Ahh, yes, Ahmedabad

Okay - we're definitely in another corner of the globe. After claiming our luggage, we were met by our driver just outside the terminal. He worked for the travel agency the family was using to help coordinate things. We found out they had hired several cars for the weekend, to get the guests to and from all the destinations. He was a nice guy and told us a few things about the city and the weather on the drive.

The first thing you notice about the roads in India - there's no traffic control. In our whole time here, we've seen only one stop light and it was flashing yellow. The bus we took simply muscled it's way around - how would a sedan fare? The best analogy I can thing of is getting a drink in a busy pub. Imagine having to slowly, methodically work your way to the bartender, all the while trying not to bump other patrons. Yup. That's what it's like on the streets. There were few, if any, fender-benders that I could see. However, traffic wasn't moving quickly at intersections, with a few bursts of speed on the straight segments. Just like our bus driver earlier, our chauffeur knew how to negotiate this chaos, and made it look like he'd been doing it for 20 years.

After I got used to watching us careen in-and-out between other cars, I noticed that not only were there cars and bicycles the road, we also shared lanes with mopeds, motorbikes, pedestrians and the occasional cow. Yes, cow. I believe the ones with horns are called bulls.

At the hotel, we got ourselves checked in and met up with several of Pranav's friends. Some of them were his friends from Georgia Tech; others were friends from work. All-in-all, we met folks from every segment of his life. Ramona spoke very highly of him - his friends were equally nice.

After exchanging pleasantries, we headed to our first event - the mehendi party. If they wish, the women basically get henna tattoos on their hands and/or feet. The men mostly hang around and chat. The event was catered with a variety of snacks and appetizers; little did we know this was soon to become the standard for things to come! I got to know a little more about Pranav's friends (who I now call our 'handlers'), their backgrounds and so on. Once her henna was applied, Ramona had a little bit of difficulty keeping it on. She had a natural tendency to rub it a bit. It turned out pretty nicely - you'd be amazed at the intricate details in the loops and whorls.

We had a few hours before the evening's dinner party, so our handlers took us to a nearby mall. We poked around, looking for clothing and what not - I scored a few shirts, but Ramona didn't fare as well. Hopefully, we'll have better luck before we leave Ahmenabad. After we changed at the hotel, we were off to dinner.

The dinner party was an incredible event! It was held in the backyard at Smita's parent's home. We told more than 500 guests had been invited. We never knew how many showed up, but it was not crowded and more than comfortable. Besides, they would have just taken out the lighting rigs, speakers and performance stage. There was a live music act, a dancing pop singer with contemporary, upbeat, danceable pop music.

The dinner was a buffet-style dinner. There were more than a dozen tables and an army of people serving dinner. Early on, we were assigned a server (he's standing behind Ramona in the picture to the right). As we walked past each table of food, he would fetch a plate, take food hot from the grill, and supply us with silverware. I have a picture of the menu to post later - it was unreal! It took me almost an hour to realize I was only eating vegatarian dishes. I'm not even going to attempt and butcher the names of the good stuff we ate. There was a barbequed tofu dish that I couldn't get enough of. We spent the evening gorging ourselves on ever manner of tasty dish. As the evening wound down, we piled back into the car and were driven back to the hotel. The schedule of the next day was equally full, so we had to turn in as soon as we could manage.