The next day we went shopping in Pune with Prabha, Craig's secretary. She knew some spots that we could find some good souvenirs and gifts to buy for friends and family. Since she speaks Hindi, she was also able to negotiate with the sellers to get us a better deal. This was nice so that we didn't have to - it can be a challenge especially if the seller doesn't speak much English.
So all of us ladies and grandpa went out shopping for several hours. The first place we went was a "lane" with tiny little shops off either side of it. The "lane" was about the width of a sidewalk - maybe 5 feet - and the stores along it were tiny. Some of them were like tents and others were kind of tucked in the side of a building. All of them were just open to the air, almost like we would think of a craft show or something like that in the US. You could only fit about 2 or 3 people in each "shop". This was a unique place and it did get crowded, especially as we were there longer because it was getting closer to lunchtime.
We went to a few more places - one of them was actually a mall that was setup very similar to a mall in the US. We didn't find much there because we were looking more for non-americanized items (if that makes sense). We did find a fair amount by the time we were done shopping (but there were still some more things we wanted to try and find the next day). And Grandpa had gone back over to Grasim's to meet up with the other guys so that they could do the rough fitting for his clothes.
By this time, lunchtime had come and gone and it was about 3:00. Prabha had bought a guava for herself and her adorable daughter while we were shopping. She offered us a piece to try so I did. It was kind of strange because you supposedly eat the seeds, which there are a lot of and they're pretty hard too - it was almost like eating an apple but with the seeds too. The guava was really good but just a little strange with the seeds.
Anyway, so by the time we were done, we went in search of a place to get some food. We didn't want McDonald's and a Chinese place we found was closed (because it was after lunchtime and restaurants aren't usually open besides during the normal meal hours!). We couldn't find any other place (and we really didn't want to get sick on street food) so we decided to head back to the apartment - we would just have a late lunch/snack.
When we got back, we found out that Chris and Craig had actually planned what they were doing around lunchtime (they had also gone out shopping, but separately from the rest of the gang), so they actually had a nice lunch! So we had our snack and got to relax for a while.
Later that night we just hung out at the apartment and it was great. The big plan for that night was to play a riveting game of mexican train dominoes! (It's become a game that we play often when we get together with Chris' family. Chris and I introduced it to everyone several years ago at Stevens' Christmas at Wellington Place and it's stuck ever since. Chris' grandparents loved it so they started playing with their community and I think Chris' grandpa still plays.) One game does take about 3 hours (or more) to play, so it was a good night to play since we knew we were staying up until midnight anyway!
We were actually on the round of 3's or 4's when it was almost midnight. So we took a break from the game to watch the many fireworks displays that we could see from the apartment balconies. It was really awesome - there were a lot that were close (like at the Westin and other hotels in town) but then there were also some that were really far away and you could barely see them! It was great to be surrounded by so many fireworks once the clock turned into the new year! It was kind of surreal to be welcoming in the new year in India while it was still daytime in the US, but it was good to have Chris right next to me and his family there too.
The fireworks lasted for at least 10 or 15 minutes...but I kind of lost track of time at that point. I think after that point we decided to just get back to our game while some of the fireworks kept going. And the victorious winner of dominoes was Kaitlyn (if I remember right) - the first time she's ever won at this game (everyone always comments that I seem to win this game a lot)!
We all headed to bed well into the New Year of 2011 with smoke in the air outside (from all the fireworks) and hearing the honking horns!
So all of us ladies and grandpa went out shopping for several hours. The first place we went was a "lane" with tiny little shops off either side of it. The "lane" was about the width of a sidewalk - maybe 5 feet - and the stores along it were tiny. Some of them were like tents and others were kind of tucked in the side of a building. All of them were just open to the air, almost like we would think of a craft show or something like that in the US. You could only fit about 2 or 3 people in each "shop". This was a unique place and it did get crowded, especially as we were there longer because it was getting closer to lunchtime.
We went to a few more places - one of them was actually a mall that was setup very similar to a mall in the US. We didn't find much there because we were looking more for non-americanized items (if that makes sense). We did find a fair amount by the time we were done shopping (but there were still some more things we wanted to try and find the next day). And Grandpa had gone back over to Grasim's to meet up with the other guys so that they could do the rough fitting for his clothes.
By this time, lunchtime had come and gone and it was about 3:00. Prabha had bought a guava for herself and her adorable daughter while we were shopping. She offered us a piece to try so I did. It was kind of strange because you supposedly eat the seeds, which there are a lot of and they're pretty hard too - it was almost like eating an apple but with the seeds too. The guava was really good but just a little strange with the seeds.
Anyway, so by the time we were done, we went in search of a place to get some food. We didn't want McDonald's and a Chinese place we found was closed (because it was after lunchtime and restaurants aren't usually open besides during the normal meal hours!). We couldn't find any other place (and we really didn't want to get sick on street food) so we decided to head back to the apartment - we would just have a late lunch/snack.
When we got back, we found out that Chris and Craig had actually planned what they were doing around lunchtime (they had also gone out shopping, but separately from the rest of the gang), so they actually had a nice lunch! So we had our snack and got to relax for a while.
Later that night we just hung out at the apartment and it was great. The big plan for that night was to play a riveting game of mexican train dominoes! (It's become a game that we play often when we get together with Chris' family. Chris and I introduced it to everyone several years ago at Stevens' Christmas at Wellington Place and it's stuck ever since. Chris' grandparents loved it so they started playing with their community and I think Chris' grandpa still plays.) One game does take about 3 hours (or more) to play, so it was a good night to play since we knew we were staying up until midnight anyway!
We were actually on the round of 3's or 4's when it was almost midnight. So we took a break from the game to watch the many fireworks displays that we could see from the apartment balconies. It was really awesome - there were a lot that were close (like at the Westin and other hotels in town) but then there were also some that were really far away and you could barely see them! It was great to be surrounded by so many fireworks once the clock turned into the new year! It was kind of surreal to be welcoming in the new year in India while it was still daytime in the US, but it was good to have Chris right next to me and his family there too.
The fireworks lasted for at least 10 or 15 minutes...but I kind of lost track of time at that point. I think after that point we decided to just get back to our game while some of the fireworks kept going. And the victorious winner of dominoes was Kaitlyn (if I remember right) - the first time she's ever won at this game (everyone always comments that I seem to win this game a lot)!
We all headed to bed well into the New Year of 2011 with smoke in the air outside (from all the fireworks) and hearing the honking horns!
