Indian Summer

I just left the office for the last time here in Bangalore. It was actually really sad. I didn't want to have to say goodbye to my new friends. Even though I will still be working with them everyday, I won't see them everyday, and that's what makes me so sad. My flight leaves in a few hours so I am just tying up loose ends and getting everything packed. I have had a wonderful time here in India and I am very sad to be leaving. There definitely are comforts of home that I miss, but once I am home I will miss so many things about India. The last two months have gone by so quickly and I almost wish I had more time here. I would love to come back and hope to have the opportunity to do so soon. I'm not sure that Alyssa and Heidi would agree, but if you ever have the opportunity to come to India, definitely take it!

The Pink City

On Sunday we spent the day in Jaipur, which is also called the Pink City. All of the buildings are pink. I'm not sure why, but they are. We went to another fort called Amber Fort. It is also called the Pink Palace because it is pink as well. The fort sits up on a hill so you can either walk up the hill or ride an elephant. Considering the heat of the day and the fact that riding an elephant is really great, we opted for the elephant. It was great. My feet got spit on several times, but the ride was well worth the soggy socks. At the entrance to the fort there were vendors all over. They were worse there than anywhere else we had been. They were really aggressive and of course very dishonest. Once we finally got into the fort I felt like we had been through a car wash. It was nice to be in such a beautiful place without all of those men calling you Madam and yelling at you. The fort wasn't quite as extravagant as the Agra Fort, but it was still beautiful. We decided to go shopping after the fort, but our driver took us to a quick detour at an observatory. It was pretty lame and we weren't really sure what we were supposed to do there so we didn't stay long. Walking out of the observatory we came across some snake charmers. As much as I don't like snakes that was definitely a highlight of the trip. While we were watching them some government men walked behind us and the charmers stopped playing their flutes. We weren't sure if snake charmers are not allowed, but they started up again as soon as the government men walked by. Melissa actually touched one of the snakes, but I stayed as far back as possible. We went shopping for the rest of the day and experienced much of the same aggressiveness that we found at Amber Fort. They've just got a different style in Jaipur. Melissa and I flew back to Bangalore that night. I was grateful to get back to pleasant weather, but I didn't want to leave Alyssa and Heidi. It's a good thing I'll be home in 2 days.