Well, I've made it through the mess of airports and have arrived safely back in Chennai. I have many comments to make about the flights, but those will have to wait until I'm in a funnier mood. :) I arrived here about 4:15 in the morning, although it was almost 6:00 before I could make it through customs and collect my baggage to meet my friend outside.
I woke up later in the afternoon and managed to drag myself into work to check email. (Welcome back! The cab was an hour late! :) Some things never change...) There's nothing like sitting in a car decorated with flowers, party decorations and a statue of a cow on the dashboard [The only thing missing is that it wasn't blinking with little lights!] that's hurtling down a dark street (that's more like an alleyway) filled with people, bikes, and other vehicles coming at you from all directions while your driver swerves to avoid the potholes and other road work to welcome you back to India. :) Wow! I've missed this! :)
19 October 2005
16 October 2005
Reunion
There's nothing like a class reunion to bring out the cattiness and pettiness that you thought you had left behind in high school... :) 
The reunion was, in a word, disappointing. Before the reunion, we had a pre-party at the house of one of my friends, Noele. Mike, Sarah & I spent about 45 minutes driving up and down Main Street in Greensburg (which, let me tell you, is hardly exciting enough to merit one trip down it) looking for the cross street from the Google directions. We didn't have Noele's phone number to call; the only other person we could call was another out-of-towner, Shannon. We drove out to pick up Shannon at her hotel and used her directions to arrive at Noele's about an hour later than we said we would. :) Later, we discovered that Google was giving us directions to a street that ran parallel to Main St., not perpendicular. *sigh* My only consolation was to imagine how bad the directions would be if Google or Mapquest gave directions in India. :)
The pre-party was a lot of fun. Noele has three adorable kids, skinny and blonde, just like her. In fact, Noele's get-together was a lot more fun than most of the rest of the night-so much so that I propose that from now on all reunion functions should be held at her house. :)
We discovered the most disappointing fact soon after we arrived at the venue for the evening. Only 31 people registered to come to the event! 31! Our graduating class was approximately 300, so that's only 10% that registered. Actually, even less because there were about 6 guest (spouses/S.O.s) that weren't part of our graduating class! The turnout is especially bad since, according to classmates.com, about half of our class still lives in the area. Plus, about 4 people who registered didn't even show up! Can you imagine paying $60 for this thing and not even showing up?
Not that very many people felt that they got their $60 worth anyway. The buffet dinner was okay, but the DJ/host wasn't very good and it was a cash bar (which made very bad bloody marys, by the way!) Most of us skipped out early and went to a local bar (where, we were joking, we would probably see more alumni than at the reunion) where at least the drinks were more reasonably priced.
All-in-all, most of us felt we saw most of the people that we wanted to see at Noele's. But would we have all planned to be in town in the same weekend otherwise to do our own thing? Probably not. At least I did get recognition for coming the furthest! My only competition was someone who was working in Norway!
The reunion was, in a word, disappointing. Before the reunion, we had a pre-party at the house of one of my friends, Noele. Mike, Sarah & I spent about 45 minutes driving up and down Main Street in Greensburg (which, let me tell you, is hardly exciting enough to merit one trip down it) looking for the cross street from the Google directions. We didn't have Noele's phone number to call; the only other person we could call was another out-of-towner, Shannon. We drove out to pick up Shannon at her hotel and used her directions to arrive at Noele's about an hour later than we said we would. :) Later, we discovered that Google was giving us directions to a street that ran parallel to Main St., not perpendicular. *sigh* My only consolation was to imagine how bad the directions would be if Google or Mapquest gave directions in India. :)The pre-party was a lot of fun. Noele has three adorable kids, skinny and blonde, just like her. In fact, Noele's get-together was a lot more fun than most of the rest of the night-so much so that I propose that from now on all reunion functions should be held at her house. :)
We discovered the most disappointing fact soon after we arrived at the venue for the evening. Only 31 people registered to come to the event! 31! Our graduating class was approximately 300, so that's only 10% that registered. Actually, even less because there were about 6 guest (spouses/S.O.s) that weren't part of our graduating class! The turnout is especially bad since, according to classmates.com, about half of our class still lives in the area. Plus, about 4 people who registered didn't even show up! Can you imagine paying $60 for this thing and not even showing up?
Not that very many people felt that they got their $60 worth anyway. The buffet dinner was okay, but the DJ/host wasn't very good and it was a cash bar (which made very bad bloody marys, by the way!) Most of us skipped out early and went to a local bar (where, we were joking, we would probably see more alumni than at the reunion) where at least the drinks were more reasonably priced.
All-in-all, most of us felt we saw most of the people that we wanted to see at Noele's. But would we have all planned to be in town in the same weekend otherwise to do our own thing? Probably not. At least I did get recognition for coming the furthest! My only competition was someone who was working in Norway!
14 October 2005
Rochester
So I've managed to drive (safely!) back to Pennsylvania after FREEZING through my trip to Rochester. True to form, the sun managed to stay hidden for pretty much my whole visit there, reminding me (again) why I was so willing to leave for the warm temperatures of Chennai. :)
I was in Rochester to participate in the wedding of my dear friends, Stephen and Malinda. The wedding was very nice-small and intimate-which I think they were going for. Malinda was so calm, none of the detail that didn't go exactly as planned ever seemed to phase her. That's the way I want to be when (if?) I ever get married-full of grace and assurance that no matter what happens, I know I'm marrying a man who will help me get though the times that things don't go exactly as planned.
*Mental notes from the wedding: 1.) Make sure that if you are having the reception at the church that congregation is larger than your guest list because you don't want to have to be out buying flatware at Wal-Mart the night before the wedding. :) 2.) If you care about the bridesmaid's dresses being all the same, make sure that they are all stitched by the same person. Apparently there can be many interpretations to the same pattern. :) 3.) Remember that kids in the wedding party will be cute, but also unpredictable. Even the eldest one might need their hoopskirt tied in the middle of the ceremony. :)
It was great to meet up with people in Rochester again. I met many people and missed many as well. [Sorry guys!] But, I knew that was going to happen. It was hard to see people, get a little bit caught up on the past six months and then have to say good-bye all over again. *sniffle, sniffle*
But, hopefully, the next six months will fly by as well. Liz & I have many trips planned for our remaining time in India, so we have plenty of stuff to look forward to when we get back. Tonight, I'm getting ready for my 10-year high school reunion. Whoa, does that make me feel old! :) I can't wait to see many of my friends who I've only been in touch with through email, but I'm worried about recognizing others there. All I know is I better win the prize for who traveled the furthest to get here (especially since my friends from Guam & Hawaii aren't coming!)
08 October 2005
Driving...
I was a little nervous about driving all the way up to Rochester alone, mainly because I've been watching cars drive on the opposite side of the road for six months now. Plus, I did experiment with driving once while I was in India. Actually, driving once while I was in India was one of my goals that I stated when I first got there. But, I did decide that I should wait and observe for at least three months before I attempted such a feat. One of my friends even offered to teach me...but he never came through on that offer!!!!
However, one night when we were leaving Fisherman's Cove another friend (Raghu) decided to let me try to drive his car (and no, this had nothing to do with the re-painting of his hood!). It was around 1 AM and it's a pretty deserted road between Fish Cove and ECR (East Coast Road.) I readily agreed! I was pretty happy because I didn't stall it out at all, even while shifting with the left hand and steering with the right! But I have to admit, the cows by the side of the road were a bit disconcerting!
Anyway, I think that I made the transition to driving in the US okay-the only problem is when I'm on an unlined road, I find myself drifting a bit to the wrong side. Hopefully I can correct that in the time that I'm here. :)
However, one night when we were leaving Fisherman's Cove another friend (Raghu) decided to let me try to drive his car (and no, this had nothing to do with the re-painting of his hood!). It was around 1 AM and it's a pretty deserted road between Fish Cove and ECR (East Coast Road.) I readily agreed! I was pretty happy because I didn't stall it out at all, even while shifting with the left hand and steering with the right! But I have to admit, the cows by the side of the road were a bit disconcerting!
Anyway, I think that I made the transition to driving in the US okay-the only problem is when I'm on an unlined road, I find myself drifting a bit to the wrong side. Hopefully I can correct that in the time that I'm here. :)
Visiting...
I'm home now...for a quick visit to the US. I arrived here Sunday night, overnighted in NYC and flew to Pittsburgh to meet my parents early Monday morning. Compared to India, NYC (at least around the airport seemed so quiet!!!!) The flight over generally was pretty uneventful, though. After flying Air India for my vacation last December, I'm always amazed when the flights are running on time, but I've had no problems thus far on British Airways. :) I ended up taking Independence Air from JFK through Dulles to Pittsburgh. Man, are they cutting back-they give you NO food on the flight-not even peanuts! *sigh* It was really rough coming from an international flight where they feed you something like every two hours, it feels like. :)
Anyway, I did manage to upload pictures from August and September and post them to my blog. Enjoy!
After staying with my parents for a couple of days (and trying to get on somewhat of a normal sleeping schedule!) I headed to Rochester for my friends' (Stephen & Malinda) wedding. Yep, I'm a bridesmaid...and I'm not thinking about the saying that goes along with that... :) Rochester is COLD right now!!!!!! I miss Chennai...the heat...now I remember what I was so happy to get away from in April! :) But it has been good catching up with people that I've been missing. Unfortunately (in some ways), I'll only be here for about a week, then I'll head back to Pittsburgh for a few days, then back to India!
Anyway, I did manage to upload pictures from August and September and post them to my blog. Enjoy!
After staying with my parents for a couple of days (and trying to get on somewhat of a normal sleeping schedule!) I headed to Rochester for my friends' (Stephen & Malinda) wedding. Yep, I'm a bridesmaid...and I'm not thinking about the saying that goes along with that... :) Rochester is COLD right now!!!!!! I miss Chennai...the heat...now I remember what I was so happy to get away from in April! :) But it has been good catching up with people that I've been missing. Unfortunately (in some ways), I'll only be here for about a week, then I'll head back to Pittsburgh for a few days, then back to India!
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