Good Morning Vietnam (Hallo from Hanoi)!

Our jaunt through Southeast Asia continued with a three-day trip to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. After spending three weeks in India, Hanoi (which has a population of ~6 million) felt like a peaceful, mid-size city. At times, it even felt a bit like Minneapolis, mainly due to all the lakes in the city.......there are, however, slightly more Vietnamese people in Hanoi than in Minneapolis.

We spent the three days doing a little sightseeing, a little street shopping, and of course taking in a water puppet show. This is apparently one of Vietnam's ancient art forms. I would describe it as a very, very poor man's version of Cirque de Soleil's 'O'.......a homeless man's version. It was good fun nonetheless.

Here are a few pictures -- the two of us with Hoan Kiem Lake behind us, the two of us at the Temple of Literature (this was the first University in Vietnam.....Pallavi was really in her element!), and Pallavi protecting herself from the pollution.

Malyasia Truly Asia

...that's the slogan that the Malaysian tourism department has attached to all ads about the country. In fact, Pallavi couldn't stop singing the jingle for about two days. Good times.

Anyway, we spent a really nice day in Kuala Lumpur with our friends Roni and Mayanne. During our short stay, Roni and I had lunch in a members-only club on the 42nd floor of the Petronas Twin Towers, we had a terrific Malay dinner, and we spent a lot of time on Roni's couch watching 'House' on DVD. Pretty much the ideal day. Here are two pictures -- Roni and I at lunch (we weren't prepared for the dress code, so not only did I have to borrow a jacket from Roni, but we both had to borrow ties from the restaurant. The lighting's poor, but you'll get the idea), and Pallavi and I at dinner in the pose used in all the 'Malaysia Truly Asia' ads. As Roni and Mayanne put it, we really bought into the propoganda! One day was definitely not enough, and we hope to get back to Malaysia soon! Thanks to Roni and Mayanne for being such great hosts! Sorry for all the exclamation points!

The Motherland

After 2+ months of travel, it was the perfect time for us to get back to our roots.....India. We spent the majority of our time with family in Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune. As always, our relatives absolutely spoiled us with our favorite foods - Pallavi had plenty of gazar ka halwa and pinneaple raita, while I had enough gulab jamun, papad, and paan to tide me over until our next visit to India. We also watched a bunch of Bollywood movies - Dostana was better than we expected (the song 'Desi Girl' is sure to be a hit at weddings in New Jersey).....the new Karz was worse.....much worse. We even caught a glimpse of Amitabh's SUV exiting the gates of his mansion. (For the non-Indians out there, Amitabh Bachchan is a Bollywood actor and a living legend in India.....if you combine the popularity of Oprah, George Clooney, Bono, and Barack Obama, you start to approach Amitabh's popularity here......I'm not even joking). We also picked up some skills while we were in India - Pallavi's can now understand basic Marathi fairly well, while I developed a surprising proficiency for killing mosquitoes with my bare hands.

The best part, of course, was hanging out with our relatives (and Mohammed, the driver).....although I'm not sure why they all kept trying to force us to take naps even when we're not sleepy.

We also spent two days in Udaipur, which coincidentally is known as the 'city of lakes' (the minneapolis of the east?). Now unfortunately, due to a logistical snafu (I'd rather not get into it), I won't be able to upload pictures from India for another week to 10 days. But rest assured, I will post pictures of our relatives, Udaipur, and of course, a few Tushar look-alikes. Stay tuned.

We were very sad to leave India....but we hope to be back soon......Parth, Sanket, or Choti - it's time to start planning Destination Delhi Part Deux.....

We're Safe

Just wanted to let everybody know that we are in Delhi today, not Mumbai (we were there last week). Also, we've checked with our relatives in Mumbai and everybody is fine. Thanks to everybody who checked in on us.
We've been in India the past three weeks, and we leave for Malaysia tonight. Given what's happening in Mumbai right now, we expect airport security in Delhi tonight to be extra tight.
We've had an amazing time in India, and we're sad to leave......I'll add a blog post about it in the next few days.

Three Days of Dubai-chery

After two weeks in Tanzania, no place (with the possible exception of Las Vegas) could have provided a more stark contrast than Dubai, where we spent 3 days last week.  Since we were only there a short time, we focused on the touristy side of the city -- all shiny and new and a complete spectacle.  The amount of construction throughout the city is staggering, with each new building bigger and more lavish than the last.  The largest mall in the world (Dubai Mall) just opened, and construction has already begun on another mall that will be even larger.  While construction of the Burj Dubai, which will be the world's tallest building at over 800 meters when it opens in 2009, continues, plans have already been finalized for the new Al Burj building, which will be more than 1km high!  Also, work has begun to build the world's biggest airport, even though they just completed a sparkling new terminal at the current airport.  Another spectacle was the series of man-made islands, built in the shape of a palm tree and another set of islands built in the shape of the world map.  As Pallavi commented, 'you can just see the money oozing all over the city'.  Here are a few pictures -- the two of us outside the Burj Al Arab hotel (the world's only 7-star hotel), Pallavi with the menu at Asha Bhosle's restaurant, me with the indoor ski resort in the background, a view of the construction of the Burj Dubai tower from our hotel balcony, a random Tushar look-alike (not as good as the one in Florence) in the mall, and Pallavi with the Burj Al Arab hotel in the background. 

It was a fun 3 days, and we look forward to returning to Dubai in 10-15 years to see the NEW world's tallest building at 3km+ in height and the world's NEW largest mall, large enough to include the world's NEW largest airport and a series of man-made islands in the shape of the solar system....built to scale.

So-fari, So Good

First of all, I encourage you to open this link in a separate window. Keep it open as background music while reading this entry.

Ok, now that you are really feeling 'Africa', let's get to it. After our 9 days at Peace House, we spent 5 days on safari, which we learned is a Swahili word meaning 'trip' (not just an animal-viewing trip). We rolled around in a tricked-out Land Rover with our awesome guide, Mweta, and explored Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, and Ngorongoro Conservation Area. I'm probably a bit biased, but I think we had the perfect safari experience -- a terrific guide who taught us the ways of the world, amazing nature, and amazing animal sightings. We were very fortunate to see each of the 'big five' (elephant, lion, rhino, buffalo, leopard) and to witness an actual kill, as a cheetah patiently stalked a gazelle until he finally pounced and hunted down his lunch. Mweta told us that he doesn't remember the last time he led a safari on which both the 'big five' and a kill were seen. I think pictures tell the story a lot better than I can, so here are a bunch of pictures -- the two of us with Mweta, some random scenery shots, a Maasai guide explaining Maasai traditions to Pallavi, and of course, the animals. Enjoy the pictures, especially the ones of the animals........they're wild!

The People of Peace House

As the previous post describes, we had an amazing experience at Peace House. What has made it so great are the people that we interacted with. Here's a picture of me with the Commerce teacher, Bernard. He and I worked together on the business plan competition. Also, I learned that he enjoys watching reruns of 'Perfect Strangers' on TV.

Here we are with our new friend Meriwether on the porch of our on-campus volunteer housing. Meriwether was the other US volunteer here at the same time as us. The three of us had a great time hanging out, and somehow Pallavi managed to get us invited to Meriweather's yet-to-be-planned wedding sometime in the future. Also, here's a picture of the three of us with Ernest, our friend and trusted driver while we were in Arusha.

Here we are with Meriweather, Amy, Gina, and Max (ex-pats who live here and work at Peace House....they made us feel VERY welcome!) at an Indian restaurant called Big Bite. There were actually two very good Indian restaurants in Arusha.....we even had paan one night!
Finally, it really was the Peace House students that made this such a terrific experience.....here are a few pictures that hopefully give you a little bit of a sense of who these kids are.

Peace House Secondary School

We spent our first 9 days in Tanzania volunteering at Peace House Secondary School in Arusha. This school seeks to provide superior secondary education to orphaned and otherwise vulnerable Tanzanian children. It was an amazing experience for both of us, mainly driven by the students. We were absolutely amazed at how disciplined, motivated, organized, welcoming, talented, self-sufficient, appreciative, helpful and respectful these kids are. Don't get me wrong, they still know how to be kids - as evidenced by the fight that broke out during the soccer match and by some of the acts they performed in the weekly talent show (more on that later!) - but these kids are truly remarkable. Their time at Peace House is very structured -- classes, meals, prayers, study time, activity time (sports, arts & crafts, debate team, etc.), laundry (yes, they do their own laundry). Even on the weekends when the teachers aren't around, these kids take it upon themselves to stick to their schedules and to fulfill their responsibilities....unbelievable!

Pallavi's main project was teaching poetry in the English classes. Not surprisingly, the kids really liked Pallavi and got into the creative writing exercises she taught them. Here's a picture of the kids enthusiastically volunteering to read their poems during one of the class exercises.

My main project was working with the Commerce teacher to organize a business plan competition. Here's a picture of me announcing the winners of the competition. The winning team's idea was to create and sell local arts & crafts to tourists visiting Tanzania.....their final presentation even included visual aids (sizzle is always good!).
In addition to these main projects, we tried to interact with the kids as much as possible. I played soccer with the boys -- it quickly became clear that I was the worst player on the field....but they were patient with me. Below is a picture of me trying to keep up with the kids (I'm the one in the red shorts desperately chasing after the ball). We also did a little painting to add some color to the campus. On a completely random note, I was asked to give impromptu motivational speeches on business, debating, and the performing arts. Yes, it was as absurd as it sounds.
Also, we worked with the 10-person Drama group to perform an original skit in English. The skit included a short English song (which we taught them) and a short Swahili song (which the students taught to us). We performed the skit at the weekly Talent Show on Saturday night. Key learning -- Tanzanian kids love jokes about their cuisine, especially the Ugali and Beans. The skit ended with a strong 'We are (clap, clap) Peace HOUSE!'

The 2-hour talent show was absolutely amazing. It was very organized and very impressive -- there was singing, hip-hop dancing, rapping, soap opera plays, and high-caliber acrobatics/gymnastics.....these kids were flipping and tumbling and standing on each other all on a concrete floor. Check out the two short video clips at the end of this post (for some reason, they uploaded sideways.....and they're a bit dark....but other than that, top-notch camera work!). Really impressive (and scary!) stuff!

In an unexpected twist, the final act of the talent show was two kids dancing to a Bollywood song......of course, Pallavi and I couldn't resist. The dancers were leaving the floor halfway through the song, so we took their place (yes, we stole the spotlight from two underprivelaged Tanzanian kids....) and showed off our Bollywood moves much to the students' delight.....anything for the kids :)

As the name would suggest, the setting of Peace House was really.....well, peaceful.....just outside the center of Arusha. Here's a sunset picture taken from the porch of our on-campus volunteer housing. As I said throughout our time in Tanzania, 'nature....who knew!!'

It was an amazing week, and we're so glad we went there. Asante Sana (Thank you very much) to Team Laughlin for hooking us up with the Romsolos, who told us all about this place.....and asante sana to Peace HOUSE!

Classic Hits and New Beginnings

We celebrated our last night in Prague in style by going to Radost for a terrific dinner and then to Lucerna Music Bar for their weekly 80's/90's video party.....I know, strong! One of our friends (Finnie!) used to be a regular at Lucerna's 80's night years ago......we were honored to be able to carry on the torch. I think it's safe to say that we were the oldest people in the club.....most of the people there probably weren't even born when the 80's hits originally came out, but that didn't stop them from owning it. The DJ played quite a variety of tunes -- everything from Uptown Girl to Karma Chameleon to Cotton-Eyed Joe. But the indisputable highlight of the night was the back-to-back combo of Livin' on a Prayer, followed by The Final Countdown, which apparently is played at midnight each week on 80's night (great tradition which I'll be adopting at all parties going forward!). Below is a picture of Pallavi....she's a 'Maniac, maniac on the floor...' Also, czech out the short video clip of the club going NUTS during the chorus of Final Countdown. It was the perfect sendoff from Europe (both the continent and the band).

When we started on this trip, we felt like there were three distinct phases -- Phase 1 (heavy on Europe) is now complete, so today we leave for Tanzania and the start of Phase 2, which also includes Dubai and India. In case you're wondering, Phase 3 is Southeast Asia and Australia/New Zealand. We don't really know what to expect in Tanzania, but we're both super excited. As you may know, we'll be spending the first 8 days of our time in Tanzania at a middle school for AIDS orphans. From what we understand, Pallavi will be teaching the kids writing and art, while I will be working with the kids on soccer (yikes!) and with the staff on some marketing projects. So when Tanzania wins the Soccer World Cup in 2014, you'll know where and when it all began! The organization, Peace House Foundation, is actually based in Minneapolis. I definitely can't do justice to the organization, so click on the link if you want to read more about it and what they do.

That's all for now......we'll talk to you again from Tanzania!

Czech Us Out!

That's right, we're in Prague. Three days isn't nearly enough time to really soak up everything this amazing city has to offer, but we're doing our best. We've hit most of the biggies, as well as some of the not-so-biggies. Above is a picture of the two of us on the Charles Bridge (where, thirteen years ago, I sang with my college singing group, The Penn Glee Club) with Prague Castle in the background. Below is a picture of Pallavi in Wenceslas Square, where many of the Czech Republic's most historic moments have occured, most recently the Velvet Revolution in 1989.

Here's a picture of Pallavi with the Old Town Square (a medieval stone's throw away from our hotel) in the background.

We also went to a classical music concert, in which nobody in the audience seemed to know when to clap and when to remain silent. For us, it was like being at a Christian wedding....we just followed everybody's lead. Two of the more interesting things we saw were the Museum of Communism, and the Mozart Museum, which is a villa where Wolfgang himself finished writing Don Giovanni. When we got there, we were the only visitors there....and for a while, even the guy working there took off. We had Mozart's old place all to ourselves. We also saw a band of Hare Krishnas as we strolled through the city seeking out buildings in which Kafka used to work. So as you can tell, we had some good variety over the course of three days.

Two more pictures below - one of Pallavi getting her only taste of autumn in 2008, and proof that even Russian doll manufacturers know that Steelers fans are everywhere.....yes, I bought one for myself.....after all, it's my Prague-a-tive (I really wanted to work that pun into this somehow).

Turkey - Even Better With Gravy

After 4 wonderful days in Istanbul, we spent the last 3 days in the beautiful Cappadocia region in Central Turkey. This area is like no other place we've seen. The rock formations were created by a volcanic eruption many, many years ago, and have been preserved and incorporated into the small developments that have popped up. It also helps that our hotel, the Anatolian Houses, is out of this world (thanks for the reco, Team Siemon!).

Here's a picture of us somewhere along our hike, as well as a picture of Annie and Pallavi trying to figure out which way to go as we hiked through one of the valleys. I should note that we thought we had a trusty guide in a stray dog (who we named the Blue Mosque), until he faked an injury and abandoned us right at crunch time.

The best panorama of the region was from the Uchisar Rock Castle. Here are a few pictures from that vantage point - Pallavi high atop the rock castle, on the phone with her mom high atop Edison, New Jersey.......Mike and Annie not at all phased by the precipitous drop about 12 inches to their right......and me staking claim to the Turkish flag, which I took a liking to, for some reason.

Here's a picture of Pallavi and me on the scooter that we rented on the last day to tool around the area (I like using the phrase 'tool around'). Good times!

As we close out our Turkey experience, a big shout out to Annie and Mike for being such fun travel partners and for sharing their awesome pictures with us. Here's to you Team Jacksonville (in song, of course...)......sherefe (that means 'cheers' in Turkish)!

Dixit, Dixit: One couple's strange, exotic journey from Florence to Cappadocia

Of course, there are many things we miss about Florence:

• The castle-like doors of our apartment on Via della Vigna Vecchia.
• The warm and welcoming owner of Osteria de Benci with the Elvis side-burns.
• The rooftop cafe at Rinascente in Piazza de la Republica where we had our Italian lessons with Lucia.
• Lucia.
• La Nazione newsstand near the Bargello Museum, where Amol bought the Herald Tribune in the mornings.
• Cappucino and hot chocolate and Scrabble at various caffes in various piazzas across the city. Amol is becoming an expert on scoring the 50-point bonus for using all his letters. I think he has an unfair advantage because he just finished reading "Word Freak" about the underworld of competitive Scrabble.
• The super rich hot chocolate that we discovered only towards the end of our trip. It was especially good at Paskowski's in Piazza de la Republica and at Rivoire in Piazza de la Signoria.
• The open-air museum-ness of the city, which our friend Fio pointed out.
• Random accordion players. I wonder if locals find them to be a nuisance. I loved them.
• Buying soymilk and bananas from our market. Somehow, buying groceries in Europe is more fun than at home. Unless we go to the farmer's market.
• The Paperback Exchange bookstore. A small group of American women would sit at the back of the store and try to register any unregistered Americans before the upcoming election. I admired their dedication and good posture.
• Even the loud, inexplicable construction noise outside our apartment in the morning.

Fortunately, we have a good distraction from missing Florence too terribly. Turkey has been wonderful. Beautiful and astounding. Some of the things we've loved:

• The exterior of the Blue Mosque. Amol is mesmerized by it and wants to build a house in its image.
• The interior of the Aya Sofya.
• Dubb, indian restaurant. Incredible view of the Aya Sofya from the 4th floor terrace.
• The mix of East and West on Istiklal street. We saw a very old woman pulling an utterly enormous load of boxes on a handcart, uphill, in front of a Starbucks. Istiklal has 3 Starbucks.
• The landscape of Cappadocia. It's really like we're on another planet. I can't believe that this place exists in the same world that I have been living in all this time.
• The hamams (Turkish Baths). They are kind of like saunas, but without the steam, but with heated marble benches that make you super warm and relaxed. (Julie and Jason, you'd love it!)
• The "British Orientalist Paintings" exhibit at the Pera Museum in Istanbul.
• The dog that followed us on our hike through the Rose Valley. We named him Blue, after Amol's new favorite building. We all felt very betrayed when he abandoned us for another group with better snacks. Our friend Mike was particularly devastated.

Istan-bullish on Turkey

While there's a big-time bear market in the US, we are quite Istan-bullish on Turkey so far (yes, I'm going to milk that pun for a while). Those of you who have been here know what I'm talking about....to those of you who haven't been here, put it on your must-see list immediately. Here are some of the highlights so far -- two of the main sights, the Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque, are awesome. The Aya Sofya was built in 537AD as a Byzantine church, served as the Eastern Vatican for 900 years, was converted into a Mosque when the Ottomans conquered the Byzantines in 1453, and was turned into a museum in 1934. Rick Steves calls it 'one of the most important and impressive structures on the planet.' Here's a picture of the two of us in front of it.

The nearby Blue Mosque has become one of my favorite buildings to look at. It was built in the early 1600's and remains a functional mosque today. Here's a picture of Pallavi in front of it.

Also, water plays a big role in the history and culture of Istanbul, as the main part of the city lies at the confluence of three bodies of water (does that make Pittsburgh the Istanbul of the west??). We took a day-cruise up the Bosphorus Strait, a 19-mile strait which separates European Istanbul from Asian Istanbul and also connects the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea. It was a fun boat ride with some breathtaking views. Here's a picture of Pallavi on the boat (she's the one who looks like the unibomber) and picture of the two of us with the Black Sea in the background.

Adding to the good times here in Turkey are our friends, Annie and Mike from Jacksonville. We're thrilled to be traveling with them and look forward to borrowing Mike's travel iron. Here's a picture of the four of us in front of Aya Sofya.