Shenyanigans: R&R #1!!!

Probably the best part about serving in Afghanistan is the R&Rs and RRBs (regional rest breaks). I'm serving here for one year, and I can choose to take either 3 R&Rs or 2 R&Rs + 3 RRBs. When I go on R&R, the State Department will pay for my airfare either a) back to the States, b) to London, or c) anywhere else in the world, as long as it's cheaper than the ticket to London. When I go on RRB, the State Department will pay about roughly half the amount of the R&R fare, but I'm not entirely sure how they decide the amount. Regardless, roundtrip airfare from Kabul to London is apparently ridiculously expensive, so you can pretty much go wherever you want. For my first R&R, I flew Kabul-Dubai-Hong Kong-Shanghai-Hong Kong-Mumbai-Dubai-Kabul - for free!! I still had to pay for everything else, but it's an awesome deal.

This is the single picture I took in HK. I was too busy hanging out with friends, watching movies (in the theater!), and stuffing my face with delicious western food to take any pictures.

After HK, I flew to Shanghai for a day to see some friends and eat more Mexican food.

Next up: Mumbai!!

Of course, the first ad I see in the Mumbai airport is this:

I was totally there in September last year! It's definitely Ping'an China, not India. Whatever Mumbai, I'm on to you.

I stayed with some friends at a beautiful apartment in West Bandra, with an amazing view of the Arabian Sea.

Emma, Aunnie, and me, walking along the boardwalk:

Of course, we had to get Mexican food again because it was Cinco de Mayo. The next night we all went out in downtown Mumbai, and Emma ended up sitting alone on a stool with her Kingfisher beer, which she was thrilled about. Also, my clutch makes its first blog appearance:

On our last afternoon, we walked around the hanging gardens and got mobbed by this giant extended family, who all wanted their pictures taken with us:

Cricket!

We also stopped by two Jain temples on our walk down from the hanging gardens. One was being renovated...

...while the other temple was definitely in use:

a couple more temple pictures...

and finally, to commemorate the terrible Mumbai traffic, here's an image of the totally adorable Mumbai taxis, which almost compensated for the nasty traffic situation:

Final stop: Dubai!

Of course, the first picture of Dubai has to be the indoor ski slope!

Dubai can pretty much be seen in a day or two, so my mom and I spent our third day on a trip out to the eastern part of the UAE. Here we are, somewhere in the middle:

This is the beach at Dibba, which was on the Gulf of Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz. It was beautiful, and the water was crystal clear, but waaaaay to hot to hang around for long.