Merry Christmas

Today we woke up before sunrise to join a "Heritage Walk" around old Ahmedabad. It was a beautiful tour that took us through hidden passages, steep, narrow stair cases and busy marketplaces. At times, we shared the road with cars, rickshaws, crowds of people, elephants, cows and dogs, oh my! We stopped at numerous Hindu and Jain temples and ended at Jumma Masjid, or Friday mosque. In preparation of Uttarayan, the kite-flying festival, we watched people color strings and saw children happily reel their kites.
The area we toured was where Sophia's father's side grew up. Sophia's kaka (dad's brother) described many memories at specific points along the walk. He reminisced about the book stores, the old stock market and their living conditions.

After a long round of cards with Anushi, Sonya and Sophia, we joined Sophia's cousin and her family for a little Christmas celebration. We watched little Jamnejay and his classmates play games and sing around Santa. We'll be living with them in their gorgeous flat until our trip to Jaipur.
For Christmas dinner, all 14 of us went to Barbecue Nation. We enjoyed a massive meal of vegetarian kabobs and delicious naan and curries.

I hope you all had a Merry (white) Christmas back home. We missed the holiday spirit, the stockings, and the family cheer.

Joe