Mysore markets!

On the way home from our beautiful time in Coorg, we stopped in Mysore which is a small city known for its colorful powders, beautiful silks, and Indian sweet called Pak (a butter ball dipped in sugar, it's deadly). Here they all are, plus a cow on the sidewalk thrown in for kicks.  

Sidewalk of Mysore's Madison Ave. 

The powders used for everything from festivals to paint, the colors are magnificent. 

Trying on the silk, we bought my very first saree here at this shop (its not one of these but you get the idea of how beautiful they are). I can't wait to wear it!
      

Here we are at a crazy sweet shop (sweets are little delicacies unique to India essentially if you like sugar, butter and milk you'll like these), you can't see the bees in this video but this place was the queen of all honeycombs. 

The real market. Flowers anyone?

   

Here comes the monsoon!

Coorg! Coffee country

Welcome to the southern region of Coorg, located in the state of Karnataka. It is a beautiful hillside country dotted with coffee plantations. We spent a few days here between term breaks and I believe all we did is sleep, eat Pork (Coorgi Pork is a rare specialty that you can only find here, most of India does not eat pork), and drink coffee and homemade passion fruit wine. It was perfect!



Here I am at the ranch, feeling way too at home.


Tom and our hostess, Preethi, touring the plantation. Tom looking at the watermelon sized jackfruit hanging from the trees - a favorite with the elephants, and Tom!


Admiring the arabica coffee beans, a match made in heaven.

The honeymoon suite!

Living Room & hallway with wash area

    

Kitchen & bedroom (with Tom in lungi)
    

And yes we know it looks like Wonderbread. 

Around campus

At lunch in the "atrium" the main building on campus.

      

On my way to yoga class in the student village, there are 4 of these student villages in total surrounding the Atrium.

    

Room with a view

Taken from our apartment balcony; our friendly neighbor Microsoft, and workers finishing the grounds surrounding our newly erected student housing facility. 

    

      

Construction site outside our apartment

Beautiful beginnings

Laddus, lungis, bhindi, and rawa are just the beginning. It's strange and wonderful to be 34 and feel like every time I step outside I'll see, hear, or smell something entirely new. This is living, and being here in this foreign land is both exhilarating and exhausting; but life does not get much better (or more interesting!) and for this I'm grateful to my very own Phileas Fogg.

As I'm not much of a writer I'll let the photos and videos speak for me.

India - Day 1!

Here we had just arrived in India and were walking around the school campus when we ran into our first ever Holi party!  Holi is a wonderful festival of colors and life celebrated yearly by offering friends and strangers alike hugs and touches of beautiful colored powders in every shade of the rainbow!

At home with the Reddy family!

Visiting the wonderful Reddy family in Hyderabad (would you believe my parents met them on vacation and have remained friends with them?).  We stayed with the family for four days and had a blast.  

Here dressed up with Shalini in her engagement dress, making jasmine garlands (worn in the hair) with Auntie  and enjoying Auntie Jodythi's amazing feast.

Around Hyderabad

Off to Kerala!

The southwestern part of India is known for it's beautiful backwaters, houseboats, and coconuts! Here we are walking the very local beach near our resort.

Ashtamudi Backwaters, Kerala

Fisherman off to check their nets (hung from these structures every evening).

Beautiful bananas!

Walking down the street, thirty seconds later that hose got a little too friendly!

Tea country!

Although Munnar was a harrowing 8 hr drive inland and up ghats (switchbacks) from Kerala, it was well worth the trip. We had a wonderful time reading, walking, and having chai and biscuits in this cool, beautiful, and quiet popular honeymoon destination.

An unexpected surprise!

Kodaikanal, a wonderful lakeside town in the hills near Munnar, is a popular honeymoon and weekend getaway destination.

Enjoying a nice masala chai break after a bike ride around the lake. Our twice daily practice here (the bike ride just an excuse for this amazing chai)!

An ultimate frisbee championship in the middle of India, Tom finds nirvana.

Here, about to storm the crowd!

Here, we are at the Sunday market getting fried snacks and jackfruit.

Cow traffic.

Bonjour Pondicherry!

One of our favorite places in India to date, this French Union territory is a little piece of heaven on the eastern coast of the state of Tamil Nadu. Pondicherry (now re-named back to it's original Indian name, Puducherry) is home to the famous Sri Aurobindo Ashram and not from Auroville, a well known commune.

We stayed on the sea in a lovely guesthouse associated with the ashram (view from the balcony below) and had a wonderful and utterly peaceful stay filled with yoga, ayurvedic massage that we will never to forget (although we try!), great food, and amazing shopping for all types of local handmade crafts.

Gandhi and me, two peas in a pod.

The beautiful French Quarter.

Lakshmi the friendly elephant outside a famous temple. She'll ring a bell if you give her food; one smart cookie.

Need anything, anything at all? You'll find it at this market.  

I assure you.

Getting into some hardcore negotiations.