Cochin Weekend

Overall, awesome weekend!

Cochin, now known as Kochi, is located in the south western state of Kerala, right on the coast. It is an incredibly beautiful place, lush and green, and extremely colorful. We had a great time relaxing, a little shopping and some sightseeing. To see all the pictures, click on this link

Cochin is famous for 3 things:

• Seafood
• The backwaters
• Furniture

Obviously, I didn't buy much furniture (trying to squeeze an armoire into my two bags wouldn't be easy), but I definitely enjoyed the first two! The seafood was so great, I more than ate my fill of crab, prawns and lobster! Based right on the water, Cochin is recognizable for the giant Chinese fishing nets that you can see in the harbors. They're Chinese nets because the Chinese are the ones who introduced them to the Keralans (see the picture at the left). They're really crazy looking and when you go to the shores and check out the fishing nets, you also see the fishing stalls. The fisherman catch it, lay it out on the ground and will slice it up and cook it for you. While it was SUPER tempting (or not), I stuck with the food at the restaurant.

The backwaters are the Indian version of a chain of small rivers that weave in and out of the city. You can rent these boats and basically go for overnight rides all along the coast. Unfortunately we weren't able to do that, but we did go for an hour long ride around the main bay at sunset which was pretty cool.

And lastly, oh the shopping. While Cochin is famous for the furniture shopping, really they just have shopping in general. Jewelry, pashmina, furniture, art, antiques, cheap toy rickshaws...no matter what you're in the market for they have it. And they also like to yell at you as you walk by and try to convince you to come into their shop, which interestingly enough...didn't work on me. I didn't do as much shopping as some, but I did walk away with two really cool paintings (one on the right, one on the left) from a local artist. Where these will go in my flat back in Mpls, who knows, but they're awesome!! And where was all this wonderful shopping? Jewtown. Seriously. That's the name of the area of Cochin. The original settlement of the Jewish Indians built around a beautiful old synagogue, it just goes to tell you how India feels about P.C.

The best part of our trip though had to be the hotel. The Taj Malabar is truly amazing. Incredibly beautiful and peaceful, it was the perfect get away from noisy and crowded Bangalore (especially as there was some crazy statue unveiling in the city this weekend so they closed everything in order to prevent rioting...seriously over a statue). I also got my first (and last) massage while I was there. I know, everyone talks about how wonderful the massages are there and how cheap they are (which is true), but I just haven't gotten around to getting one. However, the amazing massage I had in Cochin more than made up for it. Feeling relaxed.

Which is perfect timing as I head into my last week at work...

Lots to do, little time.

Where, oh where, did the time go?

So apparently it's August. And only 2 weeks until I come home. Seriously, how did that happen? Where did July go? Where did the last 4 months go?

I also realized that as July passed me by in a haze of work and travel, I haven't been the most attentive blogger. And by attentive, I mean, I haven't blogged. For the 2 people who actually read this (Mom and Dad), I apologize. Just kidding. But seriously I am sorry!! I'm sure it doesn't come as a shock that I really like writing these, but finding the time has become increasingly tricky. So in order to summarize the last month all in 1 blog posting, I'm breaking up into 3 categories that have dominated the last 5 weeks of my life:

1. Work
2. Travel
3. Preparing for my return

WORK

Work has been crazy! Not long after my return from my trip with my family, I realized that I needed to start getting myself organized to leave. Not to say that I'm not an organized person, but shifting yourself into "wrap up mode" has felt really different than the rest of my trip. Every time someone asks me for something or to work on a new project, I honestly have to say, is that something that can get wrapped up, in say, the next 2-3 weeks? If yes, than maybe. If no, then absolutely not!!! It has been filled with working backwards on timelines and really trying to figure out who needs to take things over that are going to need to live on after I leave, who I need to meet with before I leave, what didn't I get done that I wanted to, etc... All that planning takes up a ton of time! Not to mention my trainings and my projects. And while these last few weeks have been a blur (as I'm sure the next two weeks will be), this trip has been absolutely amazing. Someone asked me the other day if I'd do it again: IN A HEARTBEAT. There aren't too many things I'd do differently, honestly, because even the things that didn't go exactly as planned, I learned even more from than the things that did. I have loved my time here, the people I've met, the experiences I've had, and cheesily enough, the work I've done and the projects I've been a part of. Okay...enough cheese ball. Sufficient to say, it has been wonderful. I would be remiss to mention, however, that I'm SO excited to come back to Mpls and see everyone I work with back home!!! I've missed you guys!

TRAVEL

So this is what most people reading this really want to know... Since my last trip to Denmark, I have hunkered down into travel mode as I don't really know when I'll be back to this part of the world.

Travel I've done since last blog:

• Mumbai: I went to Mumbai with Will, another expat. We went for a weekend and had an absolutely amazing time. While Mumbai is a seriously packed city: lots of traffic, lots of people, lots of buildings, etc... I really liked it a lot. It's fast paced, really great food (emphasis on the really great), has fantastic architecture (left over from the British), and is a fun city. We also had a great tour guide who has traveled and lived all over India and had a sociology background and was just incredibly insightful and interesting. Will and I raved about him for a few days after. Although he was pretty great, there was a little detail that has since changed my opinion. Following our trip, Will and I each recieved and email from Mark, our guide. Will's was a few lines mostly about how much he enjoyed meeting us and how impressed he was with how much Will has traveled and to keep in touch if he ever comes back to Mumbai. Mine, on the other hand, was 2 pages, and included sentiments such as "I love your smile" and "You have amazing energy" and my favorite "I would love to travel with you around India and show you the stars in the skies". Needless, to say, my "reply mail" was direct, short and sad to say(for him), without much hope for a future between us. Will still laughs about it. Despite my new found following by tour guides, it was a great trip. Once I upload my pictures you can see more of Mumbai!
• Hyderabad: Hyderabad is a city in south-central India in the state of Andhra Pradesh that is known for 2 things: business and PEARLS! And lets just say, I wasn't there for the first one :) The pearls were amazing, so beautiful, and compared to the U.S., inexpensive!! Literally the 3 of us on the trip took over a pearl shop, had about 6 guys helping us while another 4 people were custom building pearl necklaces, earrings, and rings on the floor. It was a pretty wild experience. One of the reasons for the devotion of the employees was that Will was there to purchase gifts for his wedding. His fiance is from Nepal, and its tradition that he gives gifts to all the women in her family. Approximately 40 sets of pearl necklaces and earrings later (and I'm not exaggerating, I have pictures), he was done shopping. Needless to say my final bill paled in comparison. There were some other really cool things to see in Hyderabad, the markets, an old palace. But definitely what I'll remember most is our pearl shopping (pictures to come)

Future travel plans:

• Kochi (Cochin) - This is a city in south western India, in the state of Kerala, right on the water. It's well known for furniture shopping (which will keep my buying minimal as most furniture will not fit in my two bags back) and GREAT food. Looking forward to that this weekend!
• Sri Lanka - This will be my first trip (besides my family trip) outside of India!! A couple other expats talked me into it as the truth is, I'll probably never get another chance. Now some of you may have read about recent civil unrest. What I can tell you is, please don't worry, where I'm going to be is on the complete opposite end of the island and is very safe. It'll be a great trip and my final one before I leave... Sad! :(

PREPARING FOR MY RETURN

This process has really consisted of 3 things:

1. Buying gifts (I already have one of my two suitcases FULL of presents)
2. Planning goodbye events
3. Preparing myself for "re-entry"

First of all, I have bought so much stuff, but am proud to say most of it will be given away. I apologize especially to my immediate family members who, it's safe to say, will be getting "gifts from India" for the next 2 years of birthdays, Christmases, anniversaries, etc... But it's also trying to remember what I bought, who I had it in mind for, etc... Sufficient to say multiple spreadsheets have been created and hopefully that will help keep me straight. If for any reason I give you a gift, and then take it back to replace it with something else, it's because I used the wrong spreadsheet. Advanced warning and apologies.

Goodbye events are really fun, and I am seriously so touched that people are going to be sad to see me leave, but on the same hand, are a little bit overwhelming and well...sad! The other thing is that I've worked with a couple different teams in my time here and so each one wants to setup something separately. And I'm excited for each experience, but I'm also dreading them a little. I have really enjoyed my time, but it will be so hard to say goodbye to everyone. I also am constantly dodging the "so when are you coming back" question because I don't have a good answer. While I'm excited to be back in the U.S., it will be really hard to say goodbye to the team members here and leave this place. As I mentioned previously, this has been a remarkable experience and the people are the #1 reason.

Preparing for re-entry. Honestly, there are a few things that make me nervous. Driving. I haven't driven a car in almost 5 months and not only that but everything is on the opposite side of the road. This makes me incredibly nervous. There will be a few parking lot practice sessions. FOR SURE. Also, talking. I have adopted a few phrases used here as it definitely helps facilitate communication. Examples? "I'm not keeping well today", "I'll revert back to you", "can we prepone the meeting" or my personal favorite "what timepass are you doing?". I've even started picking up a little Kanada!! "Maga!". I fear I will get some serious sideways glances when these sayings are uttered in Mpls. Please be on the lookout!!

I will write AT LEAST one more blog before I go, so no more sentimentalities for now. Today, I'll just focus on the fact that I'm really excited to see everyone back in the U.S. and that I've really enjoyed my spring/summer in India :) I hope this is an okay blog for now, pictures to be added from my trips soon!!!

Announcements:

• 3 new babies since my last post!! Congratulations to Anita, Sonal, and Chaitali on their new families :)
• Congrats to Jen Stone on 15 years at Target. WOOHOO!
• Arrival of 1 new "shortpat" (Abusiness visitor over 1 month, less than 6 months. I made this up and now am trying to spread it like wildfire). Welcome Brenda!
• The sad departure of 1 shortpat and 2 expats. Jamie, Alex, and Olaf, we'll miss you and I'll see you back in Mpls!! :(

Vacation Pictures

I apologize for the tardiness but it has taken forever to load them into Picasa!!
Here is the link

**These pictures were made possible by Jane/Mike Brady bringing me both a 2GB memory card as well as an external hard drive. Without them and their generosity, you would not "enjoy" those pictures. Thanks parents :)

Vacation...Part Duex

Now where did I leave off...oh yes, Sweden!

First we arrived in Malmo, which is a smaller city right across the water from Copenhagen. After experiencing some fun rental car drama: they didn't have the automatic we reserved, the guy working didn't know how to get anywhere in the city, and then we couldn't find out how to get into the parking garage (its trickier than you'd expect) we were on our way! Where to? Stockholm. But our first stop was in Ostra...I can't remember. But it was a small fishing village halfway between Malmo and Stockholm. Armed with nothing but a few books on tape, a map we couldn't fully understand, and some delicious cookies, we set out to drive across Sweden! And you can see by the picture on the right that by we I meant my mom and I (busted Dad!).

It was actually a pretty fun little road trip. Some good bonding time with the folks and a chance for my mom and I to incorrectly pronounce as many Swedish cities as possible. And boy, did we do a good job. Not to top our pronunciation was our inability to decipher road signs. Take this picture to the left. What exactly does that mean? No blue? No sky? No anything? It doesn't matter what it is, just don't do it on this spot... This one perplexed me the entire trip. I'm serious, if you know what this means, please put me out of my misery. Also included on our little road trip was stopping at some glass factories/showrooms. Apparently the Swedish make really nice glass (who knew?). We were able to stop at 2 factories, check out some really nice glass, and make a few small purchases :)

From there, it was onto Stockholm! As promised in my previous blog, in order to keep this short(ish) I will make a top 5 list:

1. Good people
   
2. The Volvo Ocean Race
3. Food
   
4. Drink
5. Memorabilia

Good People
Now, I don't want to start this off by saying Copenhagen didn't have extremely nice people, but it was hard to top our experiences in Stockholm. Now to give this story proper credit, I have to do a little background. For those of you who have never been, streets in Stockholm are preplexing. They like to layer streets on top of each other, they're big into 1 ways, and maps aren't exactly...oh how do you say...helpful. We're at our hotel, trying to return our rental car at the train station maybe 7 blocks away. Sound easy? Lies. After getting lost, reversing down a 1 way street for 2 blocks only to end up at another 1 way, we decided to ask directions. No sooner had my dad gotten out of the car to ask for help, then the Swedish man had replaced my mother as the driver of the car. I, sitting in the front passenger seat, was a little confused by the blond man sitting beside me. However, this extremely kind person left work in the middle of the day to give us a ride, a bit of a tour/history of Sweden and basically delivered us to the rental car facility. Then he called his friends to pick him us and refused to let us thank him (my mom even offered to take him out for a beer)!! He was so sweet, and he didn't even hesitate. Needless to say, the three of us were floored...and eternally grateful.

The Volvo Ocean Race
If you haven't heard of this, Google it. It's an around-the-world sailboat race that started in Novemeber of 2008 and their 2nd to last stop was Stockholm, while we were there! And to say that Stockholm is a party place is an understatement, and this ocean race only magnified the Swedish desire for a good time. The whole port was rowdy and there were just people everywhere! They were even holding mini boat races in the harbor operated by the sailors as well as a fashion show. Each sponsor had a huge tent with a ton of people, a bar, and food. It was awesome! I got a few pictures of the boats which you can see on the right. It was just such a random occurance and so cool to be there for!

Food
3 things made this food amazing:
1. Swedish meatballs. So good. It's basically balls of meat, covered in gravy with mashed potatos on the side. For someone who struggles to find anything besides chicken, it was like heaven sent from above. They were SO good.
2. Chokladfabriken. Yea, its a real place. And the only reason I remember it is because the name is on the box of chocolates I just scarfed down this evenining (and you think I'm kidding). This is a little chocolate shop my mom found in some random guidebook and insisted my dad and I go to. I'm never one to turn down chocolate, so we went and...holy buckets! Every piece was more amazing than the last. Needless to say I was impressed. Nice work Stockholm.
3. This is the most important. It isn't so much about the quality of the food, but the food pairing. You think cookies and milk. Or peanut butter and jelly. In Sweden, it's only about two things, and you find them linked in almost every town: Kebabs and Pizza. I know, I know, I can't believe we didn't think of it before! Sweden has cornered the market. And by the way kebabs are actually gyros. And honestly, what is more Swedish than pizza and kebabs. You think I'm kidding. EVERYWHERE. Hopefully you can read the signs on these pictures (Pizza + Kebabs)

Drink
I moved on from the chocolate, so I'm not going to talk about the huge back of dark chocolate shavings I bought that you mix with steaming milk to make hot chocolate. Not even going to mention it. But what I did appreciate were some delicious beers (inclulding Prips, which we FINALLY found), the fact that they drink champagne before their meals (and who wouldn't love that) and that I randomly found a bottle from one of my favorite vineyards at the restaurant we ate at our last night!!! It's an extremely small vineyard in South America that exports almost nowhere and this place had it. I was blown away and well, super pumped. It was magnificent.

Memorabilia
As you read through my top 5, this was probably the one that stood out as the most out of place. Like the Highlights for Children magazines, which one does not belong? To clarify a little further, the country of Sweden has an interesting hobby...of collecting artifacts from the assasianations of their royalty. I'm dead serious (no pun intended). They had an entire room in the museum next to the palace with relics from the slayings of their kings. The clothes they wore (bullet holes included), blood stained material from the couch one died on, the actual BULLET from inside the body, and my favorite had the horse that the kind (17th c) was riding when killed stuffed and on display. It goes without saying, it was completely creepy. I also want to know what it says about a country that they've had like 6-7 kings assasinated. That's not good. I mean, we're a newer country but we can still count ours on one hand (including attempts). I mean, I never thought that was a stat to write home about, but apparently I was wrong. U-S-A, U-S-A.

Alright enough of that.

Overall, it was an incredible trip filled with many great moments (not all of which fit into my already lengthy blogs) but most of all, it was so great to see my parents. If you don't believe how awesome and adorable they are, check out this picture. Trust me, they're cool. Well, not so much my dad, but you had to imagine my nerdery came from somewhere!!! He's got great taste in music though :)

Vacation...Part 1

I'm breaking this up into two parts because I just got back from my trip with my family last night at about 3am and I'm exhausted...Because we visited 2 places, I'll break it in half and in today's blog, will cover Copenhagen, Denmark.

First of all, it was SUCH a great trip. I had an amazing time, visited some incredible cities, but most of all, really enjoyed the time with my parents. I'd just like to say that while it was a great vacation, we missed you Tommy and Bets. And for those of you who have visited Sweden/Denmark and are wondering if I saw a particular place or did a culturally significant activity that can't be missed, I can answer your question right now, yes we saw it and yes, we did it. Many of you reading this blog have never traveled with my family, but those of you who have will understand when I say, we Bradys know how to pack it in!! There was nothing in or out of the guide book that wasn't covered. Brady family trips are always incredible but not for the faint of heart (or foot). We're talking long, arduous days of sightseeing including every palace, theater, museum and house with cute windows (sorry Jane) that can be found. Now, I'm not complaining at all, in fact I have inherited this trait for vacation execution from my parents and am pre-conditioned to a no-break, no-rest, excursion. But that isn't to say, that these trips are incredibly relaxing, on the contrary, I find it a true vacation to be with the people I love that know me the best. And that is what makes a great trip (that are a really good chocolate store...you know which one I mean mom).

Anywho, on with the trip details.

Our first stop as I mentioned earlier was Copenhagen. Because we did so much in every city, I've decided to break each blog down into a top 5 list (including funny stories or interesting sites or observations) in order to keep my rambling to a minimum (have you seen how long my blog posts are getting??? I must think I'm really interesting). So here goes nothing...

1. Value for money
2. Bikes!!
3. Danish...sweet, sweet, Danish (pastries, not people)
   
4. Architecture
5. General awesomeness

Value for Money
Copenhagen is an amazing city and I have to be honest, I fell completely in love with it as soon as I got off the train. I think I made my parents nervous by saying somewhere around 50-60 times that I'm moving to Copenhagen. In the first few hours, and continuing through the next several days, I was pretty sure I'd never been to a cooler city. Everything, from the people, to the architecture, to the food, it was all amazing and I was hooked. I was doubtful I could find anything wrong with this wonderful city and was perplexed how they'd been able to keep this place a secret (only 1.2 million people live there...pretty small on the world scale). After finding out it was recently ranked #1 on the "Most livable cities in the World 2008", my reaction was only to say "duh". And then we went to dinner the first night and I was faced with a cruel reality...all this comes at a price, and that price is RIDICULOUSLY high. So for any of you who have been to Copenhagen, I'd love an "Amen" on that point. WOOOWEEE, it's a spendy little town. So anyhow, the point is that I'm starting a "Get Kate to Kovenhagen" fund. And yes, we take AmEx.

Bikes
This technically falls under the category of "General awesomeness" but I was so inspired by the biking that I gave it it's own category. Now, it doesn't help that I currently live in Bangalore, but I actually shot a 5 minute short film on one street because I was BlOWN AWAY by the lack of cars. Seriously, there aren't any cars! I told Shekar, my driver, about this last night on my way home and he laughed out loud (honestly, I don't think he believed me...hence the video). Everyone bikes everywhere. And for those of you who know a little bit about Copenhagen, it's a city broken up by canals, so obviously, there's lots of bridges and boats, but most of all, there are bikes. And they have big bike lanes everywhere so people can ride on the street. Not only that, but the bikers all follow the traffic laws (I'm actually campaigning for them to come to Mpls and explain it to our bikers...) and not only that but according to traffic laws in the city, they usually have the right away over everyone else. What a way to encourage biking!!! My parents and I ended up renting bikes one day and riding all over the city (its not a huge city so don't be too impressed) but it was probably my favorite day. I completely recommend it. I added some pictures of us on our bikes so you can see how cool we look :)
Danish Pastries
Wow. Just, yea, wow. I'm not sure I can drum up the words to explain this better, but being someone who loves the sound of my own voice (and the sight of my own typing)...here goes: Our first morning in Denmark, we enjoyed potentially the best breakfast ever at this cute little house right alongside a lake. Filled with meats, cheeses (those Scandanavians love their brie. Seriously, it's everywhere), and oh holy monkeys...pastries. I have never been big into pastries, especially Danishes. I was wrong, I was so, so wrong. Instead of being tough and sometimes crunchy and dry, they are just...wow. Go, if for no other reason than to eat wonderful pastries. There is also a bakery not too far from the breakfast house that also numbs the mind. That's all I can say for now.

Architecture
When we originally booked this trip, I had a certain image in mind of what Denmark and Sweden would look like. Very modern style architecture, straight lines, sort of IKEA-like (based on it being a Swedish company) but I was shocked when I arrived. The architecture of the buildings all over the city was varied and overall, impressive. I was really blown away. More an more I've been paying attention and have just been captivated by different types of structural design and execution and to be honest, I was amazed in Denmark. It had a mix of old charm (Rococo and Baroque style) but also some very modern buildings. I took WAY too many pictures, you'll see them all once I upload them into my album, but I'll add a few throughout this blog so you can see what I mean. It was truly a beautiful city full of interesting and unique buildings.

General Awesomeness

• Nyhavn - this is a main drag is Copenhagen that is right along a canal (picture on the left). The basis of the entire street is that it's a walking street (no cars) and also that it's just full of restaurants and bars. In the summertime, people just sit out on patios and next the water, have a beer, grab a bite and mingle or just people watch. Every city needs one of these (and the daylight thing until 11pm helps as well)
  
• Tivoli - Tivoli is a "world-famous amusement park" that is basically filled with a ton of restaurants, some punk teenage kids (every amusement parks has them), and a few rides. We went on our last night, and honestly, we had a blast. We had a beer, ate organic hot dogs (yikes!) and rode a roller coaster. It was a blast!! Mom, because I love you and hate embarrassing dad outside the family confines, I have not included the picture from the actual roller coaster ride in the blog and instead included the adorable picture of you and dad on the right. It was pretty comical though and I have both copies :)
  
• Danish companies - Maersk and Carlsburg. The largest shipping company in the world, who I became acquainted with during my time as a Business Analyst and Carlsberg beer. Nice work Denmark.
  
• Water/Parks - because of the canals and then the beautiful parks and flowers everywhere, Copenhagen just feels so alive and, well, awesome. It really is the combination of all the above but I would be remiss if I didn't call out specifically the greenery and the...bluery (of the water). I took way, way, too many pictures of flowers and stuff, but seriously, I was impressed.
  

So overall, Copenhagen was okay. And by okay, I mean super sweet. Go, visit, seriously. It's really cool. I'll be waiting for my fund I mentioned above to grow and for the Kroner to drop a little (a lot) against the dollar. C'mon USD!!! But seriously, leg one of the trip was fantastic and I had such a great time seeing everything there was to see in Copenhagen (it is just how we roll) and even getting a little time to relax and enjoy :)

From Copenhagen we took the train the Malmo, Sweden...but that is for the next blog.

Innovas East!

This weekend was a trip for a small contingent of expats (and shortpats) to the state east of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu (some of you may remember from an earlier blog that I have traveled to this state before!). Before I get into how great my trip was, a short recap of the week prior...

Last week was the end of training for the 2nd wave of new hires. In general, the end to a really successful batch of trainees, and honestly I'm extremely pleased with how the training has gone. On top of that, getting Vikram prepared to take the training over from me is going really smoothly. I honestly, couldn't be happier. However, as I noted in this last blog, as the training begins to wrap up, it means that my focus has to shift to the remainder of my projects, and that is going to be crazy. Every day I become more aware that I only have a short time left to wrap things up. Not that I'm worried about getting things done, just more aware daily that I'm in the 2nd half of my trip!!

Alright, now onto the weekend. The area we went to is called Mahabalipurum, which is a small town on the east coast of India, just outside the larger city of Chennai. In order to get there, it required a caravan of vehicles (our Innovas...hence the blog title). One car was stuffed with...well us and food and car two carried all our luggage. At first we felt bad for Pam's driver for having to ride by himself with the luggage, but after the 6.5 hour trip, I actually felt worse for Shekar for putting up with the 5 of us being obnoxious in the car. Also, I think now is a good time to mention that this was Olaf's first trip with us. Olaf is another shortpat (otherwise known as a short term visitor - or someone staying less than 6 months) who arrived a few weeks ago and is now awaiting the arrival of his wife and kids for the remainder of the summer. While I'm sure he had a good time, I think he was surprised by how close a group becomes when they spend all their time together (meaning the 4 of us) and how well we all know each other. At least it all got some good laughs...

After the extremely long car ride (which included getting lost a few times as apparently the drivers weren't quite sure where they were going) we arrived at what was probably one of the coolest hotels I've ever stayed at!!! Seriously, even though it was midnight and really dark (duh) it was so cool. First of course is the ever vigilant security checks. So...I don't think I've ever quite covered these, but most places you go in India (nice hotels, shopping malls, and any business park - all the office complexes consist of many HQs all in one location) you have to go through security. Which means they check under the front of the car with a mirror and open your trunk and sweep a metal detector through it. What are they looking for? Bombs. Honestly, it made me really nervous the first week or two that this was something they were checking for but now I'm used to it. The interesting part is when you stop and think about it. They don't check inside the car at all and they don't look in any bags or anything in your trunk. So really...it's all for show. It's just an interesting phenomenon that they spend so much time and money employing people to do this, but its really no safer than those guys at the entrance to the Metrodome who look through your purse for anything dangerous...or any outside food. Anyway, the part that made us laugh was when we pulled into this hotel in Mahabalipurum called Fisherman's Cove, the guy did a really thorough check of the car inside and out...but only the right side. Apparently the left side of the car is always safe. Just another one of those things where you just shrug your shoulders.

So after arriving we checked into our beach side villas. They were AMAZING. The pictures were obviously taken during the day time, but seriously, they were so beautiful. And they were right on the beach. Our backyard had some rocking chairs, deck chairs and hammocks. It was a the LIFE! We dropped our bags and priority one was going out to the beach. Not only was the sand pretty nice and clean, but the Bay of Bengal (part of the Indian ocean) was warm. First order of business, a quick dip in the water!!! There's a funny little story involving me and a fish, but that is for another time. More importantly, I have checked off another ocean on my list!! So cool...

Saturday we woke up early (everywhere but Bangalore is ridiculously hot during the summer so you have to get up super early to go sightseeing) to go see some of the temples around Mahabalipurum. They have another UNESCO world heritage site, consisting of a few temples built around the 6-7th century. The interesting part is that this area of India was hit by the tsunami a few years back but was not as badly damaged as the city of Chennai (not far away) or Sri Lanka (which was severely damaged). Actually, all the temples, built right by the water, were relatively unharmed. Very impressive. The temples were really cool, but one of my favorite parts of our tour was that our drivers, Mr P (Pams driver Prakash) and Shekar were able to come with us. They don't get the opportunity to travel much around India, so it was fun to have them come with us. They really enjoyed themselves and even managed to smile when we forced them to take pictures with us! Poor guys... You can see them in the picture on the left (Mr. P and Shekar)

The remainder of the weekend was spent relaxing and enjoying the pool!! Oh yea, that and eating :) One of the best parts of the trip was enjoying fresh seafood. Being in Bangalore (not close to water) you always wonder exactly how "fresh" the fish is. At this place, everything was caught that day and served and it was SO good. Lance and I for lunch one day got a combo of everything they had caught that day including crab, mussels, lobster, prawns and a red snapper. They just threw it all and the grill and served it up. And it was fantastic. I was such a happy camper. The only slight dining snafu we hit in the trip was our dinner on Saturday. We went to their highly recommended Mediterranean restaurant that was at the top of a small hill and gave the most incredible view of the ocean and the resort. Also, there was soft lights everywhere and our table was under a white canopy. It was really nice. Until the part where dinner took almost 4 hours. Apparently there was some sort of issue with the kitchen and so it took FOREVER to get our food. Granted the food was great, but when you wait over an hour for soup, you start getting a little testy. And the music didn't help. While I am a Jack Johnson fan, I must admit, his songs after 2.5 hours start to sound the same...especially when its the same cd on repeat. Yikes. Then they put on a different cd after I'm sure another table complained, which had a huge skip in it and so every like 2 minutes you'd just hear this static and skip. It got pretty comical.

All during this dining fiasco, we actually stayed pretty calm, just talking amongst ourselves and cracking jokes. Several others however were NOT pleased and started arguing with the wait staff. And in a seriously bad decision, instead of telling diners that were coming to the restaurant that the service was too slow to take on new customers they kept seating people and then taking forever to bring food - just a bad business model. After a mostly excellent meal (Will, unfortunately, got served a terrible piece of beef) we gave them a little feedback. Have I explained about comment cards yet? They LIVE by them in India. Most restaurants (and it isn't just restaurants, hotels, and even the KFC at the food court) pass them out to get your feedback. And they watch you fill them out like HAWKS. They are extremely intense about what you write, and we've even had a hotel manager argue with us when he didn't like our comments! We after hearing what we had to say about the wait and Will's meal, they brought us two deserts to apologize that were seriously amazing. Like chocolate molten cakes but...wow, well they were good. We were appeased and just went home and fell asleep. Apparently word had spread the next day that the 5 Americans had not had the best dining experience and so every person we encountered from then on: 1. Apologized for what happened and 2. Offered everything and anything to make us happy. It actually got incredibly embarrassing. And the weird part is we hadn't even made a big deal. I am honestly in for a rude awakening when I return to the U.S. and people in the service industry aren't constantly looking for ways to make me more happy...sad!!!

All in all, it was a really nice weekend of relaxing at the pool and generally just winding down at a seaside villa. Ah...I could get used to this :)

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Click on the link to see more of my pictures. If I had to pick a favorite it would have to be either the picture of the giant prawns (so good) or of Wills feet. For those of you who don't know Will, he single handedly keeps the sock industry in business. The man NEVER goes sockless. Seriously. Sandals, shoes, walking into a Hindu temple where you can't wear shoes, 110 degrees out, the man wears socks. I captured photographic evidence of him sockless. Yea, it was a proud moment.

I leave Friday for Sweden/Denmark to see my parents so it might be a little bit until my next post. I'm so excited to see them (and to take a vacation!!!). I hope everyone has a great week and Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there :)

When did it become June?

Seriously. How is it June already? I was talking to someone the other day and I found myself saying I had been here for 2 months. Time flies... It really doesn't feel like I have already been here that long or that I will be leaving in just 2.5 months. The time is passing so quickly! Okay, enough reflection, what you all really want to know is what I have been up to!

This last week was another week of lots of training. When I was telling my mom about how much training I had this week and how long of a week it was going to be (and by telling, perhaps there was a hint of whine in my voice...) she abruptly asked "But isn't that why Target sent you to India". Nothing like a good reality check delivered from 8000 miles away :) Isn't that just what moms are for??? Put you back in your place (just kidding mom). Despite my occasional whine, training is really going well. I'm incredibly energized by how well this group of new hires is doing and honestly can't wait for them to get started on the job. There is a lot of great talent and it really gives me faith that what we're doing over here is going to not only work, but soar. I'm also so excited by how well my "shadow" is doing. While I'm training the new hires I'm simultaneously training a team member to take over from me once i leave. He's doing so well, and it makes me so proud to see him excelling. We definitely have a lot of work to do in the next 2.5 months, but I am reveling in the fact that I feel that I am in the right place and doing good things. It is an insanely rewarding feeling.

So now you realize that when I said the self-reflection was over, it was a huge fat lie :) But honestly, most of my energies this week have focused on work, so that gets the majority of this post. There have been some good times this weekend though! Friday night a bunch of us went to this really great restaurant in Koramangala (which is right by the RJU building) and saw a live "band". It was really a duo that was an Australian who played the acoustic guitar and a German who played the violin. They apparently met randomly in a coffee house in Bangalore and decided to play together. They were good, but it was really the back story that I loved. What are the chances these two guys find each other??? Honestly.

The other cool thing I did this weekend was go to a fashion show. By fashion show I don't mean with a runway and models and all that, it was just the launch of a new fashion line created by an ex-Target India team member. She had worked in the Finance team and then resigned because she wanted to design clothing. And her clothes were really beautiful. Those of you who know my wardrobe know that India isn't quite my style (i wear solid colors, straight lines, blue, black, brown...okay, fine Jen Stone, I dress like a boring grandma with the occasional cute shoe which garners a "shut up with those cute shoes Kate Brady") :) Needless to say the bold prints and even bolder color schemes of India don't exactly appeal to my "fashion sense". But this stuff was really great, clean lines, really nice materials (silks, linens, etc...) and I just really liked her stuff. One problem. Indian women and I have nothing in common as far as sizes go. The designer was really sweet and kept insisting I try things on. I tried to explain that I have long awkward limbs and the chances of anything fitting me were slim to none. She would not take no for an answer and so the humiliation of trying on a long sleeved shirt that was just a little too long to be 3/4 length ensued. She was floored. The best part is another expat was there taking pictures of the whole event and snapped a photo. When I get a copy I'll post it, it's hysterical. I look like someone accidentally shrunk my shirt. Either that or I'm wearing a child's size. Needless to say afterwards she felt really bad and I just had to explain that it was okay, I'm just a freak who doesn't have arms, I have a wingspan. I actually was able to get a really cool linen jacket (it was 3/4 length...WOOHOO!) that I'm sure you'll see in some future picture albums/blog posts.

Another thought: It's easy as expats to only go to the 5-star hotels, the nicest restaurants and get $10 pedicures every weekend, but sometimes its good to observe real life. I like that side of India. And the truth is, once the people here get past how pale and tall I am, they're incredibly friendly and welcoming. They just stare at what is new and different. For example, today I was down in the gym and there were two little Indian girls who were fascinated that I was running (and sweating) on the treadmill and so they came in, brought some chairs and watched. Seriously. They watched me run for 30 minutes. They sat, they stared. At first it made me a little nervous and also made me try and run a little faster (If I'm going to have an audience, I need to impress). After about 5-7 minutes I just thought it was funny. When I finished my run I figured maybe they had not ever been on a treadmill so I slowed the pace down and invited them to try it. I really wish I had gotten a picture of it, they were so adorable. They were a little bit petrified but after a few minutes they thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. Honestly these are the little experiences that I'm always going to remember. Those two little girls, my driver Shekar who just makes my day consistently, the security guards at C2 who stand every time I enter the building, the guard at Zen who salutes me as Shekar and I drive out. It's the little interactions that make the biggest impression on me.

I've already gotten so much out of this experience and I can't wait to see what the next half of this trip will bring. Coming up I've got a weekend trip to Chennai with 5 other expats and then the next weekend I'll see Mike and Jane!!!! I really can't wait to see my parents, it's going to be great. I was talking to my roommate Pam the other night and she's actually worried that going to Sweden and Denmark is going to be a total culture shock for me after being in India. When I thought about it I completely agreed. Sweden is like the antithesis of India. Clean, white, bright, organized, tall blond people everywhere. And my parents brought up this morning their concerns about me eating in Sweden and whether my stomach could take all these changes. We'll see. Plus, that's why God invented Cipro :) Sweet Cipro. And yes, by that comment everyone now knows I finally got sick. It wasn't too bad at all though and honestly I probably jumped the gun a little taking the Cipro, but that stuff is magical. Magical...

You know, i was worried when I began this post that I wouldn't really have anything interesting to share. But then I remembered how good I am at rambling on and just talking in general. Silly Kate, tricks are for kids. Have a great week everyone!!! :)

Dedication of this blog goes to Shawn Boyd. I'm going to miss you Shawnathan Justice, but I am so excited to hear about your adventures. Good luck and make sure you keep in touch!!!