Happy B.Day to ME

Today is my birthday..
34 is the official age now...

Yes, I do feel older... I have more wrinkles around my eyes, my thighs are not quite as firm as they used to be, my back aches when I travel and sit down too long, and young guys are suddenly looking more and more cute...

But there are also so many great things about getting older: I have friends in many places of the world that still fill my life with joy, I have a big wonderful family of Mum and Dad + Dads wife, 2 handsome brothers and a beautiful sister, 7 crazy nephews and one wonderful niece,

I am a lucky girl... I have followed my heart and it has brought me to many different places and I have met a colorful and amazing bunch of people.
I do sometimes wish life would bring me to a nice quiet base, where I could meet a fabulous man and together we could have gorgeous kids.
But for now, I will choose to enjoy all the fun, crazy, scary, wonderful, weird, overwhelming and very very different impression, life brings me in India !
I dont think this is were I will meet my prince, but then again, you never know :-)

I spent yesterday with some good friends here in Mumbai. It was fun! I am so happy that I have met people with whom I just instantly relax. It is rare to find, and I appreciate it to the fullest !

Meet Shannon, Martin, Dawn and baby-Isabel....:


How can anyone resist this rubber face...?? Isabel makes the funniest and weirdest facial expressions. Its cute, but I kinda hope she will grow out of it...


Miss long leg Shannon ! Shannon is a witty-ass homey in disguise...!


And then there is Dawn. A fun loving southern bell.. Well, she is actual from up north, but she does the best imitation of a true Miss America !


Martin is officially my new sexy Mac-doctor..! My Mac has for some weeks now, completely denied to spit out a music CD. And I have been going crazy. Martin took over, opened the whole thing up and got the CD out !
He also ... my .... But that secret is safe with me ;-)


My Happy Dance after getting the CD out of my Mac.. !!!


Dawn had her birthday a few weeks back, her daughter Enas birthday was last week (unfortunately she was not there yesterday, as she was still getting over a stomach bug) so we celebrated triple birthday, and Shannon made a yummie chocolate cake !

I need BEAUTY

Big strong trees on green fields, the swaying grass on the top of a hill. Sand dunes and long wide beaches with the waves of the salty sea kissing the shore. Fresh wind and a smell of clean air. Reading a book in a swaying hammock while listening to the birds and hearing the breeze move through the old apple tree.

I sometimes ask myself why I live in a huge city where all of these things, which I love, are so distant?

I am so tired of dirt and garbage piling up and rotting on the street, shattered or unfinished houses turning grey and ugly like big sad monuments of a development out of control, the moldy smell in my cupboard that will not go away till the rainy season is over, the constant traffic noise in the exhaust filled air.

I want beauty… Someone give me beauty!

Status Report

I have been really bad at writing posts on my blog lately.
That could mean 2 things:
1. There is nothing to write about
2. I haven't had the time

And luckily it is the last reason that has kept me from it. Well, I guess combined with just a general "dont really feel like writing on my blog" feeling..!

But life has been busy. In a good way
Work has taken up a lot of time. The new collections have been coming in from the buyers, and I have been busy placing them with the suppliers and making sure all is going well. I LOVE this part of my job. It is creative and fun and requires a lot of close interaction with the suppliers. So I have been traveling a lot by train, taxi and rickshaw lately.
Most expats here have a car and driver, but not me. Kind of sucks sometimes, but I get by. And actually traveling by train is the fastest way of getting around.
But it does make me tired. (I wonder if the loads and loads of diesel exhaust you breathe in while riding a rickshaw also make you tired? How much of that can one person survive in one week?)

And on top of a busy work schedule, I am actually starting to have a lot more nice socializing privately too... YEAH..!! Have been missing that so much!
Dawn, who is a fun-loving, sweet and fast-talking American, is becoming a really good friend, and we try to hang out as much as possible. Her daughter Ena, is a hyper active toddler, with the most winning laughter and personality. She makes me laugh and hanging out with her is great fun!
Shannon, American and married to Martin, Danish, is the nicest person with a great sense of humor. I am sure we are going to spend more time together too. They have the most adorable 6 month old daughter, Isabel. I completely fell in love with her last weekend. Dawn and I are planing to babysit for them soon. We might just kidnap her :-)
And then I have met some nice Danish people whom I joined for a concert with "Outlandish" at The Hard Rock Cafe in Mumbai this week. That was fun. Sweaty and hot, like life in general around here.
Will be seeing a couple of them for brunch today.

So all in all, life here in Mumbai is looking pretty sweet...!

This helps, when I do sometimes feel a little homesick. For example this weekend, when a really good friend turned 40 (Yes, you are an adult now !) and they celebrated it with lots of our friends at a garden party. I would have given SO MUCH to be there..! Unfortunately that is the downside by traveling and moving around. You have friends and people you love in other places of the world, and you just cannot be there everytime something important or fun happens.
But I was there in my mind and with my heart !

Two colleagues from Portugal are coming next week, so there is some cleaning on the program this morning, and after that off to brunch followed by hanging out at Shannon and Martins place.
Looks like it will be another day in my fabulous life !

Elephanta Island - Gharapuri

This weekend I visited Elephanta Island. It is an Island app 10 km outside Mumbai. It is an old hindu temple place, beautiful caves in the mountain with carvings of Shiva and other gods.
The original Hindu name for the place is Gharapuri. There are no Elephants there (there used to be one, a huge rock carving, but the Portuguese who discovered the place took it away. It is now in a museum)

No elephants, but lots of funny little monkeys, some a little more aggressive than others, but most of them just trying to find some leftover scraps from the tourists.

They really know how to make money there. Apart from all the souvenir stalls, this was the price to get in:
Indians 10 INR
Foreigners 250 INR

Still cheap and it was worth it, we had a great day. I want to go back after the monsoon season, when it is a all green and lush.

Street Kitchen

- and this is how I met my Guru

Many of you might say now: you have a Guru? Well, the yoga classes I am attending and practicing was founded by a Guru called Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
So last night I went to a gathering in Mumbai, where he appeared in full glory. And being in India, how can you say no to meeting a real life Guru ?

First of all, this was supposed to be a low-key thing. But this guy is so popular and doesnt come to Mumbai very often (he is based in Bangalore at the ashram there) so people came from near and far.
It was supposed to start at 7pm. We luckily arrived at 6pm, any later we would have never gotten in to have a seat. It took place in a big auditorium in 3 levels. No chairs, just carpeted "steps" for sitting. 1st floor was already closed of when we arrived, so off to 2nd floor. Here we ended up in a pile of people trying to get in and get a seat. Somehow we managed to get in and find a small spot to sit on. (I hope I didnt step on too many people in the process) People kept trying to come in, and by the entrance it more or less looked like a rock concert out of control. I was worried that people would faint in the heat.
I am not sure how many people were there, but I guess around 2-3000. That was inside, apparently there were a lot of people outside who never got in


Around 6.30 pm a group on stage started satsang (a kind of sing-along-song) I like it, but there was still so much commotion going on with people trying to get in, so it was a little hard to enjoy.


At 7.15 Guruji arrived on stage. People went crazy!! Clapping and shouting, hopping and dancing. And he just stood there, with a gentle boyish smile and enjoyed it. He was wearing a white traditional Indian outfit, called a lungi. Had long black hair and beard. He looked just like a Guru is supposed to.
Even before he started talking, it was so funny to see him. He clearly had a great sense of humour and was pretty self-ironic about the hole thing. So even if he was sitting on a sort of throne and being completely worshiped, he still came across as modest and humble.



Anyway, once he started talking to all us followers, it was in Hindi. Well, I suppose I should not have been surprised, since it looked like I was the only foreigner there. After a few minutes he asked in English: Does everyone understand Hindi? Everyone shouted YES, except from poor little me. He asked again if there was anyone who did not understand. I raised my arm, and peoople told me to get up, so I stood up. And there I was, blond, tall and very very foreign looking. I got down pretty fast again, and Guruji said that he was sure someone would be my private translator. A girl next to me volunteered very eagerly, and she very perfectly translated the important bits of what went on.

He was there for more or less an hour. Sometimes talking, sometimes just looking around or being half in meditation while the group was singing. People were so excited and shouted questions and comments to him. Some threw flowers on the stage to him.

When it all ended, some people rushed onto stage to touch the chair he had been sitting in, and the flower arrangements on stage were completely ravaged, people wanted to bring home a piece of him, I guess. But for us, it was time to get out. And as for any gathering with lots of people, this takes time.
But one little detail was still to come, to make this a night of lots of experiences.

In India you park your shoes or sandals outside. Also to this kind of thing. And try to imagine around 3000 pairs of sandals being placed outside, more or less neatly. And then 3000 people trying to find their sandals at the same time.... No, not easy.. We actually went to a restaurant to have a bite, and then came back a little later to try our luck.
After meeting your Guru, you should off course be filled with love and compassion, but in that crowd of sweating, pushing, shouting and not very organised people, I was so close to hitting someone a couple of times... Can you imagine, some people even stepped all over the sandals, to try and find their pair.

Still have no idea how we all managed to find our pair !

I was tired when I got home. And if I now have a Guru, I dont know. Not sure I know exactly how to incorporate that thought into my western mind. But I was happy I went, it sure was an experience in many ways !

(sorry for the bad picture quality, I only brought my phone camera)

Little Miss Elephant

Please tell me why I left the camera (that normally does not leave my side) at home on the day a beautiful elephant decides to come strolling down the street where I work ?

So I settled with my phone camera (which I used to love, but love is fading badly next to my new favorite toy)

Two men were traveling along with this elephant, one was riding her, the other walking in front. They stopped just opposite our office, where the elephant got a well deserved drink of water, followed by a little wash to cool down. Kids and adults gathered around and all enjoyed to watch this beautiful big animal, with her graceful movements (YES, big huge elephants are graceful ! )

I swear the "driver" asked me from his seat high above, if I wanted a ride. How stupid was I not to say YES YES YES...!

No, thank you!

Somebody PLEASE tell the Indian men, that long toe nails are not charming, masculine, sexy, hot, good looking or anything that even resembles the above !