Yellow Underwear

The colour yellow, and underwear are apparently very lucky symbols in Peru. I am back in Lima (for just one night) before I continue to Northern Peru, and the hostel had a New Year's party. The owners, Christian and Pedro invited some of their friends and the other hostel residents to an effectively authentic Peruvian New Year's party - less the fireworks.

Lima itself is very different on the 31st and 1st - the streets are deserted and most shops are closed or close early (on 31st). From a bustling city to almost a deserted city - the effect is surreal.

The party itself was very interesting. The hostel residents weren't too many (it is a small hostel) - two American girls on a school trip, a young couple (Australian guy on the end of his gap year, English girl at the beginning of an effectively gap year) and the Peruvians.

Peruvians really enjoy a party and fireworks. As the clock struck 12, fireworks explored all around - not some central organised effort, but like Christmas Eve in Cusco, individuals doing their own display. Lound music, dancing, good food and great people - definitely a much better party than 2007!

So, Felix Ano 2008!

Trailer Park Lynching

That was the theme for our house warming party (and incidentally, our housemate Donal's birthday). And although not many people (including, I am ashamed to say, the hosts) dressed up - the party itself was a great success. A whole lot of people pitched up, and counting the number of people who had a bit too much to drink, most seemed to have enjoyed themselves. My new place, is simply a great spot to host parties; and it showed. A special mention must be made of Sara who definitely had the best costume. I would post a picture, but I am afraid I could be lynched ... .so if Sara is brave enough, she can post one on her blog :p

Gatecrashed

Tim and Murray had a braai on Friday night, with the occasion apparently being Tim's graduation (he graduates on Monday, so congrats to him!) and end of Murray's exams. Anyway, excuses are rarely required for a social occasion, right?

Anyway, there was a strange gatecrashing event ... which was very interesting. One of the guys at the party (sorry don't remember his name) wanted to meet up with a friend and her party, and Tim just asked him to invite them over. And so they came - a party consisting of two Americans (including the friend), a South African (also the owner of Butlers) and a Canadian of Japanese decent, who now lives in Japan.

Anyway, Mr. James Nakagawa (call me Jamie) and one of the Americans were attending the Diabetes conference at the Cape Town Convention centre, and Jamie, is the CEO of an IT firm, Lifewatcher.com, which specialises in delivering medical information on mobile phones. From things like reminding people to take drugs, to some really cool ideas (that I have previously read of) like: taking a photo of a meal, and getting an approximate estimation of calories and other important information (like, do not eat - too much sugar content for your diabetes condition). And we had an interesting conversation on the backward mobile technology in the USA to image rendering of X-Rays on mobile phones. Many of the projects are similar to some of the projects in the CVC lab (like Andrew or Marshini's telemedicine project) but what was most striking for me, was how true six degrees of separation seems to be.

Wedding Bells

Not mine - but this weekend was Jason (Brickhill) and Melanie's wedding. It is very weird to see your friends getting married - although to be honest, this was a wedding that was foretold a long time ago.

It started off with an interesting bachelors party for Jason - he was dressed up as a boxer (with the words "The Champ" on the back) and we hit Long street after dinner at Newscafe in Greenpoint. While I do have lots of photos of the night, I think for my own safety, I will not publish them online ... it's best not to rile up lawyers too much ;)

The wedding itself was interesting for me, simply because I have never been to a western/Christian wedding before, and there are some big differences to a traditional Hindu wedding. For starters, there is the issue of time - traditional Hindu wedding ceremonies take about a week at least, with at least 2 major ceremonies - one at the bride's house and the other at the groom's house. Then there is the food - Indian weddings are usually all about food. No really, most people I know end up judging how good the wedding was on the quantity and quality of the food. This is in no ways a criticism of the quality of food at Jason and Mel's wedding - the food was excellent - but the differences are interesting none the less.

But in the end, there is a lot of cultural differences in weddings, and not just the issue of arranged marriages. Traditional Indian weddings are major celebrations, carefully planned according to the astrologers, involving numerous "aunties" and a big hole in the bank account. They are effectively the social event of the year for the extended family - and the extended family is a big thing for most Indians.

On that note - a last bit about future wedding possibilities - Megan Butler caught the bride's bouquet (not sure what the proper term is) ...