Asalaam-wa-alaikum India

Just over a week into our India visit and I'm having a ball, even if I have sweated more in the last week then any other time in my life :). My first thought of India after arriving into the airport minus one port - which fortunately arrived the next day-was traffic chaos. I was happy to be in the back seat of any car and tried not to think about all the near crashes I was seeing, goodbye road rules!
We spent a few days in Hyderabad at Shammy's uncle and Aunt's place with his cousins and extended family where we had our own roof top room and retreat when needed. Everyone here has been really welcoming and it was not long before I was tucking into some yummy Indian food, sightseeing and shopping. We had our 2nd wedding (Nikah) on the Sunday of our arrival and as a treat Farheen (Shammy's cousin) organised for me to visit the local beauty parlor for my first Henna experience. One girl works on each hand and I was pulled into odd positions as they both needed me to hold still, patience is required on their's and my behalf. The henna has to stay on for 8 hours to dry before it can be removed so Shammy had the joy of feeding me dinner as the Henna on my right hand was on my fingertips. By the morning it was flaking off everywhere but no one seemed concerned about the mess I was making.
The wedding that evening was an experience and with my lack of Hindi I found it bewildering at times and quite stressful having to resite some Arabic verses even though Shammy was really supportive and read it with me and the priest and papa (Shameer's dad) were saying everything 20 times slower for me then they normally do.
We then headed off to Kakinada -where Shammy's parent's (Ammi and papa) live- on the overnight train. There were 8 beds in a compartment that fold down and the carriage was open throughout. We had an A/C coach which was good and Uncle walked me down to see the general coach, not pretty, everyone was squished in and people were standing, I can't imagine what that night must have been like for those people overnight. My legs dangled over the end of the bed but this was okay as Shammy and I were on the top layer (so called berth) and no one was tall enough to knock into them.
We have our own room and shower and toilet in Kakinada and A/C at nightime for a good sleep. Shammy's parents have been keeping us entertained and we are getting a nice daily routine going. Shopping here has been interesting as nothing is made for my height but we managed to pick up 2 Indian outfits for me to wear and the tailor just brought the seam of the waist in for me so that I could get a taller outfit. Of course they just do this in 5 minutes by dropping downstairs under the building to their sewing machines.
I am a bit of a local sensation and I think Shammy and his Mum(ammi) and Dad(papa) are finding it quite amusing, I can't seem to blend in even in Indian attire :).
We visited the beach here where unfortunately the sand is very polluted with people throwing there rubbish everywhere. It was refreshing though with a cooling breeze and Uncle, Shammy and I went for a walk along the beach and checked out the local fishing boats.
So many things to take in here, I'm getting used to the Indian showering system of using a bucket and jug to wash with (it certainly saves water), people riding past selling goods, buffalo milk collected from across the street, hand washing of clothes and laps around the local sports fields at 5am in the morning (one morning we run the next we walk) as it is the coolest time to do it. I am still lathered in sweat with a red face after the first lap. People here are so friendly and there is colour everywhere, off for more adventures .......