Greece

Our trip to Greece started with a flight to Mumbai, then to Frankfurt and to Athens.


When the airplane landed in Mumbai I looked out the window and was a little shocked. There are some houses built so close to the runway that when you look down as you land you can see people eating their dinner. I couldn’t imagine the smells and noises they put up with living there.


By the looks of the corrugated tin houses I would guess that they are squatters living there illegally.


We always try to avoid the Mumbai airport. The international is separate from the domestic airport. When you land in one you have to get your luggage and take a shuttle to the other airport. India is India… so the shuttles don’t run on an exact schedule, and you can bet there will be lots of really smelly people on an overcrowded bus.


The first time we were on one of these shuttles a guy tried to touch my breasts and blamed it on the fact the bus was so crowded. I would have smacked him but the bus was too crowded to get any momentum… I settled for an elbow jab.


We were told in Hyderabad that Mumbai has made improvements to their system and our luggage would be delivered to the international airport for us… they didn’t tell us it would take 4 hours. Good thing we had a 4 ½ hour layover.


Finally we were on our way to Frankfurt. In Frankfurt we had a 6 ½ hour layover before our flight to Athens (I plan on researching a new travel agent). At least Frankfurt has a nice airport with yummy food and lots of places to window shop… and I got to play my favorite airport game. I call it “Oh God! Please don’t be American”. I see someone behaving poorly and wait to hear them talk to see what language or accent they have and this tells me what country they are from.


An example would be this guy I saw reading a magazine. After each page he read he would tear the page out of the magazine and rip the page into exactly 16 pieces get up throw the pieces away and then sit back down to read the next page. I waited a long time to see what country he was from… finally he put on a baseball cap that said Canada (Yeah).


Our flight from Frankfurt to Greece was for lack of a better word… fun. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a plane that felt more festive in my life. The isles were full of people laughing, talking, flirting and playing games (in a variety of languages)… I was waiting for someone to break out a guitar and we could all start singing. Scott and I referred to this flight as the party plane. In America the airlines might offer you soft drinks and for a price you can buy alcoholic drinks (in the coach section). In Europe, alcohol is part of the ‘package’. I have to wonder if this LKF contributed to the “atmosphere” of the plane.


I was a little surprised at how uninspired the architecture was in Athens. All of these plain buildings in need of repair nestled together under the Acropolis that sits on top of a small mountain in the center of the city.


Another thing I noticed was the considerable amount of graffiti. The only place in Athens that didn’t have graffiti was the historic landmarks and trains. (Mental note: open spray paint store in Athens)


Scott always does so much research on hotels and has never disappointed in the one he chooses. From experience I can advise you that a more expensive hotel can actually save you money on your vacation. They usually include breakfast (food can be expensive in large European cities) and they are usually located close to the sights you want to see or a train that will take you to the places you would most likely like to see. Otherwise you will need to take taxis and that can rack up the cost of a vacation.


We checked into our hotel… Wow! The Electra Palace… highly recommended!


It is so centrally located that on our trip we took two taxis, one to our hotel from the airport and one to the airport from our hotel.


After dropping off the luggage in our room (which included a bidet), we went in search of dinner. It had been a long day of flights and we were all tired. I was hoping for some food that was quick, recognizable and not far from our hotel.


The streets in Athens are tiny, one-way and the sidewalks are so narrow that most everyone just walked in the street (kind of like India). Parking is definitely difficult.


We walked a couple of short blocks and before us stood a sign… not just a sign, but an omen that this was going to be a fabulous trip… before us stood the Hard Rock Café Athens. Anyone who knows us knows that our family loves HRC. Scott has been to 21 of the restaurants, I’ve been to 20 and John 19. We even have a frequent diner card. Moussaka Hard Rock Café style… well, it ROCKS!


I would like to say we went back to our room to sleep after a satisfying dinner, but it was more like we went back to our room and passed out.


I would like to take a minute to rant here… I’ve noticed this trend at hotels lately. What is up with the firm mattresses? Mattress commercials say like sleeping on a cloud, not a slab of marble! Why even have beds if you are going to have rock hard mattresses? Just have your clients sleep directly on the floor. Different people like different firmnesses of mattresses. I would think a hotel wouldn’t go to the extreme of too hard or too soft… the smartest option would be right in the middle. Everyone would be happy.


Anyway… we woke up and had a fabulous breakfast in the hotel garden.


We spent the next few days wandering this sunny city looking at the sights and learning about the Greek culture… and doing what Smiths do best… shopping!


My favorite was the flea market… a little touristy but I loved it. Surprising how many “Made in India” things I saw. I bought some sandals (made in Greece) that have strings that wrap up your legs. I don’t know if I will ever wear them? This brings me to another subject, fashion.


There seemed to be three things in fashion in Greece; smoking, lots of bare skin and hairy women. I don’t think any of these need more explanation.


We took the train a couple of times. It’s a great place for my favorite sport… people watching. It always surprises me how many doppelgangers I see when I travel. I saw mine in Rome last year.


Now that I am 40 I now am faced with a dilemma, I have to be really careful who I offer a seat to when riding on trains. It’s customary to offer your seat to an older person, or if you are a man, to a lady. Imagine someone only a few years younger than you offering you a seat on a train… that might be considered an insult.


The food in Greece was delicious. I am so blessed to have an adventurous 9 year old boy when it comes tasting new things. At one restaurant he ordered octopus… I know you won’t believe me, but it was delicious! It wasn’t rubbery at all.


We went to the Electra restaurant for dinner one evening. Definitely in the top 10 list of dining experiences I’ve experienced. The restaurant was outdoors on the roof… the food very posh. We all ordered different things and sampled from each other’s plates. John had the steak tartare and loved it. Actually all of the food was amazing… but the best part was the view. We were under the Acropolis. As we dined the sun set giving us a beautiful show.






I don’t know why but the produce in Greece seemed fresher to me than any I have ever had. Salads and fruit and vegetables seemed to be ripe, crisp and flavorful. I will take my new love of Greek salads with me to the grave.


The bills at restaurants were kind of funny… everything was written in Greek except the total.



One of my favorite things to do was to stop at the sidewalk cafés and have a frappe (cold coffee).


A lot of them would have these fans that would blow mist. It really cooled you down, and a great place for conversation. At one of these cafés John came up with his new game idea (he invents new video games for fun), “Grand Theft Hovering Vampire Teletubbies with Battle Axes of Doom IIV”. Creative or weird… the jury is still out.


One day we were walking and saw these people next to the busy street having a formal archeological dig.


John had outgrown so many of his clothes that we decided to take a trip to the mall to look for some new clothes for him. When we got to the mall we had a pretzel from Auntie Anne’s and after shopping we went to Ruby Tuesdays for lunch. I’m learning that going to the American chains in other countries will only be disappointing. I think the opposite is true… I will never find a Greek restaurant in America that will be as good at the ones in Greece.


The mall in Athens was interesting. I’m an America living in India visiting Greece so I went to Marks and Spencer… a British store… and I signed up for a frequent shopper card just to confuse them. We bought our little fashionista a couple pair of shorts and shirts and got back on the train to town.


We passed the Olympic villiage on our ride back. Neat-O!



One day we went swimming at the hotel pool which was located on the roof… nice to swim under the Acropolis.


I loved Greece and hope to return someday.


I think I would like to see some of the isles next time. I might even come up with a new game… whoever spots the hairiest woman wins.

The Last Mango Tango

Saturday night was a special party for the Twin-cities Expat Association. T.E.A. hosted the “Last Mango Tango” at Hyderabad's much-loved Grillroom. The “Last Mango Tango” was an adults-only dance party with a mango theme.

Many of our expats are leaving the city permanently to go back to their homelands or continue their work in different places. The “Last Mango Tango” was a party to honor these temporary citizens of Hyderabad and to reflect on how Hyderabad has changed and affected their lives.

The Grillroom staff did not disappoint with unique and lip-smacking snacks, amazing food and smooth and delicious drinks.

A table was set up with different varieties of mangos for sampling, and a pasta bar was present for made-to-order pastas... in addition to the variety of offerings on the buffet.

Friendly waiters circled the room with orange and green test tubes of sweet mango juice. The bar offered mango martinis, mango margaritas and a variety of mango juices in addition to the usual bar components.

The Grillroom was decorated by Indu Vaidyanathan with her exceptional sense of style. She festooned the room with brightly colored marigolds, mangoes and mango leaves. The tables were decked out with runners with the word mango written in different languages. The center of the tables had colorful recipes with instructions on how to make unique cuisine with mangos as a key ingredient. Each table had a sprinkling of mango-flavored candies, jasmine buds and green, orange and yellow gems.

Near the bar you would find a nonstop slide show projected on the wall with the theme of things you will miss when you leave Hyderabad. The slide show had nearly 700 photos of touching moments, Hyderabad landmarks, friends, and sometimes strange and funny sights.

The expats unabashedly danced the night away to the fusion of Indian and western dance music sporting their shades of mango clothing. At one point they even formed a conga-line.

This was such a well-planned and put-together party… It was a pleasant way to say a sad goodbye to these people who have become a part of our lives... also a nice way to welcome new expats joining us.



Below are some pictures of the party.


Me and Scott

Tonya and Ted

Adam, Valerie and Scott

Jim and Sue

George and Ram

Nicole, Robyn and Meera

Brigitte, Nicolai, Sylvette, and Byl

Robyn and Lisa

Charles and Louise

Valerie, Wally, Scott and Adam

Katrien, Robyn, Greta and Cheryl

Indu and Reena

Robyn, Indu and Reena

Christopher and Madeleine

Girls hanging out sporting their shades of Mango. Nicole, Trina Joi, Meera, Madeleine, Eve.

Byl becoming part of the slide show.

Madeleine,Krishnan, Tara, Nicole, Trina Joi, Meera

Tara and Byl

Indu and Krishnan

Greg and Jo

Jan, Stacy and Tonya

Yael and Robyn

Scott and Brent

Katrien and Hans

Madhuri and Lisa

Johan

Krishnan and Ed

Howard and Paula

Dawn, Ram and George dancing

Krishnan

Katrien and Hans

Jo, Katrien and Hans

Linda, Paula and Howie

Linda and Robyn

Scott and Valerie

Wally and Eve

Johan and Nicola

Madhuri and Patrick

Indu, Tara, Robyn, Cheryl and Mamtha

Anya and Tomas

Sylvette

Sudhir

George and Ram Dancing

Indu, Reena and Ami... Bharti in the background

Dinner Time!

Indu and Robyn

Robyn and Scott

Jim and Sue

Girls gone wild?

Christopher... purse holder extrordinare.

Bharti and Jim

Christopher getting his just rewards

Indu and Rob

Darshan and Jane

Mary-Signe, Katrien, Nicola, and Hans

Allen after being doused on the dance floor. (Probably not the best place to offer drinks)

Yael

Barti

Yosef getting down on the dance floor with his wife.

Avi and Indu dancing

Disco til dawn!

Smile for the camera.

Chefs

Ami and Davesh

Scott and Adam

Scott and Robyn

Conga Line

George and Dawn

Tonya and Ted

Our favorite Europeans... I heard they missed the FA finals with the German team... to be with us!

Trina Joi and Srinavas

All American Hash

Blogger has changed the way they do the pictures... I'm really confused by the new way so I will just post the pictures and write something later.

Turning 40 should not be this much fun

The week before my birthday the Marriot invited some of the locals to come and spend the night at their Hotel for a discounted price and the money would go toward the Marriot’s orphanage in India. It sounded like fun to me… We could ask Vijaya to spend the night at our home with John… and Scott and I would spend the night across town swimming in the Marriot pool, eating yummy Marriot food, and sleeping in a really nice Hotel. And this wouldn’t be self indulgent… it would be helping an orphanage. The problem was Scott couldn’t get off work…



On my 40th birthday the plan was for my husband to take me out to dinner at my favorite restaurant and then we would spend a nice evening at the Novotel. We could see their new club, and swim and spend the night in a really nice Hotel (sorry orphans). He planned everything out… it was very romantic, and I guessed he came up with the idea because the Marriot fell through.



We went to dinner at the F Cafe and then went to the Novotel as planned. We checked into our room and decided to go to the club. On the way up to the club we passed through some of the Novotel’s conference/party rooms. One of the rooms was marked with a Deloitte sign and Scott told me that we needed to stop in and say a brief “hello” at a Deloitte function that was going on…



I am so lucky that my husband could get the day off to spend with me. The biggest US tax deadline is April 15th, meaning first week in April to a tax guy is equivalent to December 23rd for a retail guy. I’ve never had the opportunity to spend a birthday with him since he has been with Deloitte… including my 30th which landed on Easter Sunday. So you could probably figure out that I really wasn’t “into” the idea of spending my 40th birthday at a Deloitte function. Scott promised me it would be for just a few minutes and my friend Louise would be there (she is a Deloitte spouse also). I reluctantly agreed and walked into the room with slumped shoulders and a scowl…



The first thing I noticed was Byl… he’s not with Deloitte, he is with Bank of America… I thought we walked into the wrong room. Then a photographer I recognized from a local magazine taking my picture… Then I saw Greta and her family, then Meera, then Tara, then Jim and Sue, then Louise and Charles, then Shah, then Padmaja, then Stephanie and Cory, then Vijaya, then John, then Ram and Prita, then Marilyn, then Dr. Pat… then they all yelled surprise. I was floored… I had just texted Greta and she was out of the city on a Hash run… but, no she was standing in front of me. My mind took a while to wrap around it. These people, my friends… were here for my birthday. I tear up now as I remember and write about it.

You might be saying about now… “Robyn, how could you have not known? It was your 40th birthday!” There is something I appreciate and find comfort about my husband… his complete inability to keep a secret. And he’s really not that good of a liar… These are traits you want in a husband. At least that is what I thought. I really and truly had no idea that there was a surprise party being planned.



I walked around the room talking to people and in the state of shock and kind of embarrassed. I can’t believe all of these people knew about this and no one spilled the beans… Not even John! (Traitor)

The party was nice… the buffet had a lot of my favorites and so did the bar. There was a cake and presents! I know it would be nice to say please no presents or donate to a charity… but selfish Robyn loves presents!

Oh but wait there’s more! The gigantic cherry on top of this amazing birthday surprise!



Scott stood up on a chair and asked everyone to follow him… we walked out of the party room down a hall all following Scott… this must have been an interesting sight, as this was quite a lot of people walking in a group down the hall. We went outside and there were some of the party goers already outside standing in a group. This scene probably looked like something out of a Michael Jackson video… one large group of people facing another. I think someone seeing the sight might think we were going to rumble. Scott told the people in the group facing us to part and motioned with his hands like Moses parting the Red Sea. The people parted and behind them was a brand new auto rickshaw… a tuk-tuk… a 3 wheeler.



We had joked before about me driving a rickshaw here because I get so many stares for driving a car… but I never really thought I would get one. It was the absolute perfect present for Scott to give to his unconventional wife.



Now I know I have a husband who can keep a secret… lie… and hide something as big as a tuk-tuk… I also know he is the world’s greatest Husband… and he’s mine!

The Belgian Hash

Here is a walk through of the Hash on Sunday...

There is a small group of expats in the city that hosted this week's Hash Run...

We refer to this group as the Belgians... well because they are from Belgium.

Here are some of the group getting ready to go on the run.

When the run starts, it reminds me of a marathon... Everyone clustered together... but soon the faster people take the lead and the slower people take the end of the line.

I would say within 30 minutes this cluster of people can barely see each other along the "hares" path.

The hare is the person who marks the path for everyone else to follow...

The Hare can be quite tricky and set up mysteries for you to figure out with certain markings left on the ground...

The Hare can be nice and point out interesting scenery...

This week's Hares were the Belgians and they did a fantastic job.

We had a run with a beautiful setting, and interesting and challenging climbs.

We made it to the top of the rocks and I took a picture of the ones below... see I'm not the slowest Hasher (well not today at least).

Here were some boys at the top of the rocks who wanted me to take their picture.

Scott and John taking a picture break.

It's kind of funny how you can sometimes find little pockets of peace in this hectic city.

After the Hares' marks led us up the rocks, they led us to somewhere I have not been before on a Hash run.

Down some stairs into a little colony

Down the path of the "nalley" we were surrounded by the people living in the colony... they wanted to shake our hands...

and have their picture taken.

After the little villiage, we were led down a more peaceful street. I took this picture of these tent houses with the wedding throne. I don't know... it struck me as strange, and I took a picture.

Hey guys wait for me!

Down some rocks...

Back to the Belgium house roof top for 'circle time'. (Here are some of the Hash Horrors)

John and his friend Benjamin... such a sweet boy!!! (Benjamin that is)

We gathered on the roof while waiting for the last of the line to catch up with the first of the line.

Here is more of the group talking about the run and...

enjoying the rooftop view.

It's difficult to explain circle time... It reminds me of a fraternity, with songs and silliness.

Venkat usually runs the circle, he honks his horn when we get distracted... I think Hashers are traditionally easily distracted.

Here is another view of the circle.

The Belgians were called into the center of the circle and sung to and made fun of and thanked for a great run... and bringing Belgian "beir" for people to sample.

When you are a Hare for the first time you are given your Hash name. It's a nick name that you use when you are at Hyderabad Hash House Harriers.

Scott and Brandon are here talking about hosting an American Hash in April or May... I think they just want a cool name.

This is Tom... Oops, I don't know what his Hash name is so I will just avoid using a name here.

As the sun started to set the Smiths (Both Sides, Doctor Bare Foot, and Scott who has never hared and doesn't have a cool name like John and me) got hungry and did something that is becoming a tradition with us.

We left and went out to dinner... John hitting his nose on the way. (He's holding ice on his nose so he doesn't grow up to look like Uncle Rich... his words... I should let him know that between Scott and my nose genetics haven't given him a chance of a normal nose).

John and Scott on the Belgian steps.

We went to the Walden Club at Whisper Valley to have a quiet family meal... (and we thought it was a place that would allow us to eat there with our Hash atire) only to find out there was a huge birthday party going on for a first grader from John's school and many of our friends were there.

John giving Scott a back rub... Now I know why we had him... Anyway thank you Belgians for a terrific day!

Goa

John had some time off of school so we decided to go to the beach. Cheapest flight/nearest beach translated into Goa...

This was a spur of the moment thing...

At the airport we found out our plane had other expat families with the same idea. Here are some of the kids and a mom on the Kingfisher shuttle taking us to our plane.

Here is John pretending to be a terrorist on the plane... I'm so proud (not). This does bring up an interesting point... When I was a kid I would play cops and robbers or Charlie's Angels with my friends... someone had to play the part of the bad guy. I liked being the bad guy... it was more fun to be chased than do the chasing... I think a lot of the kids in the 50's (in America) would play good guys verses communists... It's not just John. If you ask the kids these days to describe a "bad" guy"... I bet a lot of them would use the word terrorist. (Right?)
Anyway... I explained to him that 'terrorist' is a forbidden word on planes as well as the word 'crash' and 'stewardess'.


Anyway... I digress... Here is a picture of our view out the window of the plane.


After landing, and checking into our hotel... we hit the beach.


This was our first trip to Goa. I was surprised how nice the beaches were.


Our hotel lobby was beautiful... I loved the ceilings and the sides were completely open letting in a salty breeze (and tiny birds that made nests on top of the pillars).



Our room was nice... clean... everything we needed... well furnished...


My favorite part was the screened balcony. It overlooked a palm tree forest. It had a cane table and chairs to enjoy your morning tea.

John and I ate supper every night at the same restaurant. It was a little bamboo/ palm frond shelter next to the beach. They had a different band that played every night... The music was (to borrow a phrase) kind of not fabulous... But they tried very hard by playing songs Americans would like to hear... or what they thought Americans would like to hear. And it brought a smile to my face to hear yet another mutilated version of 'Hotel California' or Michael Jackson's 'Beat It' every night.

The service was terrific and the food was amazing... my favorite was the king fish.

Every morning we would eat breakfast at the hotel breakfast buffet with the other "guests". Goa has tourists visit from all over the world... sitting at our table I could hear many different accents and languages.

I noticed a trend almost immediately... all of the Russian-accented people had the fashion sense that would make a stripper blush. I took this picture at breakfast with my camera phone (yes that is her ass hanging out of her "shorts"). I was too shy (or scared) to take pictures on the beach of the men in their teeny tiny speedos and enormous guts. One guys suit was so small and his stomach was so big... I thought he was naked at first sight. This is a little shocking as Indians usually don't show a lot of flesh... A woman's torso might be displayed when wearing a sari... but never her legs. It felt a little weird seeing so many people show such little respect for the culture of the country they are visiting. Anyway... made it a little more interesting... and I think I am officially an old lady by the way I bring this up.

After breakfast in the morning, John and I would be back at the beach. There were comfy beach chairs set up under palm leaf umbrellas... A guy would come by and ask if you would like something to eat or drink.

I don't think there are many things in life better than fresh squeezed pineapple juice on the beach.

Life is good!

Our hotel was not directly on the beach but set back a little... here is the path that led to the beach.

The mushroom-looking things were lights. At night they would cast an eerie glow on the path.

I found something a little unexpected about Goa. There are an incredible amount of crows. I've always thought of crows as a forest-type animal... not a beach animal. At night the crows would gather in the palm trees that lined the path. One or two "caws"... no problem... Hundreds of "caws" on a dark creepy path... a little chilling.

Our hotel had this giant chess set...

John wanted to play, but I couldn't remember how some of the pieces moved...

so we made up our own game that included John being one of the board characters... I call him the jester.

Our hotel had a labyrinth of pools. They had pools of many different depths, a jacuzzi, slide, and a swim-up bar. The jacuzzi was in the middle and elevated so I spent most of my time being jacuzzied while watching John swim... tough job but someone has to do it!

Oh and get this... they actually had an on-duty, real live, life guard watching the pools!

Going between the beach and the pool caused one small problem... sunburn. Even with sunblock we were a little overexposed.

On the day we woke up and realized we had too much sun the day before we opted to not go to the beach or the pool...

We hung out inside our hotel instead.

John and I ordered room service in our room... we had a local dish called 'vegetables caldin'... Triple yum with a twist!!!!!!

John and I had Mother-Son facials at the hotel spa... he had an all-natural papaya mask that they actually let him taste before they smeared it on his face... I had the "you look like death eating a hotdog" facial... (too toxic for me to taste).

We wandered around the hotel and took lots of pictures...

One day we took a taxi into town to get a few supplies... t-shirts, cheetoes, and diet pepsi... just the 'can't live withouts'.

When we got back to the hotel the sun was beginning to set, so we went to the beach to watch the sun hit the water.

We found a stick on the beach that was perfect for writing in the wet sand... I wasn't very imaginative so I wrote Mom (heart) Dad...

John, being a little more creative wrote, "Darth Vader says hi"...

and then drew a picture of a Star Wars battle...

I wrote I (heart) Goa... still not a lot of imagination...

Any way Goa was a great trip... I loved that we could travel somewhere and be in the same time zone and not have jet lag issues. I can't beleive it has taken us so long to go here. We will definately go back... but next time with Scott.

Holi - The Indian Festival of Colors

Happy Holi... Yet another festival in India.


John and I celebrated Holi two times this year... I think we are making up for all of the Holi celebrations we have missed in the past. Scott is in the middle of busy season and couldn't join us for the celebration... Although I think if he could, he might be tempted to skip it anyway.


Here is a Picture of me, Dr. Pat, and Greta at our first celebration... It was the 'Full Moon, Holi, Hash'. Every full moon the Hyderabad Hash House Harriers gather for a run at night. This one fell on the night before Holi... so it was a Holi Hash.


Here is a picture of some Hashers with John after our run... and color extravaganza.


John was really excited about this... this is the first time we have allowed him to celebrate Holi.



Ed, Greta, George and Dave were at the run... We had such a good time. Dave is my favorite running buddy.


Here is a picture of John after we got home and before we got in the shower.


I did a little research and I'm more confused than ever as to why we celebrate Holi. Apparently there are many different ideas of why we celebrate and how to celebrate. I guess it all just boils down to the, "Because it's fun" category.

One story I read tells us that we celebrate Holi to commemorate the escape of Pralad from the clutches of his evil father Hirnakashyup... (This is exactly why I named my son John Smith). Supposedly, Pralads aunt Holika could walk through fire without getting hurt... so Hirnakashyup who wanted to kill his son Pralad, (and you talk about your horrible childhood) asked aunt Holika to take Pralad for a little walk... Long story short Pralad comes out of the fire unharmed not Holika... Jokes on you mean Aunt Holika... although you now have an entire festival named after you.
I guess this is why we set bon fires the night before... With a scarecrow looking man in the middle of the fire... or is that a woman?

That story explains the fires, but not the colors? I've heard some say that it is a celebration of spring and all the colors the changing of the seasons bring. That this comes at the beginning of my favorite season in India makes sense to me... (favorite season being Mango season).

Above are some of the colors John and I brought to the celebration we went to the morning of Holi. The festivities were held in our neighborhood. We wanted to have a safe and kid friendly party, so the neighbors got together and decided to only have organic colors. The problem with this is that the organic colors are made of flour and herbs. Have I mentioned it is a very dry 100 degrees here in Hyderabad? The colors I brought hatched little insects. It was funny watching some of the neighborhood girls go up and start to grab the powder to toss at their friends, only to see the little bugs crawling around in the powder and then watching the girls run away... usually shrieking.

I call this picture, 'Tra-la-la... I'm messy and not in school.'.

The "modern tradition" of celebrating Holi is by smearing each other's faces with colored powder and throwing colored water on each other. People sometimes take out processions on streets that feature folk songs, dances, and of course drums... really loud drums.

Also it is tradition to openly drink intoxicating 'Bhaang' (cannabis) drinks. (NOT BY ME MOM!)... (or John!) Like so many of the festivals I've experienced here, this Indian festival has a savage, ancient feel to it, but also makes you feel like a kid (even without the cannabis milkshake).

I still was curious about the colors... I wasn't buying the colors of spring story. Especially because there is no spring in India... India goes from nice warm weather (their 'winter'), directly to... "I think the soles of my shoes are melting into the ground" hot. So I did a little more research and found this story:
Holi is also associated with the evergreen love of Krishna and Radha. Krishna was jealous of Radha’s fair color and asked mother Yashoda for the reason for Radha’s fair color. Yashoda jokingly said if you are so jealous change her complexion by smearing color. Naughty young Krishna was waiting for an idea for a prank and did exactly as his mother suggested.

This sounds like a more beleivable reason for the colors... right?

Whatever the reason it was such a great time to blow off steam and smear stuff in the faces of your friends...
and neighbors...

and people you have just met.

Here is John and his best friend Arjun.

This would have been a good place for me to stop and go home... but no-oo... someone was having so much fun they just kept going and going.

Shah and Kaden came over to watch the people play

I call this picture, "We are not amused."

Here is a picture of Tonya and Shah... how did they stay so clean?

This is Sarah... don't let her sweet smile lure you into a false sense of security... I have it on good authority that she can be quite vicious.

And now I have proof.

Here is a picture of Sarah with her cousin/brother Brad. The funny thing about this holiday is you are sort of doing things to each other, that on any other day, would be considered mean. On this day you just let loose and go with it.

I still don't know proper protocol for when you are splashed, squirted, and powdered... maybe, "Thank you sir, may I have another?"

I call this picture, "Hello, How are you? Slap, Rub... How are the wife and kids? Squirt, Rub... It's been a while, oh here I have something for you! Really? A present... Whatever could it be?"

I call this one, "Oh, hi Mom! I would really appreciate you putting that camera down for just a few seconds..."

After our festival of colors we had a pot luck breakfast... casual wear was acceptable.

It was a little strange standing around talking to my neighbors and acting like everything was normal... "Hi Vimala! Why yes my head does look like a grape... you kind of look like a tie dyed human!"

I call this picture, "Please Scott let us into the house! I am much to civilized to be hosed down in the front yard!"