No more Paneer

Well, if you hadn't figured it out already, which I'm sure most of you have, I've been back from India for some time now...and the Paneerbelly posts have come to a conclusion. In fact, Paneerbelly posts came to a conclusion A LONG time ago. I don't know why it's taken me so long to write a post about coming home...I guess it's just a changing of the day-to-day events and activities that comes with a life shift, and the blog posting just never got fit in there. While in India, the blog really became a part of my normal routine...I'd think about it quite a bit, update it semi-regularly, and of course I always had a lot to share as those were 6 action packed months. Now that I'm back home, my routine has changed, and blogging just didn't really get a spot in the lineup. I think I might start it up again, but, not on Paneerbelly...I think I'll keep this blog as a pure keepsake of my fantastic time spent in India.

Anyways, yeah, I've been back in the US for a good 4 months now. I spent 3 of those months on a sabattical leave from work, which was awesome, and for the last (almost) month I've been settling back in at the Mt. View el Goog.com headquarters. As stated above (but it merits rementioning), my leave was AWESOME...I got to travel a lot and spend time resting, relaxing, and enjoying myself. I spent 2 weeks in south Baja, exploring that desolate landscape (dust and cactuses) solo in my rental Hyndai, surfing as many surf spots as I could find (here's a short list: San Pedrito Beach and El Cerritos on the Pacific side, Old Mans and Zippers on the south point (in San Jose Del Cabo), and 9 Palms on the east cape, which I caught on a nice south swell. Great place). I followed that by some time at home, then hit the road again -- this time for mainland mexico, flying into Puerto Vallarta and going to Punta de Mita. I explored places around there, again in my rental Hyndai (short list: Punta de Mita: Burros, La Lancha, Stinky point -- named because it was pretty close to the sewage plant, hence stinky --, el faro, Sayulita, Santa Clara rivermouth, Stoners). Then I came home again, and a few weeks later was on my final southern pilgrimage...this time Costa Rica. Yep, another rental Hyndai -- SUV this time. (Short list: one week in Jaco with Zac Ripper Randles: Jaco beach, Hermosa beach, Boca Barranca, Esterillos. Then Zac left and I went further south: Dominical, Pavones. Pavones was awesome.) Yes, I spent a lot of my time off surfing. But I also got to go home to Oregon, see my little sis graduate and begin her final summer of being a regular person before she goes off to HARVARD, spent some time in North Carolina for a wedding, some time in Laguna Beach for a wedding, some time in Hollywood with Doc Hollywood himself Andy Chan, a quick Vegas trip, a not quick drive home to SF Bay from Vegas with the heater on in 115 degree heat, and other fun adventures and misadventures that occur when you aren't spending 40+ hours a week in an office. Good times.

However those times can't last forever, so I've been back in the office for just starting 4 weeks now, and I'm working with Offline ads, Audio specifically. I'm getting into the swing of things and getting used to the work-week schedule. There sure is lots of good food to eat at work. I start every morning with a bowl of cereal topped with a generous helping of fresh blueberries and raspberries. Seriously I love those berries and cereal, they are glorious and make my morning, every day.

As for India, I loved it there. As I've said before, it is a truly amazing experience and really has an impact on a person...eye opening. After 6 months though, I was starting to get ready to come home...plus gotta factor in that we were pushing it pretty hard for all of those 6 months -- extensive travelling, a lot of work, a lot of blogging...if I was to stay longer, which would have been OK, I'd definitely have cut back on all the travels and settled in more in Hyderabad. I was definitely glad to come home and visit family and friends, eat american food (and raspberries and blueberries...and a nice juicy hamburger), speaking of hamburgers, fire up the BBQ, surf more often, drive my own car, etc etc. I'll always look back fondly on my time in India though, and it was a growing experience for me in many ways.

So...thanks for reading Paneerbelly. It's been fun as my first (semi)serious foray into the world of blogging. Pretty cool stuff. And that's all, folks! Namaste!