a veritable united nations

to many people´s surprise, all of us have only known each other for 8 months or less! we decided on this trip during project management class, hence the spreadsheets. (we would have added a gantt chart if we could). at first, it was just kavitha and i, but after much cajoling, the other three were convinced to come! WOOOT! we knew that we could all get along and didn´t annoy each other, but as a result, we are just learning about each other now along the way.

everywhere we have gone as a group, we have received many confused glances. when we say that we are canadian, they ask, ¨EVERYONE? really?¨ yes, it is true. we are the united nations, as aptly described by cheryl. some of you have asked who some of the thomas, hooper, mak, gal and davda travelling companions are. below, we will detail:

arti is a cancer (which i claim represents the flakiest astrological sign, apparently) and is from calgary. WOOT! if we were to describe arti as an animal, we would assign the giraffe due to her tall and slender frame. arti and the davda family will be hosting us for the calgary stampede in 2009. MUY EXCITING! MUY THANKS IN ADVANCE! and MUY INVITING OURSELVES OVER! we also need to add that arti was a pathfinder, has her canada cord, and does garba dancing (displayed at her brothers wedding two years ago, as well as random chinese new years events).

bossmat is a sagittarius, which allegedly is the smartest astrological sign (according to cheryl, who is also a sagittarius). she grew up in thornhill. bossmat packed a lot of colourful clothing, and even brought along a pair of khaki coloured sweat pants, which we call ¨fancy pants¨. (by the way, if you saw them, you would think they are fancy too) bossmat in general is definitely the fashionista of the group. anything she wears looks good. MUY JEALOUS!

cheryl is also a sagittarius, she is muy athletic and quite good at tango steps, which reflects her figure skating background. we learned that she used to be a troublemaker in her youth (i.e. grade school) and constantly was in detentions! WHO KNEW!? cheryl is from whitby. we also learned that cheryl makes lots of pies, and we are waiting for our share of the pie. MUY PIE! cheryl has not referred to us as her friends yet, rather, referring to us as her acquaintances, peers or esteemed colleagues. we hope the next 6 weeks will change this. we feel much pressure.

heather is a taurus, and recently celebrated her 26th birthday. (sigh. muy old.) because i am writing this, i am not very neutral. i am great.

Alright, to be fair...and after reading my profile, I (Cheryl) have decided to take over.

Heather is the lightest packer, which is great for her but bad for us as we have to look at the same outfit everyday. She is also a postcard freak! It is the first destination in every new city, and often involves a long trek around the city (thanks Andy). She is by far the best at providing random peices of information, for instances, she recently told me that glass is actually a liquid, which is why in really old glass it disforms and is pushed downwards in its frame.....MUY RANDOM). Heather also have many Mak-isms....we have all started to pick them up. Lately Heather´s addiction to Dulce de Leche has been all consuming...now it is a staple at every meal (she even steals "to go" packages for the road to satisfy her random cravings).

Now back to Mak:

kavitha is a libra and is our oldest travelling buddy but youngest looking by far. (for example, the old man in rio who thought she was not of age to drink yet.) the fact that she puts her hair in braids and pig tails does not help! we have learned that kavitha was a MUY bookworm in school, and went on an exchange to australia in high school. WHAT! kavitha loves burritos, and also has 5 pairs of shoes in her bag! she also has a bright yellow rain jacket. we feel (note that girls use ¨we feel¨ so as not to appear too decisive or harsh) we need to ply kavitha with wine tonight to get some more juicy gossip to give you in a further entry. MOOOOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. to conclude, we would like to add that kavitha is often the ticket holder, because as the oldest, she is by default the most responsible.

and now, off to dinner. BON APPETIT!