Back into the swing of things in US

Both Shammy and I felt deflated flying back into New York, with not the usual excitement of returning to your home. We both had such a lovely time away and enjoyed spending time with both our families.
Even though India was incredibly hot (42-44 degrees celsius) and quite polluted I still loved the experience and we will be back, maybe to explore the North next time. It was great for me to finally see where Shammy spent his childhood and the lifestyle he had. We both particularly enjoyed our trip to kerala, a complete wind back after the constant visitors and our 2nd anniversary celebrations at the beginning. We explored the Munnar tea gardens which being on a hill station were much cooler and then travelled down into the backwater areas to houseboat and finished off with an Aruveydic massage.

It was also good for me to meet his relatives and be able to identify with them more when Shammy speaks about his family. His family could not have been more welcoming and it definitely made our time in Kakinada and Hyderabad.
We have been back a week now and are just getting over jet lag and getting back into work again. Shammy has some serious study ahead of him with his boards in early August. He has a couple of months to prepare as when July comes around his fellowship commences which is going to involve a lot of on calls and weekend cover, Aahh!
We are also moving on the 19th of June into a new 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom unit in a quieter, greener area which we are looking forward too. We have been busy catching up with friends and thinking of maybe getting back into the running thing.......

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 .......

End of the Aussie experience 2010

Shammy and I have really enjoyed ourselves the last 2 weeks and it has been nice to be part of all the family activities. We went to some very memorable places in Tassie and Nathan and Abbie were great hosts. Shammy has fond memories of blackberry and strawberry with ice cream and cream, cleaning Henry's snotty/choccy face and great homely food. I loved the early morning runs and just being around everyone again. I love our family and how cohesive everyone is in their own intricate ways :). We saw some serious cycling tush and enough shaved men's legs to last for a while.

I'm leaving feeling sad but at the same time focusing on the upcoming promised family visitors, we will hold you to it.

Now for the adventures in India...

Love you all

Sammy and Shammy

Aussie land so good to be back - Aah sunshine

After just getting away from JFK airport before the snow set in, the tropical and really relaxing feel of Brisbane really hit me when I arrived in. I have loved catching up with everyone since being back. The relaxing week spent in Noosa with Abs, Nan, Mum and Henry and the crazy family weekend that followed. It was so nice to see everyone again and I appreciated the effort everyone went to to get together. It was also great to finally see Henry and Hana, they are both completely cute and adorable.

Some of the moments that spring to mind already:

-turning around to see Henry madly crawling after me as I headed down to the beach when we took him for a sand outing at Scarborough, and the inevitable crawl up the leg to be carried

-Hana's description of sour and blowing cotton fluff off our hands together at the farm

-an afternoon spent folding Dad's clothes where due to my high quality folding action, Mum, Dad and I were in hysterics

-coffee and chats with Mum at Guylian chocolate shop on Sydney Harbour

-dinner at the barracks with Ads and Neenz

-the classic hot mustard sandwich Nan nearly choked on while Nathan hooked into one optionally only needing to exhale quickly a few times to cope with the chilli bite.

-Lazy breakfast at Putney with James and Sarah and dinner on the water front in the evening

the list just goes on.......

I have only needed to cook dinner once since being in Sydney after being banned from the kitchen after cooking chana masala (chickpea curry) on the first evening here, Sarah and James liked the flavour but said their mouths were on fire :).

The only thing missing is Shammy but not long now and he'll be here to join me, and the holiday continues.....

Superbowl 10k revisited and Shammy's B'day

Lehigh valley parkway, where run takes place

We celebrated Shammy's birthday with a quiet dinner out at a Thai restaurant, we were both pretty tired after our 5:30am starts these last few weeks with Shammy's work. He has had a week long celebration though, starting with dinner out on Saturday night with Muneer, Raj and Pallavi, drinks on Friday with friends before the snow started, and then last night he had more birthday cakes and pressies with our friend's Ash and Krish.
The weather here has been interesting to say the least with some serious snow around 8 inches in which we even had to get help to push the car out of its parking spot and I managed to follow the tracks of a 4 wheel drive in front to get to work. The snow hit Friday night/ Saturday morning and cleared for a beautiful sunny day that reached just below zero degrees celsius for our run. We started off with numb fingers and toes but by the time we had climbed the first few hills we were warmed up enough. We both ran well, Shammy came in just before me (50:23) and I was happy after knocking over 8 mins off last years time (50:38). For our results check this link: http://photosbyjohn.net/Documents/SUPERBOWL%202010%20OVERALL%20RESULTS.pdf
The next fun for us is our holiday to Australia and India, the only downside being that Shammy is not leaving with me but coming later.

First pay as American Pharmacist yey!

It felt good having my first pharmacist pay packet in hand today and feeling like I finally am being paid appropriately again. Working in the same place as I was an intern had its initial teething problems as one of the pharmacists became a bit territorial but thats settled down and all is well.
I'm currently working 3 days a week but I'll try to increase this when we come back from our holiday.
Shammy has applied for his board exams in August so he will be the next one to hit the study books and as an added bonus he will be starting his fellowship at the same time, now something tells me thats going to be an interesting time :)


We recently had an indian cultural night for everyone at work, it was great fun. We all made our way to Pauline and Harry's place to save them a babysitter and I cooked the main dish and Harry even attempted a coriander coconut tilapia to keep in the theme and I think to make sure there was a non-spicey option on the menu. Today he wanted to know how our digestive system handled the indian diet ( I made a dahl and curried vegetable dish) as after a few days of leftovers he was definitely having some interesting after effects :).
We are off to a resident dinner at the golf club tonight, which is just across the road, followed by a trivia night which I'm hoping to avoid knowing that even in Australia my trivia knowledge is disasterous.

Emerald nuts midnight new years run 2009

What an experience! The race started with the new years countdown to midnight and with fireworks overhead Shammy and I with over 1000 other runners started nudging our way to the starting line.
I was so damn happy to get that race started. The bus arrived about 2 hours before the race, enough time for the icey sleet to work its magic on our bodies so that I could no longer feel my toes, nose or fingers. Shammy and I were jumping around for 20 minutes among the runners with our lighter running gear on trying to keep warm.
There are definitely some keen runners in New York they started flocking in about 20 minutes before the race, even a group of girls whose only attire was bra and undies (now thats chilly!). The ground was coated with a nice sheen of snow making it very slippery underfoot, this didn't seem to worry many people and I kept on telling myself all these people are running fast and no ones falling so why should you be any different.
It took a bit of time to clear the start and crowds at the beginning but Shammy and I ran the 4 miles well, coming in around 34 mins with Shammy half a minute in front of me. We even had spectators hi-fiving us and trying to offer us champas :).


Our friends Raj and Pallavi came as well and they walk/ran the course stopping off at the half way mark for some apple cider, we were impressed that they even made the effort to come. Once we were back on the bus we had a glass of bubbley to celebrate. A long but fun night, we got back to the parking lot at 4am to bundle ourselves up again and make the drive home. Exhausting but I'd definitely do it again, and the group of runners we went with were good value.