Eat, Drink, and Be Merry....

So, I know it's been forever since I've posted..... terribly sorry about that. Last week was absolute chaos--helped staff a United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime conference in Delhi-barely enough time to sleep, etc. Then we went to Goa, this beachtown in southwest India, which was amazing.



I'll post on both of these events soon, but in the meantime, here's a picture from my recent weekend and a more-than-appropriate song to go with it:

A bientot and all my love....

Don't burn the day!


We were above
You standing underneath us
We were not yet lovers
Dragons were smoked
Bumblebees were stinging us
I was soon to be crazy
Eat, drink and be merry
For tomorrow we die
'Cause we're tripping billies

We're wearing nothing
Nothing but our shadows
Shadows falling down on the beach sand
Remembering once,
Out on the beaches we wore
Pineapple grass bracelets

So why would you care
To get out of this place
You and me and all our freinds
Such a happy human race
'Cause we're tripping billies



We are all sitting
Legs crossed round a fire
My yellow flame she dances
Tequila drinking oh our
Minds will wonder
To wonderous places

So why would you care
To get out of this place
You and me and all our friends
Such a happy human race

Eat, drink and be merry
For tomorrow we die

-dmb




----------------
Now playing: Dave Matthews Band - Tripping Billies
via FoxyTunes

It's been soooo long

and i have so much to share.

my deepest apologies.

i'm going to post different events as different posts right now, and add more as time allows.... so here goes :)

I'll start with the icky....

soo there's this oven that is the size of a microwave in our kitchen. i didn't realize that, in fact, there is a top burner, and these pictures were taken a week after I reached in to grab some bread I was warming.

Not to be a baby, but OWIEEE.... right now it's bubbling much more and peeling off, exposing multiple layers of flesh... it's really hot.

Description not enough? Here are some fun pics:

Hello Kacee!

Just want to give a shout-out to our new roommate/coworker from Utah... Kacee Kniazeva. :) Welcome to India, girl.... good luck! Haha. Just kidding. We're in it together now and there is noooo looking back...

And this is just funny b/c it's India...

Jon sent me a small package recently, and it looked normal, he said, when he mailed it, but this is what I saw when I received it:





Comedy.

The names of these chips are just funny.

Period.

October 2: BIG DAY

Soo October 2 is a big birthday day for many special people in Becky's world, including (alphabetically):

Christy Voss, my godmother.... sadly, I have no pics of her with me :(


Ghandi



Izzy-B



Jon B



So.... Happy birthday to all!!

And... because it is indeed Ghandi's day of birth, India takes the day off of work. This is a pic of me + Ali hanging out @ Connaught Place, which is this, well... cirlce... there's "central park" in the middle of the place, and it's surrounded by two circles of stores and merchants. There was a local choir/performance going on in the the middle of the park, so it was, indeed, a nice afternon. :)



... So Happy Birthday to ALL!!! :)

The President of India??? Realy?????

We got the amazing opportunity on Monday to not only meet with the President of India, but also to get a private tour of the Mansion/Residence/Office. MAITRI works with the elderly as well; they run an organization that helps those who have little family left live with dignity and pride, and Monday was a national recognition of the elderly day. Here are some pictures from the event:













The grounds are beautiful.... the whole thing occupies over 150 acres of land.

I saw the gardens from inside the building and made a comment about how gorgeous it was... the only analogy I could come up with was that it was the Gardener's version of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. (I.e. the factory but with a Gardner's fantasy instead of a chocolate lover's fantasy.) Am I the only one who thinks this analogy is crazy???? I was made fun of to no avail for this, so any support would be appreciated.

Unfortunately we could not take in our cameras... but here are some shots we could take from outside:


This is me, Ali, and Kacee (new roommate from Utah!) in front of one of the SIDES of one of the buildings:





And this is us with a coworker as well as Sonal, MAITRI's CEO, who is second from the right:



this picture is taken outside of the gates, with our back to the India Gate, which is a direct line from the center of the building (which meets a statue of Buddha) right through the center of the India Gate:




It was a unique, extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I can't help but tell one quick story, though.

On our tour, we were taken into a room wherein gifts from leaders of other countries to the Indian President are displayed. These gifts were immaculate; robes worn by ancient kings that were adorned in gold thread and whatnot, antiques, personal items, beautiful replicas of statutes and temples.... just amazing gifts.

I hadn't even considered that there would be a gift from the U.S.... ohh but there was.

Sadly idle in the corner, the last thing we saw before leaving the room, was President George W. Bush's gift to the President of India: a glass (perhaps plastic?) bowl, no bigger than than a good-sized cereal bowl [Ali commented that it looked as though they stopped at Sears to pick it up on their way], and lightly engraved on the side of it was a small Indian flag crossing poles with an American flag.

Really.?

God knows he probably made some crack about using it for curry, or some ridiculous hogwash such as that.

I announced that I was Canadian and had never heard of this "George Bush" character. *sigh*