The final hours!

Well we are down to the last eight hours here in India! It is kind of bitter sweet... We have met some great people that took very good care of us!

But... We are still more than ready to go home!

I was actually able to fit everything in my suitcases! Thanks to the laundry staff here at the hotel and their beautiful folding skills!

My bags are totally overweight... A little bit of money can take care of that!

Brett was able to pack a suitcase inside of a suitcase! Pretty impressive!

We will blog again when we hit Chicago in about 24 hours from now!

Last Saturday in India! Guess what we did?

SHOPPING!!!! Of course!

We had the absolutely best driver today!!! Ok... According to me! Brett doesn't like driving here period! So his opinion doesn't really count.

We both pretty much finished all of the shopping we needed to do. No, I really didn't need to do anymore... But I did!

Just to try and explain how much stuff I have purchased... We just had one of the most uncomfortable conversations with one of the employees here at the hotel. He was kind enough to let me know that he had seen everything I had purchased and was wondering how I was going to get it home. He then proceeded to tell me that I should wear some of the Indian clothing I had purchased! I then had to explain to him that my breasts don't really fit (yes, that conversation was a bit awkward!). All the time I was wondering... Why have you been going through what I have purchased? And... It must be bad if they are all talking about how much I have shopped! Lol!

Judy - if Brett brings home all of my dirty clothes ... Will you wash them for me? I am totally kidding! I will send the clean ones with him.

I had the mehndi's on both of my arms redone... And the lady that did them put a bindi on me... Flames and a fake diamond! I think I like it! I just hope that the people I have meetings with tomorrow and Monday like them as well!

We are just two days away from heading home!

Oh ... Judy Bohannon... One more thing I am not supposed to tell you! If you ever get mehndi's on your arms... Brett will carry your bags and PURSE for you while they dry! Lol!

Brett and I have decided that we will start a blog every time we travel now... We should have done this a long time ago! So... Only this chapter is closing soon... There WILL be more to come... Hopefully! Lol!

Have a great day folks! Yes, I said folks!

DW!

Our Lists of Items that must be available upon our return home...

Ok... even if the below are not available... we will just be glad to be home. But if the below is readily available in our pantries, refrigerators and homes, we will be extremely appreciative!

And yes... my list includes cigarettes... For anyone who knows me well... they probably have already thought that Danielle has probably found someone to buy her cigarettes. Well, you are correct! I have found a couple of "suppliers"... However, menthols are not readily available here... so I have been slumming it! I did make it three and a half days ... and then Brett really began fearing for his life, and the lives of 7.1 Billion other people.

So here are the lists...

Brett's List:
bottle of Texas Pete
1 jar hot Pace Salsa
1 can enchilada sauce bean dip
1 bag "Scoops" corn chips
1 bag regular corn chips
1 bag wavy potato chips
green onion dip
shredded sharp cheddar cheese
package of pepperoni
4 pack Innis and Gunn Rum Cask (Mark/Dan please help Judy!)
6 pack of a winter season ale -pick wisely (Dan/Mark please help Judy!)
1 jar Italian sausage Ragu Spaghetti sauce
2% gallon milk
nestle quick chocolate milk mix powder
Fresh Ice in Ice maker tray
Bag of salad mix
7 seas robust Italian dressing
raw baby carrots
Package of break and bake toll house chocolate chip cookies
All Beef smoked sausage links
All Beef Oscar Meyer hotdogs
hot dog buns
KC masterpiece BBQ sauce
pepper jack cheese to slice
ice cream bar
crunchy peanut butter
grape jelly
sliced sandwich bread

Danielle's List:
Milk - 2%

Charmin Extra Soft Toilet Paper

Molten Hot Wings Potato Chips

Hint of Lime Tortilla Chips

HOT Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Ice - Lots of it!

My Blankie

Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Summer Sausage

Marlboro Light Menthols

Captain Morgan

Coke

Red Solo Cups

Chicken Wing Dip that Kellie Makes

RIBS - cooked by Mikey

Freshly cut cucumber and Ranch dip

Ice

Marlboro Light Menthols

Package of Break and Bake Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies - Stollen from Brett

More milk

Water not from a bottle

The fattiest, juiciest ribeye steak!

Cheese - cubed, any kind

Coffee - French Vanilla

Creamer - French Vanilla

Nathan's Hot Dogs

Hellman's Mayonaise

HOT SAUCE - any kind!

Alka Seltzer Cold and Flu Medicine

Kiwi

Pineapple

My Family!

Hugs!

Spaghetti with MEATBALLS!!!! Meatballs must be made from BEEF!!! Not Vag!

ANY MEXICAN FOOD ITEM!

Peanut Butter

Strawberry Preserves

White Bread

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Ice Cream

Banannas

Stomach Pump and Antacids so I can eat/drink everything all over again!

Three days left! 

Namaste!

I will have the McVag... I mean McVeg please

We are now only 5 days away from boarding our plane and heading home... Hopefully... The breaking news yesterday about American Airlines filing for bankruptcy was a little scary! But hey, isn't American Airlines the only U.S. airline company that hasn't filed for bankruptcy over the past couple years? And what can really happen in only 5 days? LOL!


Not much has been going on here... Work, sleep, work, sleep, work, sleep, shop, sleep... Pretty much the norm now.


We did receive the U.S EMBASSY NEW DELHI DECEMBER NEWSLETTER today... Did you know...


Forced Marriage
The U.S. Department of State's highest priority overseas is the protection and welfare of American citizens. It considers the issue of forced marriage to be a violation of basic human rights and a form of child abuse. Often, victims are subjected to non-consensual sex, physical and emotional abuse, isolation, and threats of violence. International law and conventions also support an individual's right to self-determination, minimum marriage ages and the rejection of abuse of women and honor based violence.
The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi is willing to assist victims or potential victims of forced marriage.  If you or someone you know is an American citizen in India who has been, is being, or fears being forced into marriage against your/their will, please contact the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.


Brett thinks that I probably scare everyone too much to even have to worry about it! LOL!


We did finally make it to McDonalds this week for lunch. You know we just HAD to! Pictures are below. The funny thing is that pictures were not allowed in the restaurant... or so Brett was told when he was capturing the masterpiece below! The meal was ok... Brett had a two roll of toilet paper night, if you know what I mean.


On Friday, we will be releasing our list of demands that must be readily available upon our return home! Releasing our lists on Friday should give our spouses an ample amount of time to fulfill them by Tuesday. Hint, hint!


Pictures below and more updates to come this weekend! 


This blog will soon be retired! Awww.... I know you are all sooooo sad!


Oh yeah... more pics of food below... Our lunches and dinners.


Hope you are having a great week so far!

My dinner one night... It did not taste the way it
looks! I won't tell you what Brett said....
I am sure you can figure it out!

This is part of Brett's lunch one day... He was calling it his
biscuits and gravy that he has been so desperately craving. And no...
It was not even close to tasting like biscuits and gravy.

This is a "bread" like "tortilla" thing... made out of ground up rice.

LOL! The pic that Brett got busted taking! TFF!!!

One of the trays of food and drinks... Looks normal...
There!

This was the "Big Mac" - The Chicken
Marahaja Mac, fries and a coke. 

The menu... yeah I know it is blurry... Did I mention
we were not supposed to be taking pictures?

This was my McSpicy Paneer (Vag). It was ok... a little
dry... and NOT spicy!

This is the McVeggie... I should
have taken a picture after Brett's first bite.
It was totally green in the center. 

This was my McSpicy Chicken. It was ok... a little
dry... and NOT spicy! LOL!

Yeah... you still can't read the menu in this one either! 

Brett's Lunch today... Yes... That is an egg! And that little
bowl in the center is the "sweet" for the day... Brett loves his
runny deserts! :)

My lunch tray today... I also grabbed and egg...
Living on the WILD SIDE!

My dinner tonight! Dal Mahkani! My favorite meal... yes it
is Vagetarian! But I don't care! This is one of the dishes I will be making
when I have my Indian themed dinner party!

Brett's Pizza he had for dinner tonight... Brett... Is it Hot enough now? 

This is a big A$$ bug that was outside yesterday!
The bug is to the left... :)

If only you knew what we had to go through
to get this picture! LOL! But we got it! Please
read the 5th line under the heading ALARMS... LOL!

Namaste!

Blahhhhhhhh... cough cough ... sniff sniff

Well... not going to be much of an update today... I got sick on Thanksgiving. Probably from the ice in the drinks and/or eating with my nasty hands that, I had even mentioned that, I should not have been doing! Either way, I let my guard down for one afternoon and it has been kicking my butt ever since!

Thank goodness for Brett's wife Judy! Thanks to her for packing AM and PM cold medicine and some antibiotics! Oh... and thanks to Brett for sharing, and going to the doctor to get the antibiotics! Today I feel a little better ... and Brett has mentioned twice that I don't look like total Sh!t anymore!

You know I don't feel good when we didn't even go shopping this weekend, mind you, we did have to work on Saturday... but any other weekend we would have totally still went somewhere! Not this weekend... went to work... and then to bed! Today we have been working all day... ok since noon... but we are about to call it a day... after I finish this blog ...  so Brett thinks I am still working... :)

Well we only have 8 days left! We are definitely going shopping next weekend! Our last weekend here! I have to go get my Mehndi's redone and go buy those gold playing cards that I wanted to buy the first week we were here... haven't seen them anywhere else!

Hope you all had a GREAT Thanksgiving and a wonderful weekend! I am going to drive Brett totally crazy this week by playing Christmas music at the office all day! LOL! I cannot wait!!!

This is a picture I took of Brett working across the hall in his room.... Yes, everyone
walks by and thinks we are crazy! And yes... Brett still thinks I am working! LOL!

Happy Thanksgiving From India!

Danielle And Brett... Giving "Thanks!" This is just a random sign that we see every night driving home from work.
Thought it would be perfect for today! And... the ants were tearing me up!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am not going to get into the whole emotional Thanksgiving mumbo jumbo... not because I am cold and heartless... it is because we are already having a hard enough time not being where we should be today!

So... with that said... We went shopping again today! lol! (Judy - there are a couple of things I am not supposed to tell you... so I will have to talk to you when I see you next!)

We also enjoyed our Thanksgiving Day meal... not as much as what we are currently missing at our homes... but it was making the best out of the situation. We ate at TGI Fridays... LOL! We had a couple of drinks... ate some ok "interpretations" of the already mediocre food at an American TGIF. Pictures are below. I was just happy to order something "mexican"!!!! I miss me some mexican food! And the chips and salsa my husband sent are about spent!

That is it for today... we are going to try and catch up with our families and spend the day watching them eat, over Skype of course!

My day before Thanksgiving meal at work.

The menu... :)

Our Thanksgiving appetizer course!

Brett's Thanksgiving Feast... consisting of a trio of differently prepared
chicken tikka (pieces).

My Thanksgiving Feast... Stale Chicken Enchiladas!
At least it wasn't a complete vagetarion meal!

Brett enjoying our post feast "coffee!" I had to pee
so bad, I didn't take pictures of the dessert course!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

D

Mr. Mustache!!!! And other randomness...

Hello all!

Well ... we finally got over our fear of the big gun, and the inability to communicate, and asked Mr. Mustache to pose in a picture!!! Here he is... LOL!

This past weekend ... we of course went shopping again! But... we were also fortunate enough to witness two different Indian Weddings!

The first wedding started late Saturday night... Brett yelled over to my room that I needed to come look down on the street... There were a bunch of people, lights, and a man riding a horse. At first I called him a prince... I was wrong! We decided to hit the street and see what was going on first hand (but, of course, were still stuck behind the walls of the hotel).

We went downstairs and watched through the gates... There was a live band (not what you are thinking), a lot of dancing, fireworks, and, of course, the GROOM on the horse! We watched (and took pictures and video, both below) the precession down the street and up to the back gates of our hotel. More fireworks, more dancing, more music! Then the epic event occurred! The group of men and women combined inside of the gates, the groom got off of his horse, more dancing, more music, no horse.

The epic event I previously mentioned was when a couple of young men noticed Brett and I watching them from afar... they motioned us to join... and then came and grabbed Brett and pulled him in! The video is hilarious! Yes, again, I was laughing hysterically at Brett's expense. I know... I am a horrible person! If you would like to jump straight to the part where brett dances... scroll to 1:06 minutes in!

Well, during this ceremony... we had pegged who we thought was the Bride... but it wasn't until late Sunday night that we determined that we were wrong, and that at no point in time the previous night, did we ever see the bride. During the wedding pre-ceremony on Sunday night we were told all about the ceremonies, their meanings, etc. The bride does not come into play for about 2 hours into the event! During the Sunday night wedding... we were taken around the back of the hotel so we could "spy" on the event from the shadows of the building... it was beautiful! During the Sunday night wedding I was able to grab a couple of pictures of the bride! Absolutely gorgeous! The two celebrations were close to the same in many ways... but very different in many ways. The wedding Saturday night was a PURE celebration! Everyone was dancing, laughing, singing, having fun! The wedding Sunday night ... was like... yeah, yeah, yeah... are we there yet? Well... come to find out, one wedding was a marriage for LOVE and the other was an arranged marriage... I will let you figure out which was which.

The countdown to go home has begun! Less than two weeks! These past few days we have really been feeling it! We are tired, stressed, depressed and ready to be with our families!

Brett had some Jasmine tea after dinner the other night, that he loved! (it was NASTY!!!) We finally ate dinner at the other restaurant located in our hotel... We have been avoiding it because it is sooooo expensive... but we just had to have something different for one night! This place is called Satin and is a Chinese/Japanese/Thai/Korean restaurant... LOL! The food was actually really good... at least it was different! Well... the food was good until about 4am... when both of us (without each other's knowledge, until the next morning) were unexpectedly woken up by our stomachs (and other unmentionables). The next day was a little rough... be we made it through like champs!

Brett has begun making fun of me... because everything I am eating is Veg. He is afraid I am going to become a vagetarian!

Tomorrow is going to be a rough day ... It is Thanksgiving! And we will be missing out on SOOOOOO much good food!!! And, of course, the time spent with friends and family (but mostly food)! JK! So to ease our pain (at least mine) we are going to go shopping! Surprise, Surprise! But, we are also going to try and find a place to eat lunch that serves something that we can pretend is Turkey. There is NO Turkey here! Or stuffing, or good mac-n-cheese, or collard greens, or pumpkin pie, or sweet potato pie, or cranberry sauce, or Momma Bohannon's spicy-cheesy-green beans!

Today is the busiest day of the year for us at work... So if you work for us, and are reading this... GET BACK TO WORK!

Oh yeah... I forgot about the "argument" outside of our hotel on Saturday night!!!! The valet guys crashed the car! There is some choice language... amazingly enough... it is not me! Viewer discretion is advised!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving all! Please enjoy, and appreciate, all that you have and everything, and everyone, that is a part of your life!!!!!

Danielle

Random pics below:

The Groom on a horse

Uncle Fester!

Fireworks... Duh!

The outside decorations for the Saturday wedding.

Fireworks in the street... 

More fireworks in the street... 

See that little red car... That was the dowry

Food delivery guy... trying to get by the wedding party
in the street!

View from Brett's room

Bridal party from the Sunday Wedding.

The view from behind the hotel ...
where we were hiding.

My favorite dinner... Brett is calling me a
Vagetarian!

Brett went out on a limb and tried a
hamburger one night! Lol! Bet he
doesn't do that again!

The valet's handy work on the car!

Cows walking by the hotel one morning.

Two guys watching me from
across the street. LOL!

Decorations outside for wedding #2.

Wedding #2 dowry.

More bride pics... wedding #2

The HUGE beehive outside the window
at the hotel!

Work food menu.

The EVEN BIGGER beehive outside
the window at work!

The funniest print ad ever!
The rules of driving... lol! Pedestrians have
the right-a-way! Yeah right! Honk, honk,
get out of the way!

Lunch... yummy!