GOA- 2nd time...... partiiieeesssssssssssss

Ta2 (Sudan) and Trude (Norway) in front of our beach hut in PALOLEM

Sunset at Palolem's beach

Self-portet

Ta2, Vahid (Iran) and Martin (Botswana) posing before starting their show at Vanilla Club in Candolim

Martin, me and Ta2 having fun.....

6 days in Goa with Ta2 and Trude. Hanging at the beaches, swimming, walking. Then party in Mambo's in Baga, great fun! Our friends Martin and Vahid from Pune get booked for a show in Candolim (different beach in Goa) and Ta2 get's invited (and payed!!) as well. Martin is MC and Rapper (does his own lyrics) and Ta2 (btw an Tattoo-artist, that's why he has this name, real name is Ahmed) and Vahid are breakdancers. Never saw a show of them before..... was really cool!!!!! I was impressed! And Trude and me were their groupies.... haha. Next day another party with the whole group, moving to another beach. Met couple of travellers also. Funny times. Look at the photo's and you'll see that this people I hung out with last week are very nice!

I just came back (travelling 9 hrs during the night) and am now organizing everything for my farewell...... so much left that I still want to do. And Bine is already coming in one week!!!!! Exactly in one week we will be on the plane to Diu, yet another beachplace, but than in the North-West which was occupied by the Portuguese (like Goa). We will start our 3-weeks trip there.

Frits (NL) is coming to pick me up now from the internetcafe, because haven't seen him in so long, will have lunch together. He and 'my guys' went to Rajasthan (north-india) last week and of course I want to know which places are worth seeing and how their trip was.

Gotta go.

xx

DIWALI - biggest Hindu-festival

Last day at work with my colleagues

(l.to r.: Mauschi, the servant;Mr. Kamble, Outreach worker (ORW); Mr. Abte ,Doc;AMit, ORW; Mr. Auwre, Counsellor; ME in traditional dress; Rekha, Counsellor & Sheetal, ORW)

Today I will write only a short txt, because later I will leave for a trip and I still have some things to do before that.
This last days it has been the hindu-festival DIWALI. This is the most important hindu-festival and can in some ways be compared to our christmas. The streetlive has been even busier the last days, people have been purchasing a lot, besides traditional things also gifts for the family. Women get new sarees, children get anclets (dt Fussbaendchen), new dresses, jewellery, men get new outfits. The houses are decorated with lot of lights. Diwali is acutally often called ´festival of lights´. They have traditional ways of putting candles, so-called dias. Oil and cotton is put in clay-bowls (dt Ton-Schaelchen) and lit. We also have them on our balcony. It looks really pretty! The entrances of the houses are decorates with rangolis, and candles are placed at the doorsill (dt Türschwelle).

Making the Rangoli at the hospital

The candles and lights are so important because they are supposed to show the good god Ram the way to the houses.The women also make a lot of sweets at home and distribute them to friends, family and neihgbours. And at night a lot (!) of crackers are burst and there are fireworks all over town. Imagine how that looks like from our 11-floor-high-rooftop......!
I bet you want to know more about the festival. The short version is, that they celebrate the defeat of the evil by the good. On the different days of this 5-day-long festival different gods are worshipped. On the 2nd day, for example, Krishnas victory over the tyrant Narakasura is celebrated. Saturday is the most important day, the Lakshmi pooja. This is also the day when the presents are exchanged and the whole family does the pooja togehter (traditional worshipping of a god with candle, sweets,...) and they have dinner. On the last day, men get tikka´s (small dot on the forehead) from their sisters- this is comparable to Raksha Bandhan which was celebrated in august.

Varsha, Prajakhta, me and Rekha at Rehka's parents

For me this has been the loveliest festival and it it so interesting to see it happen. The whole town is busy and everybody wishes each other all the best. I was invited to some Indian AIESEC people where we burst some crackers (I didn´t) and ate some of the typical food. Yesterday I was at Rekha´s house (my colleague from work). It was sooooo nice. My other colleague Varsha and her 3-yr-old daughter Prajaktha came along also. We were with the whole family. It was the first time I saw her house and family and they were all very cute... which meant that I had to eat a lot (and I mean A LOT) of homemade sweets and drink lots of tea. I brought some sweets and a book on the Netherlands with great photo´s in it for Rekha as a present and I got bangles (dt Armreifen) from her. I really like them! It was a very very good day!

In front of Rheka's house during Diwali

Let the good win from the evil and
Happy Diwali to all of you!

Yours
ANke

Ps: I´ll be going to Goa with Trude (Noorway) and ´Tattoo´ (Sudan) this evening. We´ll go to Palolem which is supposed to be the ´post-card´-beach of Goa. Not sure yet when we´ll come back. I´ll make some nice pixx..... ;-)

This is India, too! :(

well..... as everybody always asks me about the hygene in india. Finally i got some stories to tell.......

Yesterday all of my flatmates felt a little sick, stomachproblems, some had fever. One of the guys and me decided to not go to work as we had thrown up during the night and didn´t feel well in the morning. The others went despite feeling not very well. Today I went home early because after eating lunch I started to feel unwell again. And arriving home I found 3 of my other flatmates sleeping. So all in all everybody felt really sick. We were trying to figure out what it was and the conclusions was that it was the water at a restaurant in BOM that we had. We didn´t ask for a sealed mineralwater-bottle but just had the water they normally provide for free. They said that it was filtered...... well, I GUESS NOT!
Anyways, no need to worry. I bought some healthy fruits (kiwi, appel) and I´ll make myself a sandwich tonight. It´s already getting better.

Some other things that I should at least once mention in my blog because they are also part of the india that i experience:

there are so many poor people! They really live on the street. Especially around the trainstation (very close to my work) you will find a lot of them. They sleep on the footpath and have a plastic foil attached to the wall and the ending of the footpath- kind of a tent. This is where they keep their belongings. You see halfnaked kids, women, men, all living there, among the exhaust gases (abgase). These people are so black because of the pollution and when they ask you for a rupee their voices sound sooo unhealthy. It is hard to ignore all this.

At my work today I saw this lady who was suffering from tuberculosis and HIV. And she was so thinny that I could see her lungs moving in her chest. She was only bones.

one of these small 'tents' where families live

truckdriver decorating his truck for hindu-festival

women washing cloths on my rd

streets during the rain

hairdresser

Hyderabad and BOM

hallo again.

the last couple of days I had way to less sleep and to many parties to attend. as my time is running out (only 5 weeks left) there´s still so much that i want to do. but lets start in telling you what i did these last days......
On wednesday i was invited to my boss´ place to see his wife and son again and spend the day with them. They live in a very simple house with one bedroom, small kitchen, bathroom and small livingroom. The parents sleep in the living room (the mom on the bed/couch and the dad on the floor on a blanket) and the son (Kenneth, 21 yrs old) in the bedroom. They are very nice people and care a lot about me. They always want me to come over and stay with them. This time I learned how to cook my first indian dish, tomato-curry. With a lot of ingredients that I def. have to take home from here ;-). It tasted really good! And finally I got the best hint on how to eat rice and curry with your hands from my boss. I will show you when I´m at home and we eat indian food, okay :-)? I spent the whole day there, talking to them, drinking chai (indian tea) and watching `Friends´ with Kenneth. Because they do have a huge tv........

i think i already mentioned that i work for this guy that gets western girls to work as bartenders at different events in almost whole india. on thursday night i worked again. me and 5 girls from pune flew to hyderabad (first by fancy car to Mumbai [BOM] and than by plane (!) to Hyderabad, by car/bus it would have taken us at least 12 hrs to get there). it was all payed for by the people that hired us! we had a huge guesthouse where we could stay and first relaxt there, as the flight was very early in the morning. Than we got food and picked up by the two cars to take us to where we had to work. Unfortunately there was no time to see more of the city except from out of the car-windows. The event was in this huge and beautiful hotel (intercontinental) and there was all high society from andra pradesh (the state of which hyderabad is the capital). there were flamenco-dancers, a live band with great singer, fashionshow with india´s topmodels, a lot of food and drinks. we had to stand behind the bar and help the indian waiters to serve the drinks.
(look at our outfit ------->, short skirts, hein?!)

It turned out to be a hard job as i didn´t know how much exactly to pour and people had this extraordinary wishes: "two ´teacher´s´ one with 2 icecubes, a little bit of soda and lot´s of water, one with lots of ice (how much is lots by the way????), half soda, half water,.... no! more water...stop! one more icecube....... stirr it...... blablabla. driving me crazy! and than of course in demanding tone. well, but there were nice people as well. after 2 hrs we had a small break and could eat some of their food, which was goooooood! finally fresh salad again and the dessert.... fabulous! that another shift and we went home at 2 am. the flight back to Pune was sooo early, that we could only sleep 2 hours. finally home at noon i went straight to bed.

(The other girls and me ------>)

the same night all my flatmates and me went by bus to BOM. Marc (the french guy) has an indian girlfriend who lives there and it was her birthday. we were all invited and had a great party there, which finished late, because we arrived only in the early morning hours (Pune-BOM takes ca. 4 hrs). The next day we had a look at a beautiful mosquee and than we went on a boatparty.
As BOM is situated on different islands the AIESEC-trainees from BOM had organized this. It was sooo much fun. I already new some of the people from different occasions, so it was so nice to see them again. And of course, a party on a boat that is driving on the the arabian sea with lots of new, nice people and good music was quite some experience. After that a lot of us went to a club which was also very nice. I went with some of the trainees to some place after that and they dropped me home safely. The good thing is, that I already have a place to sleep at some of the trainee´s flat when I meet Bine begin of november in BOM. Her flight arrives in the morning hours so I can go the day before and sleep there, which is of course much more convenient.On sunday we got up late and had a quick look around again before taking the bus and going home to Pune. All in all it was a very good, but also tireful wknd.

(Me and Frits from A'dam in the cab ------>)

Byebye!!

Some random pictures and a normal night

Me in my bed. my flatmate Basti took this some days ago without me knowing. Tini, Kai, look at the pic at the wall, and Sanne en Meike, you will recognize the thing in my hands.... :-)

View from our balcony

At night in our flat, again no electricty, so candles, rum and more.....

Yesterday I went to a friend's house (Trude from Norway) and met MartinBotswana and a friend of him there. We stayed there for a while and than went to some club where Martin had put us on the guestlist (so no entryfees). He knows everyone in Pune, as he's been here for 4 yrs already and being friends with him -besides that he is a great guy- is usefull for parties ;-). But at Zync there was nothing going on so we went to a lounge I haven't been before. But it turned out to be pretty cool, lot of hiphop and rap, danced a lot. Today I figured, that the lounge was also mentioned in the Lonely Planet (I already thought so, coz yesterday there were 2 whities, that didn't have friends there). Well, after that one closed down (which is pretty early here, btw. Normally 1 am) we returned to Zync, who were also already turning on the lights and went to some underground party-spot. There they bribe (bestechen) the cops so that they can stay open longer (ya, that's the way india works.. bribing where and whenever you can!). That was a cool party, too. But we were already all tired of dancing so Trude dropped me home at 4 am.

In the Indian disco's there's always more men than women and being blonde is not always funny. But I got used to it and thanks to my male friends I feel good there (my personal bodyguards and sometimes they are my pseudo-boyfriend/husbands,...) . But if one of them goes to the toilet there's always someone coming up to me, asking for my name, phonenr,dance,.... Thanks to my friends (again) I haven't given my phonenr. to any of these guys, because they told me that they would stalk me. And that's the last thing I want....... But of course, some attention is always good ;-)

This morning Rick (D) and Marc (F) went travelling to a place nearby with Marc's Indian Girlfriend Disha. I also wanted to go, but tonight is the bartenderjob and I need to earn money instead of soending it on a trip, that's why.......

Me, Frits (NL) and Basti (D) stayed here and for the first time in quite long cleaned our rooms. We played music and just chilled. It's been a good saturday so far!

Sogar N-tv.de hat es auf Pune u die Promi's abgesehn..... : http://www.n-tv.de/718591.html

Hollywood meets Bollywood

After 5 days of occupying at least 1 whole page in the newspaper it finally happened: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and their brats (dt:blagen) arrived in Pune...... and the picture of the arrival showed:.............. a van! No Lara Croft outfits or six-packs. :( Apparently they will be here to shoot a movie. Now was the ongoing question where they were staying as the two biggest and most expensive hotels both said that they had reserved (millions?) of rooms. ....... As my hospital is situated next to one of them I could see some paparrazi standing there, while it was raining cats and dogs (feels like as if this goddamn city is drowning!)..... but no sight of -let me quote my newspaper- "hollywoods sexiest and hottest couple".
Well, but I still got a chance... :-). Coz I will be working as bartender (haha, I don't even now how to really tap a beer, even being German, but they drink it out of bottles anyways..) on some private party tomorrow. I have done this before, coz these Indian people are crazy about 'whities' and blond girls in particular. Mom, Dad, no worries, all I gotta do is serve drinks. And they pay a lot, which is good for my upcoming trip. Anyways....... My boss said, that they would be there.
So, babes and fellas get jealous and I'll tell you whether Brangelina (I hate this term!) liked my drinks....... :-D

pixx of sunrise at the (?????)

Wow, it was breathetaking! The whole trip was totally worth it, despite the stressy moments and poor transportation.

India rocks! Thanks Micha for great times!

Manali pixx

Special for my travelmate: u r in more of the pixx.... ;-)

"Rock garden" by Nek Chand in Chandigarh

Relaxing after going the 5 hr-walk/climbing above Manali

Highest point at Rothang Pass I have ever been, 4000 mtrs!

Just arrived- and missed the sunset! :-(

Trip to north in NUMBERS

• total nr. of days: 7
• places visited: 3 1/2 (Chandigarh, Manali, Delhi,Agra)
• travellers: 2 (Micha and me)
• bagpacks: 1
• hours travelling: 52
• Pune-Delhi,plane: 2 hrs 1595 km
• Delhi- Chandigarh, bus: 6 hrs 300 km
• Chandigarh-Manali, bus: 11 hrs 320km
• Manali-Rothang Pass, bus: 4 hrs 100km
• Manali- Delhi, bus: 18 hrs 565km
• Delhi-Agra, bus: 5 hrs 200km
• Agra- Delhi, train: 3 1/2 hrs 200km
• Delhi- Pune, plane, rikshaw: 3 hrs) 1595km
• TOTAL 4875 km

• nights spent in bus instead of bed: 3
• longest busride: 27 hrs (bus, rikshaw, bus from MANALI to Agra)
• missed meals: too many
• numbers of paracetamol taken by me: 8 (I was sick in Manali)
• people asking for our names/countries: 15
• foto´s taken: 500
• bites by mosquitos: a lot
• highest place been: 3980 m (Rothang pass near Manali)
• numbers of chocolates bought: ca. 10
• teas(Ginger-lemon-honey): 10
• vodka: 1/2 litre
• money spent: 15.000 Rs per head
• aggresive outburts: 1 (f*cking rikshawdriver on way to airport in Pune, he wanted way to much money and wanted to beat Micha, I yelled at him!)
• running to catch bus/ train/PLANE: 5

-------> good times: 1 000 000 000 !!!!!!

Photo's of Chandigarh

Airport Pune- hihi. next to the toilets

On the Sukhna Lake- was very hot, had our own music, chilled: great! (watch the sign :-))

Micha in Chandigarh on the bikerikshaw

"Rock garden" by Nek Chand in Ch.