The Adventures of Flat Emily

An old friend and colleague of mine from Gale asked if his daughter, Sage, could send her friend Emily to visit us in India. Of course, Paul and I were very excited to have a guest for the weekend. We made sure to take her to our most exciting and favorite locations around the city. Here are some photos of Emily on her whirlwind trip to Pune, India. (Emily left for the US earlier this morning from Yerawada Airport. )


Here is Emily on our balcony waving to the camera.

Emily took the dogs out for a walk on our back alley and ran into the local cow.

Emily wanted to see the "Real Pune," so we decided to take her to Laxmi Road. Here she is buying some local spices at Mandai Market. (Mandai translates to Monday.)

Emily got hungry, so she decided to try an Alfonso mango for an afternoon snack. They are in season right now, and she found them to be delicious. She also told us they are nothing like the ones at home. A very unique Indian treat!

Emily loved all the colors of the produce at Mandai Market, so she wanted to stroll through the vegetables and fruits. Here she found pumpkins, snap beans, carrots, and dudhi.

Emily also wanted to try the guava. Here she is buying one from a local vendor.

Emily wanted to bring a gift back to her friend Sage, so she went to the bangle galli, or lane, to look for some traditional Indian bangles.

We then took Emily to Tulsibaug. Tulsibaug is a bazaar known for kitchen wares, clothing, cosmetics, toys, and pretty much anything you can think of . . .

Here Emily is among the crowded lane looking at kitchen items . . .

Ganesh proudly sits within Tulsibaug. Emily quickly posed to take a photo with him. Ganesh is the favorite Maharastrian god in the Hindu faith.

We then took Emily on her first rickshaw ride back home.

Before we got back home, Emily also wanted to have a quick look at dupattas, or scarves. Of course, we could not stop her from buying a few.

We spot some cows in a field enjoying some hay en route home.
On Monday, I took Emily to the Disha Institute to play with the children. We watched Sleeping Beauty together, then . . .

The children decided to draw Flat Laxmi to travel with Emily to the US. They were worried that Emily might get lonely on the long journey home.

Tata (Bye-Bye) Emily! We enjoyed your visit to India with us!

Shopping on Laxmi Road

Today, my Michigan friends (J and Cindy) and I went shopping on Laxmi Road. It was so beautiful to see all the steel and copper vessels nestled among the colorful sarees and bangle bracelets. We also hit up Mandai Market for lemons, and I finally found my auto-rickshaw toy!

We enter a narrow passageway off Laxmi Road to wander through the maze of shops . . .

Above the doorway, you can see some wildflowers growing . . .

We stop to snap some quick photos of me and Lord Ganesha.

J and I stop to pose on the busy road as we hunt for a toy shop.

We pass some flower stalls on the way. I wanted to take some photos of the beautiful flowers, but the women are very shy and ask me not to take any photos. However, I did snap a quick photo of these garlands that were recently strung.

Some other flower stalls . . . And busy Laxmi Road.

Yea, we finally find the toy shop! (You can also tell from my hair that it is extremely humid and sticky outside today.)

And, I purchase these awesome toy auto-rickshaws! They even have little drivers inside that can raise their arms up and down.

We cross the street to Mandai Market in search of lemons.

I inquire about the price for artichokes . . .

People are starting to walk into Pune this week for a 14 day celebration/pilgrimage for Lord Vitthal.

Outside Mandai Market, a man sees my camera and coerces me to come over and look at his party hats. He is also selling those multicolored piles of chalk dusk to make Rangoli, or the Indian welcome sign you will see outside the doors of many homes.

And here I am in the party hat . . .

A woman showed us how to make a Rangoli using multicolored chalk and a template. I think Paul and I will get one for Diwali.