For the first long weekend in May, we decided to check out Venice! We figured its not too hot in Italy yet and hopefully not too smelly in Venice either (Rahul and Sahil can tell you all about their smelly experience in Venice!) :)
Deep's Nana, Shyamji Kachra Shah, passed away late on Saturday night, April 5th in Moshi, Tanzania, where Deep's mom's entire family is from. Nana woke up late at night to go to the bathroom and felt a bit out of breath and started to perspire. Chandra Mama told him to lay down and rest a bit until he feels better and then they could walk to the bathroom together. Nana laid back down in his bed and never woke up again. He passed away very quickly and peacefully, which is what everyone would have wanted for him. He had been a bit ill off and on for the past couple of months, but it was nothing serious. Overall his health had started to slowly decline after Nani passed away in December 2006.
We would both highly recommend you all visit and 4 days is a good amount of time to spend, although 5 would have been a little less hectic. If you want any tips, just send us an email! :)
RESPONSIBILITIES: The rest of your life.
POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION: None. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you.
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE: None required unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.
WAGES AND COMPENSATION: Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left.
The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.
BENEFITS: While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered, this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth, unconditional love, and free hugs and kisses for life if you play your cards right..
FOOTNOTE: THERE IS NO RETIREMENT -- EVER!!!
** If you are fortunate enough you will become grandparents!
Thank you so much for all of your support in helping me meet my fundraising goal for the 1/2 marathon I ran! The race was this past Saturday (the 3rd), and luckily the weather wasn't as nasty as it could have been (it had been raining pretty hard the day before, but on race day there were just a few brief showers and a short stretch of rather intense wind and hard rain). I was able to finish a little ahead of my goal time, finishing in 1 hour, 56 minutes, and 53 seconds, and with all of your help I raised almost a dollar a mile to support great volunteer projects around the Bay Area. Thank you so much for your support and kind words while I was training! I've stopped feeling sore from the long run, so if any of you want to go out for a little run any time, give me a call! 
As many of you know, we travelled with Deep's parents this past December to Vietnam and Cambodia for 2 weeks. It was a fabulous trip and we would highly recommend visiting soon, before it become overrun by tourists like other parts of the region (ie. Thailand). We spent 3 days in Siem Riep, Cambodia exploring the Angkor temple complex. From there we flew to Hanoi where we spent time in town and also did a day trip to Ha Long Bay. After that we flew to Nha Trang, where we spent 5 days relaxing on a beautiful beach. Once we had recovered, we went to Hoi An for 2 days, which is a World Heritage town on the coast that has lots of character. Our final stop was 3 days in Saigon (also known as Ho Chi Minh City after the North beat the South in the war), which is the most cosmopolitan city in Vietnam
