Music and Change

Pictures:

Wedding - round 2 - with a different team-member :) Carin stayed home and Scott actually made it! We saw all but the white horse part. The Indian weddings have SO many layers and celebrations - this was the part when the groom goes to the bride on a white horse and there is dancing. Then, the bride and groom greet each other with flowers (you can see when she is walking around him and throwing flowers on him - I love this picture because you can see the mischevious smile). That is about half of the wedding. The other part is the actual vow and a symbolic walking around a fire 7 times.

The other picture is from the car - we see this a lot and I am never ceased to be surprised when I see cows on the street or 4 people crammed on a motorbike (2 children included without helmets). I don't even know what to say....

So, I think the one thing that is keeping me "sane" amongst zero control levels and chaos is music. My love for classical music is growing and artists like Kutless, Matthew West, and the LDS hymns are my little 'slice' of home. The good news is that with that - I'm absolutely LOVING India. This is truly a better experience than I could have imagined. I've been asked a few times about the food and I keep neglecting to say how absolutely incredible the food is here - so much for losing weight! That is SO not happening - sometimes it feels like all we do is eat! The food is delicious - the layers of flavor are unlike anything I've had at home and I seriously need to do a better job of learning how to cook here. I've "mastered" paratas (stuffed chipates - I think I spelled that incorrectly) and pretty much nothing else. Last night we went to a wedding and the food was probably the best I've had. We had stuffed red bell peppers, paneer (always!), other vegetables and the gravy and vegetables that has a name that I should have written down :) MMMM...sooo good....I'm still adjusting to spicy food for breakfast but it is really growing on me. We alternate between western breakfast (eggs, toast, fruit) and traditional breakfast (vegetables, paratas, spicy food, etc.). My poor stomach isn't exactly 100% all of the time, but its not really at home either so I am absolutely not complaining. When I get home I'll work to get a few of these things down for sure...anyone interested??

We changed homes this morning and I was pleasantly surprised to have wireless Internet AND we got the key (bonus!). Carin and I are staying together again but we don't have our own rooms this round. That's totally fine...I just feel bad for the guys because they are also sharing a room and neither one is 100% healthy. My host "dad" is a urologist (surgeon) and one of the nicest guys I've met. His wife is a sweet lady as well - they are so welcoming and it was SO nice to have a bit of relaxation time....we're both pretty tired. They have 3 dogs and it really makes me miss Riley :( BUT, one is a rescued street dog and he is super sweet. The other 2 are still warming up to us, but I am sure we'll be great friends by the time we depart in about 4 days. Tomorrow is their 32nd anniversary and I am going to make them a cake. I am a little nervous because I usually support my awesome department and bake Betty Crocker Supermoist cakes thus, I haven't baked a cake from scratch in, um, well, like 15 years - and then I only did it twice. So, let's hope that the 'food person' doesn't bake something terrible and let everyone down... :S I'm pretty confident that the frosting will turn out - I hope they have a mixer...hmm...maybe I should take an inventory of the kitchen before I find a grocery store. I'm excited, either way, to make something for them. I have this feeling I am going to become super attached to this family, much like Rohit and Anu.

The schedule that is posted on my office door is so completely wrong it isn't even funny. When we arrived we got an updated schedule and basically every club we go to (change approximately every 4 days) we get an updated schedule from the master. The good news is we are actually getting a rest day tomorrow - the first one! In my rest day, I'm not really resting, rather, I'm heading back to Guragon for what, I am not exactly sure. It'll be an adventure. My ideal day involves riding a rickshaw and trying to get lost which wouldn't be very hard. I know that probably won't make my parents or family very excited so No, I will not do the aforementioned by myself, but I really really want to ride one before we go! Here's the adventurous Michelle breaking out :) I need to play and run...I've been caged a little too much with all the scheduling. I'm learing patients - this is really good for me!