We're Moving

Well folks, we bought a house! We officially close on March 27th and right away we'll start painting and moving things in. It's a great ranch home with 3 bedrooms and 1.5 baths. There are old superb wood floors and I love the kitchen with lots of cabinets! There is also a partially finished basement and a fenced in yard. Here are some pictures of the house. I'll post some after we paint and move in.

Settling in...

Sorry for the long hiatus. We came back to a busy busy holiday season! Alex and I jumped right back in to work, but had plenty of time to catch up with friends and family over Christmas and New Years. The thing we missed most while in India were friends and family, so it was very refreshing to catch up with everyone. We do miss India... all the friends we met, the smells, tastes, sites, and weather of course, but are happy to be home again in the Mad City. Here are a few shots from our past month...

Farewell India

It is hard to believe, but we are in our final few days of our stint to India. We are amazed at how fast the time has gone! We have thoroughly enjoyed out time here in India and will be sad to say goodbye to those we have come to know so well. This week we went out for our farewell dinner with the Structural department Alex has been working with. This friendly bunch treated us to a very delicious Gujarati meal.

Ritesh, Nirav, Ghanshyam, Bhavik, and Ashish

Khyati and Sunita

the go-to guy, Ankoor, enjoying his meal.

all done.

Alex opening his first birthday present.... lots of neat fruits and...

sugar cane! mmmm delish!

We will be leaving Ahmedabad on Wednesday and making a stop in Delhi before we land in Chicago on Thursday. Thanks to everyone who kept up with us during our stay in India and for our faithful blog readers. We look forward to sharing our India experience when we return to the States.

Palitana

The city of Palitana is a sacred pilgimage location for followers of the Jain religion. For others, it's an incredible place a half-day's drive away from Ahmedabad with some amazing scenery, topography, and architecture, if you're up for the climb up Satrunjaya Mountain.

Randy, Kirstie, and I left Saturday afternoon for this remote city in southern Gujarat. As we neared our destination, our driver Gamer navigated his way through bumpy and damaged roads scattered with mutts and ferrell hogs, asking several strangers for directions before we found our hotel located a couple miles outside the city. Most of the lodging in Palitana is dorm-style accomodations available only to Jains. We had three hotel options, and though I was interested in checking out the $3 options that the travel agent advised against, I may have deterred Kirstie and Randy with stories of sweaty sheets and brown water at other such economically-priced hotels I visited during my first trip to India. So we stayed at the Vijay Vilas Palace. It was a rustic, quiet, century-old house with six rooms for guests. We were the only ones there, and had a relaxing evening with a delicious home-cooked meal and good conversation, then hit the sack early to prepare for our morning trek.

The Vijay Vilas Palace

About an hour after sunrise, we started our 2000-ft, 3500-step climb up Satrunjaya Mountain. It was an unusually overcast and foggy morning; the air and temperature were as nice as we've had in our four months here. I absolutely love mountains, probably since I rarely get to experience them as a midwesterner. Of all God's creation, the scenery from a high range captivates me the most.

The climb turned out to be pretty manageable, with steps the entire way, and plenty of switchbacks to provide a steady slope.

Nonetheless, some folks elected to make their way up the mountain with a little assistance.

We also saw several cows and donkeys on the way up. I don't know if they were Jain cows making a pilgimage or just tourists like us.

Watch your step! The steps were filled with droppings. I don't know if most of it was holy crap or just the regular kind.

Step #3000!

It's even better in person.

At the top of the mountain, there are somewhere between 850 and 1200 temples, depending on whom you ask. They are all built almost entirely out of marble, and construction took nine generations to complete, starting in the 11th century.

Here we are as high as we could go. A security guard showed us a ladder behind a temple where could climb up on the roof. This is probably one of my favorite "couple-pose" photos of us ever, and it also features my incredibly economical $0.50 haircut.

The combination of natural beauty, impressive architecture built nearly a millenium ago, and the challenge of the climb made for one of my favorite experiences during our time here.

We have only one week left on our international stint, and I really appreciate the symmetrical way this trip bookended our journey along with the Acropolis. As we reached the summit and peered down slightly below us, we could see hundreds of temples packed together, worshippers scattered among them, young and old, rich and poor. And we heard distant chants from those at the main temple, having completed their pilgimage. Though no tablet like the one on Mars Hill was nearby, we were again reminded of Paul's words from Acts 17, and they seemed even more relevant.

a glimpse

I thought I'd show you some of the sites I see through out my days here. In an upcoming post, Alex will share some pictures from the office.

a great place in our courtyard to read. do try to follow the posted sign and make sure not to spit! haha!

our friendly security guards. they wanted to look professional for the picture.

where we get our exercise on

another great place to read, especially to beat the heat and sip on a delicious Tropical Iceberg

Upper Crust...great bread and cookies!

a few blocks down is Reliance Fresh...a small grocery store

across the street from Reliance is a nice little park. the sign continues to crack me up... "maintained by mother dairy"

my favorite little store Anokhi

the "landmark" near our apartment complex. our sociey's address is "behind Indian Petrol Pump".

Creatures

From street dogs to elaborately dressed elephants, Ahmedabad is full of many kinds of creatures. Some have been unwelcomed visitors in our flat, while others just hang out on the streets. Luckily some are living at a local zoo we visited.

this fellow greeted me as I walked into the kitchen

unfortunately his tail never made it out of the kitchen. we tried catching him with a bowl, but the rest of him escaped!

a beauty was spotted wandering around in our courtyard

this gang was a little camera shy and ran off as I took their picture

cute kid at the zoo

translation: snakes bite!

turtles at the zoo

Pences and pigeons don't mix well