Gardening has begun!

As soon as I came back home I went into my beautiful garden. When I went into my garden, I realized some new friends had joined my garden. Bunches and bunches of grapes had come! I was so happy. There are so many bunches of grapes in my garden!!! I love going outside in my garden and seeing the grapes grow and blossom! It's a thrill to see plants I planted grow so beautifully. Also I learn more about having a green thumb. Planting trees and flowers provide oxygen which helps us, and it's important to keep planting. So go outside and plant a tree!!

A fruit only found in India, and my favorite fruit!

Last time I came to India I fell in love with a fruit known as sitaphal. My uncle thought me how to eat it and how to fall in love with the fruit! He told me about the fruit and the first time I saw it I said," What is that?" He told me how I could only find it here in India and how I would have to come to India to eat it. I enjoy eating sitaphal with anyone! Sitaphal is an amazing fruit, the taste is sweet but not candy sweet. It is just right, it has a light flavor which makes it all the more tasty.In some parts of the world, it is known as a custard or sugar apple. If you were to imagine it, from the outside it would look like a artichoke, and from the inside it would look like a pomegranate. It would look like a pomegranate because the seeds are covered with the fruit. I'll put a picture of the fruit below. 

Here are two pictures of the fruit. The first one is the inside and the second is how it looks as a whole. I ate a little bit of the first one, but you get the idea. :) 

If you ever come to India in the July-August time be sure to eat some sitaphal!!

A different life, A different currency. A different world

All across the world people are different in the way the eat, sleep, dance, shop, cook, dress, and the list could go on. While I have been away  from my home, and definitely my comfort zone, I have been observing. I have been observing actions people do, the way people talk, the way people give money, and the tone in which they talk. Every time I travel its what I do, I try to see something which others cannot see.


Like when I went to New York a few years ago, I wanted an opinion of my own. I watched, I gazed, I looked, and I finally got it. In my opinion, New York is a wonderful site-seeing place, and it has many great wonders. Also, New York is for people with big dreams of acting or being in the spotlight, around every corner I noticed that there is opportunity for fame. Also, the food is amazing there! Pizzas are the best! Still, New York is quite expensive and its hard to make a life there, but for some people its home.


Anyways, in my trip, I noticed many things. I noticed some of the foods which I ate on my trip were tasty, but you can't find these foods any place else. ( I will also be blogging on the food next. :) ) Also, the outfits are beautiful, practically a piece of art, and you can find these outfits in other parts of the world. Still, the outfits from the place, are going to better than any other part of the world, because it originated here, which makes it special. Here are two samples I found online. 

 


On left side the picture is a traditional men's outfit    Over right, is a picture of a traditional woman's outfit.
  
Also, money is a little different here. The money is wagered differently, meaning it has a little bit less value. For example, 1 US dollar, is equivalent to 55.15 rupees, basically 56 rupees. So the money is also a little different, but the way things are priced here it is equivalent to how much everything is priced in America. I can also put a picture of a rupee and dollar. And I'll attach a link so you can see how much difference the  money is. Here is the link: http://coinmill.com/INR_USD.html#USD=1.00

 Here are pictures of Indian rupees(top), and US dollars
                                         (bottom).

Also, the temperature outside is quite different. The temperature in America all around is quite cool, in some places hot, but overall cool. Here, in India, the temperature is always hot! I remember sweating through this whole trip. I also remember my sisters faces turning red from too much heat! For my sisters, the heat was unbearable. Since they are young and their skin is sensitive, they went on overdrive and burned! The whole time we were outside one of my sisters kept saying,"Can we go in the car now?" But we stayed hydrated and drank water like there was no tomorrow! Even in the rain it was hot! You would expect it to be cold after rain came, but heat was still there! Even in the rain, I kept sweating. This was an amazing trip though and I learned so much. I really am happy I came this year, because it is going to be a while before I come back to India. I am going to really miss my family here! But now there is Skype and Face Time, so I can see them all the time!

Mehndi Part 2.....

 This blog post is a continuation of Mehndi part 1.... I have put to photos of how my mehndi looks. I put a before and after photo. The photo to the left is the before(a.k.a right after I put on the mehndi), and the photo to the right is the after photo(a.k.a when the mehndi got dry and peeled off). Mehndi is very easy to apply and its fun too! I added the link if you wanted to try it. I did the mehndi by myself. First, I got out my tube and my design. You can go online and find some designs if you want. Then, I cut the tip of the tube and started to apply it. It took me about an hour because it was my first time, but it was fun!! Obviously, it was well worth the wait!! I had so much fun doing it and I had fun hiding or getting away from obstacles. See, while the mehndi is drying you are not suppose to touch anything with the place that it is applied on. So while walking I had to push away many things, and that was hard to because I had mehndi on my hands too!! One time, my leg almost hit the sofa, and my sister screamed," Your leg is about to hit the sofa go away, shoo!" It was funny!!! Anyways, at the picture below, you can see a mehndi cone/henna cone.. And if you look closely you can see the mehndi on my hand. Well, that's all for today, its a wrap! (That is from a t.v. show, but I am forgetting which one!) Bye :))

Mehndi Design Part 1....

Mehndi Design which I am going to attempt 

Ever since I came to India I have wanted to do a mehndi, or henna. I have always had an interest in doing it, ever since I was a little girl. My mom bought me a cone and I use to draw butterflies and birds on my hands. I never knew how long to wait, so I only waited for an hour, and got upset when nothing came on my hand. My mom use to always tell me that you have to wait longer, but I never could resist! I use to be so excited to see the outcome! And I still am!! I am awaiting a mehndi tube/henna tube. It should be coming tomorrow... and that when my design will come life!! I cannot wait...

All day and night I have been online searching and searching for the perfect design or at least an idea. I have always been picky about the design, whenever I got it done I was very specific on how I wanted it. If I did not like it, I DID NOT LIKE IT PERIOD. But I have grown older and so has my sense of perfection, but their still is that wanting of it to be what I like. :P Some things just cannot be changed ,right?  So I searched the web and I found 5 designs which I loved!! So, I put them together and created what you see in the picture!!! I drew it in the morning and it was tons of fun! Pretty cool huh? I am a very artistic person...haha!:P I will post the real life product after it is done, I promise!! 

A tower which was made even before America was found!

    Qutab Minar, New Delhi 

  

Inscriptions on the Minar from the Qur'an (the Islamic book)

While I was in New Delhi, I went sightseeing, and one of the most astonshing things I saw was the Qutab Minar.  The Minar had many interesting details on it which you cannot find in other places. The minar's physical appearance is so unique, that when you look at it all you can think of is beauty. It is so beautiful, seeing it from a distance and seeing it up close.

The Qutab Minar was completed in 1230. The construction for the building began in 1193. It took 37 years to complete one minaret. The minaret's foundation was laid down by Qutbuddin Aibak, then as death struck Aibak, his successor Iltutmish finished the Minar. Later, weather struck the Minar, a terrible lighting storm hit the top of the Minar and it came crashing down. Firuz Shah Tughluq repaired the Minar as well as Sikandar Lodi . The Tower still stands tall today, along side the Iron Pillar.

Qutb Minar has many inscription on it. The inscriptions tell things from the Qur'an and it also says the names of people who worked on it or have repaired it. The Minar is a great place to see, and there is much to learn! 

Friends, I couldn't live without you guys!

Whenever I'm down or I feel sick or ill or I feel like my world is crashing down, I know there is many people I can count on my friends to cheer me up. Friends are the best things created. I always feel like I can trust them. Anytime I don't feel good I call my friends and I feel all better, its like they have a power. A power which is called Love. Their love is the strongest love out there. Their love is like our parents. they have unconditional love. Its like this for most teens or kids, they talk to their friends in a different way, they are a little bit more open to their friends than they are to their parents. They tell their parents many things it's just some things only your friends can understand. That is why friends are so important. I mean imagine life if you didn't have friends. Would you be as happy? As open to anybody? Who could you tell everything too? I mean I guess you could tell your parents, its just telling someone in your own age is a little bit easier. I CANNOT imagine a life without my buds. My friends are my everything!!!I keep as much contact as I can with all my friends. I LOVE EACH AND EVERYONE OF THEM WITH ALL MY <3 (HEART) and I TRUST EACH ONE! They are like brothers and sisters who I can really talk too! Tell everything and know that they understand everything! So, if any of my friends are reading this, I LOVE YOU SOOOOOO MUCH AND I MISS YOU GUYS! This post is dedicated to all of you! Please feel free to comment or send me an email if you loved this post! I miss you all please contact me somehow. LOVE YOU ALL!  :D its a smiley face!