Post-vacational back-to-work difficulties, partying, travel plans

Last week was a rough one. I was really happy when I was in Goa the previous week. It really was the best thing that has happened to me (so far) here in India. The trip was so relaxing and so much fun, that the readjustment to work on Monday was inevitably difficult.

Goa pictures and videos online

I got the pictures and videos from Goa into the gallery now. Enjoy

I got to appreciate Goa even more when I came back to Hyderabad. Goa is such a beautiful place especially this time of year when everything is so green and there are not so many tourists there. I really miss the scooter rides, because you can not really enjoy it in the same way anywhere else in India.

Claire and some others are going to Mumbai this weekend. I’m not sure yet if I’ll go with them. I’m sure Mumbai is a spectacular city, but I don’t know anybody who would actually like the city. It is the biggest city in India, by the way.

Pike is trying to get a ticket to go to Thailand with us. Let’s hope she can come, it would be so great!

Trip to Goa – part 2 – vroom vroom!

After half a week in Goa the scooter bug had gotten a good hold of everybody. So, when on Friday we headed for the capital of Goa, Panaji (or Panjim), in central Goa, at least I was longing for a scooter to drive around in the small streets of this pleasantly sized city. A city of 100 000 people does not seem big after Hyd. It felt more like home.

Trip to Goa – part 1

Greetings from Goa! I spent one great week in this famous holiday state with Jaana and her friends. I traveled there through Bangalore, which might seem odd, but a direct flight from Hyd would have cost me 10 000 Rupees and I did not want to spend 16 hours (bus) or 22 hours (train) traveling there. So, I got a train to Bangalore and a flight from there to Goa.

Hindu wedding

On Thursday evening I went to a Hindu wedding with Eduardo, Claire, Pike, Chai and Tobias. We were all invited because the bride is a colleague of Eduardo’s and, well, in Indian weddings there are a lot of people I posted pictures and videos into the gallery, but I don’t have time right now to write captions for them. But try to enjoy the imagery anyway

Fires, rocks, residential permits

I spent today assisting the new Colombian trainees (Angela, David and Julian) and my flatmate Tobias (Germany) at the High Commissioner’s office in the old city, where foreigners need to register within two weeks after coming to the country. A failure to do so results in a 30-50$ fine. You are obliged to do this if you are staying in the country for longer than 180 days, and many people, including the local LC, say that you should do it anyway…

Random thoughts

Life is good here in Hyd despite the monsoon. It has been raining heavily and there are a lot of floods also in the state of Andra Pradesh. Just today I read in Times of India that Mumbai has been getting a lot of rain too recently and many people have died in the Maharashtra state. I’ve heard that Kerala (southern India) is getting some sun already so the rains are apparently moving up. Or something, it depends on who you ask.