India was amazing. It was awesome to feel so immersed into a culture I've never known or experienced. I probably lost about 5 pounds while there because I was so careful about what I ate. I still haven't been able to get certain smells of India out of my nose which is really weird. Lately I'll be doing the most random thing, and then I'm like, "Oh, there's India again". There were never any labels or descriptions with the food so I never knew what I was eating or how spicy it would be. One meal I had was so spicy I actually had a red ring around my puffy lips for 30 minutes.

Speaking of spicy food...Joni played a mean trick on me. I told her how spicy the food was at times so she was kind enough to email me a sentence in Hindi that said "no spicy food please" in English below it. At least that's what I thought it said...the sentence she put together in Hindi actually said, "I crapped my pants, please help". Its a good thing I didn't use the note, it would have made for a great story afterwards but I was able to uphold my reputation with the restaurant staff.

The highlight of the trip for me was visiting Nandi village. There were 8 of us from 6 different countries that visited a school and donated a volleyball net. We felt like rock stars as these kids have probably never seen a foreigner, let alone 8 of them. We were greeted with flowers, chants, paint on our faces, and the kids made several presentations for us. They all wanted to touch us and talk to us. In India, having fair skin is a status sign. They will take pictures of you like paparrazzi, and watch your every move. They actually have advertisements everywhere on how to get lighter skin in 10 days, and many people bleach their skin at the salons. Funny how everyone in America wants to be tan.The kids loved my video camera, I turned around the screen so they could see themselves and they went nuts. I wish I had more pictures but I have mostly video that I can't post because I don't have a way to connect to the computer right now with it. I wish you could all see how cool it all was on video.
A tuk tuk...and a cow. I have another video while riding a tuk tuk that's a must see, I thought I was going to die.
Leaving the school was tough, the bus started leaving without me because I was so involved with the kids that I didn't see everyone leaving.We are so crazy about Ellie right now, she is so fun and so cute sometimes I just want to giggle like a little girl. She is very social and flirtatious, and she's learning to get around on her own with one primary objective: tear the house apart.She just hit the 10 month mark this week.
I wanted to share a couple more of Joni's cake creations. She made a stack of books for someone's 60th birthday who happens to be a librarian. Her artistic talents amaze me. Didn't get to taste this one, but I don't think I'd want to touch it.

Yes, it is all edible, including the fruit roll up book mark. The Wizard of Oz book even has the Dewey decimal number on it.
Last week for Joel's BBQ she made a cake that was a giant Ding Dong, filled with whipped cream and everything. It was awesome! Time to start working out again soon...