laying low

We've been laying low for the past few days, as Aaron has been a bit under the weather.  Nothing too serious, just a bit of a cold/sinus issue, but it has kept us from being too adventurous.  Once again, here is a brief synopsis of what we have been up to lately:

Thursday:

Aaron and I headed to Lalbagh Botanical Gardens in Bangalore.  It was a lovely escape from the hustle and bustle of the city and we were able to see lots of greenery in the middle of Bangalore.  The garden is HUGE - we only spent about an hour in there since it started raining, but you could easily spend a whole day wandering around the numerous different paths.  It was nice to just walk peacefully and not have to constantly be worrying about where we were walking, what we were stepping in, or what might be coming our way.  After the gardens, we caught a rickshaw to Forum Mall, which is essentially the same as a mall you might find in the US.  I had been to the mall on a previous trip and my initial thought was to find a cute indian store to buy a ready made salwar, but the mall had mostly western stores and it was a bit hard to find.  However, I did end up finding one :).  We started to get hungry and ended up being lame and getting Pizza Hut for lunch.  We've eaten almost all Indian food since being here,  so it was nice to have a little taste of home. On Thursday evening we went back to James and Anita's house with Aunty and Uncle and spent the evening with them.






Friday:


A girl from the US came over (her sister had previously met Aunty and Uncle and wanted her to meet them as well) and we went on a little adventure to a Hindu Temple.  It was pretty far away from Aunty and Uncle's home and we arrived at 2:45, only to realize that it was closed until 4:00.  We decided to wait since we had gone all that way and it was an interesting experience.  I had been to several hindu temples before so I wasn't as excited about waiting, but I'm glad that we did, as I think it was a good thing for Aaron to see.  It was quite bizarre, as we were in a never ending line.  It wasn't like most temples that I had visited where you could essentially wander wherever you wanted.  There was only one way in and one way out and you were in the middle of a crowd the whole time.  I prefer my own personal space so I didn't particularly enjoy the close quarters, but it was still interesting to see the way that other people worship.  After you leave the temple, there is an endless zig zag of little tables set up selling various things that they force you to walk by.  It's basically a scheme to try and make you buy things.




Saturday:

I think Saturday was when Aaron first started feeling a bit under the weather.  In the morning, Uncle took us to City Market, which was insane!  We arrived around 11am and Uncle said it was one of the slowest times of day.  However, if you would have asked Aar or me we would not have thought that to be the case.  There were people EVERYWHERE.  It was really fascinating to see all of the bright colors and you can buy anything from pots and pans to flowers to fruits.  We spent about 45 minutes walking around and taking pictures.  As with the hindu temple, I thought it was nice to see and experience another aspect of the Indian culture, but I much prefer the smaller markets around Aunty and Uncle's home.  In the afternoon Aaron and I went to the Coffee Day (coffee shop) around the corner again and enjoyed chatting and spending time together without worrying about being anywhere or doing anything.  It was a nice relaxing day!

Sunday:


We went to church in the morning, but Aar was feeling even more sick so we pretty much laid low in our apartment most of the day.  We went on a walk last night and ended up at a grocery store, where we found a few American food items.  We bought snickers, a kit kat, and pasta/sauce (which we made for lunch today).  I don't really even eat Snickers at home in the states, but it definitely tasted fabulous yesterday!


We leave for Singapore on Wednesday already - which is so crazy!  I can't believe how fast time is going by.  We've been having a great time with Aunty and Uncle, but we are also very excited for the next leg(s) of our journey.  Please pray for Aaron that he gets better before we leave and that he doesn't pass it on to me!