Day 2 - PR Indian Wedding

Today was all about relaxing, getting some beach in and prepping for tomorrow!

I enjoyed some time under the big umbrellas oceanside.
No burning for me!! Jo and Manu arrived today with Theoden and we all moved into our own unit...which we got an upgrade on (you don't get it if you don't ask...I asked!)

A lovely spot directly overlooking the gazebo where the wedding will be tomorrow night!

Early evening we all rolled to the nearby watering hole for cocktails and to watch the sun set. I've given up on fighting curly hair in this climate! :-)

After the cocktails we headed back to Tiffany and Sandi's for some hot dogs and hamburgers and some more listening to the sounds of the ocean!

Perhaps even a cigar or two.

Wedding day coming up! Tomorrow!!! Yippee!

Modern Indian Wedding Anyone?

Day one

I was so touched to be invited to Karthika and Luis's wedding festivities in Isabella, Puerto Rico...and of course jumped at the chance to go!

Today I flew in, rented the car and food shopped.

Got to the resort and awaited the arrival of Radhika since I would be sharing a room with she and her parents for the first night.

A little lunch at the resort as I began to run into familiar and friendly faces. We headed to one of the Uncles suites for some lounging on the patio with beers and local fried yummies. Suddenly and with little warning...the rains hit -- typhoon strength!

The party dissolved rather fast and suddenly I was left wet and homeless!!

I dashed to my rental car where I turned on the heat so I could dry and waited for Radhika to arrive. Thankfully it was only a few hours nap before I got the call that they were here.

Dropped the bags, met up with the bride and drove her to her preliminary hair appointment in town.

You wouldn't think it could possibly take 3 hours to curl someones hair...but in this lovely little local spot she didn't have hot rollers or a large barreled curling iron...tick tick tick...Pre Pre-party at 8pm and counting.

*****BBBBBBBRING*****

Karthika's cell phone rings...the resort has no electricity. The party...the catered party...is at a condo at this same resort. Slight bride worry...

Hair done after 3 hours of the both of us using our pidgen Spanish to define the needs. Dash back to the house. Change and dress in whatever we could easily do in the dark... and...voila...

The KICK OFF to festivites...

It. WAS. WONDERFUL!

And...just as we all had realized how beautiful the party was by candle light...the power came back on!

Phew

1 broken necklace...
19 randomly scattered beads....
Stiletto heals (OK, OK- I know-but they were cute when I left!)...
A dear friend Bill...
And one absurdly large couch (too large for the space it consumed for 8 years) OUT OF MY APARTMENT!
After the D
5 course, 6 wine tasting dinner tonight...remind me tomorrow where these crazy scratches covering my arms came from!
Weeeee! Couch shopping time!

Flaming

Muffled chant...undecypherable.
Sounds of a screaming crowd.
Low murmuring.

These are the unusual sounds that woke me this morning from the 17th floor of my hotel on Nathan Road in Hong Kong.

"What is that? Did I leave the TV on?" I think to myself. Open one eye. No TV. Open the other. The sliver of open curtain is streaming in morning light.

It took a little while for me to wake enough to realize and remember what the stir was. Crowds had gathered since early morning to wait for their chance to see the Olympic torch pass by.

A look at the clock -- 7:30am...and hour before my alarm. A little while longer to rest. Shower. Breakfast and head out to my appointment.

All exits are massed with people. I decide to have a peek at the noise and scene. There were Chinese flags being proudly waved and masses of people in red shirts (people had been encouraged by the government to wear them in solidarity and support of the games.)

There were a few people protesting about democracy and China to my left with the crowds surrounding them chanting over them as loudly as possible to drown them out. Suddenly, not 15 seconds after I'd left the hotel the crowd swelled. The noise, WOW. Why? The torch was passing by.

I was able to get a few shots of the torch by lifting my camera over head. My view was that of - torch - no torch - torch - no torch - as I saw it bop over the heads of the crowds.

What a great way to start the day. Such a proud passion from the people.

Hmmm...now to fight the crowds to get to the subway. Let's hope they're equally as friendly then.