End of Vacation

After 24 hours in transit, I'm back in NJ after  2+ week vacation in India.  We're all back in the states as my friend Eve is getting married tomorrow! (Yay! Can't wait!)

Lowlights:
-More bad salespeople than I can possibly express here.  I think I could make a lot of money if I set up sales training programs in India.
-There were so many mosquitos.  Both my brother and my mom swear they weren't bitten, but the mosquitos attacked me even with the deep woods mosquito repellent I was wearing.
-It was unbelievably hot.  Mysore was relatively ok, but being outside in Madras was like taking a bath with your clothes on.

Everything else was really fun.  I got to see lots of family and we were also there for some fantastic celebrations.

My grandmother's 90th birthday went off perfectly.  She seemed happy with everyone that came, the hall was lovely, and the food was great.  It was really nice to be able to celebrate with her.

My cousin's wedding was also fantastic.  It was a Punjabi-South-Indian wedding, so an interesting mix of cultures.  Because of the Punjabi influence, in addition to the alcohol and meat, there was a lot more dancing.  There was also a Bharat, where the groom came on a horse with a band and his relatives (who were dancing).  The bride and groom looked so lovely and it was a great opportunity to see lots of family who had come in for the wedding.  I saw several cousins, nieces, and nephews, that I hadn't seen in years.

One funny part was that we're obsessed with Indian Pizza Hut.  It's really good, spicy pizza with Indian ingredients on a pizza hut crust.  We secretly went for Kadai Paneer Pizzas with extra pineapple more times than I'd like to admit.  Seriously though, it was delicious.

I also picked up some music in India from my cousins that I thought I'd share.  This song has been stuck in my head for 2 weeks!

This one was the last song at my cousin's "Sangeeth."  Wait for the chorus - it's really catchy.  A Sangeeth is like a wedding reception where they had the engagement ceremony, a DJ, and both the bride and groom's side prepared 15 minute skits/dances.  My brother and I had token roles in the skit as shopkeepers.

Anyway, I'm in NY for the next week working and catching up.  I head back to London after being away for the better part of 5 weeks on Saturday.