The end of adventure as I know it

Sadly, the time has nearly come for one of us to say goodbye to the Dilli Grind. Back to a predictable easy life in Portland........
Top 5 things I will miss about India:

1) Random sights, like an elephant walking down the street or a guy leisurely riding a horse in heavy traffic while talking on his cell phone.
2) Workdays that start at 10am-ish.
3)I love hearing the two most ubiquitous phrases, “not working” and “no problem.” Plus, I appreciate the irony of the combination of those two phrases, sometimes in the same sentence.
4) Mind-boggling responses from service providers, like when the internet company said “sorry, we are out of internet.”
5) Getting out of answering a question with a vague trademark head nod that could mean yes, no, maybe, or that you are not sure what the right answer is so you are hoping that gesture will invite interpretation of what you are supposed to say.


Top 5 things about Portland that I am looking forward to (aside from THE #1- my awesome friends):
1) One stop shopping at Target – no more day long adventures for mundane necessities like plungers and plastic bins (no the bins were not related to the plunger incident)
2) chocolate chip cookies
3) Lifetime movies – if I remember correctly their slogan was “Television for women with excellent taste in programming.”
4) Water 24 hours a day – no more waking up at 5am to turn on a ridiculous, frequently malfunctioning water pump.
5) Knowing that whenever I start to miss India, it is only a tollfree phonecall away to my credit card company.

Christmas in Thailand

 We took a Thai cooking class to celebrate an unconventional Christmas Day and decided that the best food we had in Thailand was our own made during the class. Here's my yummy hot and sour soup. We're hoping we can duplicate some of them with our new skills!

Our first black swan! We got to see its adorable goslings too.

We talked to a couple of Buddhist monks, and among other things asked them what their reasons for becoming monks were. Suprisingly, they said education. Apparently it is easier/cheaper to get a good education if you're a monk.

Phang Nga Bay - James Bond Island

This disgustlingly touristed area is Maya Bay where "The Beach" was filmed.