_Last week was probably one of my more intereting weeks in awhile.  Interesting, frustrating and fun.  I will start off with the frustrating part that are in regards to road rules.  There are a few road rules that are "in effect"  that are really just plain stupid. The first is most insane, and makes no sense whatsoever. It is illegal to have any kind of tint on your car windows now.  Most car owners get their windows tinted right? Not a severe, limousine dark shade, just your regular tint that we have back home, and are legal everywhere.  Well, not here.  Any "tint film" on car windows is no longer legal.  Everyone must have the tint on their car windows "removed" or ese you will be fined, your driver will have points taken off his license and lose it after 3 stops if you do not comply. The enforcement of this rule is not consistent. The only exception is if your car has factory tinted manufactured windows.  The glass itself made with the tinted glass.  For us it is not an option to take the tint off.  Simply my sun allergy would make leaving the house impossible. I can be out and about but must be under shaded roofs, or some canopy of sorts.  I just absolutely cannot do direct sunlight for than ten minutes at a time. So this rule as you can imagine is literally harmful to my health.  And the thing is it is not even consistently enforced.  I have been toldt that the mini van we drive, is targeted by cops because well, it's the typical expat vehicle.  And yes we have already been stopped twice for failure to comply. You look around at all the cards on the road and it seems as no one is complying.  But I'm sure lots of peeps, like us, are paying fines.
 Stupid Road rule number 2. The cops can somehow "scan" your license plate and immediately get a report back on if your car has any "fines" attached to it.  Doesn't matter if the fines are from a previous owner, at a time when you did not own the car....even if you have proof that you did not own said vehicle when fines were issued, guess what? You are responsible. Although I wanted to scream and shout and make a scene, other scenes of Locked up abroad always play in my head and I do what is always easiest to do here.  Pay up.  Amazing that you are to give the cop the money for the fines directly.  Boggles my already sometimes very weary brain. Okay, so these road rules suck. On Friday I went to a doctor and got a note regarding my sun condition. Don't know if it works yet, we haven't had to try it but we'll see.  Think we'll still be paying fines....

On a fun note, my driver has taught me how to "negotiate" when I go shopping down commercial street.  Commercial street is known for alleys and alleys of souvenir type items.  Sari's, fabric, jewelry, shoes, you name it you can probably find it there. Street is also lined with lots of stores so a day on Commercial street can be fun if you are in need or fun things.  So, the "bartering" lesson given to me by my driver Shankar went something like this: Shankar: Madam, if you are be told item is $1000 rupees what do you say? Me: Okay? Shankar: No! NO! NO! Madam, you come down to $500 then go up slowly. But only to $550 or 575, but do so slowly Madam. This conversation with various scenarios took place our whole way to Commercial street.  By the time I got there and met with my friend Jennifer I figured I was ready! Well, I actually tried the haggling by myself before she arrived and I was immediately shot down by a guy in a kiosk who would not budge and had set prices.  Shot down before I even started! Not to worry, by the time Jennifer arrived I was ready to try again. And I am very proud to say that I made Shankar proud.  Well....he doesn't have to know that we didn't go as low as he would have advised us to, but we did negotiate and we never paid first price that was given to us once we started our real shopping spree. And I have to admit it became fun to negotiate and go back and forth and feel like it was win-win on both ends.  Bottom line, still not great at it but learning.  Thanks Shankar! Hmmmmm, just realized that I didn't take any pics of me and Jma haggling with the vendors on Commercial street. We'll have to do it again soon.

Our week ended up with brunch at a lovely place called ITC Gardenia where yours truly had entirely too too much to drink and embarrassed her poor husband. Brunching in Bangalore is really fun. I think all hotels have brunch specials in which you pay one set price to eat and drink from about 1:00 till 4 or 5.  Different hotels offer different kinds of alcohol and menus but in general they are all usually fun outings and the thing to do on Sundays when most of our cooks have the day off and we don't feel like cooking. I don't remember much but I do remember not being able to keep champagne flutes in one piece towards the end there.  I would have been ok had it not been for the huge long island iced tea that seemed like a taunting challenge that only I felt compelled to defeat!  What an idiot.  You make all kinds of promises with God and Budha and anyone else you think might be listening when you are feeling queasy all night long and hugging the toilet.  Never again.  I'll stick to champagne and wine from here on out.

Hope your Monday is less hungover than mine.
Laterz!

Well, this is the time of year that most expat wives that I know look forward to. When school is out and they can pack up their kids and their bags, kiss the hubby cheerio, put away their anklets, scarves, and modest clothes and pull out shorts, tank tops and bikinis and book it the heck out of here for some much need needed R&R in their "real" home towns and vacation destinations of their choice.  The hubby's will usually join for a couple of weeks then head back to India while the wives continue on with the summer of visiting and tending to families, friends, house issues on the home front etc. They will also do some much needed "resourcing" and fill their suitcases with goodies before their return which is usually early to mid August.

For some of the ladies it is more final. It's promises to meet again somewhere down the line.  They are headed to their new lives back home, or onto another expat assignment in another country far, far away. It's hard to imagine that you could really connect with others in such a short time but it happens and the parting is bittersweet.  Happy for your new friends that they are on to their real homes and extended families, or onto another wonderful adventure.  But goodbye is goodbye and partings among friends is sad.

So, to those ladies, the ones that are outta here and not coming back I wish to say thank you for the memories.  For being part of my journey in my first months in India.  Thank you for your courage and strength to be out here in the first place.  Thank you for helping me source celery, cheese and good poultry. Thank you for telling me where to find decent paper products and A&W root beer and Doritos! Thank you for helping me to identify an "India day" and letting me know that you have them too. Thank you for laughing with me instead of at me when crying over the most frustrating things. Thank you for teaching me about dosas, samosas, Bounce and Bamburies. And thank you for drinking with me on those days when only a drink would do

To all you ladies who are leaving and I really don't know when I'll see you again, be safe, be happy, enjoy life and I wish you all the love and happiness you deserve it!

While I love the opportunities I have to meet all of these great people as a result of living in Asia, all too frequently these people are moving on with their lives due to the transient nature of the expat life. So here's to the friends who will be returning in August and to the new friends I will make who will be arriving soon. Let's get together for a drink soon:)
 
Cheers!

_The Times of India today, in a little "blip" on the page reads "Bangalore will have no water from June 12 to 14".

What is hilarious to me is that it is not a major headline, instead a small article in between other "bigger" articles.  All taps in  Bangalore will go dry because the main water supplier is shutting down all pumps to install power connectors, I don't quite understand why it couldn't have been better planned and done in different smaller stages rather than the way they are going about it.  This is India so instead of the now planned 48 hour shutdown I am almost certain that it could go longer.

More on this later when and if I get a better understanding of what is going on.  Till then......be grateful for the simple things, like running water.......a friend of mine put it into perspective when she said, "once you experience this then you begin to realize "third world" and how fortunate we are to open a tap and not walk for miles to queue for water"....Amen

_

Our last hot, beautiful, gorgeous day in Abu Dhabi...what to do, what to do? For starters at 9 a.m., I headed for the spa....ahhhh, heaven.  And I sent John to the front desk to request late check out and secure a good place by the pool. He did both and by the time I was done with my full body massage and facial, he and Bruce were waiting for me poolside with drinks and eats! Ahhh what a wonderful way to spend the last day in paradise.

As most of you my friends know, in the past two years I have been suffering from some kind of sun allergy.  I take zyrtec, benadryl, wear big floppy hats, sunscreen and anything to keep the hives and redness at bay when I am in the sun, and for the most part it works.  This time the meds kept the itchiness and welts away but the redness came on me after a short hour in the sun.  I spent my day going in and out of the hotel, alternating between the pool and the lobby.  I never had a full on itchy hive attack, but the redness did make an ugly appearance but for 80% percent of my day I had a great time.

Last pics of this weekend are posted here.  I hope that with my posts and pics you were able to get an idea of our long weekend in Abu Dhabi, and I hope in some way it has inspired you to someday want to to check out this part of the world.

As Arnold Schwarzennger once said "I'll be back!"

Muah!!!

_Madonna!

I could go on about what we did that day, but who cares? Bottom line was Day 3 was the Madonna concert.  The early part of the day was a blur of more, eating at Fuddruckers (yes a little slice of heaven for those of us who don't get to dine on good burgers for long lengths of time) and getting ready for the big concert.

Six o'clock pm found me grabbing all my make up, accessories and my "madonna outfit" and claiming one half of the room as my "getting ready for Madonna area".  John, the most awesome husband in the world, surprised me by packing my Immaculate collection CD of Madonna hits and the DVD portable player and turned on the music while I got ready with my favorite Madonna tunes blasting in the background.  He also fixed me captain and cokes and kept Bruce out of my hair so I could jam, dance and make ready for the special evening. Getting ready was so much fun with such a playful understanding hubby.  Have I mentioned how much I love him lately?

I was in my element. Dancing, singing, swaying to the tunes, drinking my drinks and putting on way too much makeup, way too many accessories, wearing the most ridiculous sized heels and the cutest black dress to get me into the groove and ready for the concert.  My heels were too high, I didn't care. I looked like a throwback from the 80's! And I was happy about it, I loved feeling the music and feeling sexy and sassy and knowing that it didn't matter what I wore or what I looked like, tonight it was about the music and the enjoyment I got out of it.  Tonight was Madonna and when has she ever given a rats ass about what anyone thinks of her? Tonight I didn't care either. Haha I love you Madonna!     Finally, the baby sitter arrived, my drinks were gone, and we were as ready as we were going to be. We said our goodbyes to Bruce and headed to meet our friends Jennifer and Britten at the restaurant in our hotel.  We met with them and had a little dinner and the guys proceeded to have many drinks as they claimed that they would need them to be able to attend a "Madonna" concert. Yeah whatever, they would go onto enjoy and respect the show she put on as much as the Madonna lovers in the house.

It was getting close to 9pm now, (her show was due to start at that time) and I was getting antsy that we needed to be on our way.  When we got outside we saw that the que for a taxi was rather long.  Our guys being the problem solvers that they are decided to meet the taxi's way before they hit the que area and secured a quick ride for us to the venue.  Within five minutes we were there, we had arrived!!!!!!!!

_As we bought Gold Circle tickets, we had a separate entrance and were right up front to the stage. We were on the left side of it and though we didn't have actual seats, we found it to be a pretty good place to see the show. It would have been easy to move closer to the center but the night was hot and none of us could imagine being stuck between tons of sweaty, smelly, people so we made do with where we were at and waited for Madonna to come on.  And waited, and waited and waited. As I'm sure most of you have heard by now the show was around 90 minutes late.....I think every song by Michael Jackson was played but honestly and truly I don't remember caring that much. You know why? Cuz my husband and my friends are awesome!  Yes, we booed along with everyone else when the show was late getting started but mostly we just hung out, laughed and did what you do when it's hot out and you're waiting for a show to start. That's right, more beer!

_Finally, 90 minutes late, the Material girl came out and all was immediately forgiven of her late start.  Madonna was on fire and came out with full energy, full costumes and and a show that killed!  Literally.  It was as all Madonna shows are, controversial, sexy, violent full of energy, amazing stage scenes, the most entertaining dancers and so on.  After all these years Madonna still knows how to rock the house and bring everyone to their feet and enjoy a good freaking show. If you want a play by play review, google it. All I know is I danced, I sang, I think I even cried when just like prayer came on and the whole audience was singing along, swaying, hands in the air once again like all those years ago....

The night was so hot and yet she and her dancers came out in full costumes, did every single song with full energy and passion and gave all of their selves to the show.  No one seemed to be slacking or being beat down by the heat.  You saw the sweat pouring off all of them and yet they continued dancing to all their songs and moving and grooving to the beats and giving us hard core Madonna fans everything we hoped for and more in this concert. Everything.

I loved every single freaking minute of this concert and was sad when it ended. This concert did not disappoint and I hope you will enjoy my favorite pics of the night below. Madonna at 53 years old still had boys mooning over her, and still has women wanting to look like her.  She made me forget that I am 45 years old and no longer the spring chicken that I was when I first fell in love with her and her music. She also made me realize once again that it doesn't matter how old you are,  that you are in charge of what you look like, and how you want to present yourself to the world. Yes, we are getting old but we can go down fighting, and we can be hot and sexy and limber...no matter what age.  Thank you for reminding me of that, I love you Madonna. I love that I loved you at 18 and love that all these years later I still love and sing and dance to your music. I love even more that at your age you have the grace, confidence and the children (her kids were dancers in the show too!) to help you celebrate your longevity in the music industry.

It was a wonderful concert, a wonderful weekend and I will hold it dear to my heart just as I did the blonde ambition tour all those years ago.  Peace out Madonna, see you in another twenty years! 

And now, what you all have been waiting for.....Madonna!  Well pictures of her show anyway, not in any order and some blurry, but here are they are, enjoy! I know we did!

(And by the way, song playing in my head right now is "don't go for second best baby put yourself to the test you know you know you've got to make him express how you feel and maybe then you'll know his love is real....express yourself! )

_Day 2
 
I just realized that I forgot to mention that we were on this trip with a group sort of.  A wonderful lady named Donna set up the Madonna packages and we bought our concert tickets and hotel packages through her travel agency.  There were others in the group but me and my friend Jennifer were the only ones who bought along their men.  For me it was John and Bruce and for her, her hubby Britten.  We did the nights out, the safari tour and Madonna concert with the Martins.  We have found them to be an amazingly fun couple with a child a little older than Bruce, but what we love best about them is their easy manner, and the fact that like us we are all spontaneous and just go with the flow.  We are happy to have met them and are glad they are in Bangalore the whole time we're here:).

Back to day 2. A deep sleep massage of one and half hours, and hanging out by the pool....that was John's first half of Day 2 in "Abubobbi".  I was determined that though this trip was supposed to be "about me" that John and Bruce would have a great time too.  So day 2, John headed for his massage and Bruce and I cabbed it to Marina Mall, which was really big and had quite a few shops to choose from. The ride out to the mall was a good fifteen or twenty minutes away and the scenery was spectacular. The sky was so blue and the buildings looked like paintings with a beautiful back drop of endless blue skies. Along the route to the mall was also Cornishe beach with it's white sands and true blue waters. The beach looked so clean and so inviting, until the driver told me that the temperatures get as high as 100 degrees or more! Pass.  But my how beautiful it looked and I know that in the fall months the temperature will drop and the beach will be something to see and explore at another time.

So on to Marina mall where Bruce and I stayed till 1:30pm. We had fun, bought quite a few things that I knew I wouldn't find in Bangalore and scoped out the eateries and was so jazzed to find that they had a Fuddruckers.  Couldn't wait to get back to the hotel and tell John! But first today was about shopping for me and so shopping I did and Bruce was the best little sidekick. The hours went by quickly and all too soon it was time for us to head back to the hotel where we found John drinking mojitos at the pool. He looked so yummy in his sunglasses and big smile lounging, enjoying the scenery and cold drink.  We closed out his tab and headed to the hotel room to get ready for our Desert safari tour! We knew it involved sand, camel rides, belly dancing and food.  And within fifteen minutes our ride had arrived and we were on our way!

Jennifer set up this portion of the trip. We hadn't realized that the safari tour was in Dubai, so our trip was almost two hours away to get to the destination. Not sure on the timing because the ride went by quickly and was an interesting time the whole way there.  We even got to stop at a CONVENIENCE STORE!  Britten was even kind enough to get out and buy us some snacks which included a drumstick icecream cone for me.  Heaven!  Seriously, I was in heaven.  I mean a convenience store? We just don't have those in Bangalore.  We all started giggling and were just giddy thinking that here all things were possible!

After the convenience store, we headed to the first stop on the tour.  It was an area of sand dunes which you could rent sand dune vehicles and ride them for a bit.  At this point I had not acclimated to the heat outside and decided I would sit back and watch. As did Jennifer. We hung out in the breezy watching area and enjoyed the scenes of our boys...., well, being boys!   Here are a couple of pics.

Now came what was probably one of the most fun times we have ever had in a vehicle.  We were loaded into our landcruiser with our driver who drove out to this amazing large area of sand dunes.  Without warning he said here we go and all of a sudden we were cruising the sandy dunes.  We were driving up and down and sometimes sideways!  Our feet were airbourne at times and it was more fun than any roller coaster I have been on.  What was hard was watching the vehicle in front of us knowing that we were soon going to be doing the same and trying not to worry that we would roll or crash or sink!  Gosh it was FUN and exciting and we can't wait to go back.  Our friend Britten video recorded a snipped of our ride and you can check it out on his blog
http://www.weebly.com/weebly/main.php#


Yes that's me in the background yapping away, as we all know  I can never just shut it, even when I'm scared to death! Will work on that....

Thanks for recording this Britten, Bruce LOVES watching it over and over.....

In between the dune bashing, our driver would stop in some more sandy areas where all were encouraged to get out and take pics.  After the dune bashing, we finally arrived to our camp site. This is where the camel rides were, along with Henna painting, shisha smoking, and two dance shows  Unfortunately we didn't do the camel rides as we had planned to come back to it but forgot, but the rest of the evening was lovely and we had a full wonderful desert safari tour.  Remind me to tell you about our driver and his stories that he shared on the evening ride home.  Also how he drove us out of the desert with the lights out.....no worries it was a full moon and we were the first ones out so we made it ok, but what an adventure it truly was. Thank you to Jennifer who set this up for us, it was one of the highlights of our trip! Stay tuned for Day 3, Madonna!

_What a wonderful long weekend!  Who knew Abu Dhabi/Dubai would be so fantastic? All we knew was that it would be hot and expensive and that we had to watch our public displays of affection as well as be respectful of how we dressed.  Me and other ladies in the group were definitely concerned over what we were allowed to wear, long sleeves? Pants at all times? No shorts or tank tops? We just didn't know and we needn't have worried.  Everything that we took was acceptable and then some. What was really strange was how how we were completely unprepared for the "taste of civilization" that we would get to experience and how much we missed "the simple things".  

First of all for those of you who have never been to Abu Dhabi, it is in the Emirates. Describing it bluntly, it's a very rich Gulf oil State.  So wealthy that all of their labor there is imported. No joke. The store attendants at all the amazing malls, restaurants, shops, etc were all "foreigners".  But let me get back to the little things that we were able to enjoy. Beautiful paved roads. The steering wheel on the "correct side" of the car for us Americans, lol. No tuk tuks. No dirty, trash strewn streets with tin, tent, and cardboard cities all around.  Quiet streets, no "noise" pollution.  That was the first thing we noticed and it was quite unsettling at first. All the loud noises were simply not there.  It took us all a few minutes to realize that Aliens had not come down and kidnapped everyone and that all was well. 

It was amazing to enjoy that wonderful luxury of convenience. We haven't been able to enjoy everything at out fingertips since we left the US, and despite the high cost, it was so nice to luxuriate in that for the long weekend.  Abu Dhabi is definitely not a city for the poor, but it is a great place to visit to get away from the grind that is Bangalore. Here's the thing. I enjoy living in India. It's crazy, it' chaotic, on a daily basis as I have said before it can frustrate, drive you insane, and then make you fall in love with it without warning. I really just had no idea how much I missed things running in an orderly, intuitive fashion. And though we really loved clean water, orderly and non terrifying trafic, etc., there were still things that I found sad and disturbing.  No public displays of affection is tolerated there.  And I would say about 90% of the women wore the long black burkas as well as the complete head coverings where everything and I mean EVERYTHING was covered, eyes, nose, mouth. I still have not figured out how they do it in the heat and how they are able to eat without getting everything stuck in the veils. It's a whole different world there and even though we were caught up in the luxury and glam and ease of life there as visiting foreigners...there were still things that made it clear we were in a foreign country. It's hard to feel sorry for people who live in such obvious wealth, but I did find myself feeling sorry for the little girl sitting happily and carefree in a sweet, colorful, spaghetti strapped dress next to her mother who was draped from head to toe in black, knowing that someday that same little girl will most likely be donning the same.  Who knows, maybe the women are ok with that, but again for me, quite thought provoking and took just a little bit of steam from the shock and awe I was experiencing in such a beautiful city. I didn't know what to expect and I was more than pleasantly surprised most of the time.  However, the infringements placed upon women in that kind of society, making them cover their beautiful faces and endure hot weather in layers and layers of clothing is appalling to me. Having said that, that is their culture, their country, their way of life.

Day 1

It is starting to be customary for John and I to hit the ground running when we are on vacation. Our flight left Bangalore at 4 something a.m. to Doha. From Doha we transferred to Abu Dhabi and arrived at 10:00am, Friday morning.  We got to our hotel room, ordered room service, hit the showers and then headed straight out.  See, we promised Bruce a trip to Ferrari world. And with our jam packed weekend there was no time for naps as we wanted to do as much as we could in a short time. So as Bruce said when we got in the cab "Ferrari  world here I come!"

Ferrari World. Marketed as the World's largest indoor theme park. It was roller coasters and rides in the form of different Ferrari cars. Bruce had a blast and of course we had to buy him a slot car race track to bring home. I think John and I are having more fun with that then he is, lol. The entire theme park is within a dome and with temperatures OUTSIDE regularly in the 100s, it must cost a fortune on air conditioning to keep it nice and cool and so perfect,when it's like a sauna outside. The detail of the whole park was excellent, and it would have been nice to explore some of the more adult sections.  But when you are visiting a theme park with Bruce, it just doesn't work out like that.  They had a lot of racing simulators, and even an artificial town where all the kids are driving Ferraris on the street.  i don't think Bruce quite gets the idea about sports cars as he was gleefully crashing into every nearby vehicle (and tree) he could find.  While the structure and atmosphere of the park was outstanding, they could definitely talk a lesson from Disney on how to efficiently operate the attractions. Regardless  Bruce enjoyed his  day enormously and it was a fun way to spend an afternoon out of the heat. Ferrari World, would we go back again? You betcha!

Like Zombies, I can only say that we did Ferrari purely for Bruce's sake and that we lasted as long as we did because it was important for us that Bruce have a fun day so that we could enjoy our night on the town.  The evening finally came around and it was time for us to ring in the baby sitter and get started on our first night out in Abu Dhabi.  Still unsure of what to wear out, I wore a long Chinese gown with a nice, long scarf.  Didn't take me long to get rid of the scarf and I spent the rest of the night wishing I had worn something more comfortable with less material to better dance around in.  Haha! What a fun night. We started out at the Viceroy hotel for an authentic Arabic dinner at one of their restaurants called Atayeb. The ambiance was lovely and service was excellent. And the food....my goodness the food was finger licking good although I did resist the urge to do so in such a fine establishment.  Dinner was a small fortune but so delicious and in such a relaxing, beautiful atmosphere that it was well worth it.

After dinner, we headed out to a club called Allure.  Woe.  Think "da Club" song by 50 cent, "you can find me in the club, bottle full of bub......So come give me a hug" ...  Laughing out loud thinking of the fun "people watching" we saw.  It was a night out rolling with the big boys.  You want a table and chairs? That'll be mucho dinero to do so, and I'm not talking the usual big money you spend out at da clubs, I'm talking big money but hey, again, it was an interesting evening and it was fun watching the scene play out.  All the high rollers coming in, all the big fuss when a group would buy a bottle of champagne, all the players out with their mommasitas, all the gorgeous gay dudes dancing and looking amazing, while the usual bouncer types "Hans & Franz" stand around in their big muscled bodies wearing black in case of trouble.  Definitely a night to remember.

And on that note, I'm out.  Day 2 which includes, sand bashing, belly dancing, a full complete day of fabulous fun and then of course there is last but not least,  Day 3...Madonna. Stay tuned.  Till then, enjoy the pics of Day and Evening 1. Did I mention I love Abu Dhabi?