Holiday inches

I miss family, I miss Z, and I miss friends...so to cope I made brownies...and then ate a third of them straight out of the pan...not proud of myself, but those are the facts folks.
Thank goodness Z comes home tomorrow...there is way too much chocolate stashed in this house.

motorcycle road trip, tiger attacks, chow mein...Thanksgiving revisited

Here are the highlights of the fun, mundane and wierd events during our Curry Land Thanksgiving holiday...

• Rode six and a half hours on the bike for a fall retreat in a national park / tiger reserve. The roads were really, really rough...for the sake of my spinal cord we had to stop at a Honda service shop and get the shock for the back tire tightened.
• Before heading out on our adventure Z removed the saddle bag on the bike and  creatively tied a small duffle bag and bookbag and both sides of the bike and then I had to wedge my legs and feet behind the luggage. So even though the ride was reall really rough, I was not going anywhere, pretty well wedged! When we arrived and unpacked our luggage Z notice a hole in our duffle...the bag had slipped a little off of the muffler guard and was singed...also my black 'weekend' pants were singed :(
• We stayed at a quiet resort by a peaceful river...a tiger park was only 3 km away...and a recent tiger attack was only 1 and 1/2 km away...During our one week stay three village women had been killed by tigers while they were gathering wood. I did not go hiking.
• Some friends and I decorated diyas (clay bowls that are used as oil lamps) for Thanksgiving decor...nothing says retreat like arts & crafts.
• For Thanksgiving we ate salty chineese food and fish...after dinner some of the service staff at the resort 'lifted' three of the prettier diyas that were made, I confronted the sales manager about it hoping that he would be able to make the diyas magically appear...no luck
• Z went fishing with a friend...didn't catch a single fish but he did happen to get his blackberry wet and now it will not turn on...he is back to using the fake blackberry until we can get the water damaged one fixed.
• When we got back to our house...we were locked out...and NO we did not loose our keys, someone had changed our lock - and that story my friends will have wait for another blog post.

Happy B-day E!

Tomorrow is E's birthday, she will be 2...so over skype we sang to her and she blew out this random candle that my Brother out law lit.

She'll get a cake and real birthday candles tomorrow

Surreal

Living in Curry Land can have its surreal moments, i.e...
"Really? I get to do what I love everyday alongside Z. Really!"... "Really? I no longer speak my third language like a 4 year old, Really!"..."Really? I can eat mangoes, curry, biryani, cookies, and ice cream to my hearts content and still lose 2 lbs every month, Really!" (disclaimer: I think I have a tape worm, but the bright side I haven't gained a pound)
Then there are the surreal nightmares..."Really? It is 110 degrees again today, Really!"..."Really? That guy just touched me and I punched him in the head, Really!"..."Really, they're trying to take my picture, Really?"..."Really? I got on a plane by my own free will to live here, Really?"...
And today..."Really? I used my friend C's mace 3 times on 3 different men today, Really!"
Curry Land Reality check #47: When it is either a strike or holiday and men do not have to go to work they will harass innocent foreign women out of sheer idleness.

One thankful kid...

Yesterday Z and I celebrated Thanksgiving with our friends in town because next week on the day of Thanksgiving we will be out of town. So anyways we all got together and enjoyed the holiday fixins. That evening Z went outside of our gate to see our guests off and while they all stood together two men rode by on their motorcycle with a 11 year old boy sandwiched between them. The boy saw Z and our friends and immediately started yelling out to them, flung himself off the bike and ran to them...this boy was frightened and once he reached our gate he got behind our friend for protection. The two men got off their bike and walked toward the kid screaming profanities as the neared. I am not a language novice to understand the entire altercation...I was standing in the background looking between the shaking, crying kid and the two angry men. Apparently the men were accusing the kid of 'trying' to steal and so they were carrying him off to  beat the tar out of him... Two grown men beating the tar out of a little boy, no wonder the kid was shaking he was afraid for his own life! Our national friend mediated between the parties involved. He made the boy apologize and calmed the men down and then walked the kid home. That night I went to bed thinking of the boy and especially his mother...who undoubtedly was grateful her kid was safely home despite his own folly.

feelin' the love!

Recently dear family and friends sent us packages of holiday goodies...shelves are loaded, ready for the cook-a-thon!

The ambiance is set...this candle smells superb.

...and my most favorite item that Z's mama sent...



hold onto your britches!

After Monday morning at 6am I undoubtedly believe that Z is Curry Land's modern day Evel Knievel...now all I have to do is buy him a cape :)
We were 'heading on the highway' on another motorcycle road trip adventure and it was the crack of dawn so visibility was minimal. We were not far outside our city so I was still riding side saddle for the appearance of modesty (I hate riding side saddle). From a distance Z saw a truck stopped in the left lane so he veered into the right lane and then he noticed that beside the stopped truck there was a stopped tractor...so the right lane was blocked as well and we were now only 100 yards from both stopped vehicles and moving way too fast to be able to stop in time...so Z slowed down as much as he could and aimed for the crack between the stopped vehicles. I held on for dear life and screamed while Z preformed the craziest stunt as of yet in order to preserve our lives.