Photobomb

It was so weird to go in to work today knowing that I only had one day left. It really is bittersweet. I am so excited to go home to my creature comforts: my bed, my car, my kitchen…and I really can't wait to see my little niece (who's five months old today)!

But on the flip side, I'll be so sad to leave the staff here. I have so much fun working with them every day and it's always a little depressing to think that I might not ever see some of them again. There's no telling when I'll be back and there's no telling who will still be around. For now, I'm just thankful that I had the opportunity to meet and get to know them.

Today we had a team lunch chockfull of delicious Indian food, including my fave: garlic naan! I, of course, brought my camera so that I could document the moment. I love that this team is so eager to "click" and be "clicked." It makes me happy.

Kunal acts all shy and then takes pictures that look like this. Had I known we were posing with some sass, I would have thrown down. Sheesh.

As we can see, Tajal knew that Kunal was no shy flower and went full-on sassy for this photo.

Once this photo was taken, Anita immediately exclaimed "awwww" because, well dammit, it's cute! Prashant cringed and said "please don't say 'aww'" to which we all responded by teasing him and say it over and over again. Boys are weird in every country. Fact.

Nikhil's hair is my new obsession. This kid rocks. He tried to say goodbye to me today because he thought that it was my last day and I literally yelled at him to go away. I believe I said "get away from me right now" because I didn't want to say goodbye until tomorrow.

Attempt #3 at this group shot went well. Priyanka and Nikhil joined us at the last minute, so clearly they were good luck.

I completely lost Varun during the picture portion of the afternoon. So, this is all I've got. Varun and his lunch tray. And Kunal looking like a cheeseball next to him.

What you can't see is Nikhil photobombing from the left. Instagram apparently did not like that and decided that only three people could fit in this shot. Side note: I would like to steal Lehar's hair. It's freaking gorgeous.

Oh, wait. There's Nikhil.

This picture makes me laugh. Vivek is taking these photos and in the one on the left I am telling him not to take the picture because he's too close. Clearly, he did not listen. Savs looks cute in both photos. Unfair.

While waiting for the big group photo, Sups and I decided to take a selfie.

Group photo! This took about 45 attempts and we were missing two people. Also, Shweta is hiding and we're missing Nidhi and Aditi. Yet, still one of the best group shots we've managed to take.

Last time I left, I cried from the second I started to say goodbye to everyone and didn't stop until I was back at my apartment. Here's hoping that having my manager in tow will keep me from getting overly emotional. I suck at goodbyes.

My suitcases are 99% packed and they are both super close to the 50 pound limit. I am nervous about the scale at the airport. What are the chances my half-broken luggage scale is correct? Heaven help me.

Ice ice baby

OMG I think I did it.

Two suitcases
Twenty-five pairs of shoes
Two weeks of clothing
Various odds and ends
All under 45 pounds per suitcase.

I was not convinced that it was possible. I'm still a bit concerned that my luggage scale might be lying to me.

Today I almost had a panic attack thinking about packing and trying to imagine how everything was going to fit. Everyone came up to me and said that they saw the now infamous picture of my purchases and asked me how I was going to pack it all. Every comment made me more and more terrified.

Thankfully, that's not all I had to think about today.

I was so exhausted today that I was convinced I would fall asleep at my desk. The one thing that kept me going was the knowledge that I'd be going to see Nidhi's family in the evening. I hadn't seen them since 2010 and was looking forward to the family time and a home cooked meal!

We got to the Joshi house and Nidhi's mom immediately started making me comfortable: giving me a place to sit, making me eat every snack imaginable, and, best of all, informing me that she was freezing ice for me! I have never been so excited in my life. Having a cold drink with ice has been my dream for  at least a week now. This coke with ice in the shape of little ducks was amazing. I think this might have been one of the nicest gestures I've ever received.

Dinner was amazing. Nidhi's mom made aloo paratha, a dish with peas and potatoes, roasted potatoes, egg curry, and dal. Yum. I think the aloo paratha might have been made specially for me and it was freaking delicious.

I think I ate about three parathas. I would have eaten more—Nidhi's mom sure did want me to—but I was stuffed! If only Nitish was here. Last time he kept egging his mom on, trying to get her to constantly serve me more food. This time I was able to get out of third and fourth helpings and her attention was easily diverted to Vikram.

Similar to last time, the conversation and company was wonderful. I really loved feeling like part of the family. Nidhi's mom kept repeating that she was so happy I could come to their home and visit with them and I kept trying to make them understand that I was the lucky one. She would have none of that.

I think I hugged mom and dad Joshi about a thousand times before I left. After my final hug, Nidhi's dad said "I think you like me a lot." Freaking adorable.

Once I reached home, Nidhi texted me and told me her mom said she was "honored that I could make it and I am better than some Indian guests" and her dad said that they were "enchanted and charmed by my presence." So sweet.

I can't wait to see them next time.

Shoes for everyone!

As predicted, I did not make it through the day without purchasing more shoes.

Sigh.

I give up.

I don't even have a place in my closet to fit all these shoes! I will need to do some major organization and cleanup for this to work.

Sim and Aasthaa picked us up this morning and we headed into Delhi to go to Swagath for lunch.

The food at Swagath was delicious. Beyond delicious. It was pretty darn amazing.

I had murgh malai tikka (which was fabulous), along with rice, garlic naan, and dal makhani. The dal was pretty much to die for. I could have eaten it by itself with a spoon.

After our bellies were full with the deliciousness, we went to GK for some shopping.

Like I needed to do that again.

Of course, we went to a shoe store. And of course, I bought shoes. This place actually had really cute jooties, but since I already bought five pairs and wasn't entirely sure how they'd fit once they stretched, I decided to stick to sandals. This place had these cute sandals that Sim was wearing on Saturday. I couldn't decide between white and green and my shopping partners were zero help. So, I ended up with both.

I'm going to be able to wear a different pair of sandals every day for a month.

Next we hit up various shops throughout the area: Fabindia, Anokhi, etc. I continued to buy a million different things I did not need. Yay…

Once we left GK, we went to another shopping area—no clue what it was called—to try and find palazzo pants for Ericka. We did not have any luck, but because we were in the area, Sim and Aasthaa couldn't resist picking up some street food and a chuski, which was similar to a snow cone. Apparently this one place makes them with masala (i think) so they are slightly spicy. Something like that.

Each chuski was made to order by this older gentleman. He would shave the ice into a cup, add the masala on top, add the syrup, and then shave more ice into a mold to make the popsicle  which he would then stick in the ice and spicy/sweet syrup-filled cup. It was fascinating to watch.

Shopping and eating is exhausting! By the end of the day, I was pooped. We left around 7:00 p.m. and headed back to Gurgaon. Ericka and I finished the day with dinner at Red Zen in the hotel. I'm now back in my room and trying to keep my eyes open for just a little bit longer. I think I'm fighting a losing battle.

One more thing before I go…

Happy Mother's Day to my Momma and my little Sis! Love you both!

Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world.

This morning I slept until 9:00 a.m. and it was glorious. When I woke up, I looked outside and saw a lot of activity, including two pigs with little piglets wandering around! You totally can't see anything in this photo, but they are there!

Sim and Aasthaa picked us up this morning to go shopping in Delhi. Aasthaa's driver gave us the ride, which was super helpful because finding parking at each location would have been obnoxious.

It took a long time to reach Janpath, so there was a lot of time to people watch. Per usual, I was mesmerized. The best part by far was when I saw an elephant walking down the middle of the street in traffic. I wish I had time to take a picture. It was so cool. Sim was like "oh, there's an elephant" and I was freaking out inside because it was so awesome to see.

I did some damage at Janpath. First came the shoes.

I can't even control myself in these places. The fact that I only bought three pairs (one for my mother) was pretty impressive.

I actually didn't go crazy at Cottage, but only because I had my crazy moment the week before at Craft Traditions. I did buy my dad a super-awesome gift that I can't mention here in case he's reading.

After shopping we left to get a late lunch at The Big Chill in Khan Market, one of my favorite restaurants in Delhi. Odd, since it's an Italian restaurant, but whatever. By the time we got inside and sat down, we were ravenous. Per usual, the food was delicious.

After lunch we…shock of shocks…did some more shopping! I finally made it back to Fabindia, we found a really cute stationary shop, and I bought even more stationary at Anokhi. Every time I saw a shoe store, I looked the other way. It's just way too tempting.

Once I was back at the hotel, I decided it would probably be a good idea to catalog my purchases. I had bought all of these items over the last couple weeks, but I hadn't really paid attention to what I'd bought and was starting to get worried that I'd repeat my purchases.

Good Lord, what have I done?

It's somewhat comforting to know that many of these purchases are for friends, family, and colleagues; however it is still worrisome that I have bought so much in the past couple weeks. And you can't even see the items in the full Craft Traditions bag! This is a big insane.

I really hope I can control myself a little better tomorrow at GK. I would like to say that I won't buy any more shoes, but who's going to believe that? Definitely not me.

I'm glad I brought a luggage scale with me. This is not going to be easy.

Highway to hell

This morning I was more exhausted than the Monday I first landed. Jetlag ain't got nothing on four hours of sleep preceding a full day of work and shopping.

Today was a great day despite my extreme lack of sleep. The office broke up into teams in the afternoon to create Global Service Day flower designs (they had a legitimate name that I can't remember what it was). The cafeteria smelled amazing—they were using jasmine and rose petals—and everyone's designs were so good. It was fun to see them all get competitive.

They even got me to participate—aka, I moved some flowers around while laughing at Vivek.

After work Aasthaa, Sim, Ericka, and I went to Dilli Haat. Because we left at 6:00 p.m., the traffic was atrocious. It took us 30 minutes alone to get out of the parking garage and honestly the only reason we made it out that quickly was because Vinesh went rogue and moved a barrier out of the way so he could drive through.

The ride to Delhi was horrific. I have never been so terrified in my entire life. Vanesh was rushing—I have no clue why—and was probably very frustrated by the traffic. He would speed up like crazy even when he could see that there was no where to go, so then he would have to slam on the breaks. This happened frequently throughout the ride. On top of that, we almost hit pedestrians, other cars and buses almost hit us… And at one point, we drove on the sidewalk. The freaking sidewalk! I honestly wasn't sure I'd survive the ride.

We finally made it alive and embarked on our shopping excursion. Once again, I bought too much. I think I ended up with eight pairs of sandals this time. When averaged together, I paid about $4.50 per pair, so not bad. I did at least buy a pair for my sister.

Shoe count thus far = 21 pairs.

To be fair, two pairs are for friends, one is for my mom, and three are for my sister. So, I guess the final shoe count for me alone is 15.

I don't think I'm anywhere near stopping. I don't even feel bad about it.

The rest of the weekend will be spent shopping in Delhi. I can't even think of what else to buy, but I'm sure I'll buy plenty…

I miss iced beverages

Despite the large quantity of food I consumed last night, I did not make it to the gym this morning. I'm going to really need to step it up a notch when I'm back in the states if I want to look halfway decent on the beach this summer.

Today was an extremely busy day. I have even less interesting things to say than yesterday. So, since nothing exciting happened, I'm just going to make more random observations/comments on life here in India.

1. The other day I saw a herd of cows walking down the main road. All the cars were swerving around them. Surprisingly no one honked at them. I wonder if that would be considered rude since they are sacred?

2. The waiters and service staff here at the Marriott are so attentive and accommodating. It's almost unnerving. No one is that eager to help in the states! And everyone wants to make sure that I'm doing well, that I'm enjoying myself, that I've had enough to eat… I feel very spoiled.

3. Everything delivers here. I feel so weird about ordering food to the office when I could just walk downstairs in the building. Even McDonalds delivers! I can't even imagine ordering McDonalds while at my office in Rosslyn. It's too bad they don't have Chipotle here in India. I would seriously order it every single day.

4. Gurgaon needs some authentic Mexican food. Rodeo, Picante, Salsa Salsaa…good effort, but Mexican food these restaurants are not.

5. Everyone still stares at me whenever I go anywhere. Especially outside of the hotel or the office. I've started waiving at them and saying "hi." If they can stare, then I can call them out on it, right?

I'm starting to get a little homesick. I really want to be in my own apartment, surrounded by my own things. I want a drink with ice in it so bad! And vegetables. I feel like just having fresh vegetables in my life would make me feel thinner.

Only six days left. That seems like a lot more now that I have written it down. Tomorrow I'm going back to Dilli Haat with Aasthaa and Ericka. I need to get more of the sandals I bought last week. Without Aditi and Priyanka to help, I don't think I'll be getting them for ₹300. Maybe I can at least swing ₹400. I mean, $7 for shoes seems reasonable.

Expanding waistline

I am so full from dinner, I can barely think about anything but sleeping. I will dream about getting fatter.

Actually, that's my nightmare.

Seriously, India is not good for my waistline. I just got done eating about 400 different types of dim sum. It was absolutely delicious and my eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach.

Outside my glorious dinner, today was not really that interesting and definitely not very exciting.

Woke up
Went to the gym
Got locked out of my room (Yes, it can happen with key cards, too!)
Took shower
Had breakfast
Rode to work
Worked
Had a disgusting lunch from Flip Bistro; Gross
Worked
Went to DimSumBros with Nidhi, Ericka, and Vikram
Ate too much food
Went home

Jealous?

Team Bhola

I don't think I like the woman who lives in the bathroom. She doesn't ever smile and seems annoyed whenever I come in there. You would think that I'd broke into her house or something. She really isn't a happy camper. I suppose I don't blame her.

I went to work today and blah blah blah…boring stuff…let's fast forward to the good part!

After work, Supriya took me to Kingdom of Dreams. It's like Disney World mixed with Busch Gardens and maybe a dash of Kings Dominion. It was awesome. First we stepped out of the cab and were greeted by some giant stone elephants. Once inside, we took a couple pictures in front of the beautiful buildings, fountains, and more giant elephants.

Sups and I then went inside this one area full of shops and restaurants from all the states of India. We settled on a restaurant featuring food from Punjab. Delicious, per usual. The restaurant was awesome and the wall was covered in clay pots with lights in them. Perfect for a photo op.

Then I saw this fascinating lady, right before she headed up a band/conga line. Awesome stuff.

Finally Nikhil joined us and we were ready to go inside to start Jhumroo. We had second row seats, which were quite amazing. Nikhil immediately began teasing me that I would have to dance. At first I believed him, but then I realized that he hadn't seen the show yet, so he was probably just making fun of me because I'm not a huge fan of dancing. Or public displays. Every time the dancers came out into the crowd, he would act like it was almost time for my dancing debut. Absolutely horrifying.

The show was a musical comedy based on the music of Kishore Kumar. The young man in the movie—Bhola—is a horrible singer who falls in love and dreams of being on India Superstar (pretty much American Idol). He is embodied by the spirit of Kishore Kumar so that he is able to sing on the show.

At least, that's what I think happened.

It was all in Hindi, so I mostly figured it out by listening to the music and watching facial expressions and hand gestures. I was pretty good at it, actually. Supriya kept leaning over to explain the plot and I would cut her off and repeat my version to see if I was on the right track. I almost always was. Winning!

After intermission, the reality singing show started up again with audience participation. They immediately came to us in the second row (the front row was empty) and zoned in on Supriya. Thank heavens. I literally shrunk into my seat with Nikhil laughing at me. Sups had to stand up and say who her favorite singer was and then they *gasp* made her sing! Thankfully she picked a song that seemingly everyone knew, so they all sang along. Then she got feedback from the judges. Hilarious! After Sups, they went up to a young man who had clearly decided that this was his moment to shine. He puilled the microphone out of the "host's" hands and started singing…and singing…and singing. Seriously, i think he sang through three verses before being asked to stop. Then he turned to the "judges" for real, legitimate feedback. Once again, he pulled the mic back from the "host" and started asking questions about his performance.

I could not stop laughing.

I wanted to stand up and say "This is not real. We are at a show, dude." But that would have drawn attention to me, so there was pretty much no way that was happening.

The rest of the show was awesome. Even the end where Nikhil's prediction came true and I was pulled out on the floor to dance. Thankfully Sups and Nikhil were pulled out of their seats, as well, so it was a bit more bearable.

All in all, it was a fantastically fun evening and I'm so happy I got a chance to go! It was worth it just to see that dude steal the microphone and sing his heart out.

Le sigh

I can feel myself getting fatter by the second. I don't know how people lose weight when they are traveling. I get that some people get sick in India because of the new foods and spices that they aren't used to, but apparently I'm made fo steel because none of that is happening. Instead, I'm eating tons of bread, rice, pasta, and surprisingly, pizza. I've eaten more pizza here then I have in the past six months. Who knew that would be a go-to item.

Maybe I'll feel less fat when I'm back at the gym five days a week. For now, I'm going to enjoy my new, Buddha-esque body.

Ericka arrived last night and we had a late dinner at the Chinese restaurant in our hotel—Red Zen. Ericka loves this place, but I hadn't had a chance to check it out yet. Having just arrived, she was wide awake, so I knew it would be a rough night for her. Especially since Monday is one of our early days. So, we were supposed to meet in the dining room for breakfast this morning at 7:00 a.m. I found a table, ordered breakfast, and waited. And waited. And waited. I started to get a bit worried that she hadn't set her alarm or didn't change her time zone or something horrible happened. Thankfully, she made it around 7:15—before I started panicking.

Vanesh was back today! And Ravi! And my waiter! Good day.

Work was less than thrilling. I was supposed to go to Kingdom of Dreams tonight with Sups, but we discovered that it was closed on Mondays. Giant sad face.

Thankfully, not all hope is lost. Sups and I decided to shift our schedules tomorrow (8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. vs. 11:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.) so that we can see one of the shows. Initially they wanted me to go to Zangoora, since it's more traditional:

Zangoora is a fantasy tale set in the fictional Kingdom of Shaktishila. It's a classic story of good vs evil as a gypsy boy Zangoora makes his journey to his true destiny of being a prince. A love triangle emerges between Zangoora, princess Sonali and a feisty gypsy girl Laachi.

Strung together with all time favorite Bollywood song the story explores a larger than life world- full of magic, music, dance, colour and all things Bollywood. Romance, drama, action, magic and scintillating performances and foot tapping music that promises to enthrall audiences like never before.

Unfortunately, Zangoora only had a performance at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesdays. So, instead we're seeing Jhumroo which looks really awesome:

A family entertainer in the true sense, Jhumroo will take the audience through the story of a lovable young boy Bhola, who leads a simple life in Mumbai, living with his father, working at an ad agency and fooling around with his friends. Bhola has only two dreams – one to be a singing superstar, an idea highly disapproved by his father considering his not so great singing talent and two, to express his love to Meena, a co-worker at the ad agency. Circumstances and events follow and the boy find himself in the finals of a singing reality show. How the music and spirit of Kishore da whom Bhola considers his idol makes this possible is an enchanting tale in true sense of the word.

Honestly, I don't really care which one I see. I am just really excited for the experience! Sups and I are leaving work at 5:00 p.m. so we can go there early to shop and eat. Then Adi and Aasthaa are joining us for the show. Can't wait!

Speaking of shopping, I should probably stop. But let's be honest, I probably won't. Just like I probably won't stop eating.

Le sigh.

Shopaholic

I finally got a full night of sleep last night. After the long, hot day on Saturday, I fell asleep around 11 p.m. last night. Early by India standards, but man was I exhausted. I slept straight until 9 a.m. Absolutely wonderful.

When I woke up and turned on the television, "Slumdog Millionaire" was on. There is something so interesting about watching that film while in India. Plus I just really like that movie.

Nidhi picked me up at 11 a.m. for our day of shopping. We spent almost all of our time at Galaxy Hotel. I was really looking forward to seeing Anokhi, but I didn't find as many items as I had hoped there. Probably a good thing considering the amount of shopping I did across today.

After Anokhi, I noticed this shop across the way called Crew Republica. Once I walked in, I saw the most amazing sandals. After much debating over style and sizes, I picked up two pairs for me and two for my sister. My sister really does make out like a bandit when I am out of the country. I almost always pick up two of everything so that she can have the same items as I do. Lucky girl.

Following Crew Republica, we headed upstairs for Craft Traditions. When I came last time, this place was called Cottage Industries and I famously spent ₹10,000 in true, dramatic Tara-shopping fashion! I was a bit more pragmatic in my shopping this time. No sweeping armfuls of papier-mâché elephants into a basket. I did, however, still manage to beat my previous shopping spree—₹12,000. Man I'm good.

We had worked up an appetite at this point, so we walked across the hall to Monk for some delicious Chinese. Noodles with chicken and yellow curry. Ah-mah-zing. I need to eat there at least one more time before I leave.

Full and tired, we made one more shopping stop before heading home—Metropolis Mall for a visit to Max. Sadly, I could not manage to find something else to purchase today, so I left empty handed.

Being that it's about a million degrees outside, we did make one special stop before reaching the Marriott: Cocoberry for some frozen yogurt. Thank you Lord. I devoured it. But not before giving the server a ₹50 tip. Why? Because I was in a good mood, I liked his service, he seemed very nice, and it was terribly fun to shock and confuse him. He definitely did not understand what was going on and seemed very amazed when he finally realized what happened. This made me happy.

Oh, and we passed this on the way home. Horse and carriage ride anyone? Totally random.

I have not yet recovered from my meal at Monk, so I feel like tonight's dinner might be a late one. I'm currently waiting for Ericka to arrive. Tomorrow I'll be back at work for an early day, but in the evening Sups is taking me to Kingdom of Dreams. Can. Not. Wait.

The long and winding road

Today was another amazing day for the books.

Adi picked me up in the office cab and we went off to fetch Aasthaa and then Sim. After a quick stop by an ATM, we were off to Rajasthan to visit the Neemrana Fort Palace. The drive itself was going to take ages, so we first stopped at a close-by McDonalds.

McDonalds is almost exactly the same in every country, but still has such noticeable differences. One of the big differences here in India is of course the lack of beef. Instead of a big mac or quarter pounder, they have something similar, but using chicken or veggie burgers. They definitely have more vegetarian options, which I imagine more people in the US would probably enjoy. For breakfast, they still had pancakes!

The traffic on the main highway was insane. I have no clue how long it took us to get there, because I was so distracted by the commotion on the road. We passed small towns, went through different states, herds of cows roamed around, people were darting back and forth across the road, etc. It was so interesting to people watch!

Finally we made it to the Palace Fort, which was spectacularly beautiful. This palace fort was converted to a resort hotel in 1986 and is one of India's oldest heritage resort hotels.

It was about a million degrees outside, so while beautiful, we sought out shade quite frequently.

After a couple drinks and a light snack, we headed back to the car where we found this little guy hanging out. I was slightly terrified that he was going to eat me or slobber on me or something, so I had to go into the car on the opposite side. I took photos from a safe, slobber-free distance.

We headed back to Gurgaon so we could get some late lunch/early dinner at Kobe in Ambiance Mall.

We also made a small stop at Dunkin Donuts—this first in this area—which was quite interesting. I was looking forward to a hazelnut coffee, but sadly, flavored drip coffees are not in fashion here right now.

When I got back to the hotel, I discovered this display on my table.

Good news—Ravi's back!