The 4 Stages of Culture Shock

Sorry for the long delay. Been working some crazy hours over here.

I read somewhere my first week here (when I was looking up the American Association of Singapore) something about the 4 stages of culture shock. I'd never heard of it, so I read through it briefly, laughed that it was totally ridiculous, that people will write about anything, and forgot about it. Up until about 2 weeks ago.

Singlish word of the day: They always say 'later' before the sentence. Like we'd say "I'll come talk to you about this brief later" Singaporeans say "Later, I'll come talk to you about this brief lah".

That and they use so many erroneous words here. "Please kindly review this at your earliest convenience." What?! Let's cut to the chase and just approve this. Oh and they say 'quite' in front of everything. I've totally picked it up too. "Oh this is quite good." "It looks quite nice." "It does get quite hot."

Dumb American moment: Did you know Dubai was not in India? I didn't.

Amazing Advertising learning: German Steal with the Sharpest Deal. I. Love. Rhymes.

The 4 stages of Culture Shock:

1: Jet-lag and wonder

Weeks 1-4

Often called the "honeymoon phase" when you're so fascinated with the language, the people and the food that the trip seems like the greatest thing you've ever done. You're having an adventure!

Check.

2: Settling in to...frustration???

Weeks 4-6

You don't understand gestures. You get laughed at, you horribly offend an old lady without knowing why.

The article I read quoted it as "walking out the door, being greeted by a neighbor and wanting nothing more than to shout obscenities at them". Frustration comes and goes and the pangs of homesickness can be debillitating. The food, the people, the language...nothing is exotic anymore.

Check. Check.

3. Depression: Feeling Stuck

Weeks 7-10

Depression on the road is a feeling of hopelessness and longing. The worst part of this brand of moping is that's it's difficult to see the link to culture shock - the feeling seems disconnected from travel, and even homesickness. It can take the form of simple, implacable malaise.

Implacable malaise. CHECK.

4. Acceptance: Home Away from home.

After weeks of blindly struggling through a thousand different emotional states, acceptance finally arrives like a warm bath. Acceptance doesn't necessrily entail total understanding - but instead involves the realization that you don't have to "get" it all. When Mandarin starts sounding more like a language than a fax tone.

Coming soon to theatres near you...

Culture shock is no joke folks. Much like I realized Jet Lag is no joke.

When I was moping around a few weeks ago, thinking this was what homesickness must be, because it felt different than simply being down and out, I remembered reading this. I came back from the grocery store and googled it to find that article again. On this particular trip to the grocery store I had worn my sunglasses IN the mall and grocery store and elbowed anyone who came too close with a good ole fashion scowl on my face. And then I came across the quote on wanting to scream at your lovely neighbor and BAM! I had self-diagnosed myself. This was exactly 8 weeks practically to the day I had arrived and was a culmination of 2 weeks of feeling really frustrated at everything.

And according to this particular article I should be on my way up soon. I think I can see it on the horizon. Or maybe that's just because I see a trip to the Thailand beaches on the horizon.

So moving on...what's happened in the last 2 weeks other than me wanting to rip everyone's head off.

A day in the life of Kris and Robin:

Well, we always go to Subway across the street for lunch. Always. And they always have the exact same staff. The other day I had to go without him and I kid you not, the sandwich guy said "Oh, it's American Cheese girl!" I was mortified. You'd think it'd be enough to make me stop, but it hasn't...yet.

After leaving Subway, we go down to the grocery store, which is the poor man's Target b/c it tried to be like it - but it's not. But they do have Swaveboards which we go down every now and then and spend 20 minutes riding them around the store. And then we put them back and move on.

On the way back to the office, we stopped by this set up. One minute of flying fun! But really it was like 10 minutes b/c Kris and I just kept pressing the button to keep our little man-made kites up in the fan air.

And you'll be glad to know that after a brief hiatus, my regular housekeeping has returned. I was getting concerned at day 3 with my Vanity area not being straightened up. I came home the other day and wait for it...my hair dryer was still on the floor! I was so thrown off. I don't know what I'm going to do when I go home. Hope Val and Jenn can keep up with washing my dishes every day and taking out the trash and making my bed every day before I get home from work. Is this what it's like to be a man?

Last weekend: Last weekend I went out just girls with Viktoria and 2 of her friends. I should have been doing that all along. The Swede (Viktoria) is a wonder woman. We'd walk in and immediately get to the VIP area. I mean, I've always known I was a VIP but I didn't know what I was missing by thinking I was too good for the roped off area (obvious sarcasm here). You go in, and it's just fee-flowing drinks on some dudes tab that you never actually have to meet. If the guy sees you empty-handed he just snaps at some waiter and you instantly have a drink in your hand. It's like the South but BETTER. I don't actually really have to talk to these people. Just moved in a herd wherever they did and I was set for the whole night. Until I paid the price the next day.

We finally launched our Panasonic event last Saturday. The idea is that the Panasonic 3D technology has brought these 8 characters to life and they are roaming the streets of Singapore from the giant TV frame erected in the center of the city. You have to "capture" these 8 characters' photographs and upload them to our microsite to win a 50" Viera TV. It's turned out to be quite fun (see that? I used 'quite' erroneously). The characters are great, including the Spartan...hello! And the astronaut is a trooper in our 90 degree heat in that costume. One of the most exciting campaigns I've worked on for sure. Though there is some emphasis on the word 'work'.

The Halfway Point...

Last week marked the halfway point of my tenure in Singapore. I thought it'd be fun to go back to my first entry and see what my objectives were for the trip and see what still needed to be done.

Singlish word of the day: Keener. It's not Singlish, it's Canadian. But it's still a new word and I think it would replace "Eager Beaver" in English. For example, this guy is a keener. i.e he is keener than most.

Amazing Advertising Learning: What Jen Hester wouldn't give to have this in America. We want it. India's got it.

Dumb American Moment: I was staring at a European map the other day planning my great Europe trip that I've always wanted to do, and swore to myself this week, that I would do it by 2011. Regardless of the trip (that'll prob never happen) I suddenly realized that Belgium was a country, not a city in Germany. I just assumed that Belgium waffles were German waffles. They are at least close to each other!

1. Does an accent really make British/Australian men more attractive? Yes. That's all.

2. How many cane punishable offenses can I commit without being caned? I'm not exactly sure of the list of cane punishable offenses. But I think leaping up in the middle of the street to rip down a Singaporean flag placed in celebration of the Youth Olympic Games may be one of them. Not that I did that of course. Please don't look in my closet by the door.

3. Do my dumb American moments diminish? They have diminished. Er, rather I at least know when I'm being dumb now and it's not just a blind dumb question. I know it's a dumb question, I just don't know the answer.

4. I will become the Don Draper of Singapore Advertising. Meh, that may have been a little ambitious on my part.

5. Try one new food everyday. Ok, so maybe I didn't try a new food every day. Maybe every week? But I did try Indian food, Indonesian food, Chinese food, Korean food (still don't know the difference) and I've actually come to like sushi. And I've found that while it may be totally psychological, I have an actual physical reaction to trying food I don't want to. While we were in India, I was truly trying to make myself eat not just what looked appealing on my plate but at least try everything that was put in front of me and I almost couldn't get the stuff to my mouth between the sheer forces pulling my hand away and the nausea that was overwhelming. I actually smelled some Indian food someone was having for lunch today and almost had an anxiety attack about it.

6. Find a team that I can develop a deep appreciation for that temporarily replaces/rivals my zeal for Alabama Football. Ok, so this has been a weak spot in Singapore. Everyone's been really jazzed about YOG (Youth Olympic Games) but not one specific sport. I think I might just have to keep a hole in my heart for Alabama football until I return.

7. And last but not least, I have to successfully find a place to keep me blonde by 8/21/10. I did! And it was actually very reasonably priced and I think she did an excellent job! Maybe even better than my hairdresser at home. Watch out Lacy!

Once upon a time in Mumbai, Part दो

(That's two in Hindi...I think...I googled it)

Now it's Monday in India. I've woken up and decided that I don't really like India. I can't eat the food, I can't stand the heat and I think I've missed half the city b/c I was looking at the ground watching where I'm stepping. Gotta watch out for the cracks, rats, spit piles and people napping.

Hindi word of the day: It's not a word, it's an action. The Indian Head Bobble. I must have seen it a thousand times at least. It means not yes, not no, it's a non-committal 'whatever'. Could be 'sure', could also be 'I don't speak English well enough to understand a darn word you're saying'. Who knows. It just makes me giggle. Below is a video of what I assume is a bunch of American dudes trying to imitate it. I'd say guy #4 does a spot on impression, though of course, he is the only Indian guy at the table. You probably won't think it's as funny as Joe and I did until you go to India one day and find that literally everyone does it, all the time.


Amazing Advertising Learning: I don't know why no one has thought of this before, but they should have white, blonde chicks walking around in sandwich boards and you could sell anything. I can't take full credit for this brilliant marketing ploy, when I was relaying the intensity of staring to my Holiday Inn client, she said she should just send me back there with a Holiday Inn t-shirt and I'd be marketing gold.

Dumb American Moment: I'd say my dumbest American moment of the entire trip was forgetting everything everyone told me before I went and brushing my teeth with the water twice before I remembered not to. It was habit! I'd been so anal about drinking only bottle water, nothing with ice, etc and then I completely forgot about it. I paid the price on Sunday.

Last blog entry (apologies for the delay) we left off with Sunday afternoon at the Indian restaurant. After that, we went to the Chor Bazaar, which stands for Thieves Market, though I assume it's anything but. It's a street full of (respectable-ish) stores that sell all sorts of things. I bought myself a little tunic which I'm not sure I'll ever actually wear but hey, who goes to India and doesn't come back with some beautiful piece of clothing?! Next to the street with all the little shops is a street with all these flowers, it was absolutely beautiful.

To take a breather, we stopped at Badshah Juice Center, which according to Joe is famous. It deserves to be, but at this point, the teeth brushing and Indian food were starting to get to me (that's all I'll say) so we headed back to the hotel for our afternoon cool down and nap.

That evening, we headed out to the Gateway of India at sunset. Which we didn't do on purpose but it was the best possible time to go. The lighting was absolutely stunning. And the promenade area in front of it was where the ultimate staring happened, and the pictures of the Gora (me) happened openly. It didn't distract from also taking snapshots of 1 of the few places I had on my list to see in Mumbai. The Taj Mahal Palace and Towers. It's such beautiful architecture. And though it's probably the nicest hotel in Mumbai, it was still only a little over 200 hundred a night. I kicked myself for not sucking it up and doing it once we went inside. It was soooo nice. Though I loved our hotel too and that was much cheaper and totally worth it. Inside the Taj Mahal is gorgeous too, and they have a cased in area that has pictures of all the famous people that have stayed there, John Lennon, Bill Clinton, etc.

Then we went to the best seafood restaurant I've ever been. Trishna. If you ever go to Mumbai, you have to go there. It was soooo good. Very nice and extremely reasonably priced for what we got. Joe's friends that he met at Leopolds on Friday night met us there and were quite interesting, 3 Germans and a Frenchie...who also said we talked like George Bush, apparently that's a Frenchie sentiment. We left them to finish up and went back to the hotel to crash after the long day and our bottle of wine.

Monday, we did some more sightseeing and shopping, pretty much took it easy. Went to Leopold's for an easy dinner where we met Anna who was eating alone. At this point, I had stopped eating all together, I was not putting anything other than bottled water into my body until I was back in Singapore. Anna is going to law school in Ohio and is starting her second year when she gets back. I can't remember the exact details (problem with doing the blog 2 weeks later) but I believe she had been in India for a month for a school class and then decided to take an extra week and travel. Regardless, we decided to meet up tomorrow to take a trip to Elephanta Island. None of us had really any idea of what to expect but I do think it was my favorite part of the trip. Monkeys are awesome!

Elephanta Island is about an hour ferry ride off the coast of Mumbai. I thought I'd get a little sea sick on the ferry ride, but I did fine. It was kinda sad really, because there had been an oil spill right off the coast and there was garbage and all sorts of junk floating in the water, it was even sadder when we got to the island the oil had come into the bays.
Elephanta Island received it's name from Portuguese sailors b/c of a huge Elephant statue that used to reside on the island. Unfortunately for Joe and I, who were looking forward to a sweet Crimson Tide photo opp, the Elephant statue had been moved to a museum. The coolest thing about the island are all these temple caves carved into the rock of the island from around the 7th century. I don't know about most of you, but that's the earliest I've ever seen anything. Tons of carvings into the walls and pillars, just imagine how long it took them to do that?!

Then we hiked it up to the very top of this mountain to see the view. Though I thought I was going to die of heat exhaustion (remember, I hadn't eaten for 24 hours at this point) and I almost decided to not hike up there with Joe and Anna, I'm glad I did b/c the view was beautiful. Wish I could say the same for me but that's beside the point.

The tour of Elephanta Island is supposed to take on average 2 hours. We took 3.5 and did it up right. I think it was the hike to the top that put us over.

And the journey ends. We took the boat back and Joe and I went back to the hotel for me to freshen up before heading to the airport. My flight was at 12:15 at night and they told me to leave the hotel by 8:00. They weren't kidding either. It took over an hour to get back, and the airport is a certifiable nightmare.

Mumbai airport = AWFUL. First, you get out of the cab to the longest line to the gate you've ever seen. And it's outside. The longest line just to get in the building. (And by line I really mean mob of angry, sweaty people.) I was smart and just walked up to the front and cut to the front of the line. I'm there playing dumb American (which was half true, I couldn't guarantee that this was the right line so I sure as shit wasn't going to wait hours just to find out it was the wrong one). And a riot started right as I got to the entrance (some guy was pissed about people cutting and the security not doing anything...ha!) so I just squeezed through some yelling people. No joke. And if you didn't have your ticket info printed out before you come, you have to wait in another line before you even get in the longest line of your life. Thank god I did. After that, not so bad. Just line after line after line. And I got racially profiled and stopped by every possible random check. Of course this was after it was assumed by 3 different helpers that I was flying first class. Either I look first class or I look like a terrorist, pick one Mumbai airport. I probably just looked guilty from cutting the line. Though I wasn't at all, there was no way I was waiting outside that long. The rest was easy. Except on the 5-hour red eye flight home, I was woken up twice by flight attendant asking if I wanted something to drink or eat. If I'm sleeping, do you think I want anything to drink? And did they not realize I was fasting in India?! And since I was flying Air India, it still counted. I kinda snapped at the guy and told him I didn't want anything, at all, for the rest of the flight, ever, and to leave me alone. He did after that.

Then home sweet home Singapore at 7:30 am local time. Of course, I didn't leave without first buying some liquor at the duty free store. I don't care if it's morning or not, I want cheap booze. And that it was.

Once upon a time in Mumbai

This is going to have to be a two part series b/c otherwise this post will be forever long.

I don't even know where to begin with India. It was the experience of a lifetime. One that I have no need to ever do again. It's such a cliche to write but Bombay is nothing if not a city of contrasts. Take New Orleans and amplify the poorest parts by 1,000 and the richest parts by 1,000. Leave the middle as is...actually take out the middle all together. There is no middle. Just the shittiest shithole I've ever seen (pardon my French) and the most beautiful architecture and colors on the planet. And Monkeys everywhere!

Hindu (correction: Hindi) word of the day: Gora - light skinned person. There aren't alot of us in Mumbai, particularly blonde ones. And you get stared at as if you were the biggest, pinkest elephant in the room, though to Indians, I imagine an elephant would seem more natural than a pale, blonde chick sweating like a whore in church. I am not lying when I say they STARED, more like gawked. Lunch my first day, I looked to my left and a family of six were looking directly at me, all six of them. Didn't turn away when I caught them either. There are probably millions of secret photos of me all over India now as I caught quite a few people trying to secretly take a shot. I know this behavior b/c I do it often here in Singapore. One nice fellow at the Gateway of India, Ricky, actually asked to take a picture with me. Of which I obliged him until a crowd started to form around us snapping their own photos. I'm not lying. I promise you, it's the funniest thing ever. I never really knew what to do with the attention so really I just ended up ignoring it with an occasional giggle between Joe and I.

Amazing Advertising Learning: Apparently the mystery is solved. The #1 shampoo is Pantene. Or Dove. I didn't capture any photos b/c we were always in a cab but Pantene and Dove are running the exact same campaign in Mumbai. The Headline is: The Mystery is Solved. The #1 Shampoo is..." and then the bottom half is either Dove or Pantene. I feel like someone should have caught that. Hopefully, ME Mumbai doesn't have either of those accounts.

Dumb American moment: Oh countless, countless moments. If I hadn't had Joe, who had already been in India for 2 weeks, I would have been a goner. I had no idea what to do with the money. I had no idea what to eat. I had no idea how to haggle (still don't). I had no idea how to do anything and was petrified of everything. Particularly the bird crap that landed on my hand after the meat market. I was so scarred that I couldn't even bare to look at what had landed on my hand so the tour guide lead me to water and rinsed off my hand for me. Stupid American.

Arrived in Bombay Saturday at noon. Joe picks me up at the airport (like a good friend) and we take a cool cab the hour it takes to get to the Fort area where our hotel is. You would think this meant the boondocks of Mumbai, but it doesn't. It was bumper to bumper the entire way and we were actaully moving at a decent pace. The city is just that effing big. Something everyone should know when traveling to Bombay is that no normal rules of engagement apply to the roads of Mumbai. There are no lanes, there are little to no stoplights and it barely matters what side of the road you are on. I never took a picture (probably b/c I kept my eyes closed most of the cab rides) but I found this online and it mildly does it justice. Mopeds, motorcycles, animals, people walking, cars 5 wide in what should have been a 3 lane road. Literally, if they see an opening, they just nussle right in and honk at the people next to them to let them know they are there. That's the other thing, in America/Signapore we honk when we're pissed or someone does somethig wrong. In India, they honk just to let someone know they are there. That means constant, CONSTANT honking. Always. Never stops. Forever.

I said a cool cab, because there is a difference. The yellow and black cabs that look like this are not air conditioned. It's not as bad as it sounds b/c once you start moving, the air through the window feels great. But when you stop, god help you. Some yellow and black cabs have air con but it charges you extra, it's a nominal difference of about a $1 (50 Rupees) so I'm not sure why we ever took the non air conditioned cabs. Then there's the Cool Cabs which are usually blue and are only air conditioned. They are also heaven on Bombay's streets.

Saturday we did a little walking around and ate some Indian food where I experienced the staring family. Came back to the hotel to cool off and relax for a bit before heading back out around dinner time. Went to Cafe Mondegar for some dinner and a beer before heading next door to Leopold's Cafe which is a popular nightspot for foreigners and Joe and I had an interesting time trying to be European in the techno music. We also apparently missed the memo that we should know all the words to the World Cup song. Whoops.

This becomes a pattern you will notice in each day. Walk around, sweat, lunch, shop, sweat even more, back to hotel to cool off, nap, then back out to shop, sweat like a pig, walk around, continue sweating more than I ever have in my life and eat. Except for the last day. i stopped eating then. I think it's self explanatory.

Sunday was a veeeerrry interesting day. We got up and went to the Crawford Market which is one of the most prominent markets in Mumbai. When you walk in, I guess the pasty white skin signifies tourist and a gentleman offers to take you around as a tour guide. He was very nice. If you google it, they tell you it's a paradise of fresh fruits and vegetables and the fragrance can be smelled for blocks. What they don't tell you is that when you get to the back, it's not fruits and veggies anymore. It's chopped off chicken heads and guts and meat hanging from the ceiling pretty darn close to it's original form. All of this is in a semi enclosed space that is at least 90 degrees. The colors of the fruits and vegetables were beautiful and before you got to meat hell you passed the 'pet store' with the cutest puppies and dogs ever! And then we went in. I was horrified. But for some reason couldn't look away. The floor was incredibly slick with what I can only assume was moisture and blood. I almost slipped once and had a premonition of me falling and never, ever being able to get that funk sufficiently off my body.











After that we went to an India restaurant where there's no menu. You just say whether you want spicy or not spicy and they bring you all this stuff in these little bowls.

If you want to see all of my pics I posted on Facebook and I believe you can follow this link to view even if you're not on FB.

I will go through the remaining 2 days in the next post. I'm still recovering from the 4 days in India. Oh and Kris's birthday party on Saturday.

Instant Update

An addendum to yesterday's blog.

Addendum A: I've found that if I continue to walk straight in my so-called game of chicken and do not make eye contact 2 things happen.

1. I don't chicken out b/c I'm not seeing the person walking straight at me.
2. The 'enemy' notices that I'm not looking and consequently moves out of my way.

Success.

Though I'm kinda disappointed that I didn't get to try running at them waving my hands over my head and screaming like a crazy Angmo. But at least I don't have to continue weaving all over the sidewalk to avoid every other person.

Addendum B: For everyone who's ever made fun of my blanket...

(credit: Evan Levy and Adweek)

Addendum C: It's over between me and Housekeeping. Today they actually went INSIDE my pillow to straighten out my blanket. The 75 dishes they did this morning does NOT make it ok to touch the blanket (what? I cooked last night. I washed some of them myself)

Lastly, The Happening is weird. That's all.

And they say Americans are rude.

This has been peeving me since I got here but it's bordering on a neurotic annoyance now. No one moves out of your way on the sidewalk. You know how if you're walking on the sidewalk and someone's walking towards you, both parties move just a little to the right to account for the space. No one does that here. Literally, not a soul. No moving over, no angling your shoulder back for some extra space, they just keep on plowing through. I don't know how people aren't bumping into each other all over this town. And it is driving me nuts. I'm working on a theory where I also don't move. We play a little game of chicken and just keep walking striaght towards each other. Inevitably, I am the one to chicken out but this week, no more. I'm just going to stop right in front of them until they move and see how that goes. Or maybe I'll start throwing some bows. OR maybe I'll just run up to them screaming like a crazy person and they'll get out of the crazy Angmo's way. It's just so rude.

Singlish Word of the Day: SPG - Singapore Party Girls. They are mostly local girls who dress and act provocatively and solely date white men. You would think in a city this uptight, they would not allow some asian chicks to stand on the corner and pick up white dudes, but they do. They are on my corner, every night. And I live in a shopping district!

Amazing Advertising Learning: So they have these escalator/moving walkway things in the malls here. This is the longest one I've seen yet and it was in the Grocery store. Smartest thing they've ever done was to put chips along the way. Now these things don't move fast like the tricks they use in Twilight, it is a sloooow moving train. And you're staring at chips alllll along the way. Brilliant.

Dumb American Moment: I was talking to Kris and Viktoria about what to wear in India and was asking if I had to wear a sari and cover my head and everything. Viktoria looked at me and said "Muslims cover their heads, not Indians." Oops!

Housekeeping has reached an all-time high. In order to explain this, I have to admit something that I don't think I'll ever hear the end of, but I'm going to do it for the sake of blogging. I have a blanket. A blanket I've had since birth that often makes trips with me and wouldn't miss this one for the world. {pause here for everyone to make fun of me...it's ok, you can do it...even my mom does it and she bought the darn thing for me}

Point being, every morning, before I leave my room, I stuff my blanket in my pillow case so as Housekeeping doesn't have to deal with that ratty mess...blanket is on it's last leg and really doesn't need to be touched more than necessary. And I guess housekeeping picked up on that. Because last Friday, when I was rushing out the door, I guess I forgot to put my blanket in my pillow. When I came home, my blanket was folded nicely and PLACED INSIDE MY PILLOWCASE. They are so smart.

Side note: Jelly shoes are back. I missed that memo but I am PUMPED!

So Kris has this uncanny ability to spot a caucasian from a mile away. I have no idea how it even came up in discussion but we've deemed it White Vision Goggles (get it? It's like night vision goggles...ha!). They haven't really served a beneficial purpose yet other than to make me laugh (he cups his hands around his eyes and adjust it...it's funny!) but they really do work. Spotted Viktoria while we were waiting on her for lunch. Spotted some Frenchies at the club the other night. Yes, yes I went back to the nz, nz, nz club again. I'll have no friends when I come back b/c you've all disowned me. This does NOT mean I'm spending my Saturday nights at Opera. But seriously, we did talk to some French pilots who fly into Atlanta every couple of months so we may have some visitors in October...ha!

Speaking of Kris, I lost a bet so you can ignore this next story. He bet me that if he made his ball of trash into the trash can from 15 ft away then I had to post it on the blog. He made the shot. But only after hitting some poor student on the first shot. So this is all he gets. Asians hate Canadians now. Sorry Brian, hope word hasn't gotten up to China yet.

Saw Asian Chris Bayle on the street the other day. I would have taken a picture but couldn't pull out my camera fast enough. Then again, if I could have pulled the camera out that fast it's not as if I would have stepped in front of this guy and snapped a photo. I can't wait for 2011 when I can snap a photo in my head and immediately upload it to Facebook. The future is so cool.

On Saturday I went to the Singapore Botanic Gardens. This is Botanic Gardens Part 1 as this place is a BEAST. It's huge. And it's hot. It took me 2 hours and I only did half of it but it was beautiful and really relaxing. It was at this time I was really wishing I was Jeri Singeltary b/c I bet she would have taken way more artsy photographs than me but I gave it a shot. I took over 70 photos but just posted a few to give you a taste. Botanic Gardens Part 2 will come later.

Botanic Gardens Part 1:

(This little guy and I had quite the staring contest)

Next update to come after India this weekend. I'll be back on Wednesday, with or without my physical and emotional well-being intact.