American Summer- Part 3

Sorry for the delay in this post....

Was so busy....weekdays had relatives over...weekends was out, touring the place..:D

Well, I'll go in chrono order....a bit long..:D so bear with me...

Friday:

Eventful day....Had relatives driving in from Raleigh, North Carolina...and my cuz, Tara had a dance recital on Saturday...spent the whole afternoon doing henna for her, my second cousin, Nisha and my Latha Periyamma (Nisha's Mom, they live in Raleigh, NC, and she was here to pick up Nisha) 5 hands!! I should have charged each of them and made a bit of money for myself...haiz...

Evening, we had a small party. Lot of guests....I was busy socialising ,talking and playing with the kids.....The men were drinking...something I was not exactly accustomed to...but to them it seemed pretty normal (my uncle actually has a bar in his basment..:O....) I had a pretty good time....

Saturday:

I helped Tara dress up for her recital, then left with my Chithi...we dropped off Tara at the venue, the magnificent Cobb Energy Centre Performing Arts Theatre, then went shopping in the nearby Cumberland Mall....

Best thing to do...cos my chithi has a really good taste and is more up to date with the latest fashion compared to my mom...and she is less conservative...plus she paid for everything...:)

The recital was good....it was grand, to be held in such a big theatre.....they had nearly 200 performers....:O Some of the performances were really good....some lacked the energy and dedication to the art.....but one should appreciate the effort, and that too of this magnitude, out of India....

Sunday:

We were planning to spend a whole day downtown, to visit the Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola and the CNN centre, after a stop at the temple..but we didn't have time to go to the CNN in the evening cos all of us were so tired and anyways i didn't have anymore batteries for my camera or any space in my memory card...(well, what wld u expect aft 180 photos???)

The temple was abt 45 mins away, in Riverdale (Yes, this is a real place..not just in ur Archies comics..:D..) The Atlanta Indian Temple consists of 2 temples, a Lord Balaji Temple and a newly built Sivan Temple. From the outside, the white gopurams make it look grand..inside, the gods are residing in air conditioned rooms!!! :O (later, i learnt that its to keep the cold out during the winter...) Inside the temple, the Iyer was busy talking in English with a perfect American accent to the devotees..:O..some dressed in shorts...:O Prasadam was almonds and walnuts instead of the usual thulasi..seemed like even Lord Balaji was well adapted to the American lifestyle....:D

Next stop, World of Coca-Cola. This is like a museum dedicated completely to the classic, Coke. It was interesting looking at its history and all the artefacts..but the highlight was at the end where we get to taste all the 64 different types of coke products from all around the world!!!!!:)

The souvenir shop even had lip gloss in different coke flavours..:D

After lunch, we went around the Aquarium. Its not as amazing if u've been to the Underwater World in Singapore...but nonetheless, the beauty of Nature never fails to amaze me...I was awed at the sheer magnitude of the tanks, the biggest in the world...The Beluga whale was one of the specialties of the Georgia Aquarium and its tank contains 18,000 gallons of water, and the glass is 13 inches thick!!! :O That's just for that one tank...imagine how much water it would take to fill the whole aquarium...and its in central downtown in a stand alone building..not anywhere near the coast!!!! I couldn't stop taking pictures till my camera was full..(as u can see on Fb)

More than the things I saw, I learnt a lot of things about the American lifestyle, about life and about people in general. Americans are so friendly; everywhere I go, in the shops, restaurants and anywhere, the first thing they ask is 'Hey, how're you today?'. It is what distinguishes them and makes you feel wanted too. They are very polite and always smile..:)

My Chithi and I are very similar. Too similar I would say (well except the colour..:P...) in thinking, in our ways, in our habits....both of us are of the same horoscope, and she's kinda my role model...but some things i still disagree, some of the things she did and does, i don't agree....sometimes I know she did it for the best, the rest i dunno.....we'll wait and see....

Watching my cousins over the past one week; gave me a lot of de-javu moments. Stuff I have gone through in my childhood too. I tell them, 'You'll realise when you come to my age..' :D

It makes me feel so old...but at the same time, experience is what makes one mature and old..and i think i have a lot of that...

One thing that I am not happy abt is these kids not learning Tamil. They understand everything, but they are just shy and worried that they may be wrong that they don't talk it. ( My chithi has a bet with me btw..USD 100 if i can get them to talk in Tamil by the time I leave...I've been trying but..nope, their reply always comes in English...-_-) Hope I can do it by the time I leave!

Watch out for more adventures soon...

Ciao!