We were originally going to title this post "India: 2, Rob & Amy: 0," but we had a recent triumph that upped our score.  First, how India pulled ahead:

She took Rob's stomach first.  A bad bite of food sent Rob into a three day TMI session, including some pretty painful cramps.  We were worried, but he finally seemed to work through whatever the demon was.  Rob likes to think of it as training so he can work up to finally eating some of that tasty-smelling street vendor food that we've been warned against.  India: 1 point.  Next, Amy all of a sudden, developed a fever and sore throat.  We had bus tickets to Kochi that evening, but we decided to cancel.  Good thing because by the next morning, she had white specks in her throat (where her tonsils once lived before being removed), a swollen throat, barely any voice, and a nasty fever.  India: 2 points.

Luckily, our host family had a trusted doctor right down the street.  We walked over, waited for five minutes, paid 50 Rupees (about $1) to see the doctor, and got four meds for 250 Rupees.  That is health care!  Amy has some sort of infection, but is slowly getting better.  With meds in hand and tummys toughened up, we headed out to Kochi (Cochin) in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

Now for our victories.  The overnight bus ride to Kochi... talk about things that "go bump" in the night!  Indian roads are not like nicely paved American highways.  We'll never complain about highways again!  We were tossed about, Amy kept sliding off her oversized reclining seat, constant honking (Indians honk A LOT when they drive.  It says, "Hey man, I'm next to you!"), and... only one pee break.  We had been warned about bus rides and their lack of potty breaks.  When there is one, you just whip it out and go for it on the side of the road with whoever watching.  Easier for boys than girls as you can imagine.  Then there's this little modest American girl, feeling so shy about displaying her goods to the public.  But have no fear (dun-duh-da!), pstyle (pronounced "pee style") to the rescue!  You probably don't know what a "pstyle" is, so we recommend you look it up on Amazon.  Ladies, it will change your life!  We are proud to announce that Amy, for the first time in her almost 30 years on this Earth, peed standing up, with all her clothes on, on the side of a road, with a bus full of people watching.  Rob & Amy: 1. 

So now we are in beautiful Fort Kochi, which is a blend of tropical lazy backwater boat ride chilling, and Portuguese/Jewish settlements from way back in the day.  Very cool place, we'll post pics later.  We'll definitely have to come back here next time we visit India.

August 15 -  We took a day trip to a nearby city called Mysore.  It was a busy, packed day, but we saw some really cool stuff.  Mysore is marked on the map above.  We are having trouble uploading pictures right now, but we got a few of them posted below!

A few thoughts:  We have been very lucky with the weather!  Mild days with no rain until the ride from Mysore back to Bangalore.  It rained all day for the next two days, but it was okay because we stayed indoors.  Mostly planning and organizing our trip for the next couple of weeks and updating the blog. 

August 16 - We went out on the town to... Hard Rock Cafe.  I know, I know!  It was actually a funny feeling being inside.  It was familiar, very American, and we were able to take a little break from the busy streets of Bangalore.  I was insistent on going out to a club, since Bangalore is known for its nightlife.  I didn't care that it was a Tuesday, I wanted to get my dance on!  Vidya and Rob obliged and we ended up at a place called Club Fusion.  As we walked through the doors, we felt like we were teleported to Bangkok.  There were only Far East Asian people there!  We wondered if they are students at a nearby school.  The DJs were playing all the latest club hits and we had a blast.  Unfortunately, all bars/clubs in Bangalore close at 11:30.  It was short lived, but a lot of fun.  As a lady, I really enjoyed that part of the dance floor had a strict "single ladies and couples only" policy.  Not so great for the single guy, but it was nice to know that there are places in the world where you can get your dance on without being groped by strangers.  :)

Wow, it has been an exciting couple of days!  Let me start at the prelude to our arrival in Bangalore.

August 11 - All day flight from Amsterdam, through Paris, to Bangalore, India.  There was mass confusion in Paris getting us on the plane and we got delayed.  Rob was way too big for the tiny seats in economy seating.  I felt bad for him the whole time.  As we started our descent into Bangalore, I had a mild panic attack as the excitement wore off a little and reality set in. I turned to Rob and said, "What the hell are we doing?  We're in freakin' India!"  We got off the plane and waited forever for our bags (we checked two backpacks), which never arrived.  Luckily, we planned a little for this and had most of the essentials in our carry-on backpacks.  I second guessed our decision to pack our large backpacks in trash bags. What if they were mistaken for actual trash and thrown away??  It probably sounds strange for us to use trash bags, but the packs have many straps hanging off that can get caught in conveyor belts, plus the airlines only cover damage to the contents of your bag, not the bag itself.  The trash bag then becomes the bag and the packs are now part of the contents.  Anyway, the airline was surprisingly helpful and we left with hope that the packs might find a way to us.  My uncertainty about being in India was relieved when our college friend, Vidya, was there to pick us up.  An old friend in a new place.  Everything's gonna be alright.

August 12 - 13 (Day 1 & 2)
We're staying with Vidya and his family at their home in Bangalore, and we're very thankful for this!  We didn't have the typical stress of transportation and accommodation.  Vidya took us to some really nice restaurants where we tried all sorts of delicious Indian cuisines and we had a great time catching up.  We haven't seen him since Rob graduated from NMSU back in 2004.  Vidya has been fielding all of our questions and educating us about Indian culture, traditions, and religion.  We had our first experience on an Indian auto-rickshaw (also know as an "auto"), which is a common form of transportation.  Driving is a scary thing here, so a lot of people prefer not to drive.  Autos provide a more affordable option to a taxi and is more reliable than a city bus.  We toured around a little, did some shopping, relaxed, and planned our next couple of days. 

Our bags did arrive, which was a huge relief, but then we discovered a new problem.  Our debit cards don't work at Indian ATMs.  Rob was very upset by this, since he specifically discussed money options with our bank before we left and he was advised to just get money from ATMs.  We were able to find a Citibank and could withdraw money from there.  No bags and no money our first two days.  Good thing we had Vidya!

Favorite things so far: morning and afternoon tea/coffee and the Muslim call to worship that happens five times a day.  I've heard of this, but have never been to a place were we could experience this.  There is a calling that happens a few minutes before and then this chanter comes on a loud speaker at the mosque and sings the prayers.  It's one of the most amazing things I've ever heard.  The voice is so pure and flexible, doing all these slides and glottals.  It's hard to describe, but is transfixing when your hear it.

Heartbreaking things so far: lots of trash everywhere and lots of poverty.  "Cripples" that approach you on the street - young and old - some deliberately disfigured.  Forearms cut off, fingers cut off, missing ears...it is very hard to see.

August 14 (Day 3)
Today we attended a flower festival at the Botanical Gardens.  It was a mind-blowing experience.  There were so many people!!  The flowers were beautiful and we had a great time soaking it all in.  Rob received many stares and even a couple invitations to take pictures with people.  We were the only white people in a sea of thousands of Indians and Rob was towering over them all.  It was great fun seeing all the people snapping pictures of us.  So far everyone is very friendly and excited to talk to us.  They give us these big smiles and try out a few English words they know. 

On a down side, Rob was the first one to get sick.  He ate/drank something that really didn't agree with him and he was paying for it all day.  He is slowly getting better.  I accidentally drank some untreated water (the one thing we were told NOT to do!), but thankfully am okay.  With our tummies becoming iron strong, we are off on a day trip to a nearby city called Mysore.  Our first venture on our own!

Click a pic for words to go with your ocular delights!

We are in Amsterdam!  Day 3 of 4. We arrived on Sunday (August 7th) in the morning and that first day was pretty rough.  We didn't get much sleep on the plane and then had to stay awake all day to get into the right time zone.  We were much better come Monday!  A note about international air travel: It is amazing!!  We watched two movies (Fast Five and Water for Elephants), had delicious food, free drinks, and pretty comfy seats.  I was in heaven up there!

We're staying at a nice hostel in Vondelpark which is about a 20 minute walk from the center of Amsterdam.  The computers here don't allow you access to the USB plug, so I'm sorry to report that I'm not able to upload any pictures yet.  I will upload them when I can!

We are sharing a six-bunk dorm with 2 Frenchmen and a couple from Slovenia.  We have spent hours talking to them, just learning about each other and our home countries.  This is one of our favorite parts of traveling - and staying in hostels.  You meet people from all over the world, and learn a lot about yourself in the process. 

Yesterday (which was Monday) we took a walking tour of the city in the morning, which has become one of our favorite things to do in any new city.  It's a great way to get familiar with what the city has to offer, and you also get caught up on your history.  We didn't really know anything about Amsterdam (other than what it's infamously known for) and now I have a much greater appreciation for the culture. 

We also took a tour of the "coffee shops" where we learned all about the history of drug prominence in Amsterdam, what the laws actually are, and what the future looks like.  Like any place, it's tangled in politics, and the liberal culture of Amsterdam is being put to the test.  The government is cracking down on the shops and creating new laws that are making it harder and harder for them to do business.  It's impossible to describe the history in a short little blog, so if you're interested, take some time to read up on it.

Some quick highlights of things we have learned: Amsterdam has around 780,000 residents, hailing from 177 different countries.  It's fascinating to just listen to the diversity of languages being spoken as we wander the streets.  Rembrandt lived and died here.  Anne Frank's hide-out house is here, and is now a museum.  Amsterdam is kind of a world capital for activism regarding homosexual civil rights.  Apparently we missed the Gay Pride parade by 24 hours, which was attended by over a million visitors to the city.  And Dutch children think the color of the sky is gray, not blue.  (We were so focused on preparing for India, and the heat, that we were a bit surprised to be greeted in Amsterdam by 60 degree temps!  It's the kind of weather that changes rapidly.  One minute it's cold and rainy, and the next the sun breaks through the clouds and you're sweating.) 

There's also the "Red Light District," which is where the sex industry is.  Just walking through there, I've seen things I'll never be able to unsee!!  ;)

Today we're off to see some museums.  Tomorrow will be our last day before we head to India!  Pictures and more stories to come!

I am SO happy to report that our move from the Norfolk storage into the Uhaul, the drive to Columbus, and the unloading from the Uhaul into Columbus storage, was a success!!  We had great friends help us load on the first leg (thanks Robb and Karen!) and hired some movers in Columbus.  We got really lucky and ended up hiring a really professional, hard-working couple of gents.  We got the whole thing unloaded in under 1.5 hours.  It was amazing!  It allowed us plenty of time to organize and return the Uhaul.  We were completely done by 5 o'clock.  If you have a move coming up, I highly recommend you hire some help.  It is SO worth it!!  And if you get a chance to drive a 26 foot moving truck with an auto transport in tow, remember to use the Truck entrance at the truck stops.  You won't fit in the regular car area, and you might have to have a friendly truck stop staffer move their car so you can get out of the pickle you've put yourself in.  Yeh, we respect truckers a lot more now.

Now about Columbus.  It looks like any other city, lots of strip malls and chain stores.  It is just as hot and humid as Virginia!  Our first experience was Walmart at 2 am on Tuesday morning.  A bunch of youngsters were running in the parking lot, then jumped onto the hood of a car and then the roof of the car, and started stomping on it.  I turned to Rob and said, "It's Walmart at 2 am, this could happen anywhere."  Rob wondered if he was going to see anyone roaming the aisles with a toddler, but we actually spotted two kids (an infant and a toddler).  Maybe it's not as rare as we thought.  Amy asked the moving helpers about any advice they have for newcomers and they said, "Stay away from the bad areas."  Amy: "Where are the bad areas?" Movers: "Columbus."  Ah yes, our new home!  :)  In all seriousness, we are very excited to eventually live here and discover what it's all about.

Here are some pics from our journey to Columbus:

Tomorrow we are off to Houston (a LONG drive from Columbus).  We fly out of Houston on Saturday for Amsterdam!!