Wow...we've been busy. Here's a little recap:

Sunday morning evening all the family left. :( It was sad to say goodbye, but we know we will see them soon. Sunday afternoon we headed out to a WONDERFUL book fair. I could not believe to volume of books. AND CHEAP!! Most books I got for 20 rupees...which is less than 50 cents. We then headed to Lumbini park, a gorgeous park on Hussain Sagar Lake. In the middle of the lake there is a beautiful, huge Buddha statue. We were able to take a boat out to it and see it. Truly breathtaking. We then returned to the park and waited around to see a laser show of the history of Hyderabad. It was very well done, and interesting. I attempted to have my future read by a parrot...but he came up with n0thing. The joke is, I guess I have no future. :) While at the park, I had the cutest little boy come up to me and say, "Excuse me Ma'am but if you don't mind me asking where are you from?" I replied "USA." To which he replied, "Me too!! I live in Kentucky!" Small world...:)

Monday was spent shopping the whole day. Which is one of my favorite things to do...esp. here in India. The US dollar is worth 45 rupees...so it's a GREAT exchange. And everything is very, very cheap here (according to US standards). Abhay and I ordered new glasses...2 pairs forAbhay, and 3 pairs for me. It came out to be 200 dollars. Yes 200 bucks for 5 pairs of glasses. And super funky ones at that....ones we'd never find here. Unbelievable, huh? We visited some very beautiful and modern malls. More modern than any malls I've ever visited in the US. We made some very fun purchases. Monday evening we were invited over to some friends ofAbhay's parents for dinner. A little cultural tidbit--most people don't eat dinner here until around 9-10pm. :)

Tuesday I went to see my very first Bollywood movie in a theater--3 Idiots was the movie. Interesting experience, but fun. Lots of yelling, whistling, screaming, whooping, during the movie. It's also acceptable to have your cell phone on ring and answer it. The movie was GREAT though. Very good story and awesome acting. Tuesday evening we were invited to another friend's house. This time is was BBQ--which was amazing. The couples 21 year old son made it for us. I've never had such tasty BBQ Chicken.

Today, Wednesday will be spent relaxing at home. The city is shutdown due to some political things. But don't worry--it's safe. :)

Buddah

Abhay and his Mom

Me with Abhay's Parents

--MMR