Christmas in India

The last few days have been fairly low key and quiet, Christmas was nice, yet it did just feel like any other day.
I did go to mass on Christmas eve at one of the largest churches in south India called St. Mary's. I don't know what the heck I was thinking, the place was packed!!! It was so packed that we didn't even go inside the church, the chairs were set up outside the church. I'm sure there was easily close to 8000-10,000 people, and most were standing. The arch bishop of Hyderabad conducted the mass, and it was mainly in English with some Telegu readings. The carols were really nice, but Muscles and i decided to leave about 3/4 of the way into it, because we knew getting out would be ridiculous, and I wanted to go and get a late night dinner. I'm glad I went.

Other things i did for Christmas:

• On Christmas morning (afternoon since I slept until noon-remember I'm on vampire hours-hehe), Muscles came over and I opened my gifts from my parents and from him. My parents bought me all kinds of earrings, a couple of sweaters, body butter from the body shop and yummy extras like maple and brown sugar oatmeal, fibre one bars, candy canes, peanut butter and a box of cherrios. The stuff cost over $11 to buy here.
• Muscles bought me a pair of black and grey snakeskin stiletto heels, and a gorgeous black stole (pashmina).
  
• We had a work "town hall" that night, and so we went. it was uneventful. had to sit through 3 hours of boring presentations, before we could finally eat dinner (standing up again) and then dance. We had to dance in a too hot too crowded room. I danced with my HBC friends and then had a coke by the pool with a few friends before Muscles and I took off back home. I called my parents and spoke to them, and it was THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY DAY! Muscles also spoke to my mom, and thought she was lovely! Of course she is!!! Muscles also spoke to my grandmother and he couldn't believe she was 84. Even her voice sounds younger than she is. The cute part was when Nanny called Muscles, not by his real name, but by Muscles. I love that!!!
• I spoke to Muscles mom on the phone as well. Almost crapped my pants. She's sweet though and not sure why i was so nervous. Indian parents just make me nervous.
• My sister told me that she would treat Muscles and I to a dinner at TGIF for Christmas, and so yesterday, we went and I had my official Christmas dinner of steak and mashed potatoes. Yummy! Thanks Shar and Tim!!
• Today my boss from HBC had all the managers over to his place for lunch. He spent a year living in Canada working with HBC and so there were so many reminders of home at his place. His children's school pictures in Toronto, the Canada clock, the shot glasses from each city he visited in Canada, and the best of all, a tin of Tim Horton's cappuccino coffee. Ah, felt like home, and he made pasta for lunch. Nostalgia at it's best.
• Muscles also bought me a cake for Christmas. The cake here usually has no eggs in it, to cater to the vegetarians. So I hate eating them, so yucky. But there is this cake place, that doesn't advertise and was owned by a European lady before she sold it to an Indian woman. Her cakes are amazing and I had them a few times. I mentioned to Muscles that I loved that cake, and he knew I wouldn't get any of the traditional sweets for Christmas, so he tracked down the number and then bought me a triple chocolate cake from this place. I was in heaven!!! Below are the pictures of the cake, it's that gorgeous and it tastes as good as it looks.

So I didn't have a traditional Christmas, but Muscles did his best to make sure I had a memorable one. It was quiet and low key, but it was nice. Making new memories and new traditions is never a bad thing!!