An Indian 21st Birthday!

My birthday was last Monday, the 20th! I turned 21 in India :) Luckily, it was a school vacation, which allowed me to do anything I wanted. Most of my friends were gone on trips, but luckily Megan, Amber, and Sarah were here to celebrate with me. The day started with skyping and opening gifts from my parents and grandparents. 8:30 began our adventure to the SPA :) Because I don't drink, I wanted to do something amazing that would be new and exciting... so I (along with Sarah, Megan, and Amber) went to the Park Hotel to enjoy a couple hours of spa treatment.

Me being a diva.

Amber, Megan, Sarah

We all sat by the pool that overlooked the largest lake in Hyderabad.

We were all pretty excited...

We choose what we each wanted and were lead into the locker room... by locker room I mean: huge jacoozi tub, steam room, rain showers, lotions, soaps, and even Q-Tips!After a good steaming in the steam room with twinkling lights in the ceiling (actually we thought we were going to die of suffocation in that room) we went to the 'relaxation room' to, well, relax until they called our names. We all had seperate rooms and our own massuse and facial person. First, I had my 'Back Rest' massage. OH WOW. . . I don't even know what to say, but WOWWW. It was grand. At one point, this little tiny lady actually climbed on top of me with her knees in my thighs and feet in my calves... It freaked me out, but I got over it quickly. This lasted 30 minutes. Next this really nice lady massaged and facial-ed my face for an hour with papaya and other stuff. It was AMAZING. This lasted a whole hour. A cup of green tea and honey was served to me before I went into the locker room again. I then took my time in taking a bath and 2 showers. It was so fantastic. :)

(Photo by: Sarah Sheehan) Me continuing my dive-ness, even after my spa treatments.

   By the time we were all ready to go, we were starving, so we got some lunch, 2 servings of ice cream, and browsed a bookstore. We took the train home, which I always find so exciting. I told this Indian woman she looked like JLo, an American movie star. She replied, "MEEEE?????!" and grinned the biggest smile I have ever witnessed. The whole rest of the way, she smiled from ear to ear. I think that was my favorite part of the day.
   As soon as I reached Tagore, I headed out again to pick up all my friends from the airport. We ate airport food and desert and they all gave me wonderful presents!!! I was so surprised and excited that they had thought of me, even while on vacation. I really have wonderful friends here. The day ended with another skyping session with Nana and Papa and Billy. A perfect ending for a magnificent day.

(Photo by: Kelly O'Brien) Me and my birthday dinner. It wasn't spaghetti and spray butter (haha, I can't believe I still eat that), but it was still delicious veg biryani :)

(Photo by: Kelly O'Brien) 2 more servings of ice cream (yay!) and a dried out piece of cake. Definitely missed Mama's carrot cake.

Because of the lack of candles to blow out after the end of the happy-birthday-song, I 'blew' out Jamie's fingers!

I can always count on this girl for a good laugh.