The most exciting week yet...

Michelle: This week Ryan and I found out that we will be going to Omaha, NE for Ryan's residency. Ryan was so excited he walked around the house singing the Air Force song all night. We are really excited. Then if that were not enough, Saturday was Ryan's birthday and we were treated to a camel ride ($6.25). To top that off Ryan got a chocolate cake with a giant singing lotus blossom candle/fireworks display that he had to blow out without singeing his eyebrows off.

On Thursday I had a nervous moment in the market. Mom and I are looking for a sari to go around the base of the Christmas tree and we had asked one of the store owners if he had any. He said no and then he said "Follow me, madame." He took us through a row of motorbikes, a deserted restaurant and then up a skinny wooden staircase. I thought to myself, "This is how people disappear." (By the way, I wouldn't recommend doing this in Colombia.) Luckily the owner just wanted to show us the sari shop on the second floor. This was my first sari shop experience. You have to take your shoes off outside and then you sit on mattresses while the vendor pulls sari after sari off his shelf. Sometimes he listens to the specifications you give him, sometimes he takes a little creative license. Luckily he didn't have what we are looking for so we will get to explore more sari shops this week.

Ryan: I have two exciting video clips to share that I hope will make India come alive for you. In the first clip, I take you inside a moving rickshaw as I take my morning ride to the hospital. These little golf-cart-sized vehicles are the taxies of India, and they’re small enough to squeeze between all the cars, bicycles, motorcycles, and trucks swarming the streets. In the second video you’ll see Michelle & I riding on a camel down the streets of Pune. I felt just like Lawrence of Arabia! For novice camel riders, the most important advice is to hold on tight when the camel either stands up from its kneeling position or kneels to let you off. The camel straightens its back legs first when standing up, putting its back at a steep angle. If you’re not holding on when this happens, you’ll definitely tumble head-first onto the ground in front of the camel – a very embarrassing and painful way to start journey across the Sahara.