Wow.. It has really been a long time since I have updated the blog. It’s not that i don’t think about doing it, I just haven’t really had much time to sit down and write!

We returned to India and I was right back into the swing of work. We completely missed thanksgiving which stunk. The AWC who normally hosts it here had their celebration on the 20th as the actual date of thanksgiving was on the 1 yr anniversary of the Mumbai attacks. We were in Ireland on the 20th and here for real thanksgiving But I did go down to one of the memorials with a friend to honor those that died that day for a reminder for myself, but also for all of my jewish friends who found such comfort at the chabad house here in Mumbai. After the memorial, Folo came down to meet me and we had an impromptu thanksgiving dinner at Indigo. It wasn’t real thanksgiving, but it was the best we could do on such a sad day.

And now back to Mumbai…and slowly slowly getting back into the swing of things (well work that is). I have actually been very proactive since returning and have *almost* finished this house – After a year of being in it! We finally, or I finally bought a dining table, got things hung on the walls and got curtains hung up in the living room. Whoa! Now a few more finishing pieces and we’ll be finished and ready to move somewhere else

It has taken weeks of checking flights talking to people about what their plans were, etc. But finally we have finalized the whole shebang! We’d already purchased our tickets from BOM-SFO, but then needed to organize 5 domestic flights… not an easy feat, especially around xmas and new years. But we’ve done it! By we, I mean me, of course! And we even managed to get a first class ticket for one of our domestic flights for not so many miles

This is probably going to be the least relaxing ‘vacation’ ever, but at least we are getting to see a lot of friends that we’ve not seen in a while, see some new cities and just get some time off of work! Now lets just see how many times our bags are lost no no.. don’t want to jinx ourselves, but that is a lot of flying in a short amount of time. Thankfully we are using our miles for most of it though so it’s not costing as much as it would have! Glad that all these 22,000 mile return trips to the states is giving back somehow.

We’ve come up with a new plan… I think we have realized how difficult it would be to just “leave” leave india. So instead we concocted a new plan that might help us make a decision! The plan at the moment…

So there ya have it… so if you have been hankering to go to Europe, come for a visit at the end of next summer

It was brought to my attention last night that I have not updated since the end of March. I have no idea where the time has gone!

Stacie’s leaving party was a huge success.. too big of a success for my comfort level! Haha. There were seriously like a 100 people in my house, drunk and making a mess But the house survived and so did I. Amazingly, even having people stand on my couch, it doesn’t show any stains. Yeah!

After Stacie’s party I spent most of my time organizing her last few days before leaving. She had so much to do and was feeling so overwhelmed, so anal organized me took action! haha. It was so sad to see her go, but I know that we’ll continue to be in contact no matter where in the world we live, so I don’t feel such a gap as I might have pre-internet and pre-facebook. We chat almost daily online and talk on the phone usually once a week at least.

So now life has a new time period – Post Stacie – since then I have mostly kept myself super busy organizing a charity fundraising ball for the American Women’s Group and my friend Hayley’s organization Atma. It’s been fun, but a bit stressful. And I have started working at least 2 to 3 days a week with CORP, which is also no easy feat!

In the meantime two of my friends and their friend came out for a 2 week visit. It was so wonderful having friends here. It’s been so long since we had visitors!! We ran out of time in Mumbai so couldn’t do everything I would have liked here and then spent 4 days in Goa. I was so sad to say goodbye to them, but I hope I gave them a good enough impression of Mumbai to convince them to move here

And.. the only other development has been looking for a car to buy. I’ve been wanting this guys old Honda City for a year and a half, and only once I was ready to buy another car did he present his car to me again. But turns out his was in much worse shape than the indian brand one i had my eye on. So we decided to go for the not as old and in better shape Indian make car. I’m excited, but first i have to get through all the red tape of transferring it from a diplomatic car to a boring ol regular person’s car! In both of these situations though I got to test drive the cars in Mumbai traffic. Fun. I was a bit scared, but I seemed to melt right into the flow of traffic here and even was told by one of the owners that i really seem like a Bombay driver. Probably not a real compliment.. but i took it as one!!

AND… i got to drive a rickshaw on Sunday night! I’ve been waiting and waiting for the opportunity to drive a rickshaw here in Mumbai. But first i needed an auto driver who was chatty chatty and seemed cool. Well, we finally found one. As soon as he was starting to get on my nerves with his constant chatter, i realized that he was the one I’d been waiting for! so we told him that we both had 3 wheelers licenses and of course he was shocked, but then super excited saying “test driving”. So he let us drive! Yeah. I went first and did good but stalled, so took that as the sign it was paul’s turn. Paul got to drive a bit and did well too. But of course the auto driver said “madam is best driving”. hahah. And he was so excited that we drove the he offered to come the next sunday as well to let us drive more. He wants us to drive from Bandra to Lokhandwala (not sure why!). I think he wants all his rickshaw buddies to see us driving because he thought that was the best part ever – seeing other people’s reactions. Fun fun.
But now my rickshaw thumb is acting up again. I think i really do have some problem with it.. but i think it’s now called blackberry thumb!

And that is it.. that is the roundup over here. Looking to go somewhere for about a week next week – probably will be Indonesia (Bali) and then I’m thinking a trip to the states for June is in order. Will keep you updated.

It’s been a long time since I’ve written and I have no idea why, other than life has been pretty mundane lately. Although I say that and we did take a quick trip to Dubai a few weeks ago to escape and shop! It was exactly as we wanted and we had an amazing time just as we did there 2 years ago.

The house is starting to come together. After months of searching left and right, we are finally making some decisions and buying stuff. Mostly the motivation is coming from the fact that we are throwing Stacie a going away party and I want to have it as finished as possible!

Yes.. I did say that, Stacie is leaving Mumbai I have a feeling she will be back before we know it, so I am not feeling too sad yet, but I’m sure come April 3rd, I’ll be full of tears. She’s been here for 4 years and I’ve known her almost the whole time, which isn’t a common thing here in Mumbai where people come and go like there is no tomorrow.

I feel like Jan-Mar I had a big black cloud hanging over me like Eyore in Winnie the Pooh, but magically within a week, this cloud has disappeared and let through the sun again. I feel so much lighter and happier in just a short space of time. Lets hope it lasts!

I saw this post from another blog today and it really hit home for me, so here it is reposted for you:

Girlfriends are special. They argue, hug, scream, support, defy, bitch and defend. In their company, one can sob without thinking and laugh like a hyena. Whether 15 or 50 years, girlfriends fill a vacuum like no man ever can. They are the keepers of secrets: new and old, exciting and hackneyed, matured and in-the-pipeline. They analyze with you and for you: his phone calls, his absence, his shoes, his behavior, his friends and his moves (even those that should not be discussed but are dissected under a microscope). You discuss eclectic music, the next-door-hottie, bra sizes, colors, books, shopping-woes, period-related-grumpiness, and just about anything that is capable of being strung into a sentence. They check-in on you, check-out for you, and provide a reality check. They listen – to childhood stories, movie stories, maid issues, family melodrama and boy drama. And they talk – about their sister, sister’s neighbor, sister neighbor’s dog, sister’s neighbor’s dog’s vet. They do this – incessantly and repeatedly and without yawning. They know just what to say, in varying situations, and automatically lift your spirits.

Where to even begin…

We managed the insane rickshaw run without killing each other. Yeah! We met great people out there and loved our adventure even though it was tough. I will hopefully be putting up detailed recaps on the Karma Kab blog and I have put up photos on flickr. Link is here. And hopefully soon Paul will get busy with the video. I’ve had problems loading it onto my computer for some reason… but we’ll get to it soon enough so you can all live our adventure from your own home!

Getting home was great, but has also been a transition. Our house is still empty and needs lots of help, so we’ve been trying to spend our free time going to furniture shops here and there, with little luck so far. We find things we want but they are astronomical in price (10,000 dollars for a simple L shaped couch!) or we find something that is close to what we want, but cheap quality. urgh. shopping here is not fun I tell you. And I do have this feeling that as soon as we finish this apartment we will have decided it’s time to leave Mumbai! I’m getting to that point… but maybe it’s just itchy feet for travel and not longings to leave India?? But how can I already have itchy feet after only 2.5 weeks back from our last adventure?! maybe I just need a trip on the horizon to plan for!

My life has changed a bit as well. Stacie has moved out. It was sad, but has also been good since I feel like we make more of an effort to hang out now whereas it was too easy to just see each other in passing before. But I still miss having her around and haven’t stopped calling the front room “stacie’s room”! And another friend who I really relied on as my ‘rock’ here has virtually disappeared from my life. It’s been an adjustment, but not one I’ve not done before, so I am getting through it. As Folo says, one door closes and another one opens and that seems to be what has happened once again.

And… last week folo got up on the wrong side of the bed and decided to stop smoking and to do this Master Cleanse (the lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper ‘diet’). I thought he would not even go a day, but after 2 days I realized he was fully into it and thought I better join as well since I wasn’t getting much food without him eating. So now it’s been 5 days for me and 8 for him. we seem to be doing pretty good. Yesterday was a rough day for me, but he’s been powering through it like nothing. You’d never know he’s even on it. And he’s doing great with not smoking. Sad to say..i’ve not stopped I wasn’t prepared for his declaration that day!! But I have been wanting to quit for quite a while, so I hope he sticks to it and then slowly I will feel more like an idiot and stop myself!

Lets see.. what else….I have been working again which is good. I am doing lots of stuff with CORP, I am going to help out with the organization for the American Women’s Charity Ball and I’m doing a bit of ‘consulting’ with an HIV orphanage outside of Mumbai. Nothing full time which is nice, but enough to keep my days full.

It seems that 2009 is already the year for transitions. I hope there aren’t many more that we have to go through! Since 9 is my favorite number I have sort of looked forward to this year for a while… and in numerology (the calculation) it is the same as my birthday, so I feel it will be a good year somewhere somehow!

I am officially without internet and must rely on the kindness of people! I am at a local English language bookshop in my neighborhood using theirs. it is not easy though as the german keyboard is a bit different! but i am managing.

quick update, mostly so i dont forget.

went to ikea yesterday and bought some curtains for india. then went home for a nap. later met up with the gang in prenzlauberg for tea and then falafel. thought it would be a quiet night, but then we ended up going out to Tacheles. here is the photo from 8 years ago when i visited. it is now a ton of cafes and bars, but still looks pretty much the same outside. we hung out there for a while until it was time to go back and pack up folo for the airport.

today i have done almost nothing. cleaned the apartment and then went to do laundry. i managed to figure out the laundry machines and then even was showing other foreigners how to do it! typical me…or rainman me as andys brother calls me! he was all chatty cathy with me until i said i had a boyfriend and then this guz wouldnt even look at me. weirdo. and he was juggling in the laundrymat.

then off to rest and do some grocery shopping. not too eventful. but berlin is mellow in the day so who knows what i’ll get up to tonight!
Granny arrives in the a.m…. more updates later.

So I finally got around to updating my link on slaint.com for this blog! Now I just have to remember to update again! Lots of news, so I will create a couple of posts to catch you all up!

I will also try to start uploading some photos to slaint again although I have been using flickr.com much more recently as it’s so much easier to manage….

I am a leap year baby. It has always been something of discussion to people when they find out. Always they say “What do you do in years when you don’t have a birthday” — My response – celebrate ALL week!! Haha. But it is hard not having an actual birth day 3 out of 4 years. When people call to say happy birthday on either the 28th of Feb or the 1st of March, I often reply “thanks, but its not really my birthday”. I’m not sure why it is such an issue with me.

But this year was a real one. I was looking forward to it, but also stressing out about it. Everyone else feels that it is so special, so I also begin to believe that it should be that way. But then I wonder what to do to make it really memorable! And then to add more stress on top, my last real birthday was amazing. Several friends who are in bands came together and played a special show for me and all my friends. I was surrounded by tons of great people who really made me feel special and loved. That was my last birthday in America….

So this year I gave the planning to Folo. He doesn’t like to plan typically and doesn’t usually have to because I love to do it. But i was confused and not sure what we should do. And he didn’t have the ability to take off more than just my actual birthday, so we couldn’t run off to some far off destination like we would normally. But thankfully my friends stepped in to help him out and I ended up having a wonderful birthday!

The birthday run down:

• Breakfast at the JW Marriott – stuffed ourselves with bacon, real bread and cheese and other goodies
• Death at a Funeral – we were at breakfast and saw that this movie was playing down the street in just 15 minutes, so we high tailed it over to catch it. Funniest movie I have seen in forever. I laughed so hard!
• The Lives of Others – another movie, one that was originally on our plans. An excellent film that must be seen!
• Small resting between events… but i wasn’t aware of what was coming and didn’t realize it was only a short rest!
• Surprise visit by friends — bringing homemade birthday cake, balloons, party hats, fake spray snow and presents!
• Dinner at one of my favorite Thai restuarants — driven in an AC car hired for the night. good planning, so we didn’t have to navigate and deal with taxi drivers all night!
• Bauchklang @ the blue frog – a new music venue that is amazing was hosting a band from Austria that was equally amazing. Check them out. Totally blew my mind. And was surrounded by really great friends who I realize make my life here what it is.

And then to top off the whole day, we got home to an email from The Adventurists saying that we had been chosen to participate in the 2009 Winter Rickshaw Run!!! They only opened registration for 24 hrs beginning on the 28th and ending on my bday. 70 teams were selected and I was one of them! YEAH! I never have won anything – no drawing, no raffle, nothing! So i feel that it was meant to be. Now we have to pay the fee to secure our place — but now I am feeling a bit scared about it. They say that you seriously take your life into your hands by doing this.. it is not something to be undertaken lightly… and i know what they mean.. i’ve seen how people drive here! But we’ll pay the entry fee and give it some more thought.. we have 28 days before we have to fully fully commit!!!

For the last 4 years I have been using wordpress, but my wonderful host is getting rid of his server, so I am going to try to figure out how to get the last 4 years of posts transferred here! Not sure if i’ll be able to do it or not though.

In the meantime, we had a wonderful trip to Europe – I say Europe because we didn’t just end up in Ireland as we planned. A last minute decision and were were in Berlin for New Years! We stayed with Andy and Anja who bought an apartment there last year. We had a great time navigating our way around Berlin amid the craziness of New Years. We had only arrived at 2 pm on the 31st! And much to my pleasure we woke up to snow falling on New Years Day!! I had hoped that it would snow when we were there. Somehow when it snows I feel that the cold is a bit more bearable. Mind you it was still COLD! I was layed with two pairs of tights, 2 pairs of socks, and about 4 layers of longsleeves/sweaters with an additional jacket. I loved Berlin again. I hadn’t been since May 2000 – but I still remembered it correctly. But what I hadn’t remembered was that it was cheap! We sampled food all over and it was so cheap, the train is cheap and convenient and it’s so much cleaner than I remembered. So I fell in love with it again.

Then back to Dublin for a few days before heading home to India. As we had thought, we got stuck in Paris for a day. We were almost certain that we would miss our connecting flight – and it was a secret hope as well! I’ve been to Paris several times, but folo had never been. We got to our airline paid hotel and then headed out to town to catch a few sites before meeting Tina for dinner. Folo wanted a real Parisian dinner, so we went to a cafe near Chatalet station that Tina had wanted to try. It was good – and surprisingly they had vegetarian options! Folo opted for a full french experience including Beef tartare (?). Gross!!

Got back to the hotel with just a few hours for sleep and then headed to the airport again. Everything went smoothly from there and we were home before we knew it.

Now we must get back to life here in Mumbai. Thankfully there is a nice chill to the air which is considered ‘summer weather’ in many cities that we call home – but is chilly here with flip flops and light clothes!