Maui!

Maui was the second island Jeff and I went to. We relaxed and got a few things done the first day, then headed around to Lahaina to explore the western side the next day. We spent a night up on Haleakala and did a hike down to the bottom of the crater. The sunset was beautiful from up there too. The next day we drove out to Hana (such an awesome drive!) and spent a little while out there before driving back.

Molokai!

On my trip to Hawaii, I visited 4 of the islands. The first island I went to was Molokai to meet Jeff there and see where he was working for the last 6 months at Kalaupapa National Historical Park. We spent a day exploring topside Molokai (the main part of the island) before putting our backpacks on and hiking down the Kalaupapa cliffs to the peninsula of Kalaupapa where the leper colony is. Jeff had a 50 lb pack and I had a 35 lb pack. Jeff was accustomed to it, but I definitely was not. My legs were shaking by less than half way down, but I survived, more or less. My legs didn't really work for the next 3 days, but that was ok, as I had those 3 days to rest and relax anyways.

2009 Iditarod Start (the real one)

Here's some pics from the start of the Iditarod. This was the real actual start, not the just-for-show one they do in Anchorage. This one is out in Willow.

Germany!

Catch Up Time!

So, time to catch up a bit. Here's the rest of the India pictures. I'll post anything after India in separate posts.


Here's a few random pics, one of my apartment building from the water, another of the pool I would often go lay by, and the third of me playing the guitar for the people at work.




Here are a bunch of pictures from my trip to Pondicherry. Pondicherry used to be a french colony, so there are interesting and random french influences in the area. On the way there we stopped at a number of ancient Hindu temples.




The next slideshow includes random pictures of Cochin and surrounding areas. They love their billboards! At the end are some pics at a zoo of sorts that we visited one afternoon.




Here are some more pictures of my lengha and also of a sari that Jamie bought.




And here's some last minute and last day photos from my trip. It was very sad to say goodbye to everyone.

No time to post!

Hey everyone - I haven't forgotten about you all! I've just been entirely too busy to post more pictures. It's been busy season at work since the moment I got back and I've hardly had a chance to breathe, much less sit down, relax, and post blog entries and pictures. But I still totally plan to. Maybe even later today if I can get my apartment cleaned up a bit first. It still looks like someone just arrived back home from a very long trip and hasn't finished unpacking yet. Which would be true.

Shopping!!!

So whoever it was that let me go shopping today with Jamie and Gurpreet needs to be taken out and shot. (Oh wait... that was my own choice... damn.) Heh, anyways, I had an amazing time shopping today, despite my feet killing me and my credit card balance skyrocketing.

Most of the things I bought were pretty reasonable, including a couple more kurta-type shirts, a few cute t-shirts, a couple cute purses, and probably a couple other things. The one thing that was rather incredibly expensive is the lengha I bought for myself. I included a picture below (the first one in the slideshow - feel free to click on it and see a bigger version on my Picasa page), but basically it's a skirt and shirt (short shirt in this case) combo with a scarf. Of course, they tend to be quite thoroughly decked out in hand embroidery and sequins and crystals, and mine is quite the epitome of such. So much so that it probably weighs about 15-20 pounds. It is so incredibly gorgeous though, and fits like a beautiful glove. It's definitely an Indian style and design, but I think it's totally something I could wear in the US as well. I have a plan to wear it at least 3 times in Anchorage in the next year or so, and then I might have to move so I can wear it at least 3 times in a new place. *grin* Just kidding! I'll have to make it pay for itself somehow though! And of course any time you get a beautiful Indian outfit, you have to get bangles, earrings, and necklace to match. (And shoes, but I think I've already got that one covered... I've purchased enough shoes here already.)

I also had to buy another suitcase. I hope Lufthansa doesn't charge too much for a 3rd bag. I... um... have bought a lot of stuff here it seems. *grin* Oh well. I guess I won't be allowed to buy much of anything in Germany.


Modeling Lenghas at Seematti