That was weekend number 5!

This was a slow one. We stayed home on friday and saturday because I wasn't felling well.
Sunday we went to this HUGE Hare Krishna temple.



It's also known as the "duty free shop", and now we know why.
It's 10% about worshipping gods and 90% about buying stuff.
Unfortunately they were very strict and didn't allow us to make pictures inside.

During the last week we went shopping a few times.
Anupa showed us a tiny jewellers place and I bought myself these nice earrings:



I liked the shop so much I went back and got a beautiful bracelet. I'll make pictures of that soon.

The weekend started off rainy, but sunday was warm and sunny.
That's when the rooftop is a nice place to be.



The woman in the picture is Radhika and is our new friend from London who has come to stay with us last week.

Alex wanted me to take a picture of him with a coconut from the palmtree in front of the house. Here it is. Alex is the nut in the black shirt, by the way.


Tomorrow we're leaving for Goa. It's a 12-14 hour drive, but Alex has his Gameboy, so everything is fine. We'll return monday 13th with a lot of beachy pictures.

I'd like to use this as a chance to say goodbye to my very best friend, who's leaving for the far coasts of Brazil for good.
Misha, sweety, take care, have fun, and bring my best friend back to me in one piece some day. May your hopes and dreams come true. See you in South America!

A very fun weekend number 4 has passed.

We got up at 5 saturday morning and got ready for the trip to Chennai. The road was bumpy but not too crowded.
We went through a lot of beautiful landscape, like this rice field behind Alex munching a banana.



It had been raining for a day or two in Chennai when we arrived, but as we went out for dinner, it really started to pour. We went to bed in complete darkness because a thunder storm had cut off the electricity at the house. Outside frogs were singing us good night.

The next morning started early. We went off from Sumathi's relatives and a bit into the central city. The rain and wind had flooded large parts of the city and broken trees were lying everywhere. We had to pass a street that was completely flooded, and decided to try going through the water by car. Unfortunately the water was too deep for the car and Alex and Jay, our host, had to get out and push the swimming car onto dry land.



This sure added a lot of fun and adventure feeling!

After this we made it to the wedding. It is very beautiful and exciting to watch different wedding ceremonies.
The south indian wedding is really strange for Europeans.
We always sit still and try not to make a sound. Here they walk around, talk to relatives, have breakfast, and leave while the ceremony is taking place. Very funny.



They also served a traditional breakfast on a banana leaf.

Last but not least, I've promissed my mother two pictures.
1. Me wearing a sari


2. The Jayakrishnan family, our hosts. (Left to right Alex, Anupa, Sumathi and Jay)


!!!By the way...the picture gallery is now working. Have a look!!!

... has passed and we're back at work.
Alex' cold is better but it finally caught up with me. It's not that bad though.
Due to this lovely cold, we took it slow.

This weekend was Diwali, the festival of lights. It's celebrated over five days. It's a bit like our christmas. People make sweets and visit family. Of course I got recipies, mom!

The funniest part of Diwali are the fireworks. If anyone in Europe thought that we burst a lot of firecrackers on New-Years-Eve... THINK AGAIN!
For four (4!) nights in a row there has been massive fireworks going on... for HOURS! It's unbelievable.
Sadly it was not possible to make any photos of all that.

Monday we went shopping and found lots of nice stuff.
I bought myself two sarees. YES MOM, I'll make pictures!
I'll wear one this weekend when our host is taking us to Chennai to see a south indian wedding. That will probably have one or two kodak-moments.

Monday started off in a not so nice way.
We got to work and Alex was feeling sick, so we went home about noon.
Alex got better during the afternoon, but I had a really bad migraine attack, and was out for the rest of the day.
We stayed home tuesday. Our host had a cold and now everyone at the house has it... except me. Till now. Knock on wood!
Alex is of couse taking some medication (Grippostad C) so don't worry. After all Skandinavians know how to deal with a cold.

I'd like to leave you with a few pictures of the place we're staying.

This is my bed in our new room. (We changed rooms due to our neighbour who keeps his prayer tape on all night)


And here is Alex hanging out on the couch in front of the TV



That's all for today.
Lots of hugs and kisses for mothers and friends.

Here we are after our 2nd weekend in India.
After a hard week at work, we took it slow.
Saturday we went to a nearby temple. It's beautiful to see these different rites. These temples are like a calm oasis in the middle of this fast and loud city.



Later that evening we went to a traditional dance performance.
The costumes and the dance was amazing. The way of dancing is very special and tells a story in a very obvious way. The gestures are very clear, so even we foreigners were able to understand the story.



This is the start of a short week. Friday is off, due to celebrating Ramzan, the end of the muslim Ramadan. Next week monday and tuesday are off as well due to Diwali, the festival of lights.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

And we don't have plans.
Our plans very much depend on our colleague Krish and what he has planned for us.
If he doesn't have plans for us, I guess we'll stay home and relax and go shopping on sunday.
Yes, everyone in Europe. Shopping is possible on sundays!
Maybe I can find something to take pictures of. Meanwhile you'll have to live with more photos of the morning traffic with the colorful trucks, autorickshaws, and people. And remember... mornings are nice, evenings are BAAAAAAD!
As always, click the pictures to see a larger version.

Here you go: