About a week or so ago, a farewell dinner was arranged with the doctors that I travel with each week back and forth from Calicut. It was a memory I will cherish. One of the best "India" nights I have had. We made plans to stop at the mall to test out an all you can eat buffet while driving home from the hospital in Perinthalmanna. One of the doctors needed to run home to feed her kids before meeting us, so five of us walked around the mall for a bit while we waited for her to come back. As we walked around, we wandered up to the top floor which has a food court and arcade. On the opposite side, we saw a small theatre that claimed to have a "ride" that was 12D! Dr. Manish, who I absolutely love joking around with, heavily questioned the ride employees demanding to know how it was possible to have a show that was 12D. He wanted to know all 12 dimensions and I stood there laughing as they explained to him what he'd experience. After intently listening to all they had to say, he turned to me and said, 'Well, Michelle...what do you think? Should we do it?" I started laughing and said, "Well, why not? We might as well...we have time to kill and it's only 150 rupees (which is the equivalent of about 3 dollars). So I asked him if we should check with everyone else and they all agreed to come go with us on this ride.
We stepped in and sat in this simulator style 8 person chair thing and we were all given a tissue. I was wondering what the heck that was for but I soon found out as I sat down and the seats were a bit damp. We then proceeded to put on our 3D glasses and the ride began. It was absolutely hilarious with twists and turns and broken roller coaster type adventure. As we went off the beaten path, we sloshed through swamps, ran into giant cobras, almost got eaten by a crocodile and plunged down waterfalls. It was fairly realistic with sprays of water, jerky movements, 3D images, bubbles and a machine that bumped us on the tush each time we hit a bump. At first, I thought one of the doctors sitting behind me was kicking my chair and almost told him to stop lol. We screamed and laughed like a bunch of teenagers and all I could think was that here I am with 5 grown up Indian men, surgeons mind you, and we are acting like we're at Disneyland for the first time hahaha!
After our thrilling adventure, we headed to dinner and met our other friend. As we stepped into the restaurant, the first question out of Dr. Manish's mouth was, "Is there any kind of time limit?" We spent the next two and a half hours eating to our hearts content and then some, and cracked jokes the entire time. They were absolutely the best crowd to enjoy the buffet with and I had so much fun. Even the staff and manager visited our table frequently because they could tell we were enjoying ourselves to the full. I've never seen a person eat as much as Dr. Manish put away that night and he practically fell asleep at the table before we left. It was quite a feat...but he claimed he didn't want any dishes to be crying that he didn't give them a fair chance and try them all. LOL! I told them all at the end of the evening how grateful I was that they invited me in and made me a part of their lives this year. We all talked about the many wonderful laughs and memories we shared in the car rides each week and I was filled with such a thankfulness that lasted well into the week. I give thanks to God for allowing me to have actual true friends here and for the beauty I've come to appreciate along this journey that has not always been easy...in fact one of the most challenging things I've ever done. I head home in just a few weeks and I've been incredibly reflective, taking in all that this country of beauty, chaos and mystery has to offer.
We stepped in and sat in this simulator style 8 person chair thing and we were all given a tissue. I was wondering what the heck that was for but I soon found out as I sat down and the seats were a bit damp. We then proceeded to put on our 3D glasses and the ride began. It was absolutely hilarious with twists and turns and broken roller coaster type adventure. As we went off the beaten path, we sloshed through swamps, ran into giant cobras, almost got eaten by a crocodile and plunged down waterfalls. It was fairly realistic with sprays of water, jerky movements, 3D images, bubbles and a machine that bumped us on the tush each time we hit a bump. At first, I thought one of the doctors sitting behind me was kicking my chair and almost told him to stop lol. We screamed and laughed like a bunch of teenagers and all I could think was that here I am with 5 grown up Indian men, surgeons mind you, and we are acting like we're at Disneyland for the first time hahaha!
After our thrilling adventure, we headed to dinner and met our other friend. As we stepped into the restaurant, the first question out of Dr. Manish's mouth was, "Is there any kind of time limit?" We spent the next two and a half hours eating to our hearts content and then some, and cracked jokes the entire time. They were absolutely the best crowd to enjoy the buffet with and I had so much fun. Even the staff and manager visited our table frequently because they could tell we were enjoying ourselves to the full. I've never seen a person eat as much as Dr. Manish put away that night and he practically fell asleep at the table before we left. It was quite a feat...but he claimed he didn't want any dishes to be crying that he didn't give them a fair chance and try them all. LOL! I told them all at the end of the evening how grateful I was that they invited me in and made me a part of their lives this year. We all talked about the many wonderful laughs and memories we shared in the car rides each week and I was filled with such a thankfulness that lasted well into the week. I give thanks to God for allowing me to have actual true friends here and for the beauty I've come to appreciate along this journey that has not always been easy...in fact one of the most challenging things I've ever done. I head home in just a few weeks and I've been incredibly reflective, taking in all that this country of beauty, chaos and mystery has to offer.
