We just got back from another great trip, although I now need a vacation to recover from it. The last couple of weeks have been a non-stop affair, starting with Dana & Roeland’s Wedding in the Netherlands. We had a fantastic time and it was wonderful to get an opportunity to catch up with many friends from Barcelona that we’d not seen in too long. I got to know Dana & Roeland through our involvement with the IESE Swim Team – they were both fierce competitors, especially when it came to swimming against each other 
. Prachee and I were both ecstatic when they announced they were dating and honored to have been able to share in their wedding day.
We also got to spend some time with the Van Zenderens in Utrecht. This was the second year in a row that we’d had a wedding in the first week of October in Holland. Harriet, Philip & Max hosted us again and even had all our favorite dutch snacks waiting for us! Bart had a dinner for us at his place and we also got everyone together for Pannekoeken (dutch pancakes) after a hike in the woods. We are running out of single dutch friends who are getting married, but I hope we get to visit Utrecht many more times in the future.
The next stop was San Francisco. Seeing friends, family in the evenings. Appointments and business meetings during the day. Part of the reason for our stop in SF was for Prachee to get a sense of the opportunities available for her at Cisco upon our return from India. Fortunately, she got a very positive response and she’ll be working to finalize the details of her next role in the weeks ahead. With that however, comes the bitter sweet realization that our time in India is drawing to a close. It is looking like we’ll be relocating back to the Bay Area in the 2nd half of January 2009 – just a few weeks shy of our 2 year anniversary of arriving in India (Feb 14, 07). For those of you who were planning on visiting us in India in 09, sorry – but please still keep your plans, you won’t regret a trip to this fascinating country!
Another weekend, another wedding. We flew down to Los Angeles Saturday morning and headed over to Craig & Grace’s new place in “South Pasadena Adjacent.” They were gracious to put us up for the weekend in their guest bedroom. A quick Tamale lunch getting caught up on the latest and we had to head out to Janelle and Jared’s Wedding in Ventura. LA traffic was predictably bad, but we still made it only to the last 20 minutes of the ceremony – it was Catholic, otherwise it would have been done long before we arrived 
. Janelle and Prachee were roommates in Barcelona during their exchange at ESADE from USC MBA. They also shared an apartment in LA upon their return from Barcelona. We heard all about Jared from Janelle, when she came to visit us during our vacation in India in 2004. She was in Kazakhstan and flew south to meet us in Bombay. I still remember how ecstatic she was at the availability of “imported” products and the level of infrastructure in India… all I could say is wow! Janelle was her radiant self and I can honestly say I have never seen a bride enjoying her wedding day as much as Janelle. Jared is a great match for Janelle and we couldn’t be happier that they found each other – all the best in married life. Regretfully, in our rush to beat the LA traffic I forgot our SLR camera, so we have only a few pictures from the wedding – they are included in the Holland & California Trip Album.
On Monday morning after a brief stop at Toyota to say hi to ex-colleagues we had lunch and caught up with our friends Bill and Jim. It was all too quick, but it was great to catch up and let them know we’ll be back on the west side in no time. We then drove down to San Diego for what was to be the relaxing part of the trip. We ended up running around nonetheless, but we let the great weather and laid back San Diego attitude recharge our batteries. We also got a chance to catch up with friends as my mom put together a small dinner for my 33rd Birthday (Oct 23). Pedro made an unbelievable paella – a memorable evening of great food and great company. In what seemed a flash we were loading up the car for our trip up to LAX – Lufthansa to Frankfurt and on to Bangalore.
Album links: Dana & Roeland’s Wedding; Holland & California Trip
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So what better excuse to go anywhere than a friend’s wedding! Victor, a fellow B4 team member at IESE Business School and Mirjam, who we got to know during her stay in Barcelona decided to make things official. They just happen to live in the town of Utrecht where I have family from my mom’s side – the Van Zenderen’s. We had a wonderful long weekend, enjoying the company of friends and family as well as taking in the charm of medieval Utrecht.
The last time we saw Victor & Mirjam was actually at our wedding in San Diego, their daughter Indi was barely 2 months old yet she was already partying half way around the world in typical dutch style. 2 years have gone by, everyone busy with careers and families, yet it always amazes me that when we get together with friends from Barcelona, we pick up were we left off and it seems no time has passed at all. Andy & Sara and Nick & Kate also from IESE, rounded out the “English” speaking crowd – Vic & Mirjam graciously volunteered their friends as translators so we wouldn’t miss anything. Roeland, another IESE Alum has been exiled in Switzerland and Russia, but recently moved back to his native Holland and joined us for the party. It was a typical dutch wedding with lots of speeches and singing “skits” – fortunately our team of crack translators kept us in the loop.
We we very fortunate in that the notoriously variable dutch weather cooperated and even though it was the beginning of October, the sun was out and the temperatures in the 20’s(C). We got to spend some quality time with family as we stayed with Harriet, Philip and Max; Lyd cooked dinner for everyone twice and we got to meet and spend time with Isabel, Robert & the twins – Aniek & Evelyn. Bart, the consummate guide, took us around Utrecht and we made the most of the weather, sitting in cafes by the side of the canals with a beer in hand. No trip to Holland would be complete without visiting the Albert Heijn (grocery store) where Prachee and I filled half a cart full of chocolate, snacks and sauces that I grew up with. We also went to the “farmers market” and stocked up on some great Gouda cheese – let’s just say that while India reveres cows and their milk, cheese does not get the same attention! Lots of fun pictures of family and friends – enjoy!
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