After a 10 day hiatus, Eric and I are back from an amazing trip to Sri Lanka. We met up with most of my aunts, uncles, and cousins from my mom's side of the family for 5 day tour of Sri Lanka followed by one of the most amazing weddings I have ever attended. Every moment of this trip was an absolute adventure - we saw tons of Buddhist temples and shrines, climbed 2000 stairs to the top of castle built on top of a rock, enjoyed cultural dances, learned all about tea processing, explored a live fort city, and even learned and performed a Bollywoood dance!
Of all the crazy conversations and antics that occurred on our trip, one of the highlights for me was the night that all my cousins decided to try and guess the name of our baby. As usual, we had arrived at our hotel really late and didn't start dinner until almost 9 PM. However, being the loud, vivacious group that we are, we ended up talking until the wee hours of the morning and the topic of choice was the name for our son. We gave everyone the same information that we gave my parents - the initials are ZAS, the name is a unique name, and one that I had never heard before. Apparently that leaves lots of options and by the end of the night, we had guesses coming straight from D'ua, names of Imams, and even some words that are used as blessings.We were so loud that the next morning at breakfast, a couple came up to Eric to comment on the discussion and how they were going to through out some names the night before, but felt it might have been inappropriate. In any case, no one guessed the name...so y'all still have a little less than 4 months to keep guessing:P We did however, come up with a nickname for LGR that might be more appropriate since he clearer is much larger than a grain of rice. So thanks to our cousins and brothers we've now started calling him Little Z in addition to LGR:)
Now the other highlight of the trip was of course, Shad and Leshika's wedding (or as we like to call them, Shadika).The whole time we had been on tour, it rained and we were worried that it would rain for the wedding. However, we lucked out big time, and once we arrived in Galle, it was nothing but sunshine! The Mehndi was so much fun - the whole place was decorated in oranges and fushia with tons of gorgeous lighting, good food and good music. Leshika looked absolutely stunning in her lengha and Shad didn't look too shabby either in a Sherwani. I think one of the best parts of the night was when we performed our dance for the happy couple. Shad wanted us to surprise Leshika with a dance, so all the cousins (including Eric) came together to choreograph and perform a bollywood medley. Sadia, being the dance major/instructor that she is, cut all the music and led the valiant effort to get a group of 7 guys, 3 girls, and 2 little girls to perform a kick-butt routine. With only 1 real practice under our belt before the performance, we were a little worried that we were going to embarass ourselves (especially since some of Shad's friends had hired a bollywood dancer to teach them a routine!), but luckily we did quite well and ended up partying until 2 a.m .thanks to the amazing DJ (For those that are interested, we got a video on Eric's camera that I'll post to Picasa or facebook in a couple days:P).
The wedding itself was even more incredible than the Mehndi. The backdrop was a gorgeous beach at sunset, with spotlights illuminating the ocean's waves and sand. The ceremony was beautiful and touching and seeing the way Shad and Leshika looked at each other just reminded me so much of our wedding and all the emotions we felt that day. Leshika's lengha really blew my mind - it was the right mix of contemporary and traditional and fit her and the mood perfectly. The food at the wedding was really amazing as well - my favorites were the dessert buffet and the late night paratha's, sooo good after a full night of dancing. The music was also incredible - it was like partying in the best club, but outside and without the overcrowding. It was so good that we ended up partying until 3:00 AM (and I was fully awake, and dancing until we left all without a drop of alcohol!). Probably one of the best new year's eve parties I've ever been to, hands down!
Also, another exciting highlight of the wedding day/night itself was that Eric got to feel the baby move for the first time! I'm not sure if it was all the dancing or the loud music or what, but Little Z decided that it was finally time for Daddy to feel some movement. He's also been waay more active since the wedding and I actually saw my belly move when he kicked for the first time! I'm also feeling him much more throughout the day and I am really really liking that:) All in all it was an amazing vacation, and I'm so glad that we were able to go and celebrate with everyone. Shad and Leshika did an amazing job planning everything and making sure we all had a memorable trip, and I couldn't be happier that we all got to share in their special day together - it was the best way I could think of to start out the new year:)
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