It's Holi Day in India

The festival of colors are being celebrated with a 3 day weekend. On Saturday we took nearly an hour long, harrowing as usual drive to a "botanical garden". What a disappointment. Although it did feature a large & very old banyan tree, that was about it. It was no more than a large park that was not well kept. There was one small patch of flowers. We got out to stretch our legs a bit and decided we would have more fun shopping. We went to City Centre Mall which is bigger than the previous mall we had been to. Every mall and store we have been to require bag searches and metal detectors. Individual stores have security at the door. I bought some items as gifts and some stationery in Hindi, as well as a couple of Holi Day cards to remind me I was here at this time.

Last night the hotel held a Portuguese Tapas & Wine dinner by the pool featuring a band from Goa. It was a totally enjoyable time with my co-workers & fellow travelers. Besides the tapas appetizers, there was BBQ meat & fish and of course desserts. We have learned that eating fruit and vegetables at the hotel is pretty safe and we enjoy every meal that we eat here.
The folks I have been training for 2 weeks are all coming along in the class. They are mostly in their 20's and all have a college degree. There are some cultural and language problems, but they are working hard to learn and do a good job. The 4 women usually dress in a salwar-kameez (tunic & pants) set accented with a matching scarf. One young lade wears a jean jacket over her tunic. There are 8 young men in the class including the vendor trainer. They are pretty quiet and enjoy jokes and teasing. The women call me 'Mum' when they need my assistance at their computer.
We are not allowed to take pictures at the office so you won't see any images of my class.
Here is an online story about Holi:
http://www.bellevision.com/index.php?action=topnews&type=235