Day 14: Mangalore and Kerala

Today, after we woke up, we, along with Sue and Chandru, said goodbye to Gauriama, Vijayama, and Suroja, the maids, and Archie and Nala. We went to the airport and got on a flight to Mangalore. Once we got there, we got in a big bus that Sue had rented, and drove the 3 hour drive down to Nileshwar, where we checked into the Kanan Beach Resort. I got to sit in the front, which had the best views, but I had to wear a seat belt. It is on the Kerala coast, and has 10 cottages. They have really good pineapple and banana. There are many power outages there, and the Wi-fi is really spotty. I am going to post this when we get back to the Novotel in Mumbai, where we are staying 1 night, then flying out the next afternoon.

Day 13: Bangalore

Today was the day of the wedding. I woke up with a 102 degree fever, but I was fine by the time we got there. I still have a cold. The wedding was very traditional, and there were blessings, and we ate off of banana leaves for lunch. My mom and aunt and Sue and Ann all dressed in sarees, and me, my cousin, and my uncle dressed in kurtas. Mine was green and bronze. There were many Americans at the wedding because the groom was from Montana. There was a band playing traditional Indian instruments. There were many pujas, such as washing feet and the groom refusing to marry. They got married, and I, along with the rest of my family, went and blessed them by throwing rice coated with turmeric. There were birds made out of peppers and leaves. On the way out, we saw a monkey eating a tamarind.

Day 12: Bangalore

Today, we went to a Mehndi ceremony for the wedding tomorrow, where there was a puja, or blessing ceremony, then lunch, then Mehndi, which is the same thing as henna. My mom got a henna which is very pretty. I dressed in a turquoise kurta. Breakfast was dosas and lunch was murgh chicken tikka with paapad and parathas. For dinner, we ordered Indian Chinese takeout.

Day 11: Bangalore

Today, we woke up and had breakfast, which was idlis and podi, we kind of hung around the house and went shopping for presents. We had lunch, which was fish and vegetable cutlets. We then dressed up and went to a wedding party. There was nobody we knew, and the food handed out wasn't great. We went home early, because my mom had a fever and I had an eye infection.

Day 10: Bangalore

Today, after we woke up, we left Delhi and flew to Bangalore, where we found my cousins and went to Sue and Chandru's, who are family friends. My cousins are staying there, and we are staying at Sue's mother's house next door. We went shopping on Commercial Drive, which has many shops. We bought Indian shoes for me, a pashmina for my mom, and presents for friends. We brought Sue a mask for her collection. We then came home to have dinner with more family friends. Sue and Chandru have a cute dachshund named Archie and a cute boxer named Nala.

Day 9: Faridabad

Today, we woke up in Agra, had breakfast, checked out, and went to see the Agra Fort. It is a huge fort, that we could only see about 10% of it, because the rest is being occupied by the Indian Army, and just that 10% took an hour and a half. I know the math doesn't add up, but the entire fort would have taken more than 24 hours to see. We then drove to Akbar's Tomb in Sikandra. Akbar was a great Mughal emperor, and he was buried in a huge tomb with his children. We then drove through many towns and cities on the way back to Delhi, but we spent most of our time in Faridabad, a poor, smoky city maybe two hours from Delhi, which had camels and many other things, like goats, pigs, horses, and bullocks. The rikshaws are also much bigger than Mumbai and Delhi. When we got up this morning, it was 4° outside! But luckily tomorrow, we are going to Bangalore, which is much warmer, almost 40°. We finally got to our hotel and crashed, because we were all very tired.

Christmas Post

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
(Even though it's Christmas here and it isn't Christmas back home)
:)