Mmm....Thalis!

Matt and Meagan Waiting for Thalis

Extremely Delicious Vanilla Ice Cream!

Our Table Mates

south Indian thali before the rice is ladled


I loved the food in Hyderabad. (Surprise, surprise!) It was a cool mix of north and south Indian food and since Hyderabad has a huge Muslim population, there were lots of meat options for Matt. We found a cool little restaurant near our hotel that served vegetarian thalis, and you had the option of "North Indian special thali" or "South Indian special thali". I always got the south Indian thali, because most Indian food in the US is north Indian, so it was fun to try lots of new stuff.



Basically, you walk in the restaurant (which was called "Vegetarian Food") and they seat you at any available seats, which means you may or may not be sitting with another group of people. Our table mates were really nice, their picture is above. When you order your thali, you get a set meal, whatever they have cooked for the day. You start off with a super sweet dessert, then get soup, then you get your "sampler platter", which has little bowls of various sauces and curries, with an empty part in the middle for rice and fried bread things (not sure the name). There are men constantly going around the room with giant pots full of rice, and you can choose between biryani and white rice. You are supposed to eat the biryani with the south Indian thali, but I always got the white rice -- otherwise it is grease overload! After the meal, you get

another dessert (no wonder diabetes is such a problem for Indians!) and then an extremely creamy, delicious vanilla ice cream. All this for 79 rupees (about 2 dollars)!

It is exactly the kind of meal I like... no need to make any menu choices aside
from "north or south", and lots of little bowls of things to taste and try.

Touch

Keerti, Srikanth Nori, Matt and Meagan

While we were in Hyderabad, we went out almost every night to clubs with Nori and his friends. I was completely shocked...I knew there were clubs in Mumbai, but I didn't expect that there would be so many in Hyderabad...I also didn't expect that we would be spending most of our time in India at clubs, up all night! I think we probably staid on US time, because we would eat and 11pm and then stay out till 5 in the morning, then sleep most of the day.

Inside, the clubs looked like clubs you would find anywhere else in the world. And they cost as much, too! Some places had 20$ covers! For India, where people are dying on the streets and most people live on less than 1 or 2 $ a day, that is an ungodly amount of money. And inside the clubs, people are not conservative at all...some girls dress skimpily and people dance very seductively. It was completely shocking to me. WHen I have traveled in India before, I was only exposed to the very poor and the very traditional in Rajasthan. So, this trip to Hyderabad was very unexpected. I asked one guy how he felt about all the poverty and malnutrition in his country, and he said, "There is nothing really you can do." I think the rich in India are so used to the contrasts in wealth that they don't even notice it anymore. (Or maybe they just don't want to notice it.) Anyway, the disparity was mind bending. But then, everything in India is mindbending...I guess that is why I love it.

Srikanth Nori's fiance Keerti (in the middle) and her friends.

Keeri's aunt owned a club called Touch. It was a great club, actually, with good music and a fun crowd. It was sort of cool, cause pictures from Touch were in the local newspaper alot. (Sort of like the "In Touch" magazine for Hyderabad.)

After going to Touch the first night we were there, all the guys came back to out hotel with some of the famous "Hyderabadi Byrani" and naan. We needed plates and silverware, so they proceeded to go into the kitchen of the restaurant and help themselves. Matt and I were like, "Uh, do you think you should do that?" They were like,"Oh ya, it is no problem, we know the owner's son." Matt and I sort of shrugged and figure this is what India must be like. They left a huge mess but said it would be fine. The next morning, the owner of the hotel says he wants to kick us out! Nori's friend ended up working it out for us so that we could stay. It was sort of an interesting event though...these guys are so used to having whatever they want, it doesn't occur to them that they can't go into someone's restaurant and start helping themselves to plates and silverware and cups! But, I guess that could do that in the end, cause we didn't get kicked out or charged or anything.

Charminar

One of the major landmarks in Hyderabad is Charminar. It is an old tower...the coolest thing about it is that it is surrounded by a really fun market area. To get there from our hotel, we took a little yellow autorickshaw. I hate riding in the autorikshaws, cause it is hot and dusty and you end up sucking in all the exhause of the other autorickshaws and cars. Plus, if you are in an autorickshaw, there are no doors or windows so you are completely exposed to beggars!

Hyderabad is known as "the pearl city" for some reason...we couldn't figure out why, because it is not on the coast or any large body of water. They had a lot of pearls for sale, though! I thought about buying some, but then decided against it because I already have some white pearls that my Grandma Yeckel gave me, and a black pearl that the Hardy family gave me.

I did one very stupid thing...I decided I wanted a lassi because I love them and it was hot out...but it was filled with ice and water and half way through drinking it I thought," Oh no, this isn't China...I could get very sick from this!" But, everything worked out ok and I didn't seem to have any problems. The lassi was not that good, so it wouldn't have been worth the sickness...it was way too sweet. I guess lassis are more of a north India thing.

We had fun in the markets, but we didn't buy much on this trip because we were only there a short time and shopping in the markets is very time consuming. Also, our house is already filled with stuff from India!

Sangeet

The Wedding Couple:

Srikanth Nori and Keerti

The first night we arrived in India, Matt's college friend Nori and his fiance were having a Sangeet. A sangeet is a north Indian tradition, but Nori and Keerti wanted to have one even though they lived in south India because they said that south Indian weddngs are too somber -- no singing or dancing. Basically, at a sangeet, all of the friends and family of the couple do choreographed dances to songs. Matt took some videos of the sangeet and uploaded them to youtube. All of Matt's videos are there, and there are 2 from the sangeet.

Before the sangeet, Nori came to pick us up at the hotel and took us shopping for Indian clothes to wear to the sangeet. We were totally jet lagged and Nori was stressed about the sangeet, so he didn't give us very much time to choose the outfits. The result for me as a neon lime green salwar kameez. They all said it looked cute, but I am not so sure!

The sangeet was held outdoors, and there was a giant buffet area and stalls where you could get free bangles, flowers, paan, or have your palm read. There were 300 guests, which at least twice as big as what my wedding will be! And this was just the first event of the wedding!

The singing and dancing was amazing...I was impressed that all of their friends would get up on stage and sing and dance in front of everyone! They were having a good time, and it was fun to watch. I expect all of my family and friends to do that for me, so take note of that, cousins!

Man giving out bangles

The only sad part was when you walked to the bathroom...the poor people were sort of standing back in the shadows sleeping or watching. I guess they were probably waiting to eat the leftovers. Anyway, it was disturbing.

It was amazing to see all the women with their brightly colored saris...everything was sparkly and bright and pretty. We also met Nori's friends for the first time at the sangeet. It is amazing to think that we didn't know them then, because I really think we bonded with them over the course of the 2 weeks and now I feel like I have known them forever. Nori's family and friends adopted us and took care of us the whole time. Indian hospitality really is amazing.

Matt and Nori's friend Bahrat

India

Matt and I are heading to India in a few minutes for Matt's college roommate's wedding. It is going to be amazing to see an Indian wedding, and 2 weeks of 90 degree wetaher won't be too bad either after this cold Boston weather!

I will be back at the end of February and will post lots of pictures!

snow/sludge

So far this year, Boston has had the least amount of snow since weather has been recorded. We finall got snow last night, but it wasn't the pretty, "snowflakes floating down onto a pristine white blanket of snow" -- It was "half rain/half sludge falling down heavily into a slushy, grayish mess on the ground". Literally, there were giant raindrops intermingled with fat globs of sludge falling. Gross!

Other than last night's snow/sludge, not much is new. Matt is still working hard with his Japanese clients on their products and we spent most of last week in Seattle meeting with them. Then, they came here to Boston for more meetings. Very tiring for him! I have been busy getting ready for India, and trying to get most of my schoolwork doen before we leave.

I am very excited for Hyderabad! It is going to be great, and weird also to be suddenly transplanted into 90 degree weather!

Broadcom Holiday Party

Yesterday Matt's company (Broadcom)had it's holiday party. We all went F1 racing, and it was a lot of fun! I was surprised that I liked it so much because I hate driving on the road. When the racing instructor was briefing us before we got into the cars I was scared. He made it sound like we were going into an extremely dangerous situation. He said, "If you crash, make sure you let go of the wheel. Your adrenaline is going to be pumping and your hands will grip onto the wheel, and your knuckles will be white. You have to breathe deeply and let go." This freaked me out. But the track was small and the cars were actually karts! It was a lot of fun, and we raced for two hours. We had dinner there and it was surprisingly delicious, considering we were at a racing place. They had a dessert buffet, and I went up to the table to get dessert for both Matt and myself. I was debating what type of cake I should bring back for Matt, and the guys behind me was like, "Oh go one, take both." Then he got me a plate and put a big piece of chocolate cake on a new plate. Now, I had three plates to carry! When I was walking back to our table, I heard someone say in a very disapproving tone, "Look at her, she has three plates." I was embarrassed, even though I know I shouldn't be cause who cares. It was a buffet and people always take too much food. Still, I felt bad cause the whole second piece of cake was wasted.

It was interesting to meet all of Matt's coworkers, and to see the people he has been telling me about. They didn't look as scary or rude as he makes them sound. I got the feeling that there is a lot of stress and dissatisfaction at his company. The people at the table with us were saying how the guy had to work till 1 and 2 in the morning for the past week. I felt bad for him because he has kids. They said it would happen to Matt but Matt said it couldn't happen to him. It is unfortunate when people have so much stress in their lives. I think his company needs to do some team building exercises!

Cholesterol

I am back in school now, after a long, relaxing break...I had four days at home by myself before the semester started, and that was great. I cleaned the house, reorganized and cleaned out my files, and took care of all the stuff that seems to fall by the wayside while I am in school.

I am extremely excited for this semester because I like all of my classes, and I think it will be a fairly light load. I am keeping it light on purpose because Matt and I are going to India in February and so I will miss 2 weeks of school. My classes are: International Nutrition Programs, Monitoring and Evaluation of Nutrition programs, Nutrition through the Lifecycle, Health Communication and Chinese. The international nutrition class is supposed to be amazing, and the professor does most of his work in Bangladesh, so it should be interesting.

While I had time off I went to see my primary care physician. I had my cholesterol checked. I knew it would be high, given my family history, but I was still shocked when I got the results. My HDL (good) cholesterol was 51, LDL (bad) cholesterol was 290, with the total being 349. Needless to say, that is extremely high! On a positive note, my triglyceride level was 41. In the letter he sent me, my doctor said that this is normal, but when I looked online, the normal range for triglycerides was 50-150. So, my level is very low, which is indicative of my diet.

I try to eat very healthfully because I know that I have health issues (hypercholesterolemia and multiple sclerosis), but when I get blood profile results like that one, I get so discouraged! It makes me think, "What is the point of even bothering? Maybe I should accept my fate."

The other issue that this brings up is whether or not I should go on statins to lower my cholesterol. I really don't want to go on statins, because I am so young and I would have to be on them for the rest of my life. Plus, I do not have any other risk factor for heart disease. Also, the fact that Dad was taking statins religiously and watching what her ate, and then died at 43, makes me very bitter about the whole statin thing.

Then there is an article that I found from the Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, that says this:

"The LDL-C (calc.) level of the patient was much higher than the direct measurement level. We attribute this to the low TG value, resulting in an overestimation of the LDL-C value. Our finding suggests that, similar to high TG levels, low TG levels can also affect the calculation of LDL-C values. As to how low the TG levels need to be before affecting the LDL-C (calc.) is currently under our investigation."

This article may not be significant, but I am trying to make myself feel better about my high LDL levels! However, my triglyceride levels aren't extremely low, so the article may not apply to me. I am going to ask my doctor.

Cooking Club

Before Matt and I moved to Boston, I was looking on Craig's List for apartments and ran across a posting for a cooking club. Because I was used to meeting friends on the internet after Hong Kong (where everyone is on asiaxpat.com to meet people when they first arrive), I had no hesitation about emailing the founder of the cooking club. When I got to Boston though, our neighbors and old Matt's old high school friends thought it was bizarre and creepy that I would join a club I found out about online. Then I got scared too...Would everyone be freaks that couldn't find friends the normal way?

Despite being slightly apprehensive, I went to the cooking club anyway, and it was great! There are about 5 of us that meet once a month. We are all in our early to mid-20s and we really like food. There is one stay at home mom, one administrative assistant, one art student, and one girl just out of college working in a lab. Oh, and me! We all take turns hosting it, and the host makes the main dish. Every month we have a theme. Past themes have been Jewish food, Caribbean night, Italian night, Fall Harvest, and Spanish night. The theme for this month was Spa Cuisine...We figured that after the holidays it might be nice to start eating lighter, fresher foods.

Last night I hosted the cooking club. I attempted to make salmon as the main course. I had never made it before, and I was nervous. I kept cooking it and recooking it because it never seemed to be finished. In the end I had cooking it for about 20 minutes at 350 and it still seemed slightly raw in the middle. Oh well. I also made a chickpea salad and guacamole for chips, and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. Other people made artichoke-crab dip with pita chips, edamame-tomato salad, pasta salad with home-made pasta, and crepes with ricotta cheese and berries for dessert. It was delicious!

I really feel like I am getting to be good friends with the cooking club, and it is great because these are people that I wouldn't ordinarily meet. It is nice to talk to people that are outside of the "nutrition bubble" that I live in. Also, sometimes it is nice to have friends that are completely not related to anything in your outside life...so conversation never devolves into a complaining session about professors or homework or your boss...

Grandma with Kate



Sarah Pulsipher with Bandido

While I was in San Diego I got to see Kristi's new baby, Kate. She is so adorable! I also got to hang out with Grandma, which is always great, and I got to see Jimmy and Camber's house and the new house they are building. The house they are building looks like it is going to be very big!

Christmas in San Diego

Makayla

Marissa

Maya

Malini
This year I spent Christmas with my family in San Diego, while Matt spent it with his family in Eureka. I was really sad to spend Christmas away from Matt, but neither of us was willing to compromis this year, so this we just went our own way. I think it worked out for he best, because I think we were both missing our own family a lot.

I had a very relaxing time in San Diego, recuperating from my first semester at Tufts and my first 6 months back in the US. It is a lot more work living in the US. In Hong Kong, everything was so easy...taxis to drive you around, maids, people treating you like a queen, and lots of yummy restaurants. I think it has been a bigger adjustment moving back to the US than it was to move to Hong Kong. It is hard to believe that last year for Christmas Matt and I were in Vietnam!

Having a traditional Christmas was fun. I love waking up and getting a stocking. It is so fun! Mom made me a quilt by hand, so that was really nice. All my sisters were going crazy for the Nintendo DS things that they got. Even Makayla, who is only 4, was playing games and instant messaging with her sisters on the Nintendo.

My Christmas present to Matt

My boring Christmas present to Matt this year...a scarf, a hat and some mittens! Strangely, he hasn't had to use them yet because it has been so warm here in Boston.

Missing in Escondido, California

The latest picture of Tony, taken November 23, 2006. More information can be found on this website.



Matt's boss from the San Diego office of Thomson has a son who is missing. Here are the details as told to Matt by his boss, Tibor:

"Dear Friends,

I was hoping that everything would be resolved by now and I would not have to write this e-mail, but as of this morning my son Tony is still missing and although some of you already know this I thought the rest of you should be brought up to date.

Tony disappeared some time Saturday night Dec. 2nd from our home in Escondido . He left the house while my wife and I were sleeping so we never actually saw him leave. He left his wallet, money, ID cards, bank cards, passport, and car at home. To the best of knowledge the only things he took with him were the cloths he was wearing, keys and a black leather Jacket. He apparently left with someone who came to the house to pick him up. He did not tell us he was planning to go out nor do we have any idea of who picked him up. We discovered he was gone late Sunday morning, but were not concerned until later that day when we had scheduled to take our family pictures and he did not show up. On Monday morning we filed a missing persons report. Since then the family has been trying to piece together whatever information we can find that would lead us to whom he may have been with. His cell phone was last used mid day Saturday. I have been looking through his computer for instant messaging logs, but the latest information I have found only takes us up to November 30th. The most relevant information is in his G-mail account, which we cant get to because we do not know his password. We are almost certain that the arrangements he made to be picked up that night were made by email or text message. We will need to supply Google with a court order to release his e-mail record and to date the police have not been helpful in expediting this process. A county sheriff’s detective has been assigned to his case, but we have not been able to communicate with him yet. Then even if we have it we will really need the cooperation of law enforcement to track down the information. We have tried to contact all his friends that we know."

A more recent email said:

"Dear Friends,

Day 6 and still no Tony,

We have had more contact from the Sherriff’s Department, but we are still missing the most valuable information from his gmail account.

We have been able to get his cell phone log, but only up to Nov 26. We have to wait for the next statement due Dec 29 for the rest. Through this we have been able to find telephone numbers of his friends, but no leads from any of the ones that we have been able to reach so far.

According to the detective on the case there is not enough evidence to suggest foul play. Without this we can’t get court action. So at this point our only option seems to be to get media attention to put pressure on the police and enough exposure that someone may have seen him.

I have contacted the National Center for Missing Adults http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/ to get Tony listed in their database.

The next steps will be to contact the new agencies.

Many of you have offered to help and at this point I would like to ask for some of this now.

I would like to put together a website to feature and collect information about Tony and his disappearance. I could use help in putting this together and executing it.

Here is some more information about Tony:

Name: Anthony (Tony) David Csicsatka
Sex: Male
Age: 27
DOB: 11/16/1979
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Height: 6 Feet 0 Inches
Weight: 170 pounds

Missing from: Escondido , CA 92025
Date Missing: Dec 2, 2006 around 10 PM
Reported to: San Diego Sheriffs Department on Dec. 4, 2006
Missing Report Number: 06082859Q
Police Contact: Matthew Blumenthal - matthew.blumenthal@sdsherriff.org – 760-510-5242

Medical Condition: Tony has Asthma and uses an Albuterol Inhaler. We suspect he had about a 10 day supply with him.

Circumstances surrounding his disappearance: He left home some time after 10 PM Dec 2, 2006. He did not take his wallet or any identification such as driver’s license, bank cards or money. His car and passport were left home. Someone unknown to the family picked him up from his home while his parents were sleeping. Tony is an avid computer user and would use it to communicate with his friends and family daily. Since his disappearance there has been no computer, instant message or cell phone activity detected in any of his known accounts. All evidence so far indicates that he had every intention to return home in a short time.

Last known cell phone activity: Sunday Dec.3 at 8:14 AM he or someone who has his phone used Internet data access."

More information can be found at www.tonyismissing.com.

Ben and Jerry's!!!!

On the way home from Montreal, we went to the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory! I was beyond excited...I had been there once with my mom and the Housley family when I was 13. Matt was not as excited as I was, but that didn't matter to me... my heart was racing the whole time with excitement. The new flavor that we got to try was Apple Pie. I didn't really like it...it was too sweet and if I want apple pie I will just eat apple pie. I think their new flavor creation department has really gone down hill since Ben and Jerry left and Unilever took over! It was fun anyway though, and the drive through Vermont was gorgeous. I can't wait till it starts snowing so we can go skiing!

The Ballet

While we were in Montreal, we went to see the ballet at the place des Artes. It was so fun! We hadn't been to the ballet since we firse moved to Hong Kong so it was a real treat. The great thing about Canada is that they give deep discount for students...My US student card saved us lots of money by the end of the weekend. The ballet was good but it was little too modern for my taste...the stage was white and sparse and the dancers wore these unisex looking white outfits. Also, they didn't wear toe shoes. I don't go to the ballet that often, so when I do, I want to see the full extravaganza! The point was to get back to the "essence of the dance", but for me half the fun is the costumes.

Matt and I went to the Biodome in Montreal. Inside the Biodome, there are four different ecological zones and the animals that correspond to those zones. It was pretty fun. My favorite part was watching the penguins swim around. We also went up the Olympic Tower. IT was a great view, but all I could think is, Wow, Montreal is flat! And grey! Because it is winter, all the leaves were off the trees.

I am sure all of the Yeckels know Grandma and Grandpa's poster collection in the living room from all of their travels...They have a poster from the Insectarium in Montreal, and I had always wanted to go to there. This weekend I had my chance! Matt and I went to the Insectarium and the Botanical Gardens. It think the Botanical Gardens are better seen in the summer...all the trees were bare and the flower beds were covered with tarps! The green houses were still worth looking at though...I guess we will have to go back in the summer.


Matt getting eaten by a spider.


Matt with the bare trees in the Botanical Gardens.

Montreal

For Thanksgiving, Matt and I went to Montreal. I was sad to miss a traditional Thanksgiving dinner (especially because we are back in the US now) but we had a great time in Montreal. It is such a cool city! I loved it, and I already am planningour next trip back. It is the kind of city that almost make me looke forward to winter...all the chic montreal women had beautiful boots and coats, and there were little coffee shops and cafes everywhere that you could sit and warm yourself and drink hot drinks and eat french pastries. It was so much fun!


I really felt like I was in a different country. Every one spoke French, but the beauty is that they also spoke English. So convenient! Also, no inconvenient jet lag! There were moules and frites offered on the menu everywhere, so it was like heaven for me because moules mariniere is one of my all time favorite dishes.



It was fun to be back in a place where mst people speak a different language and the street signs and menus are in a different language. Despite taking three years of French in high school, my French accent is HORRIBLE and I remember nothing. I think you really have to practice a language with native speakers to cement it in your brain.

There were cool old buildings everywhere and lots of churches. It was so much fun!

Persimmons are for sale now...It reminds me of last year in Beijing! I was addicted to Persimmons, so much so that I had to ration myself. I can literally eat three or four big persimmons in one sitting. They are beyond delicious. It is hard to believe that this time last year I was living in Beijing!

Halloween

This year for Halloween, Matt and I did not plan ahead and so had costumes that we pulled out of our closets...I was an eskimo, wearing all white with a fuzzy collar and boots. I had a little fuzzy purse and I handed out york peppermint patties. I don't think I was very effective though cause someone asked me if I was dressed up! Matt wore my Dad's old silk Chinese robe with the bandana tied around his head. I loved my costume cause it kept me warm... It was freezing in Boston on Halloween night! We went to a party with Matt's high school friends Kevin and his girl friend Christine.