6 countries
24 cities
20 flights
114 days in Bangalore
115 nights in hotels & others' homes
174 days in India
Rode camels, elephants & motorcycles
Drove houseboats, autorickshaws & tuk tuks
Met wonderful people and built a lifetime of memories
7 months 6 countries 24 cities 20 flights 114 days in Bangalore 115 nights in hotels & others' homes 174 days in India Rode camels, elephants & motorcycles Drove houseboats, autorickshaws & tuk tuks Met wonderful people and built a lifetime of memories We arrived back in the US on March 26th after 31 hours of travel. We are so happy to see snow and cold weather! My sisters, Emily and Natalie, picked us up at the airport, sporting Indian clothes that we gave them for Christmas. What a fun site to see my beautiful sisters and have time with them again! Emily even had donuts on the counter ready for Bo when we got home and she had gotten our car deep cleaned! We are looking forward to all the conveniences that life in the US offers. Our own cars, no wifi issues, no need for adapters, access to foods we know, drinking from faucet, Living in the US is so easy, people! As we ventured out on the road today to run some errands, Bo asked if he should ride someone's tail on the highway and start honking like mad so that we'd feel like we were back in India. I'm not looking forward to having to wear a seatbelt again... 7 months of being blissfully ignorant about car safety has not helped in needing to follow the rules on the road here.
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A visit to the Polonnaruwa Temple taught us quite a bit about the history of the island. Polonnaruwa was declared the capital of Sri Lanka in 1070. So a little bit ancient. We explored what was once the village and several temples. It was, of course, swelteringly hot out, so our driver, Namal, dropped us off at each site, we'd putz around exploring the area and then race back to the air conditioned car for a 3 minute break from the heat. The tour ended with a stop at the famous Reclining Buddha. After Polonnaruwa, we arrived in Kandy for two days. A popular tourist destination, we stayed at Hotel Suisse (around since the 17th century!) where Bo declared they had the best food he'd had in 7 months. Great buffets and a lovely swimming pool. We explored the local markets, lookout point, toured the gem and batik factory's, attended a local traditional dance and visited the Temple of the Tooth where we waited in a sweaty line for 45 min to catch a fleeting glimpse of a so called ancient tooth of Buddha in gold stacked boxes. The temple itself was beautiful and fun to explore, but we had a good laugh at the fact that we wasted so much time to see a supposed tooth in a box. We spent some time at the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage on our last day in Sri Lanka. What a treat to end the trip this way. I have always been fascinated by elephants and this place held all the magic. And touts wanting us to pay for every photo we took. But, it was nonetheless magical. We watched baby elephants fed by bottle, roamed around with a herd in the open and then watched them parade down a local village street to get bathed in the river. As we were leaving the village another elephant herd was being guided to the river. We tucked ourselves into a shop to get out of the way. So cool to see all these massive creatures walking right next to us!
What a treat to finally have my parents here! After months of planning and plotting, we were finally able to make this trip happen. My parents spent a few days in India (without us) - two days in Bangalore, two days in Chennai and then jetted off to meet us in Colombo, Sri Lanka. From there we started our world-wind tour of the island. My mom and I always seem to fit in as many cities/landmarks as possible whenever we travel and this trip was nothing short of that. We rented a van and driver for 5 days of criss-crossing Sri Lanka: Galle-Pigeon Island/Trincomalee-Polonnaruwa-Kandy-Pinnewala-Colombo. First stop was in the southern tip of Sri Lanka in Galle (pronounced 'goal'). The main attraction there was Galle Fort which was originally built by the Portuguese in 1588 and then the Dutch took over in 1649 making it the fort it is today. We wandered the narrow cobblestoned streets and enjoyed the sunset on the water. A ten hour drive from Galle (or 6.5 according to Google maps) we found ourselves in the beautiful beach town of Trincomalee. We stayed across from Pigeon Island and had the good fortune of spending a morning snorkeling in the Indian Ocean. It was incredibly warm water and fun to see all that is 'alive' under the sea.
As we putzed around our neighborhood on Sunday, we were delighted to find the Arcade Independence Square - a newly renovated space that was once an insane asylum. In the past year, it has been converted into a fancy shopping mall with corridors of light, beautiful archways and doors. We have found a quaint little tea shop that has free wifi (and air conditioning!) and have started to spend a few hours there, ordering off the menu just enough so that they'll let us stay as long as possible. It has been a welcome retreat. On Sunday afternoon, we drifted into Colombo to explore the Pettah outdoor market and came across this enormous mosque (the red and white building above, left). Some guy started to tag along with us, probably trying to entice us into one of his shops, but as we were walking to this mosque, he said we were surrounded by a Muslim community and to watch out for ISIS. Wasn't sure how to respond to that.
For starters, Kuala Lumpur is like the most exotic word to say... we had a 9 hour layover so we ventured out to explore as much as possible. Unfortunately, while we were out and about, Bo started to have a Crohn's flare-up that intensified throughout the day and didn't let up until we arrived at our airbnb in Colombo, Sri Lanka that evening. We were contemplating sending him on a plane straight to MN so that he could be looked after by his docs there, as we weren't sure what medical care in Sri Lanka was like. But it is now Saturday morning and he is feeling better. He will probably just eat eggs and toast for the next several days to ensure a blockage isn't looming. Please pray for him, travelling is taking its toll on his stomach inners and we're hoping to get through these next two weeks in Sri Lanka without any medical emergencies or more excruciating pain.
Next adventure - Sri Lanka!
Brisbane, or "Brissy" if you are a local is very much like the US as far as roads, neighborhoods, foods, etc. The downtown felt very much like Minneapolis or Chicago with a waterfront and lots of green space. We felt like we were home except that it was frightfully hot most of the time. But it was a welcome retreat coming off of 6 months in exotic India. We ate loads of amazing food, had flat white's (an espresso drink similar to a cappuccino) and gelato every chance we got. Here's a few Aussie-isms we picked up:
"Brekky" - time for breakfast, folks "Bogan" - white-folks characterized by poor dental care, questionable style, old Ford Falcons, and a love of strong drink "Boganville" - a neighborhood populated by Bogans "Hungry Jacks" - what Aussies call Burger King "Snags" - sausages "Maccas" - McDonald's "Esky" - portable cooler "Speedo" - speedometer, not the swimwear "Tippa-truck" - a dump-truck Thanks for the education in linguistics, Sam. Australia has fascinated us and we can’t wait to come back and explore some more! Thanks for providing us with such adventures and memories. It was great seeing what your everyday life is like, you are wonderful parents, we've learned so much from you. Here's to the next time Stina and Sam! We jetted off to Brisbane to spend a week and a half with Stina (Megan's cousin), her husband Sam, and their daughter Grace. We had a great visit with lots of time to chat and catch up. It was lovely to spend time with Grace and watch her learn and explore her surroundings. Some Graceism’s: “Mo Mo” (more); "Day-de" (thank you); "Mee" (please) and her constant concern for where Bo was, heard in her squeaky high voice “Bo Bo, Bo Bo?” We found ourselves calling the moon "Moo Moo" even if Grace wasn't around. A visit to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary was one of our favorites - we could roam with the kangaroo's and learned all about the Tazmanian Devils, Platapus's, Emu's and more. And the Koala's! Fun Fact: Koalas are actually filthy animals and spend their days pooing and peeing all over themselves.
As luck would have it, after 5+ months of walking down this road to get out of our neighborhood, we discovered that the road had been paved. How ironic to have put up with months of slow construction and an extremely bumping, DUSTY, pothole-filled road to then have it beautifully paved on our LAST DAY there. Sometimes you just have to laugh. We decided to be happy for the neighbors and shop owners whose goods were always covered in a thick layer of dust. Never have I appreciated black top so much. It really looks just lovely. The video below shows our daily walk to the IT park, pre pavement. Be warned, the squawking/squealing sounds at 10 seconds are chickens about to have their heads chopped off by the butcher. Not something I think I'll miss. Some things we will miss: - The friends we've made here who have helped create adventures and memories that we'll remember forever. - The cows, the chickens, the donkeys! You'd think we had lived on a farm, not the Silicon Valley of India! - Butter naan, tandoori chicken, masala dosa, pani puri and the daily cappuccino - Auto rickshaws, Megan is desperate to find a way to bring one home. - The everyday newness of living in another country. So much to take in and adjust to but at the same time so fascinating and eye opening. Our lives are richer because of this experience. It is never too late for an old dog to learn a few new tricks. There are billions of people that passionately enjoy a game that remains a complete mystery to most Americans. The game of Cricket has always been a curiosity to me and thankfully the guys at OSI India were happy to educate me in the game's fundamentals. This past Thursday an impromptu game was started and Megan, Jake (another interested sports fan from MN), and myself had the opportunity to try out all the different positions played during a Cricket match. Bowling(pitching) and batting differ a lot from the motions used during a baseball game. I still can't explain why bowlers take a running start before tossing the ball into the dirt a couple feet in front of the batsman. I tried the run-up method and I got rocked so I switched to a traditional baseball pitch and boosted my speed significantly. The batting by us three foreigners was accomplished with similarly poor results. We each got a couple of hits but we whiffed at the ball a number of times as well. If Cricket weren't so glaringly British I think Americans could really embrace the game. As for this American I have definitely become a fan and I am wholeheartedly pulling for India to win it all at this year's World Cup. Game on folks. At Opus in the Creek Megan, Jake, and I joined the karaoke fun being had by a mixed crowd of locals and foreigners. We had a great time thrashing our voices for the crowd. The patrons of the Opus really get into the action: dancing, jumping up on stage and of course singing along. I don't think I have ever been to a more lively karaoke joint. We ended our evening after one overly-served local tugged at my arms insisting that I dance with him. Our hilarity reached its peak when a server dropped some car keys off to our inebriated visitor. I think the Opus staff were trying to tell this guy it was time for him to leave. Maybe getting him a cab would've been the better move. 'Sir, your ride is here.'
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Adoption UpdateOur adoption has been put on hold until Spring 2017. Stay tuned for more updates!
Giving Opportunities
If you feel called to help fund our adoption, please click on the Donate button below. Check out our adoption and fundraising pages for additional info. Mil Gracias, in advance! Prayer Opportunities
If you feel called to pray for us, please pray for peace, guidance, patience and safety for everyone involved in the adoption process. Thanks! Team BoganTwo curious mid-westerners with inborn wanderlust, we travel when opportunity arises and we recharge with loved ones at home in the interim. Archives
September 2016
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