same facility I have a gym membership to. It was a nice massage, however nothing compared to the massages I'd get from Kathryn back home (yes I miss you Kathryn!) I got the signature massage (full body deep relaxation massage) and instead of lotion she used olive oil which was new. It was the first time I received a head massage as part of the package, I felt like she was washing my hair! After the massage she led me to a steam room for 10 minutes and that really helped open my pores. I finished my pampering with a honey and ginger tea. Total cost was around $35USD including tip, which is much cheaper than spa massages back home. Next time I'm going to try the Thai massage which my roomate Suzie raves about, she's had it twice and claims its the best massage she's ever had!

Battling on the Dance Floor

The little boy in this video started battling an older girl during a dance performance at Rainbow Primary School (in a slum neighborhood in Hyderabad, India.) It was ADORABLE!

Rainbow Primary School

Saturday morning a group of us went to volunteer at a local slum neighborhood primary school started by Leigh Anne Gilbert, wife of Roy who heads the Google office here in Hyderabad. Ismail, a friend of Google and the man who organizes all our rides, drove us there and showed us around. Upon entering the school there was a chalkboard hanging that took attendance for all the students. As we go in we are welcomed with swarms of children, shaking our hands and saying hello. It was fun being around the kids and seeing that they were spending their Saturday mornings learning rather than playing or begging on the streets. Headmistress Madam Usha told us that these children were very smart for their ages; they grab onto the resources and materials around them because they aren't given much else.

We said hello to all the classes, ranging from preschool to level 5. One of the preschoolers sang the "Hokey Pokey" for us, it was adorable. Ismail brought boxes of cookies for us to distribute -- the children performed a clapping song to thank us for bringing them the treat. All of the children loved the camera, they kept getting up from their schoolwork to get on film.

Waving "hi" to the camera

After cookies were distributed some of the children performed dances to music played off a boombox. Most of the dancers were older children, although one young girl blew us off our seats! She came onto the dancefloor really shy, but started getting into the song once the music started. We had a blast watching these kids dance and have fun, we were saying they should go on Dancing With The Stars! I'm posting a video of the dancing in my next post.

Getting her groove on!

That's us and the teachers

Holding little cards that said "Stop, children are walking"


I really liked Madam Usha because she reminded me of my grandpa. She kept pinching my cheeks just like my pa-pa :)

It was a very humbling experience, I look forward to helping out more on my weekends here in Hyderabad. I spoke with Madam Usha a few days before I went to the school, she told me that she would like to help get ALL the begging children off the street and provide them education. It's tough because the government doesn't support public schooling as they do private, so many low income children have no option but to beg. Thanks to Leigh Anne and Google, Rainbow Primary School was founded, providing education to over 250 slum neighborhood students. To learn more about the school, Click Here.

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The People of South Africa

Washing clothes on a hot day

Having Fun

The pasteur at Soweto's largest church

School Girls

Here are some pictures of the people of South Africa, hope you like them!

Soweto babies

Cute little boys we saw in a local shanty when touring around Soweto, Johannesburg. They loved the camera!

South Africa: Johannesburg

Kids playing at a neighborhood water pipe in Soweto

More kids at a shanty in Soweto, they want to be pilots when they grow up

Inside Nelson Mandela's living room (in the house he lived at before he went to prison.)

My favorite picture of two little boys running around the shanty in Soweto. They loved the camera! (Check next post for a video)

The South African flag inside the apartheid museum

Palm reading at Moyo restaurant. She said I need to be more adventurous and take risks.

We got our faces painted too!

Trying on fun clothes and hats at the African Market in Jo'Burg

That's me in there, getting swarmed by a crowd of school kids outside the apartheid museum. I tell ya, kids love to have their pictures taken!

Entering Soweto ("SOuth WEst TOwnship")

Thursday we arrive to Johannesburg. We didn't have high expectations because everyone we met in Capetown warned us that it wasn't a nice place to visit and that it was really dangerous., but we weren't going to let their comments get the best of us.

We arrived at The Grace Hotel located in Rosebank, Jo'Burg. It was a beautiful, sophisticated hotel with artwork of all kinds hanging on every wall. After we unpacked, we shopped at Rosebank mall (which was right next to the hotel) and watched an African indy movie 'Conversations on a Sunday Afternoon.' The film takes place in Johannesburg around the story of a man who searches for a Somalian refugee he met one day at the park. The tells him of her escape from Somalia to South Africa. In his search to find her again, he meets exiles that have fled into South Africa, talking to them about their experiences of xenophobia, racism and economic hardship. It was a touching movie although extremely slow in pace. For movie info, click here. That night we ate at Moyo, a modern African restaurant. It was a festive place -- waiters dressed in traditional African wear, live bands playing African tunes. We had our palms read and faces painted during dinner! I had a really good seared tuna and hot chocolate.

Friday I ran around Jo'Burg, it was really beautiful because the streets are surrounded with purple flower trees (they looked like cherry blossom trees.) My shoes have sure made their way, SF, India and now Africa! After breakfast we went to the Apartheid museum. It was a great lesson in SA history, it made me appreciate the people I've met and the country a lot more having endured apartheid and the effects of racism. To get a deeper understanding for these events, we decided to visit the township Soweto. Soweto is "SOuth WEst TOwnship," where blacks were moved during the apartheid era to work and live. It was the most important township because it was the place where black youths and students rebelled against the Govt during the famous Soweto Riots. There is a lot of history in this township and it was very moving, please take time to read more about it and click here. In Soweto we saw the house where Nelson Mandela lived before he went to prison, and visited the Soweto museum which detailed the events of the riots.

The landscape of SA - of the people and its culture - is truly shaped by the effects of apartheid and segregation. Every single person we met in Jo'Burg knew so much about their history. I felt a strong sense of pride from all of them, it was really admirable and inspiring.

When we arrived back at the hotel, we saw F.W. de Klerk in our hotel lobby! He was president of SA when Nelson Mandela was in prison. He and Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to end apartheid. I wanted to get a picture of him but he had left before I could grab my camera. Instead, Anna and I took a picture of where he was sitting, haha. That night it stormed so we ate at a closeby seafood restaurant. It was probably my favorite meal of the trip because I had sushi! The next morning we headed back to India. It was an educational, adventurous and extremely fun trip, you all MUST go someday! A great time would be for the World Cup in 2010 -- the country is already preparing for it with new stadiums, hotels, shopping malls :)

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Wine Tasting in Cape Town

Here we are singing "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers. What a fun time!

Singing Boys

These were the boys singing at Lion's Craft Market in Hout Bay. They were adorable and GOOD! It was their first music video.