David had the blessing/curse of celebrating his birthday in India. Blessing because, well, how often are you in India? But curse because things just don't always go your way! For example, we had tossed around the idea of going away this weekend, but that plan got nixed when we realized that Dave's birthday was also dose number 2 for Dave's rabies shots. So for Dave's birthday he got to go to the hospital and have a nice big shot in the arm. Because nothing says happy birthday like a rabies vaccination!
We spent the rest of the day by the pool that is just off the college campus. It is an absolute oasis in dry, dusty, surface-of-the-sun hot Vellore. We swam in clear blue water and drank chai poolside under the shade of the palm trees. What can I say? We have a tough life. We then went on a secret mission to find beer. We had heard about a liquor store somewhere near campus, so we went on a search for it. We finally found it, however, Dave's hopes for a cold beer were apparently a little high, and he was a given a lukewarm beer with no way to cool it. But beggars can't be choosers, and I am pretty sure that the beer was the high point of his day.
We ended the day with a trip back to Hundreds Heritage, the restaurant I had blogged about last week. Several friends hopped on the party bus with us and headed to the restaurant. I was really excited for this dinner, because this was my first opportunity to do something for Dave that would be a surprise. So once we got to the restaurant I excused myself from the table and tracked down the manager to try to arrange a birthday celebration at the end of dinner. This was where the "things don't always go your way" part comes in.
I asked the manager to bring Dave's dessert with candles, and I emphasized that I wanted it to be a surprise. Really, this should not have been that hard. So he said that he would bring me the candles, which I said was great before once again reminding him I wanted it to be a surprise. No sooner had I returned to the table and started chatting with everyone when the manager came to the table and handed me a pack of birthday candles saying "here are the surprise candles you wanted, Madame." Everyone burst into laughter as I melted into my seat, telling the manager to bring them back with dessert. I was so upset that my surprise was ruined! But being upset was short lived, soon over shadowed by the comedy of the situation. Because after that, the waiter tried to bring the candles out with Dave's main course. I could only imagine a candle in a bowl of curry! This continued throughout dinner until we finally ordered desert, which, of course, was the only time the candles were not brought to the table. The whole comedy of errors kept us quite amused, and it made the eventual blowing out of birthday candles even more special.
The night ended with 8 of us squeezing into a rickshaw designed for 4, in proper Indian fashion.
Though India did not give Dave a traditional birthday, I hope it was one that was special and one that he will not soon forget.
We spent the rest of the day by the pool that is just off the college campus. It is an absolute oasis in dry, dusty, surface-of-the-sun hot Vellore. We swam in clear blue water and drank chai poolside under the shade of the palm trees. What can I say? We have a tough life. We then went on a secret mission to find beer. We had heard about a liquor store somewhere near campus, so we went on a search for it. We finally found it, however, Dave's hopes for a cold beer were apparently a little high, and he was a given a lukewarm beer with no way to cool it. But beggars can't be choosers, and I am pretty sure that the beer was the high point of his day.
Though India did not give Dave a traditional birthday, I hope it was one that was special and one that he will not soon forget.
hope you keep the candle.
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