Alligator made out of bread at the breakfast buffet in the hotel.  Some of the animals they made out of bread everyday were pretty amazing.

I was so excited to finally see Jake again after being apart for almost a month!  He was waiting patiently at the airport when I arrived at 2 am in the morning in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.  It took me over an hour to get through security, customs, and find my luggage.  Jake had to work that day so after breakfast together at the hotel I was left to entertain myself.   It was pretty easy to stay entertained, there are so many things to see.  I literally could have stood at the hotel window and watched all the activity on the street below with all the cars, trucks, people, rigshaws, auto-rigshaws, stray dogs, and everything else it was quite mesmerizing.

I explored a little bit but stuck near the hotel, went swimming, and tried to keep myself awake so I could adjust to the different time zone.  India is 9 1/2 hours ahead of our time here in South Carolina.  Thankfully Jake didn’t have to go in until later that morning and he had a driver come pick me up late that afternoon to take me to his place of work so I only had a few hours to entertain myself.  Here’s a few pictures from my first day in Hyderabad:

I loved the Hotel’s packs of sugar, each sugar pack had little ants printed on it.

It was so much fun to meet the people Jake had been interacting with for several weeks.  The guy that brought us coffee the first morning I was there for breakfast always had one waiting for us at our table before we sat down.  A couple of the hotel staff said it was great to finally meet me, Jake had talked about me and they had seen me on Skype.  The service and people at the hotel were amazing.

The hotel had a beautiful roof top pool. 

After exploring for a little bit I decided to get my vitamin D and go for a swim.  It was refreshing and relaxing, I only saw two other people in the pool the entire time I was at the hotel maybe it was the time of day or just not a popular activity.  It was a very peaceful place to hang out.

Watching traffic from the hotel, the red box looking item in the back right of the picture is a police box (you can actually see the police officer sitting in it). 

You see these a lot at busy intersections in town that don’t have traffic lights.  During rush hour the police officer will come out into the middle of the street and direct traffic.  It looks pretty crazy seeing a person standing in the middle of cars going every direction.  As you can see in this picture cars, motorcycles, auto rigshaws and everything else are sharing lanes.  There were many times I could have rolled down the window and touched the person next to me because the vehicles get so close in traffic (especially the motorcycles) and many times there are no lanes marked or you’ll meet a vehicle going the wrong way.  With all the traffic there is also a steady stream of honking even during the night.

A lot of construction going on in HiTech City, Hyderabad. 

Jake was even there when the first McDonald’s in the HiTech City of Hyderabad opened.  These are just a few of the buildings going up next to the hotel where we were staying.

Guards at the gate outside the hotel, before a car can enter the hotel property it must be checked by the guards. 

Twenty-four hours a day they had a set of guards on the outer perimeter at the gate and another check point with guards prior to entering the hotel.  See the shiny rectangular object in the middle of the picture, that is a mirror they use to check under the cars for bombs.  Every car had to be checked prior to entering the property.

Taking a few minutes to relax and catch up on all the news in India on my first day in Hyderabad!  The Times of India  newspaper – March 16, 2012

Pepsi was in India but it looked and tasted different. 

I am not a huge soda (or pop as some call it) drinker but I noticed in Hyderabad Pepsi appeared to be more popular.  The can looked different and when I snagged a sip from Jake the taste was noticeably different too.  Another interesting thing I noticed is that our cans are 12 oz cans the ones I saw in India were 11 oz cans.

Jake received a beautiful boutique of flowers upon his arrival in Hyderabad.  By the time I arrived several weeks later the flowers had dried but they were still really pretty!

It was a really sweet and thoughtful gesture from the people he worked with overseas.  The people we encountered during our time in India were very gracious and hospitable.

Part of Jake’s team in Hyderabad.  It was really neat to meet everyone and spend a little time with them.

I came over towards the end of the work day and was able to talk more with the different team members over their evening snack.  Two of the workers gave Jake & I their snack so that we could see what it tasted like.  This is just another example of the kindness and generosity we experienced while visiting India.

Jake’s office in Hyderabad

Even though we saw this office many times on Skype during our time apart it was nice to see it in person!

Catching up on my current events with “India Today” while waiting a few minutes in the lobby for Jake.

We ended the evening with a quiet, romantic, and delicious dinner together.

 After a busy day of trying to stay awake so I could adjust to the new time zone this was the perfect way to relax and catch up.  The food was amazing and the service from the restaurant staff was excellent!  Jake was so thoughtful, he had picked out and bought a pearl necklace for me which he gave to me that evening.  I didn’t realize until reading about it but Hyderabad is also called “Pearl City” and well known for its pearls.

Just as we got back to our room at the hotel a beautiful display of fireworks started going off outside our window, talk about perfect timing!  A lot of times on Friday evening during a Holiday (and I arrived on a Holiday week) they will celebrate by lighting off fireworks.  I arrived on the weekend of the Hindu “Ugadi” Holiday which is celebrated as New Year’s Day and the celebration of Spring.

 It was a great first day in Hyderabad.  I am thankful for the opportunity to travel and experience such an awesome culture!

The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax.  Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away.  Explore with a good attitude, look for fun, and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories.  It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine.  Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn.  You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!