Relaxing last two days in Delhi

Yesterday and today were chill days in Delhi. Yesterday we went to a big market. There were lots of shops and people trying to sell us random things.

The market was in a transition day so some shops were moving out and others were moving in. As we were about to leave it started to rain and then downpour. We went inside a store to stay dry. We hung out in the store for a half hour until the downpour stopped. We then headed to the metro. We still got a little wet but not bad. We went back to the hotel and grabbed lunch and hung out. I took a nap and watched a movie! It's vacation so it's okay to do absolutely nothing!

Today we went to India Gate, Lotus Temple and Akshardham Temple. They were all good sites. It was really humid and hot though. From what I've seen on Facebook it is quite warm back at home in Michigan. People have been posting about temperatures in the 90s. Today in Delhi it was 97 degrees but feels like 110 degrees according to weather app. So low 90s sounds good to me haha

But here are some photos from my day!

India gate 

Lotus temple

We are headed to the airport soon to catch our flight back to chennai. I have tomorrow in chennai and then I head to Europe! I beyond excited to be back in Europe and see new cities! In two weeks from yesterday I will be heading home! I can't wait to eat home cooked food and not sweat as soon as I get out of the shower! 

I hope you are having a great day wherever your day leads you!

Bucket list day

Today I went to Agra Fort and Taj Mahal! We took a bus tour to Agra which is about four hours from Delhi. I slept most of the bus ride there. The fort was huge and had really cool architecture. Then we saw how the Taj Mahal was made. How each stone was carved to perfection. It took 22 years and over 20,000 artists to build the Taj Mahal! Today the children of the original artists make art in the same method of the Taj. It is the eighth and ninth generation of artists. 

Inside Agra Fort

Taj Mahal collage 

It was a long hot day but a wonderful day' I am so glad that I was able to see the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort! 

I have two more days in Delhi. We are exploring on our own so it should be relaxing!

Exploring Delhi day two

Today we had tickets to ride the hop on hop off bus tour around Delhi! We got up early to maximize our day light. Breakfast was an omelet with toast at our hotel. We grabbed the metro to get to the start of the bus tour. It was a little farther than expected but we managed to find it around 9:10 and caught the 9:15 bus. Our first stop was the red fort. The fort was huge and of course we got photos taken with random Indian people. Someone asked me for a photo and I said yeah that will be ten rupees. I was kind of joking but also irritated of all the random pictures. The guy joked with his friend and then gave me ten rupees! No bargaining or anything! So I smiled for a photo and was ten bucks richer!

There was a tour group of teachers at the fort. We met someone from Michigan which was kinda cool! After the fort we attempted to go into a mosque but were not allowed because the boys were wearing shorts and my short sleeve shirt showed too much skin. 

The next bus stop was another fort. This one was built 5000 years ago! 

The sun was at its peak at this point and we were sweaty tired hungry tourists at this point. The only food near the fort was a small plae at the nearby zoo. None of the India food there sounded good so we moved on. 

We got off the bus next at a tomb. The place was huge. 

The architecture was intricate and beautiful. The fountains around the area didn't work but it was still a good stop. We then headed to Nehru museum and library. This was kind of a disappointment because the museum was two rooms and the canteen was closed so no food. The photo below is outside the museum.

The canon reminded me of the canon at British Landing on Mackinac island! 

Just after the tour ended and we were headed for dinner it began to rain. It wasn't to heavy of a rain. We went to dinner at a place recommended to us by a friend. We arrived around seven. The place was almost full but nobody was eating. Tables were empty and waiters were just chilling. We were informed that food service started at 7:30pm. After hearing the prayer sirens, we remembered that it is Ramadan so no eating until after sunset. At 7:20ish when the sunset and the siren went off all of the staff of the restaraunt sat at a long table and went to town on a variety of dishes. They got to eat first so that they could serve everyone else. I ordered butter naan and a paneer paratha.  I had butter naan once and loved it so I was excited. 

The butter naan at this place were quite larger than before so I had a lot. I had a bit of peanut butter with me so I dipped it in that which was an added bonus. 

Oh I forgot on the way to the restaraunt we got a real rickshaw ride! This meant a guy on a bike with a seat behind him like the ones in the photo below.

I kind of felt bad with him doing all the work and us just sitting there. But it was a good experience! 

Tomorrow I am headed to Agra to see the Taj Mahal! I am really excited and I hope it doesn't rain! Fingers crossed! 

Safe arrival in Delhi

Friday night was our last night all together in chennai. It's weird that our time in chennai is over. I will be in chennai for one day before I head to Europe but won't be on campus and Caroline won't be there. So Friday night we went to QBar with some friends to grab a drink. It was ladies night so Caroline and I were happy! We headed out at 12:30 bc wanted a little sleep before our flight at six am. When we called a taxi they said twenty minutes so we waited. They called and were lost and not close. A taxi finally showed up just after two am! We were not happy campers after waiting for over an hour! 

After a short nap we were off to Delhi! Flight was fine and we were welcomed at our hostel by the owner. We got our welcome beer which was nice but I really just wanted food bc it was only eleven am. We settled into our rooms and grabbed lunch at hotel.

Mike bob Caroline and I headed out! The people were very nice when we asked for directions which was comforting. The clouds and the sun were beautiful as we explored.

After shopping and seeing a monument we met Tim for lunch at an American diner! It had a great menu and I loved the food I got! I got mozzarella sticks. Hash browns and chocolate chip pancakes! 

I was a happy camper! When we got back to hotel Caroline and I finished our PowerPoint for our research and submitted it to our professor. I am glad that we got it done!

Today we are headed to a bus your of Delhi! Happy Sunday wherever you are! 

Relaxing weekend in Bangalore!

Last Thursday was a very successful day at the lab! We finally broke a sample!! We have had some delays because the Instron machine was installed late, we had to get trained and we has some other prep work to do. But we performed a tensile test on sample one! The sample experienced some slipping at the grips during the tests so we are going to test another virgin sample and increase the grip pressure so that we will get more accurate data. This week we will also make sure that we impact all of the samples before we have to go home so they are all impacted using the same method. 

Saturday morning we headed to Bangalore! Our flight left Chennai at 6am so it was an early morning after the 45ish minute taxi ride to train station. The seat next to me on the train was empty so I was able to put my feet up and sleep a little which was good.

Train to Bangalore

 We arrived in Bangalore just after 11am. Our professor Dr. Haq has a brother in law that lives in Bangalore so he was nice enough to come and meet us at the train station and help us get to our hotel. He was at the wrong train station so we sat outside the train station and waited for him. We were a cool thing to see for locals, everyone who passed seither starred at us as tehy walked by or stopped and starred. We are used to this by now though. After settling in at our hotel we ventured out for lunch. Hearing there was a Taco Bell only a block away we decided to eat there. I got a cheese quesadilla and a chocodilla. They were both very good.

Taco Bell

 After lunch Tim, Caroline and I headed out to explore. We grabbed an auto to the Bangalore Turf City which is a horse race track. We just wanted to see it but upon arriving were happy that there were races happening. We grabbed a ticket and headed in. The next race started five minutes after we found some seats, almost like we planned it. The horses walked out and then took a practice half lap and lined up. The start was on the opposite side of the course but we heard the gun shot and they were off. The crowd began to cheer and we all stood up. People were everywhere. The horses went by so fast it was hard to see them but we could tell it was neck and neck between horse 5 and horse 6.

Horse Race at Turf Club in Bangalore

Horse 6 ended up winning. It was a fun atmosphere and I was happy to have seen my first horse race!

Horse Race at Turf City in Bangalore

After the race we headed to a museum in the area. We told our auto driver the science museum but he took us to the national art museum. We decided to just see that one. The tickets were a bit pricy so we just wandered where we could on the property. We ended up at the back entrance to the museum where you didn't need a ticket to get in so we walked through the museum. There were some cool pieces inside and good galleries. We couldn't take any pictures inside but outside there was a garden area and walkway which was nice to walk through.

In the garden of National Art Museum

Driving an auto!!

Our auto driver told us we should see Parliament so we were like sure! We were not allowed inside but seeing the architecture from the outside.

Outside Parliament in Bangalore, India

We then drove by the Bangalore Palace. It is quite pricy to get into the palace so we opted out of going inside. We then headed to dinner at The Windsor Pub. We made it there just as it started to rain so we were thankful we did not get wet. Saturday was Caroline 21st birthday so we split a pitcher of beer as her first legal drink! I ordered an egg sandwich and when I clarified what it was the waiter said scrambled egg on bread. I was like okay cool! It then came out as a sliced/smashed hard boiled egg with mayonnaise. The waiter has an interesting definition of scrambled egg. It was not too bad but was not too great either haha After dinner we headed to Biere Club to grab some drinks. Evan and Bob met us there and we hung out. The Biere Club brews their own beer so it was good beer.

Celebrating Caroline 21st Birthday

Sunday morning we got up early and headed to the Bannerghatta National Park. The park was a 45 minute drive from our hotel. We arrived at 8:45am and joined the line that was already forming to get tickets. The ticket counter opened at 9am. We chose the right line and first to get tickets! WE headed in and after another 30 minutes of waiting we boarded the safari bus. The safari drove through the exhibits of animals and we were able to see elephants, lions, tigers, white tigers and bears. Some animals were off in the distance while others walked right up to the bus.

Lion in the Safari

White Tiger in the safari

After the safari we went to the zoo. There were all sorts of animals in the zoo. I was able to touch and elephant which was cool It had long black hair and was weird to touch.

Elephant in the zoo at National Park

On the way home from the park we grabbed food at the hard Rock Cafe. I got potato skins which were very good! And I went all out and got a chocolate brownie sunday! It was delicious!

Hard Rock Cafe in Bangalore

We rested up at the hotel after lunch. We met up with our friend at Toit Restaurant for dinner. I got the best pizza I have here! It was nice to just relax for the evening.

Delicious Margarita Pizza

Monday we had a tour at GE in Bangalore. After a long confusing drive there, we were able to tour a handful of labs on the campus. The campus was beautiful with grass fields, lots of trees and it was clean. It was nice to hear about research projects happening there and learn more about the work life here in India. We took a bus back to Chennai that night and arrived in Chennai just after 6am!

Overall it was a very relaxing weekend. The weather was much cooler than Chennai which was nice. Our auto driver Saturday night was wearing a coat! It was around 75 degrees F. This week in Chennai it is a bit cooler with the highs being around 90-92. Caroline and I are making progress with our project. It is weird to think I only have a few days left in Chennai. It seems like it was just last week that we arrived but we have been here for almost 5 weeks now.

This saturday we are headed to Delhi adn plan to stay there until Wednesday night. Thursday will be my last day in Chennai! Thursday night I fly from Chennai to Frankfurt. Friday I will catch a flight to Paris from Frankfurt and meet up with my TopDeck Tour group! I will then tour Europe for eleven days! I am getting more and more excited about this as it gets closer. I loved Europe last summer and didn't think that I would have the opportunity to visit again so soon! After seeing Europe I will have a night in London with a friend from High School and then I fly home July 30. These next three weeks are going to fly by and I am going to be able to see some magnificent things from the Taj Mahal in New Delhi to the Eiffel Tower in Paris to riding a gondola in Venice. I will try to post after Delhi before Europe but I am unsure if I will have access to internet while in Europe. For now I am finishing up our project in the NDE Lab at IIT.

I hope that you are enjoying your summer wherever you are spending it!

Hyderabad Weekend

I am sorry for such a delay on this post. This week was a rough week as I found myself sick with food poisoning. I wasn’t feeling well on Monday chilled after breakfast and then took a nap. I was feeling a little better after nap then it all went down hill and I just got worse. Caroline decided I needed to in because I had lost so much fluid and was very dehydrated. So our friend Tibin came and picked me up and took me to the hospital on campus. He has a motorcycle, which is just called a bike here, so I got my first motorcycle ride. It was fun but I was still not feeling great at all so couldn’t really enjoy it. I got worse at the hospital and they gave me an injection and three medicines to take over the next three days. I was not in good condition to ride the motorcycle home so I got an ambulance ride home, my first time being a patient in an ambulance. So I took the drugs and laid low for the rest of Monday and Tuesday. I am feeling better now and sticking to simple foods and avoiding Indian food. If there is one thing I miss most about home besides the people, it would be food.

Our weekend in Hyderabad was a success! First of all a huge thank you to Palak and her family for their wonderful hospitality! Palak is in AOII with me at MSU so it was great to see her and have guides who live in the city!

Journey to Hyderabad

Our journey began Friday morning when the hotel failed at booking our taxi to the airport. Despite the fact that we booked a taxi and confirmed three times, when we went to the front desk at our scheduled departure time they reported that our reservation was never received. A bit irritated and annoyed we arranged another taxi and bartered for a better price. We got to the airport with sufficient time before our flight. After checking in we were told our flight was delayed three hours. So we camped out in the airport for a while and passed the time by playing cards and eating lunch.

When I walked off the plane onto the runway in Hyderabad and felt the wind and was not immediately sweating, I knew I was going to like Hyderabad. Palak and her mom met us at the airport. We grabbed some food before heading to their home. We stayed at Palak's uncles guesthouse which is on the same floor as Palak's house. After settling in a bit, we headed out with Palak's mom to see the waterfront and Buddha Statue. The statue was in the middle of the lake so we took a boat there. It was just turning dark so the statue lights turned on which was pretty. We got a popsicle thing that I forgot what it was called but they filled a cup with ice and then stuck a stick in it. They then poured flavored syrup on it and then sucked on it. It was kind of weird but good!

Shopping at the market

Saturday morning we went to a huge market in Hyderabad. There were a variety of shops and lots of them! I was able to get some good souvenirs and practice my bartering. Palak’s mom was much better at bartering and was fun to watch especially because she spoke in the native language so we wouldn’t even know what she was saying and then she would just say a price.

Nightlife in Hyderabad

We went to a bar with Palak and her friends. The bar was at a hotel near Palak’s house. We waited in line to get to the top floor where the bar was. As we arrived at the front of the line, the bouncer kindly informed Tim and Bob that there is a dress code and shorts are not allowed. Both of them had on khaki cargo shorts, which were not appropriate for the bar. We ventured out to buy them pants. We stopped at the first store we saw that sold men’s pants. They both tried on some pants and walked out of the store with their new purchase. A well-known DJ was there that night and we met him in line for the elevator. Tim mentioned that he bought pants just to see him. Once inside the bar, the DJ made a shout out to the boys who bought pants. It was a fun night hanging out with Palak and some of her friends.

Paparazzi at Golconda Fort

After breakfast at Palak’s house on Sunday morning we headed to Golconda Fort. The entrance fee for us “foreigners” was 100 Rupees while the fee for Indians was only 5 rupees. Once inside the fort we started the climb to the top. The view just kept getting better as we could see more of the city. A group of people had kind of followed us and we noticed them taking picture of not only the scenery but of us. Experiencing this before we just kept walking. As we reached the top, people started asking to take pictures with us.  We stopped and took a few but wanted to take our own pictures too. The crowd of people just kind of followed us around the top of the fort. Once we pulled out the MSU flag to take a picture they swarmed. It was like we were taking prom pictures. It was windy so we had to make sure the flag was secured so that you could tell what it said in the picture. As Bob took our photo so did about a dozen other people. We had to move on our way because so many people were asking for photos with us.

Spartan Pride at Golconda Fort!

Charminar

After the fort we headed to Charminar. Our driver dropped us off a block or two from Charminar and we made our way through the crowds to Palak’s mom Saree store. This store made personalized sarees. So you can pick the design you want and they will stamp it or screen-print it. Palak’s mom was picking up one she ordered last week and ordered another for a friend. Caroline picked out a fabric color and a design and we watched it get made. It was really cool to see all of the different patterns and prints available.  The smell of screen-prints was very strong so it was nice to be back on the street away from the smell. We headed to Charminar and climbed the spiral staircase to the top. I counted the stairs on the way down and there were around 52. The view from the top was very good though. We could see down the busy streets in all directions There were so many people walking, street vendors selling things and rickshaws/cars moving people around and bikes/cycles weaving around it all. I can’t believe there are not more accidents on the streets. After our descent down we did a little street shopping before heading to lunch at Chutney’s, which is a restaurant near Charminar.

Charminar

View of the busy street from the top of Charminar

Journey Home

Lunch at Chutney’s was not very good for me. I felt very sick and upset stomach after eating a few bites of my meal so I decided no food was better than bad food. We headed to mall because we had some time before our 9pm flight. Caroline was able to get some pants she had wanted. After some shopping we got delicious ice cream. I got chocolate cookie and it was really good. We made a stop at a bakery on the way to the airport because Tim wanted to get some biscuits. We arrived at the airport 90 minutes early for our flight to ensure time to check in and find our gate. As we checked in, we were informed that our flight was delayed to 10:30 pm. A little frustrated, we now had plenty of time to find our gate. We killed time in the airport and grabbed dinner. After talking to an employee and both managers, I convinced KFC to give me a grill cheese sandwich and only charge me for two slices of cheese, which was 48 Rupees. I felt vey successful and was very satisfied by the sandwich which was more like a cold cheese sandwich with lettuce but nonetheless a success! We found a taxi back to Ginger quickly after landing and were on our way home, so we thought. The drier pulled up to the other Ginger Hotel in Chennai. I did not even know there was two Ginger Hotels in Chennai but we had found the other. After explaining we need to go to the other one, our driver made a few phone calls and got us home.

We saw a camel on the way to airport. It was just walking down the road!

Camel!

Besides getting sick after returning home from Chennai, it was a very fun weekend. Despite getting sick this week, Caroline and I were productive in our research. We were able to tensile test our virgin sample on the Instron. There was some slippage so we need to test another sample and adjust the grip pressure. Once we figure out the grip pressure we will continue with the other tests.

This weekend we are headed to Bangalore. We are taking the train there Saturday morning and then exploring the city. Sunday we are hoping to go a zoo. Then Monday we have a tour of the GE Plant before heading back to Chennai! I am excited to travel again and see Bangalore! I hope that everyone enjoyed their Fourth of July Festivities at home!

I'm Digging It!

My summer at Camp Newaygo is going great! I am a Day Camp counselor and work with 3 other counselors on a regular basis. We work together well and cheer each other on when we are tired or frustrated. Camp dogs really help! 

Jeremy, Katelyn, Me and Geancarlo

Camp Newaygo Day Camp runs in themed weeks. Each week is focused on something and our morning revolve around that activity or idea. In the afternoon we do camp activities.

Last week was Survival Week. We learned about wilderness, space, fire and water survival. Each day a new specialist came and led morning activities. Some highlights were building shelters, making rockets, wearing fire suits and learning to survive rip tides. The kids had a great time. In the afternoon we did anything from archery to climbing wall, or an ice cream trip to wacky water wars. We had 33 campers and they were a handful to have for the first week. But I survived and learned a lot about camp! 

This week is called "Digging It" and our specialist is an anthropologist from MSU. GO GREEN! We have been learning about Native Americans, pottery, and how to dig for artifacts.

While I'm not at camp I have been helping my friends celebrate their weddings! Marie's bachelorette party was in Traverse City and Mary's was in Lansing. I had a great time at both with new friends and old!

This weekend I am headed to Elk Rapids to see Melissa, Sam and Megan! I am so excited to catch up with some dear college friends! 

Tata for now!