Happy Thanksgiving and some other randomness

As it’s my Thursday (Thanksgiving day in the United States) I’ve been thinking about the things that I’m thankful for and this year my list is very simple: clean water that I can drink, regularly scheduled and reliable trash pickup, that I have a job and can feed and provide shelter for myself, and the sense of community that we are slowly building here in Bangalore.  Of course there are others, but living here has made me realize how lucky we are to have even the most basic of our needs met and it has also surprised me how much we miss our sense of community back home.

I’ve been talking to one of the trainers at the gym while I work out and we were talking about all things food.  Some big food news in India is that Starbucks is coming to India.   The current India equivalent to Starbucks is called Café Coffee Day.  There are multiple of them in the city and they can be found along the major highways too.  I will be interested to see how Starbucks does here because at Café Coffee Day you can get coffee and a pastry for about 150 INR or $2.50.  The same is true for lunch if you want a light lunch.  So, I’m interested to see if Starbucks is able to charge the same prices they charge in the United States here in India.  What I found even more interesting is that he said he can go out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner here in India for about 150 INR and if he makes his meals himself it is much cheaper than that!

We are hopeful to get to Skype with both of our families as they celebrate Thanksgiving.  I’m going to try to make fried chicken, potatoes, and green beans for our supper so it will be somewhat similar to the feasts our families are preparing at home.  We even have chocolate cake to eat with our supper!

I haven’t blogged as much about the food I make here because all things food have been much more difficult than I imagined.  Our kitchen is lightly stocked with cooking gadgets and my attempt at Indian food fails miserably every time.  I recognize that we could go buy more gadgets but there is a certain degree of adventure and challenge in cooking with the things we have.  I’ve adapted well and baked a chocolate cake in the big soup stockpot just the other day.  I’ve also been making pizzas in sauce pans.  Oh, and one of the cleaning guys showed me how to open a can of beans with a knife!  (I’ll be buying canned goods with the pop-top from now on as the can opener we have is an ancient artifact that belongs in a museum!  I don’t recommend opening canned goods with a knife.  He managed not to cut himself but I am not so sure the result would be as positive every time!)

I’ll try to do a better job blogging about the things we make here.  I hope you’ll find it interesting! 

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving!  It doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving here with the warm weather, sun, and other festivals we’ve gotten to participate in.  I do miss winter squash, sweet potatoes, and green beans so fill up on those for me. J

Hampi Pictures

I've let too much time go by without posting more pictures from our trip to Hampi.

I'll spare you the history lesson and let you look at the pictures.  To give you a very high-level overview, the area is thought to be created from volcanoes that eruped under the ocean millions (or maybe even billions) of years ago.  The volcanoes created granite, so pretty much everything you see is granite.

It's amazing that thousands of years ago without the equipment we use today, people built these civilizations that are still standing today.  They think it took 30 or more years to build some of these things.  Can you imagine if we wanted to buid something today and they told us it would take 30 years?  We would say no thank you!

 Ganesh is inside this structure.  Notice the detail on the top.  Also, on the right there is a lady bent over cleaning the grounds.  It gives you a perspective of just how big all of these things were!

Check out this two-story structure. 

 A piece of the mountain broke off and fell on this structure, but it was still standing.  Just this one corner was not 'square' but the rest of the structure looked to be in good shape.

 That temple is probably 13 stories tall, but from this vantage point it doesn't look like it!  It was mostly overcast while we were in Hampi.  That was a good thing because it could have been very hot!

 Check out the crazy eyes on this guy!

 This detail of carving was all over the place!  Here is an example of their hunting techniques.  I found it interesting that in that day many women hunted too.

 This was a water reservoir of sorts.  It's pretty deep - and there were 7 of these on this one site alone!

 The leaders used to go underground into this space to talk about private concerns.  (It had a top and was ultra-secure.)  Our guide told us about it and then asked if we wanted to go down the steep stairs to be inside it.  I emphatically said yes!  Bryan immediately said really? 
We climbed down the stairs and then had to turn into this extremely dark hallway that was really wet to get into the part you can see here.  About half way in I realized that that location is probably a perfect location for the highly poisonous snakes of the area and froze!  At that point it was clear why Bryan was so surprised I wanted to go down there!  Suzanne coaxed me into the open space below.  I'm glad that we went down there, and glad that we got out of there without any unwanted critters!

 We did a lot of climbing these small mountains on Day #2.  We stoped here for a break.  You can see by the red on our foreheads that we visited the temple earlier that day.

 This carriage was not build to move, but rather designed to be a piece of art.  It was really impressive!  We heard it is one of the most popular spots in Hampi.

 This was the entrance.  You can barely see the intricate carvings at the top.

Many Hindu people travel here if they are unable to have a baby or if they are in need of a home.  They tie little bundles to the tree and hope they can have a baby or build little homes at the base of the tree if the yare in need of a home.  If they do have a baby or get a home, then the couple brings their family and friends here for a huge feast.  This picture doesn't really do it justice - there was SO MUCH stuff tied to the tree and on the ground.

 These were Elephant stables for the Elephants.  It seemed to be a very nice place for them.

Veggies, ah veggies

If you know me very well you know that I don't love vegetables.  I will eat them because I know they are good for me but I never think to myself, "Gee, I'd really like some (insert vegetable here)."  My thinking is more along the lines of "Pizza, yeah, that has tomatoes on it.  I don't think we need a vegetable to go with pizza!"

Fruit?  Now fruit is a different story.  I have no problem consuming inappropriately large amounts of fruit!

After finding out that I couldn't have gluten or dairy, I decided I should really try to eat more vegetables.  Ok, maybe I didn't decide that I needed more vegetables, but it was something I could eat so instead of limiting myself even further I thought I should try to consume more vegetables.  Oh, and by consuming them it also meant consuming large amounts of hummus and salad dressing to wash them down.  Whatever it takes, right?

Now that we are in Bangalore I've fallen into my old habits and have not eaten many vegetables.  And, for the past week I've been actually craving them.  (My Mom is never going to believe that I was actually hungry for vegetables!)

On Friday I went out for lunch and ordered a salad.  It was a bit smaller than I would have liked but it was delicious!  It even came with red peppers, tomatoes, and onions on it.  Oh, and it was real lettuce, not just iceberg lettuce. 

About an hour after lunch I became sick.  Really sick.  Laying on the bathroom floor sick.  Hardly getting out of bed sick. 

I've been taking Cipro for more than 24 hours and am hoping that it's going to kick in soon.  In more than 24 hours my main sustenance has been Sprite. 

What I know is that I likely won't be craving vegetables, especially salad, anytime soon! 

See, I knew vegetables were bad for me!

Visiting Hampi

This weekend we traveled about 6 hours north of Bangalore to Hampi.  Hampi is in the same state that Bangalore is in, Kanartaka, but felt like an entirely different place.  It was a much smaller city that bustling Bangalore, but the terrain was different as well.  While Bangalore is flat, Hampi is filled with small mountains of granite. 

Hampi is actually an UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It is the former captial of the Vijayanagara Empire and is located within the ruins of Vijayanagara.  Hampi is an important religious center as it is home to the Virupaksha temple as well as several other monuments. 

We took more than 500 pictures during the two days were were sight seeing so I (quickly) reviewed a few and posted them here.  As I have more time to sort through the pictures and identify them I will update some more.

We went to Hampi with our friend Suzanne who is also living here in Bangalore so you'll see her in some of these pictures.  It was fun to have a travel buddy and share some laughs and memories!

This was a structure built out of granite.  Granite is not easy to carve or shape, but thousands of years ago without the equipment we have now, they cut and lifted the granite to make the amazing structures we saw this weekend.  They created tongue-and-groove joints to ensure that their buildings would be sturdy.  You can see in the picture above just how sturdy those joints are!  A huge bolder broke off and hit the monument but it is still standing.  You can see it is crooked though!

We visited many temples including the one behind me.  I think that one is more than 10 stories high.  I've grown since you saw me last!  Actually, in the background you can see the other large hills/small mountains and I'm standing on top of one for this picture.

You can see the same temple behind Bryan, Suzanne and I.  This time it's a bit closer to scale but not quite right.  You can see the tongue-and-groove joints in this structure though.

 Here are some more pictures to tempt you until I can get captions and label them.

(See - look at all that granite!)

The beauty of India

Bangalore is a huge city, but it doesn't really feel that big (maybe because I don't have to drive myself anywhere and can't really get around without Suresh or walking a short distance from our apartment).  To me, Bangalore feels a lot like Washington D.C.  Bangalore is also called India's Garden City and has the most beautiful flowers and plants. When I stayed in Washington D.C. I thought they did such a good job keeping a lot of plants as the city grew, and the same can be said for Bangalore.

Here are some pictures of flowers and plants we've taken since being here.  Many of these were from our time in Coorg too.

These trees flower with the most beautiful flowers.  They are right next to the pool at the apartment and I love them.  They do drop their flowers somewhat often though, so I'm sure that the pool boys don't love them as much as I do!

Yikes!  Look at the thorns on that plant!  These were at the elephant training camp where there were all sorts of animals wandering around as well as humans.  I can't imagine what it feels like to step on one of those!

These bell flowers were in Coorg and we loved them!

Suresh does a great job of pointing different things out to us, so we are getting quite the stash of agricultural pictures too!  Sometime I'll share the rice paddies, sugarcane, ginger, and more that we've seen!

Coorg – Day 2. Is this what Kim Kardashian feels like?

Day 2 was full of sightseeing including the following:

Nisargadhama (an ecological park) – We started our day at this popular ecological park.  We heard that it had a deer park, boating, and elephant rides.  We visited specifically for the elephant rides.  Once inside this ecological park I felt like I was in 3^rd grade visiting Harry’s Woods in Clarksville IA, just on a smaller scale.  It had the typical river, a lot of trees and benches to sit on, some flora and fauna, and deer.  The deer were huge.  We could have gotten into the river, but I don’t feel any desire to get into a muddy river anywhere so we skipped out on that part!  The biggest drawing card, the elephant rides, was shut down as they did not have any elephants.  Bryan was disappointed but we knew there was another chance to ride an elephant at the Dubare Elephant Camp.

What we did not expect at this ecological park was to be the object of so many people’s desire!  I’ve heard and Bryan has experienced locals wanting to take pictures of or with Americans.  Obviously, we stick out and while there are a good number of expats in Bangalore, we are less common in rural areas.  At first some people approached and asked if they could take our picture.  We happily agreed and went on our merry way.  Then, a group of 6 people wanted our picture and we agreed again.  Bryan was sure that “this” was what Kim Kardashian feels like.  I assured him it was not.  There were a few people who chose to hid behind a tree or not-so-discretely take our picture which was just awkward.  We decided we would much rather have them ask to take our picture.  At the deer park we stumbled onto a larger group of 12 or so people who each needed their picture with us individually and then in random groups.  Really people?  You can’t take our picture and share it with your friends?  At some point we told them we were done taking our picture and walked away.  Then, a tour bus full of high-school age boys noticed us and came charging at us.  We took a picture with the first boy (it pays to be past and observant) and then I told them they would have to ask their friend for the picture.  Then I changed my mind and decided I would rather that they stood back and took our picture while peering from afar!

Dubare Elephant Camp – Since there were no elephants at the ecological park Suresh took us to an elephant training camp that also had whitewater rafting.  I did love whitewater rafting, but again, I’m not doing dirty muddy water and this was more like rafting than white water rafting so we just hit up the elephants.  To get to the elephants we had to take a boat across the river to the training camp.  Bryan really enjoyed riding the elephant with 6 or so of his (now) closest Indian friends as they were really sandwiched on top of the elephant!

Abby Falls – Our last stop of the day was a waterfall.  We drove up a different mountain and Suresh parked and then we walked down the mountain to be at the base of the waterfall.  It was misting but the views were amazing!

Day 2 in Coorg ended as we celebrated our first month in India.  Our time has gone by fast and we are excited to plan some more trips to take in as much as we can before we have to head home.

Coorg – our first weekend trip

Last weekend we went to an area called Coorg, an area 5 hours outside of Bangalore but in the same state, Kanartaka.  The main city is Madikeri, and is a tourist hot spot for relaxation and connecting with nature.

We stayed at a hill station resort that Bryan and I both imagine was similar to staying in a cabin in the mountains in the States.  It had the necessary things like a bed and bathroomand was simple enough to encourage people to  be outside when not sleeping.  We saw a lot and have some great stories, so I’ll post 3-4 separate posts about our trip; Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and a post about the flowers.

We left Bangalore at 7 AM on Saturday morning to begin our treck to Coorg.  Suresh, our driver here in Bangalore, took us and we were thankful to have him as he navigated the congested roads and the roads that were hard to get through.  I don’t know how we managed the whole trip without a flat tire, but Suresh did it!

A bit outside of Coorg is a Golden Tietbetan Temple, Bailkuppe.

This gold-coated Buddhist temple was really unique, and may have been my favorite part of the whole trip.

The photo above is the temple from a distance.  After removing our shoes and getting closer, we were able to see just how ornate this temple was!

We went inside and it was HUGE.  While the intricate paintings surrounded us, the statues and decoration at the front was amazing.

 

  

The grounds were large so we looked around a bit before leaving to meet Suresh to take us the rest of the way to our resort.

The resort price included 4 meals (breakfast, lunch, high tea, and dinner).  The south Indian food was familiar and tasted good.

After checking in and having lunch, Suresh drove us to Talakeveri, where the Cauvery river starts.  It is also home to a popular temple.  As it is monsoon season, and we were outside Bangalore which is protected from the monsoon rains that the rest of the country gets, the rain picked up and the fog set in.  The humidity was high and the visibility was short.  Suresh navigated the partly paved one-lane road with ease, especially when we met other vans, tour busses, and uncareful drivers.  I’ve seen 2 or 3 lanes become 5 or 6 in Bangalore, but imagine driving up a mountain on a windy one-way road that becomes two!  He did it with ease and we made it to each of our destinations safely.  We tried to take pictures, but they look like blobs of white! 

So we headed back towards our cabin. 

We did stop to see the sunset at Raja’s Seat, a famous viewing spot for sunset and sunrise but due to the fog and our inability to find the sun, let alone see it set, we headed home for the night.

Check back soon for posts about Day 2 in Coorg!