On Top of the World

I'm currently in heaven, eating my instant oatmeal (an aphrodisiac which might be contributing to my blissful happiness but also one of the foods I missed the most in the spicy wilderness of Indian breakfasts- thank you parents and Ken for getting it to me!) before a day of riding elephants, swimming in waterfalls and river rafting.  There's a random parade outside, to celebrate their Earth day perhaps, and people are singing.  But my last few days in India were too good not to document.

Saturday morning, I wrapped up with the parents and sent my little kiddies off to wherever they came from.  I got to pack then Vivek picked me up in his orange jeep with six of his architecture friends in the back, trailed on a motorcycle with Abu and a new friend too.  Many of his friends were on internship all over the world (Dubai, Sikkim, other areas of India) and just got back so everyone was in a celebratory mood.  We drove for awhile, the wind in our hair, through more rural areas of India where herds of sheep stopped traffic.  Eventually, we parked at a relatively abandoned place near a construction site where they were enlarging the road.  After millions and billions of stairs, we got to a peak where there was a temple and an amazing overlook.  We chilled, chatted and watched the sun set.  I hope they'll forward pictures because we honestly felt like we were on the top of the world from up there.  And that's what we factually informed any one who inquired via text/phone call.

Abi climbed a tree on the top of the world!

 After we descended, we headed downtown for some chats at an Indian street food vendor.  Sudeep described chats like baby Indian tacos- it's kind of a small poofed tortilla thing that they pop and fill with stuff.  I could handle the borderline-spicy ones no problem so I felt accomplished that my spice tolerance has grown!  I still turned down the one with peppers that made Namu's sister cry but I was pretty proud.

After that, we went back to the flat of one of the guys (affectionately known as Cowshit.  His Indian name sounds very similar but unfortunately that's all I remember).  These guys were so artsy and creative.  They played some very interesting music, turned on the blacklight and the whole apartment turned into a magical place.  There were paintings on the wall, a highlighter sketch of an Indian goddess and a painted cowskull named Jessica that all took on a life of their own under the blacklight.  I hung out there as long as possible but I didn't want to get locked out of campus.  Seven guys decided to put the party on hold to join me in the Jeep to drop me back at Infy.  I came just as my co-workers were returning from celebrations of their own and I joined them for late night snacks and chats in the food court.

Sunday was more relaxing- said goodbyes to the Indian staff, we went shopping downtown one last time for people to make their last Mysore silk purchases.  I was supposed to meet up with Mayukh and Asem one last time but I had to give away my phone then I fell asleep so I missed my opportunity.  He sent me a sweet send-off message though, complimenting me on my "beautiful soul" haha.

All in all, a great time in India- met so many people that I hope I'll encounter again.  Honestly, I had more people to hang out with than free time- what a good problem to have.  Hopefully I'll get time to write about Thailand soon!

Whole camp photo to include in closing

While I'm having fun all over the world, Elfie's having a grand time bonding with Beanie's dog... they like to take naps together.