As the year is winding down for all of us and the hustle bustle of Christmas is upon us, I am just so grateful for the few moments that I can steal (here and there) to jot down a few passing thoughts of my amazing experiences in 2010.
It's been over a month since Jahmaal has been in Kerala studying yoga. The house is not the same with him away for so long. It'll be nice when he comes home...I'll have my own live-in yogi and can bug him about giving me private sessions.
It's been a busy year with a lot of transitions at work. Went to Bangkok three times in 2010, twice to recruit Thai Therapists and once with my sister Gloria, just passing through. Now that I have all of the Thai therapists settled in and well trained, we found out that the Indian Government changed the visa regulations and they all have to leave in February. So now I am left having to replace them with Indian therapists which are not easy to find. Ended up recruiting 42 Therapists, some from Nagaland and some from Bhutan.Now I get to train all of them straight through mid January. That put a halt to my traveling for at least 5 weeks!
Speaking of traveling, for those of you that I haven't been in contact with in 2010, I have been moving around quite a bit, spent all of January and half of February in Shimla, which is in the Himalayas to train the Thai therapists. Here is a pic of the Ayurveda bed set up:
For those of you who don't know, Ayurveda is an ancient healing art which means "Science of Life". We provide Ayurvedic treatments in our spas and this is a part of the training that I conduct. It's a lot of fun!
I did have a chance to sneak away in January for a few days for a General Managers Summit in Udaipur at the most luxurious spa in Asia and the hotel is rated by Travel and Leisure and Cond Nast Traveler as #2 in the world. Udaivilas. Here is a pic of the spa at Udaivilas:
Then went back to Shimla, but had to leave mid February for emergency surgery. Now being in the hospital in India was an interesting experience. Thank God that episode is over.
My first trip after that was to Zagreb Croatia. Such a beautiful clean city and full of culture:
So this was the time of the volcanic eruption in Iceland and all of the flights were cancelled. I had to get back to India for the re-opening of the Oberoi Mumbai. So I mapped out my way by train back to India. Spent a couple of days in Budapest. Went to the local bath houses and got a chance to spend time with Stephen and Margaret, owners of Omorovicza, the product line that we carry at our spas.
So lucky that by the time I reached Istanbul by train the flights opened up, otherwise I would have had to go through countries by train that I might have had to cover my head and face...ha! Well, lo and behold I made it for the opening and Mr. Oberoi was impressed that I pushed through to be there. And here is the team in the lobby watching Mr. Oberoi make a speech. It was so moving after the tragedy that happened in that hotel November 2008.
While in Mumbai, Vishal ((My assistant) and I went outside one night after midnight and found three little girls sleeping on the sidewalk. One of them was awake and we started talking to her. The other two woke up and we held them in our arms and talked to them for hours. They told us about their life in the streets and how the police beat them for sleeping there so they take turns staying awake. During the day they go to the train station because they aren't allowed to be around the hotels. We gave them food and money to take a bath. (the water truck meets them around the corner and it costs Rs 50 each time they want to bathe, that is about $1) We told them to meet us the next day. We went to the market and bought them clothing, undergarments, shoes, food and a bag to keep their things in. They are asking to go to school so we have looked into options but haven't had the chance to enroll them. That is my next trip to Mumbai, I have to find a school with living arrangements and someone to monitor them on a regular basis. Here are my new daughters:
This is Vishal with the water bottle and Pinky, Pooja and Aarti. The little boy snuck in there and he needs some lovin too! these children don't have mother or father and fend for themselves. I check on them when I am in Mumbai, but they could use more love and an education.
OK, next...shortly after I decided to take a relaxing get away to Kerala. Oberoi has a House boat on the backwaters called Vrinda. After all the running and healing, this was a well needed holiday! This is not the Oberoi houseboat, but this is what the rice boats on the backwaters look like. Kerala is God's country. So clean and beautiful!
Totally different energy than Delhi!
Shortly after this trip, Jahmaal graduated HS. Time flies! Imagine..Jah Nuck came to India for the occasion. A shot of Jahmaal with his buddy on Graduation Day. May, 2010
In June, we took our first trip in two years to the United States of America. We had a lovely weekend with mom (Dorothy)Gloria (sister) Greggie (brother) Jourdan (son) on Fort Lauderdale Beach
Then I took off on a cruise to Key West and Nassau with my spa friends.It was so nice to also see my friends in Nassau. They all met me at Compass Point. It was nice hanging with my next door neighbor Leslie when I got back to my house in Fort Lauderdale! All in all, a fabulous trip!
July I went to Bangkok to recruit therapists. There was one day that I received about 16 half hour massages! I was like gumby when I finished! Then the ladies took me out on the town and the next day to the water market:
I think my next trip was in August to Kolkata. It's always fun to see George and Ritu, I met them when I lived in Agra, now they are in Kolkata. They set up a nice trip of the city for me and I ended up at Mother Theresa's. This is what happens when I travel in areas where there aren't too many blondes:
They all stare at me like I'm something from another planet. So...I just take pics of them. HA!
September, my sister Gloria came for a visit and I happened to have to go to Indonesia for some work. We spent a night in Bali and then headed to Lombok. Lucky sister got to see the Island. I enjoyed working but managed to take a day off to see Gilly island and do some snorkeling. We had so much fun!
From there we went back to Bali for a day and a half and off to a whirlwind 24 hours in Bangkok.
We covered a lot of ground in that 24 hours! Stayed on the 54th floor of a luxury hotel in a beautiful suite, it was about the right time that we had our own room. Sisters! Went to the rooftop bar and had amazing views of the city. The next day toured around the city by foot, boat, tuk tuk, sky train, limo and finally the plane back to Delhi. All modes of transport all in a day.
Spent a couple of days in Delhi and showed my sister Old Delhi. One of my favorite places to take my house guests: 
October we took a train to Shimla, did a "sister thing" which is our little secret, but the photo might give it away:
We went on a whitewater rafting trip and spent the rest of our time relaxing and getting spa treatments. The time has come for Gloria to leave and I stayed in the mountains for a week longer to do some work. It was so nice spending time together. Twice in one year! How cool is that???
November I went to ISPA, the first time in 5 years. What a fabulous time to see all my spa friends again! The best part though was that Jourdan met me in DC before the conference began and we bopped around Washington DC. That was really cool. Time alone with Jourdan...a first in a very long time. It really was a special time for us.
December has crept up on us so fast...Jahmaal will be home soon and I wish that Jourdan would be here for Christmas. Jahmaal and I plan to bring Christmas joy to the children in the streets. We love to see the excitement they have when we do nice things for them. It means so much to us too! What else is there to do on Christmas day? I have no clue how it will turn out as we are so random. I'll tell you all about it in my next blog!
Wishing my dear family and wonderful friends a very Happy Holiday Season!
