I have a few minutes before needing to grab the bags and head to the car to go to the airport so I thought, "hey, why not write a lil bit". I figured what better time to write about some of the interesting things I'm learning about Bangalore. Sandalwood is a major export here. We went into a government owned store that sells items that can be bought for gifts, your home, as souvenirs, you name it. Not all cities have them but I can tell you that Bangalore and Mumbai have them. Most often it's the tourist cities that will have them. Anyway, we went earlier today to one and the scent of sandalwood was astonishing inside. It smelled so lovely, a tad strong, but a nice smell to be a strong one I'd say. The level of incense in the store blew me away also. There was a counter, entire section of the store, that had so much incense in different forms from sticks to cones to sachets and more. My nose went crazy!

I also noticed, while being here this week, that there is a large Christian community. I was a little bit surprised. I didn't notice this as much while in Mumbai back in January/February. I know there are some but it seemed as though each corner had a church that was Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Assembly of God, or something else. The ones mentioned though you saw more of. There is a large Catholic community here. There are even Catholic schools and there's a Sacred Heart Church, which as anyone who is reading my blog is the name of the church I grew up going to.

Lastly there is a large military presence here. It actually makes it feel quite a bit safer. There is an aeronautics base here called HAL, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. They test and build aircrafts for military use. They even help with the building of the F18 which is a jet used by the U.S. AirForce.

I thought I'd also post a few photos on here that I took to be creative, funny or just informative. 

Alright, it's time to head out to the airport. See you soon Austin!