I finished planting my parents vegetable garden with just
enough time to take a shower, eat some spaghetti and Asparagus my Mom made for
me. Tom and Edwina stopped over to
say goodbye, and we took some pictures in the backyard. Some with my hair down, just in case I
shave my head.
My flight was at 830pm, and Etihad Airlines recommended getting to the airport
3 hours early. That meant we
had to leave at 400pm in order to account for the potential mind-bending
traffic we experienced the day before coming from Midway back to the house in
Lincoln Square.
I heard many complaints from my family about the impact of the NATO Summit on
Chicago traffic, businesses, and even jobs. It sounded like this was turning into a springtime snow
day. Or snow week. And, everyone was concerned with the
protesters, and how widespread the damage from them will be.
It’s not like the planners could have picked a more celestially foreboding
weekend to have this event.
Knowing full well that dozens, or hundreds, or thousands of protesters
were potentially going be in the streets around the most powerful army on the
planet when the Moon eclipses the Sun – boy you couldn’t get a B-Movie SciFid
drama than this. If it ain’t the
Anarchists with bags of feces, stored for days in warehouses near places the
police were expected to be en mass, it’s Transformer Aliens screaming in from
above blowing the city to smithereens.
We got into my father’s Oldsmobile.
No really, he’s got a late 90s Olds. Sweet ride. And, we drove up Foster. Surprisingly, no traffic. And, not much on the Kennedy
either. Even after having left
late at 415pm, we still managed to navigate to the International Terminal at
O’Hare by 500pm. I can’t tell you
the peace it brings me to be early when deadlines are involved.
My Dad recommended a SmartCart to roll my two bags of luggage in. Great idea. Got into the Etihad line, and they weighed my carry on. Apparently only 7 kilos are allowed for
the carry-on. Unless you have a
laptop, and no extra bag for the computer, then you get a bonus 4 kilos. I squeaked in at 10.5 kilos, and got my
carry-on approval tag.
This airline is rated #1 in the world, and I felt like it was a 21st
Century version of the 1950s - Muslim style. Everyone who worked for the airline was young and
beautiful. I mean like made up to
be on stage or something. And
super super friendly and helpful.
I mean, the type of helpful you don’t have to barter for. The kind that is offered to you as
though you have an in with them.
I was 2nd in line when they put an extra person at the counter so I
didn’t have to wait. The checking
of bags and security questions were the ones we used to hear a few yeara
ago. You know, about having your
own bag, not accepting gifts from anyone, etc.
Security was right around the corner, but as I walked up, looking at the
Brookstone to the right, I realized that I had a 3-prong Apple cord, and my
2-prong was in my checked luggage. So, I diverted into the store, and got an education from the
super-nice dude at the counter. I
mean, gave me a demo of the adapter I already had in my bag that already did
what I was concerned about.
Perfect. Back out to the security
line 20 feet past the store. There
were just three lines, and I went with my porto-pottie festival logic and went for
the middle line.
Bad move.
So, the middle line shared an agent with the right
line. It was going smooth until I
was the next person in line. A
7-person family with kids aging maybe 4-14 came up to check in. The Dad and the oldest son were
selected for extra security. Uh-oh.
Mom looked a bit stressed. I would
imagine being separated from the Dad, and having to keep the 4 youngest ones
corralled while going through airport security would be a nightmare.
But, they weren’t
These things are the modern equivalent of having a meeting spot when you go to
the amusement park in case anyone gets lost. You have to really plan ahead and have contingencies. In reality, this family had planned
ahead, and both the parents and children looked as though they had previously
had a dress rehearsal. Dad
had to sort through the 7 passports in his hand to give the rest of the family
theirs.
While they sorted that out, I was in limbo. Another agent had to come to personally escort Dad and Son
#1 away for personal service. The
line to the left of me also generated an extra security situation. And, the guy felt singled out and started
complaining immediately.
I was the only white guy in the middle of a few dozen people that were either
Indian or Muslim, with the hijabs and colorful dresses making it fairly obvious
which were which. It felt like a
Seinfeld where instead of the one high profile guy holding up the line, it was
like nothing but high profile. No
wonder they recommended 3 hours.
But, eventually I sailed through. The
temporary logjam broke, and the passenger flow went back to normal. I was at the gate 3 hours before
liftoff.
As I walked up to the gate area, it was obvious there was a row of people who
weren’t like the others. All of
them were long-haired folks who weren’t just posers. These were real rock and rollers. Old school. I
had to find an outlet to boot up my computer for some final check-ins and
business, and there were scarce unused outlets.
I looked on the other side of the hallway, and there was a big guy with long
brown hair in a ponytail halfway down his back and a tuft of gray in his beard
wired to the wall. Looked like
just one cord, so I scooted over and verified the open plug beneath his. He offered to plug mine in and wrap the
cord around his back so I could sit next to him. I was with my peeps.
I had an interview with a publication to discuss the history and wonderment of
Pet Fountains. Yes, I know it
sounds like a 2-minute conversation to most, but I managed to have a 1-hour
conversation. I actually enjoyed
it, but that was the first impression I gave to him.
When I got off the phone, we introduced each other. He was Jeff, and yes, in fact, they were old school Rock and
Rollers. He was playing in the
Bobby Whitlock Band. He was Eric
Clapton’s other song-writing half in Derek and the Dominoes.
It’s weird to look up someone’s wikipedia page to verify who they are while
they sit 25 feet from you. Wife
and all.
Holy shit.
So, the Celestine guy that I am, I see that this flight wasn’t just random, but
apparently was one of these non-coincidences.
Unfortunately, I had left till last minute the tasks of calling in to my credit
card companies to let them know I would be in India for 3-1/2 weeks. So, most of my time was spent
overcoming automation with repeated commands for “human”, “agent”, or “a real
freaking person” if it went on long enough.
I just had to tell them I will be I India till June 4, and don’t lock up my
credit cards on me. Please. The hilarious part was talking to
customer service people in India, who, once on the phone, were quite excited I
was coming to see their country.
Craziest century ever. I
have to call India to warn the company I am doing business with who thinks it’s
perfectly satisfactory to have people from India answer my call, are suspicious
if they see my card actually used there.
So, I had just enough time to have
a conversation with Deb that started in the waiting area, and then through
5-levels of boarding verification and security that included a K9 unit guy
walking the guideway to the plane with a big German Sheppard.
When I boarded the plane, it immediately felt like I was in another world. There were subtle signs, like the fact
that English was always subtext in anything printed. But, all the women had the same
pulled-back-into-a-rock-solid-bun look..
With perfectly tilted cute hats, and a hijab that was wrapped around the
side of the face to please the arabs, while not freaking out the
Westerners.
I was put into the back of the plane on purpose. When I changed my flight, I spoke to Etihad on the phone,
and the girl offered up the advice about the best seating. She asked me my preference, and I said
I didn’t care – Window. She warned
me that then I would have to climb over people to go to the bathroom. I immediately responded that at least
people wouldn’t be climbing over me.
She recommended the back of the plane, because there are often open seats and
sometimes you can lay down. Cool,
back of the bus it is. As I walked
down the right aisle of the Boing 777, I got to the 4th section for
the commoners known as “Coral”.
Coral is nice. Not Pearl or
anything, but still, I like Coral.
I noticed that Bobby Whitlock and his wife are sitting just a few rows in front
of me. And, the rest of the band
is scatterned rows all in my section.
The guy I met, Jeff, was across the plane, but eventually moved across
the aisle from me. And, I had an
open seat until Areesh showed up.
Just a good looking clean cut 20-something on his way back from Chicago.
Upon sitting down, I noticed the amazing electronics on the back of every
seat. Not only was there a
touch-kscreen as big as an iPad, but there was a removable remote control with
a mini-keyboard on the back. Oh,
and to the right of that was a USB port, and then a Universal electrical
outlet. All that freaking out
about being able to connect and have power, and I could just plug right in.
The sun set as the plane boarded.
I was told early to shut off my phone, and I decided not to confront
them about the unlikely possibility.
I think they had a much better handle on the odds.
So, I started reading my book, Plan of Chicago as we finished boarding. This continued through taxi and
takeoff. I got through 40 pages
pretty quick. Then, the first meal
arrived.
Mine came early, because I had the special gluten-free meal. I remember the days when special orders
had to basically wait until everyone else was done eating till it finally came
out of the kitchen.
The food was really good. A nice
salad with Italian dressing. Then,
carrots in a butter sauce. And,
finally a mini-tray with chicken and mixed veggies in a tomato-based sauce. I didn’t save the menu. Oh yeah, they handed out menus first,
even though there were no real choices.
I was stuck reading for the next hour as they delivered meals to everyone else
on the plane. I wanted to work on
writing my book, but the tray needed to go somewhere. With the person in front of me going into super-sprawl mode,
there just wasn’t the room in front of me to put it anywhere else.
So, after a while I navigated my tray to me feet, and decided to use the
interim time to learn the computer system. There were TV shows and Movies of all varieties. I mean ones us Americans never
see. Middle Eastern shows, Indian
TV shows. Even Korean and
Japanese.
The flight attendants speak every language. I mean languages the average American doesn’t even know
exists. So, you can see this airline
is truly a World airline. They
know their customers, and how to make everyone feel welcome on the same plane.
So, poking around the computer system, I found that not only do they show you
were you are on a map, with options to see a hemisphere or a relatively local
map, but they also have live
cameras. You can see the pilot’s
view as well as the ground below on your TV screen. So everyone can keep their windows closed. I didn’t calculate that after an 830pm
sunset, there would be a midnight sunrise over Canada. The map showed our rout
would go nearly over Greenland and Iceland, and then back across Ireland,
England, Brussels, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Turkey and eventually
Iraq.
After finding the camera, I used the rest of my time to see how good the
computer was at Chess. My friend
Jay, who I was going to visit, said he was a good Chess player. I play backgammon much better than
Chess. So, I anticipated that we’d
play a few rounds while I visited.
But, for some reason, when I loaded Chess into the system, the button
necessary to select a position to drop your piece wouldn’t work. So, I tried backgammon, and that game
worked.
The computer opponent sucked at backgammon. I won 15 straight points in a row. Arguably I should have quit quickly after realizing the
inferiority of the logic used for the “hard” setting, the highest setting. But, because the computer sucked so
bad, I wasn’t satisfied with just Gammoning the computer, I wanted to Backgammon
the computer. I was so close so
many times, including the 3 Gammons I had in the bag. Areesh was even rooting for me when we landed in Abu Dhabi,
but I could not finish my slam dunk Backgammon because every time the flight
attendant would make an announcement, it would freeze the game.
But, eventually I put in an epic writing session, cranking out 16 pages of
content for my book. Instant
Carpal Tunnel had me rubbing my numb wrists at the end.
The flight had non-stop food.
After the dinner was an amazing Mousse Dessert with coffee. But, just an hour later, they had
another dessert. A Klondike Bar,
no less. And, 2 hours after that,
there was a sandwich too. I
watched the time go by in US Central Time, and the sandwich amounted to raiding
the fridge in the middle of the night.
But, that wasn’t all. Around 6am,
the food carts come out one final time to deliver . . . Enchiladas. I love Mexican food, even for
breakfast. And, this one was quite
tasty, with a chunky tomato pico all over it.
I mean, the term “airline food” makes some shudder, but I can say that I will
honestly remember the food I had on this flight.
Getting off the plane in Abu Dhabi, I could see the colorful
artistic architecture welcoming me into a huge circular room, with retail
stores and restaurants encircling the flowerlike center column. I quickly found a table and a glass of
wine. I had just seen my second
sunset in less than 14 hours, and while it was morning back in Colorado, I felt
no better time than the present to slip into the current time zone. And, maybe
trigger some elusive plane sleep.
I settled into the café, and opened my laptop to talk with Deb on Skype. It makes being away so much
easier. Hearing the voice of the
one you love is one thing, but seeing their beautiful face just takes it to another
level. I turned the laptop around
so she could see the beautiful architecture.
Then, I noticed that the band was sitting in lounge chairs right in front of
me. After finishing up with Deb, I
walked over to them and chatted for a bit about the concert they are headlining
on Saturday. I told them about my
plans to shave my head that day, and they were all like “Noooooo, we love
long-haired people! Come see us
all play instead.”
So tempting.
As I’ve contemplated shaving my head, I’ve given many people important to me a
chance to weigh in. Many have
encouraged me, and pointed out what a special opportunity it is. A few have had a reaction of shock and
perhaps doubt that I would follow through.
I even had an offer from my Lakota Indian friends last week to save me the
money, and shave it for me.
Warfield asked me why I was going to India, and I mentioned shaving my
head as part of the motivation. I
talked to him and Shiloh about why I felt it was part of the path I had chosen,
and was aligned with my commitments to follow that path. Shiloh came out of the bathroom in
their hotel room with an electric buzz clipper in his hand and said “I can save
you a few thousand dollars and do this for you right now.”
It was humorous, but it was an effective way to deliver the point. It’s not about a stunt to shock my
friends. This is a spiritual
practice, and without the respect for the practice, the benefits of the prayers
and intentions that go along with it are unlikely to manifest. Spiritual advisors often give the best
advice through humor, and I’ve learned to listen closely for that advice from
Warfield and Shiloh.
At this point in the journey, I’ll just say it’s one of these things I’ll have
to think hard about. Music is such
an important part of my life. It’s
hard to imagine not going to see this band play in Bangalore, but at the same
time, my friend Jay and his family have to be considered. I may be able to zig-zag on a whim, but
their time and schedule have to be considered as well.
The right answer will come, and what is supposed to be will happen.
So, the band and I parted ways, each destined for a different city in
India. I boarded the much smaller
and more regular aircraft going to Hyderabad. I was in the middle of the plane, and most were seated
before I boarded. Apparently, when
getting in line in India, cutting in front of others isn’t inappropriate. There was a long gray-haired gentleman
who started out next to me in line, but boarded at least 30 people in front of
me.
As I walked up the aisle, I got my first taste of the warmth of the
people. Those seated looking
forward looked me straight into the eye.
I am the type who was not originally comfortable with long eye contact
with strangers. I think I treated
it as though someone was peeking in your window. It’s not bad, as you are walking by a window to casually
glance for a second, but to stop, put your arms on the sill, and stare into the
window to see what is inside is just not appropriate. And, if the owner caught you, you’d be embarrassed and look
away and move on.
Here, instead of being embarrassed, the owner comes to the door and lets you in
with a wide smile, thanking you for looking in the window. Meanwhile, they return the sentiment by
looking in your window too. Silent
wordless introductions and mental embraces.
There was a difference too in the demeanor of the people. I’ve been on many flights, and while
there are sometimes groups who all know one another, most of the time it’s
people flying solo, couples, and then those who may have children. On this flight, there were tons of
kids. I mean, probably 20% of the
flight was kids. And, while the
adults didn’t all know one another, it was obvious that everyone was
comfortable with strangers, and you could see the conversations flowed easily
as people put luggage in the overhead, and navigated around one another to
their seats. Many smiles, many
laughs. And, the kids all looked
at ease.
The nearly 4-hour flight was fairly standard. The meal was just as good as from the first flight on a
bigger plane. Proving to me that
US Airlines could provide the same service if they wanted. This was just an Airbus 318, which I’ve
flown many times in the US. It’s
not the plane, its what they put in the plane.
I learned to use my time away from my laptop writing to try to slay the
Backgammon Computer dragon again.
Chess was disabled on this flight too. Must have been some network software error. It took another 5 games, but I finally
Backgammoned the computer, and retired with a 20-0 record. I felt fully capable of crushing Jay if
he let me play Backgammon. For
chess, on the other hand, I would be a bit unpracticed.
As we entered final approach, I decided I had to have
music. They didn’t seem to be
electronics nazis on this plane, so I kept my headphones in my ears, and
pressed play on my iPod. I had
been listening to the February 12th Widespread Panic show from this
year in Denver.
I looked out the window into the night sky, seeing the lights of Hyderabad below. For such a huge city, I expected it to
be brighter, like Chicago, blazing like a hot fire on the ground below. Instead, it was more like Chicago
around 1980 when they started to convert to the pink argon lights. Bright spots, but many softer bluish
glows around the peremeter. With
lots of dark spots in between. A
city of 9 million or so, perhaps, but it didn’t’ seem like everyone had the
benefit of well-lit streets.
As we approached the runway, I had forgotten the show had Jimmy Cliff’s “Many
Rivers to Cross” in the encore. A
huge wave of emotion came over me.
I had heard the song in Mexico with Panic just the week before, so I got
to know the song, and look up the lyrics.
While standing on the beach in Mexico, I had thought about what this Hiatus
year without Panic would bring into my life. I thought, this is the year to do something big. Something really big. To go for it, and not just proverbally.
I never imagined going to India.
And, that was just 3 months ago.
On a trip where I am writing about being apart, and then coming back to the
love of my life, hearing this song as I landed in India just seemed
perfect. There are no
coincidences.
The next song to play was The Rolling Stones “You Can’t Always Get What You
Want”, and I think for my Panic friends, the concept that the soundtrack for my
journey was playing will resonate.
It is a moment I will never forget.
Getting up to leave, I saw my friend Hareesh from the first flight, and gave
him my business card. It took him
3 attempts for me to get his name right.
Areesh. Hasheesh. Oh, roll the R, with a slight H at the
beginning. I have a hard enough
time remembering names as it is. I
fear butchering the name of everyone I meet.
Once off the plane, the Customs was fairly standard. I turned over my documents, and the agent asked for the
address where I was staying. He
wasn’t going to accept “at my friend Jay’s house”. I tried ringing Jay.
He was in Istanbul, and while it was nearly 4am locally, it was probably
even earlier in the night where he was.
No answer.
I called his assistant, MSK, who was to be arranging my pick up at the
airport. I hesitated about waking
him in the middle of the night.
But, he answered right away.
He said he would text me the address. I was put to the side of the agent, as he let other people
play through.
After 10 minutes, no text. I had
been trying to pull up an email with the info, but no luck. So, I tested to see whether my phone
would be able to use Internet, and sent an AIM message to Deb, who pinged back
promptly. I had to guide her to
“that folder in the bottom drawer in my office”, which took her a few minutes
to translate into the answer. I
filled out my form, and was quickly passed through. I was hoping not to miss my bags coming out. I wasn’t really afraid of theft, but I
would just be more comfortable not having my 2 purple bags spinning around and
around on the carousel tempting anyone.
So, I walked down the hallway, and noticed everyone going to a Currency
Kiosk. After waiting in a short
line, I pulled out $200 to change over.
Figured that was a good start.
The guy said incredulously, “That is all you want?”
I said, well, I didn’t think I need that much cash to start. He pointed out that it was kind of like
duty-free, as there weren’t the same fees at other exchanges. He recommended $5000. I had to inform him, somewhat
embarrassingly, I don’t have $5000 to exchange. But, what he said made sense. So, I pulled out my stash of $100 bills, and gave him most
of my cash - $1000. He asked me
again if I was sure this was all I wanted. Yes, I was sure.
So, from behind the counter, he pulls out a stack of cash wrapped in a bundle
like it was a drug deal or something.
I mean like 4-5” thick.
“Here you go, 49,000 Rupees.”
I said sarcastically, “Oh, that’s it?”
No, there was small change too.
Nearly 50,000 Rupees. You
couldn’t even fold this stack in half to put in your pocked. Great, now I had changed my money into
the convenient Rupee, and could correctly answer the question: Are you happy to
see me, or is that 50,000 Rupees in your pocket?
By the time I got to the baggage carousel, I was surprised to see everyone on
the plane there still waiting. My
friend Jay had told me about how people in India have a high tolerance for
inconvenience. You learn to
wait. A lot.
So, I got myself a SmartCart, free at this airport vs. $4 at O’Hare, and made a
recliner with my carry-on bag.
After 15 minutes, the bags were still not coming. Then, 4 airport workers climbed up on
the carousel, and then started going down the ramp to where the bags should
have been emerging. Yep, this
wasn’t going well.
They handed up 10 or more bags, and then climbed out. Problem solved.
The automatic machinery fired up, and my bags came out fully intact. One last Xray of my carry-on, and I was
green-lighted to leave the airport.
Welcome to India.
Suresh was waiting for me with a placard with my name on it. The airport is open-aired under a very
high roof. But, Suresh was allowed
to park at the curb, and walk over to get me. He probably had to wait an extra 45 minutes, but nobody made
him do laps.
It was a little weird getting into the left side of the vehicle as a passenger,
but less weird that driving on the left.
I had limited experience in Europe, and that was more than 14 years
ago. But, that wasn’t even the
scary part. Apparently, everyone
is encouraged to use their horn while driving. Like, all the time. What would
probably earn you a road-rage ticket in the US, by getting up on someone’s ass,
flashing your lights, and aggressively honking your horn is not only normal,
but ALL the trucks have signs on the back saying “honk horn” or something to
that effect.
The roads from the airport were like a highway. Like, meaning they were paved and had dotted lines. But, there were a few interchanges that
were, let’s say, incomplete. It
was a bit like a highway designed by Mad Max.
And, driving in the lanes is merely a suggestion. An ignored suggestion at that. Most I saw were driving ON the dotted lines. Which, if you had been brought up that
way, might make sense, actually.
But, spacing and distance were all relative, and the honking made people
dart and swerve around one another.
Many curves in the unlit roads made each passing move interesting,
particularly because there were also all sorts of people, bikes, mopeds, and
motorized 3-wheel carts, all moving at different velocities. Or, just standing there not moving at
all. At 430am. Seriously, there were people everywhere.
We pulled into Jay’s residence in time for the morning light to come up, and I
took a walk around the grounds before going to bed for a few hours. I had seen photos, but this place was
really something special. I looked
over the wall of his house onto the slums that had been built below in the past
10 years. I could see clotheslines
on roofs, and now dozens of people going about their morning routines dirt
streets that were simply the spaces between their unparallel buildings,
lean-to’s, and other dwellings below.
Here was this amazing Gaudi-inspired structure, and the unfinished
top-floors of the slums below were looking to eclipse the view.
I fell asleep quickly. Jay’s plane from Istanbul would be arriving in a few hours. I settled into my first dreams in India. Or, maybe this was all a dream.
|
Garden awaits renewal |
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Dad likes to sift out the roots and other large stuff from the soil |
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Thyme, Rosemary, and Sweet Basil in the foreground |
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Tomatoes are planted |
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Approved |
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From the porch |
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The flowers take up the rest of the garden |
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This should look different when I get back from India |
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My Mom and I |
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Mom & Dad |
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Now you can see us |
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Edwina jumps in |
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With Tommy and Edwinna
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Exiting the Jetway |
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Stunning Architecture |
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Shops and restaurants around the perimeter |
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See all the tiles? |
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Note to US Airports: Add Loungers! |
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First Sunrise in India
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And right over the edge of the property is . . . |
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Jay: This was to be greenspace |
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The Garden |
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The Pool |
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Stairway from the patio overlooking the Garden |
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Jay's office over to the left, overlooking the pool and garden |
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The J-Pod |
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Inspired by Gaudi from Barcelona |
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Looks like a place for a wedding! |
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The Rose Garden
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