we've been thinking about it but flights have been booked. no real hurry to get home - we are having a great time. Everyday we think we are leaving tomorrow but we find ourselves having one incredible "last night" experience which keeps pushing back our departure.
We have really settled into Bangalore and have made a ton of friends, in addition to making a lot of progress on our work. We will keep everyone posted (but expect us state side in the next 1-15 days)
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Our Iranian friends
ever
So, you think its hard trying to develop a relationship with an Iranian girl?
Even if she is into you, its still hard to know where to go with it, what is the expectation?
Actual conversation:
Girl: "I don't know what it is about you Zak, but I really like you. You are really different than all the other guys I've ever liked..."
Zak: "Well, how so?"
Girl: "Well, see, all the other guys... they hate freedom. and you... you love freedom,"
Zak: "Thanks?"
So, you think its hard trying to develop a relationship with an Iranian girl?
Even if she is into you, its still hard to know where to go with it, what is the expectation?
Actual conversation:
Girl: "I don't know what it is about you Zak, but I really like you. You are really different than all the other guys I've ever liked..."
Zak: "Well, how so?"
Girl: "Well, see, all the other guys... they hate freedom. and you... you love freedom,"
Zak: "Thanks?"
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Our favorite late night food joint
This place is the only place in Bangalore that is open past 11:30 Yada Yada Yada I'm glad I found some ciprofloxaci pills (one of the most powerful and versitile antibiotic medications available to treat a multitude of infections.)
Please post comments on what you think we Yada Yada'd over.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Jeff's Indian haircut
Jeff's first haircut abroad, ever.
I woke up yesterday and realized that I needed to get my ears lowered. So I went to down then street (a 5 minute walk), strolled by 7 cows, 4 stray dogs, 3 stray roosters, and 2 stray cats (today I decided to count how many stray animals I could see on my street). Normally in the states I get the cheapest haircut as possible, $10 (for a couple years I cut my own hair), but I wasn't in the states so I decided to not skimp of quality. walked down a side street to find Schwartzkopf Unisex Salon .
The actual experience:
they washed my hair - I drank tea while my hair dried - the actual hair cut about 25 minutes- my face was massaged for 5 minutes - they washed my hair again - they sprayed my hair with hair spray - 1 hour- cost 70rs (about $1.8 ) This was the best hair cut experience I have ever received and it was 1/5 of the price I pay the cheapest barber in Sa
rasota.
-Jeff (don't worry I do not really have a mohawk- that is how the guy styled it, I look like normal me)
We would like to thank Jerry for being an avid reader and comment contributor.
We will be departing from India in the near future.... :(
We have not decided the day or from which country we are coming home from. We will make an official blog announcement when the decision is made (we will probably be in the states come labor day).
I woke up yesterday and realized that I needed to get my ears lowered. So I went to down then street (a 5 minute walk), strolled by 7 cows, 4 stray dogs, 3 stray roosters, and 2 stray cats (today I decided to count how many stray animals I could see on my street). Normally in the states I get the cheapest haircut as possible, $10 (for a couple years I cut my own hair), but I wasn't in the states so I decided to not skimp of quality. walked down a side street to find Schwartzkopf Unisex Salon .
The actual experience:
they washed my hair - I drank tea while my hair dried - the actual hair cut about 25 minutes- my face was massaged for 5 minutes - they washed my hair again - they sprayed my hair with hair spray - 1 hour- cost 70rs (about $1.8 ) This was the best hair cut experience I have ever received and it was 1/5 of the price I pay the cheapest barber in Sa
rasota.-Jeff (don't worry I do not really have a mohawk- that is how the guy styled it, I look like normal me)
We would like to thank Jerry for being an avid reader and comment contributor.
We will be departing from India in the near future.... :(
We have not decided the day or from which country we are coming home from. We will make an official blog announcement when the decision is made (we will probably be in the states come labor day).
Saturday, August 23, 2008
still alive
hey all - been settling in real good in Bangalore - sorry for the lack of updates.
bangalore is an amazing city; the disparity between developed and undeveloped, priviledged and unprivileged, and the future and the past is clear and evident in all that we do and in all that we see.
well have more updates for you later. hope all is well
Monday, August 18, 2008
61 years of Independence
Over the weekend we witnessed India's independence day August 15th. There was mayhem in the streets and millions of Indian flags everywhere. I always find it interesting how other countries celebrate their independence. We posted a video clip of our ride downtown during concert (notice how close the people are to the road).
Jeff
Desi Nights
I sat back in my seat and pondered my surroundings. It was almost one am, and we were sitting in a open air bungalow as the cool fresh night air gently breezed through our hair, sitting outside, post curfew, at the Royal Orchid Hotel. Here, the town's trend setters brazenly violated the local post 1130 PM ban of alcohol consumption and ban on live music, as the glow of the moon cast long shadows on the heir and heiresses to tomorrow's promise.
It was a small yet distinct crowd, with people from all over the globe, Pakistan, England, South Africa, Holland and other exotic locales.
But despite the relative deluge of modern and attractive women there, all eyes were set on our small table. There we sat with our newest friends, whom we had arrived with just about thirty minutes earlier, from an equally posh hotel lounge.
There were four of them, dark haired beauties, all from Tehran, here on holiday. Each of them more beautiful than the next, they were each dressed like the Persian princesses they were, their dresses worthy of praise even if attending the Oscars. Long and beautiful, they were made from the finest silks of the Middle East and conservatively hugged their bodies; and the dark red lip stick of one was outdone only by the piercing eyes of another.
I thought back to the social scene I had left behind just two weeks ago in Sarasota, Fl, and how foreign this place was to it.
What had been common back home; drinking Bud Light and watching the Devil Rays, had been seamlessly replaced by the soothing sounds of our private (and illegal) live gutarist, the stars in the sky, and the company of new friends, all set within the confines of the most luxurious hotel one might hope to encounter.
We chatted politics and laughed about stories of our mutual escapades - a similar experience we might have had in Roma, or our disdain for food in mainland China. My attempt to learn a few words of Farsi kept them entertained for sometime, as they laughed at my ineptitude, but appreciated my effort.Our conversation even turned serious, discussing implications and interpretation of Sharia law, and I asked delving questions about their ability to be 'a modern Muslim woman,' . They had interesting questions about back home in the United States, and I too had questions about Tehran. I asked what life was like, and the excitement of them to share their stories with us warmed the entire group and enlightened both Jeff and me to the realities constraining the people of an entire land.
As I intently listened to their tales, I leaned back in my chair, and sipped by drink. The night was cool; much cooler than in Florida, and the stars were bright. I looked around and my surroundings, the opulence of the location, the beauty of the locale, and the diversity of the present company.
The euphoria of the relaxation and comfort I felt, mixed with the knowledge I had no where to be, no one to call, and nothing to worry about was overwhelmingly soothing. I was just enjoying myself in Bangalore, drinking in the moonlight, learning about new places and new cultures, without a care in the world.
"This is what I want my life to be like one day," I pondered to myself, as our friends chatted in Farsi.
then, it only took a moment, but I came to the realization.
this is what my life is like.
-Zak
It was a small yet distinct crowd, with people from all over the globe, Pakistan, England, South Africa, Holland and other exotic locales.
But despite the relative deluge of modern and attractive women there, all eyes were set on our small table. There we sat with our newest friends, whom we had arrived with just about thirty minutes earlier, from an equally posh hotel lounge.
There were four of them, dark haired beauties, all from Tehran, here on holiday. Each of them more beautiful than the next, they were each dressed like the Persian princesses they were, their dresses worthy of praise even if attending the Oscars. Long and beautiful, they were made from the finest silks of the Middle East and conservatively hugged their bodies; and the dark red lip stick of one was outdone only by the piercing eyes of another.
I thought back to the social scene I had left behind just two weeks ago in Sarasota, Fl, and how foreign this place was to it.
What had been common back home; drinking Bud Light and watching the Devil Rays, had been seamlessly replaced by the soothing sounds of our private (and illegal) live gutarist, the stars in the sky, and the company of new friends, all set within the confines of the most luxurious hotel one might hope to encounter.
We chatted politics and laughed about stories of our mutual escapades - a similar experience we might have had in Roma, or our disdain for food in mainland China. My attempt to learn a few words of Farsi kept them entertained for sometime, as they laughed at my ineptitude, but appreciated my effort.Our conversation even turned serious, discussing implications and interpretation of Sharia law, and I asked delving questions about their ability to be 'a modern Muslim woman,' . They had interesting questions about back home in the United States, and I too had questions about Tehran. I asked what life was like, and the excitement of them to share their stories with us warmed the entire group and enlightened both Jeff and me to the realities constraining the people of an entire land.
As I intently listened to their tales, I leaned back in my chair, and sipped by drink. The night was cool; much cooler than in Florida, and the stars were bright. I looked around and my surroundings, the opulence of the location, the beauty of the locale, and the diversity of the present company.
The euphoria of the relaxation and comfort I felt, mixed with the knowledge I had no where to be, no one to call, and nothing to worry about was overwhelmingly soothing. I was just enjoying myself in Bangalore, drinking in the moonlight, learning about new places and new cultures, without a care in the world.
"This is what I want my life to be like one day," I pondered to myself, as our friends chatted in Farsi.
then, it only took a moment, but I came to the realization.
this is what my life is like.
-Zak
Sunday, August 17, 2008
We are still alive
Sorry everyone for the lack of posting on our part. We are still alive and still in Bangalore. We have found some international friends to share our leisure time with. We also have been exposed to the nicer side of town. We also get to watch the Olympics live, but they do not have the same type of Olympic coverage over here. For example, there is only 1 channel that shows the Olympics and half of the time it is in Hindi. They rarely show any basketball or baseball. We get to watch a lot of table tennis, boxing, and shooting. We are still working very hard and we have settled in the outskirts of Bangalore at a very nice hotel (check out the pictures). Ok, there will be many more posts in the next couple days. Stay tuned.
-Jeff
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Singh is King, our first Bollywood experience
Check out these video's to get a better idea of Singh is KingMusic video preview
Movie trailer
Singh is King, our first Bollywood experience. Since we have arrived to India we have seen hundreds/thousands advertisements for this new movie that was coming out call Singh is King. So it finally debuted in India and we decided to see what all the hype was all about. So we stroll up to a completely backed 1-movie movie theatre @ 9:30 for the 9:45 showing. We are not sure if there are still tickets available because there are hundreds of people standing outside, but we try anyway. We ended up getting 2 of the last seats in the Balcony. We thought that this movie would be like other Bollywood movies and have English subtitles, but we were wrong. So we start watching this movie and the first sentence was in English and we were delighted. After the first sentence we did not understand another one for the rest of the 3 hour film. There was a packed theatre and they were a crazy bunch. During the previews the theatre was filled with whistles and yells when a pretty girl appeared on the screen. This was an amazing experience, to watch a summer blockbuster in Hindi without subtitle and still kind of understand the movie. I do not know how familiar everyone is with Bollywood movies, but they are a lot of fun to watch. It is a hybrid between a chick/flick and a musical with better dancing. I recommend searching youtube for Singh is King and you will see what we mean.
That is all for now.
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