Wedding Invitation

We expats are invited to attend Niru's wedding next week! I'm really excited because I've always wanted to attend an Indian wedding.
Indian weddings have many rituals that have evolved since traditional times and differ in many ways among the regions and caste. The ceremonies are very colorful and extend for several days, just like in movies Bendit like Beckham and Monsoon Wedding. The one we're attending is a southern Indian wedding somewhere in Hyderabad. I can't wait, now I have to think of what to wear... For more info, Click Here.

Getting the Hang of Indian Food

Me, Joel and Stacy wearing bibs (Green = Veg; Red = Nonveg)

Look at that lobster, mmmmm!

The naan is bigger than David's head

If you can believe... I'm starting to get the hang of Indian food. This past weekend we ate at Peshawri at the Sheraton which was my favorite Indian restaurant so far. Didn't dabble in anything spicy, creamy or cheesy, but for the most part it was very tasty! They had a HUGE naan for the table and delicious lobster. Even the Dahl (similar to Mexican bean dip) which I find extremely spicy was manageable because it was mild in flavor.

Cricket Team

Google Cricket Team!

There's the wicket

There is a cricket team here at work, we went to watch them play last night and they won! I'm still learning the rules of the game, but from what I could see it looked like we were kicking butt. There is a big tournament in a few weeks, good luck team!

Holiday Party

We expats roll deep

Love the sarees!

Tonight was our Holiday Party! (Same night as the one held in MV.) We expats were really happy to be celebrating the holidays in India since Christmas isn't really celebrated here. I loved hearing Christmas tunes, seeing Santa and a tree and everyone dressed up for the event. Stacy and Joel did a phenomenal job planning! It started off with the choir harmonizing some great Christmas caroles, followed by Elton singing, and then dancing to a popular DJ! We all dressed in our best attire, both western and Indian. I finally got to wear my saree that I bought and had tailored last week. Everyone looked great, I had a blast.

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Awww, the girls

Oh CHRISTMAS TREE

Rainbow School Project

A few of us are going to help with a fun project for the kids at Rainbow School. For the two older classes, we're taking individual photo shots and framing them so they can decorate to take home. It's a great project and allows the children to explore their creativity!

Here are some photos of the students:

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My First India Buddy

Me and Veera, my first India buddy :)

Veera and I were set up as buddies last year, it's been such a pleasure hanging out with her. She has been a great, great friend to me!

Team Offsite Dinner

Soum telling us a funny story

Nicolette, Me and Divya

Anna and Sirisha

Ordering more food

Last night we went to a team offsite dinner at the Waterfront. It's a beautiful restaurant situated along the water on Necklace Road (where I ran the half marathon Sunday.) It was a mix of Thai, Indian and Chinese food ... most of it was surprisingly NOT spicy. We had a good time, the team is fun!

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Hyderabad Half Marathon!

If you look closely it says "Mr. Charise"

Pretty cool T-shirt for registering

Today I ran the Hyderabad Half Marathon, 2:00hrs flat. It was a fun race, started at 6:00am, beginning at Necklace road to Charminar and back. There were no timing chips or offical clocks so I went based on my own stopwatch. Only 15 women ran the half along with about 300 guys, and an estimated 10,000 ran the 10k. A lot of people were running barefoot, in trousers, sandals, socks, jeans, not sure why or how they did it! I got a certificate of acheivement and a medal. I wish my support group from home was there to cheer me on, it would have been nice to see friendly faces at the finish line. I didn't get any pictures of myself running but there were a lot taken during the race. Hopefully I'll appear front page of the Hindu Times :)

Here's the map for the Half Marathon loop

Saree Shopping

Aren't these fabrics goregous?

Today Suzie and I went shopping for saree's to wear to the holiday party this coming Friday. We should have brought a local with us, but luckily there were many women in the store buying sarees who gave us advice. There were so many beautiful fabrics to choose from (cotton, silk, polyesther, linen) -- I ended up picking a goregous black silk saree with red and gold flowers. We also had our blouses made at a nearby tailor, we'll pick them up this week to try the entire ensemble on. Saree's are hard to wear, imagine wrapping one long piece of fabric around and around to make this wrap style dress. We'll definitely need some help from our housekeepers to get dressed Friday night. I can't wait to see the entire outfit put together :)

(The night before having dinner at Okra, restaurant in the Marriott)

Maybe I Shouldn't Be Vegetarian?

So I was reading this article on an Indian website about vegetarianism thinking it would tell me reasons why I should stay veg. However, it included a study done by Dr. L.C.Gupta, one of the world's most prolific medical authors, who presents information regarding the social aspects of vegetarianism. He found in a study of 1000 criminals with 500 Veg/500 Non Veg:

Social Behaviour	Non Vegetarian	Vegetarian
Alcohol	172	44
Smoking	106	38
Narcotics	32	6
Theft	42	18
Sex offense	43	11
Murder	18	4

The study shows that criminals are generally vegetarian!! Pretty funny stuff, haha. Maybe I should reconsider eating meat again???