Good Bye and Good Riddance!

As we prepare to leave India after two years, I wanted to note the impressions I have formed while being here. Since I always like to end on a positive note, I'll start with the good riddances: things I hope I NEVER encounter again:

GOOD RIDDANCE TO:
"Public" bathrooms (as in on the side of the road!)
Blowing snot onto the sidewalk
Mangy dogs and worse
Chilies in ANY form
Rotting garbage
Reading frequent newspaper articles about caste discrimination
"Self-immolation"
Beggars---esp. "fake" ones
Honking horns
Songs blasting on the PA system in the street
Locking cabinets when staff comes in.
Reading or seeing the morning paper and wanting to hurl breakfast. (some things are better left unsaid)
Seeing men whose legs are skinnier than my arms and not knowing what to do about it.

And now to the goodbyes: things or people I have come to truly appreciate in the this crazy yet amazing country:

GOOD BYE TO:
Indian smiles
Beautiful saris
Asian travel
Priya, Elu and Raj - our housekeeper and drivers
AISC school
Best and cheapest massages in the world
Farid's amazing office and staff
And mostly--- wonderful friends from around the world---you know who you are. Please stay in touch and you're welcome in Kentucky anytime!

All that being said, I have to say India is a wonderful, amazing and often mystifying place and I'm grateful that my family was able to have this experience. I'm "looking forward to looking back" on this time in my family's life!

Jane Goodall

Several weeks ago we were invited to attend a fundraiser with the featured speaker being the world-famous Jane Goodall. I remember as a child seeing her documentaries and being fascinated that a woman could actually go live in the jungle among chimpanzees for months at a time! Most of what we now know about chimpanzees comes from her studies. We had the opportunity to have our picture made and get her autograph before she spoke and introduced one of her early documentaries. It was really eye-opening for Emma especially. Afterward she took questions from the audience. It was an unforgettable evening!
for more info check out her website:

http://www.janegoodall.org/default.asp

Strike up the bandh!

No the title is not a typo. Here in India a "bandh" IS a strike! Those of us who have lived here very long are pretty unfazed by these fairly frequent events. We just know to stay home or at least not go into the city since either stores and offices will be closed or traffic will be total chaos! Either way, I don't need much incentive to stay put in my house. Last Thursday there was a strike in support of the Tamil refugees so all transportation was out. No trains, buses, autorickshaws (unless the form of transportation was run by the opposing political party which did not shut down some trains, etc!!!) As I said, better to just stay home!
This week there was an article about a possible airline personnel strike which would effect the Chennai airport which is scheduled to start May 1. I'm sure this is all a bluff because I KNOW they would not shut down the airport the month before I am heading home!!! Otherwise, you will hear me roar :)
For another interesting take on the newspapers in Chennai check out a friend's comments :
http://my.opera.com/myfamilyinIndia/blog/2009/04/27/my-mistake-today

Zach's 17th Birthday

HAPPY 17TH BIRTHDAY ZACH!

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Zach celebrated his 17th birthday with family and friends. We had brunch, went to the sculpture garden, to the beach and back home for cake and ice cream! A really nice day!

Susan and Nathan's Visit

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Susan and Nathan came for a visit and we hope they had as much fun as we did. We are so glad they had the opportunity to experience the "real" India! I'm sure they now have a much greater appreciation for home! Thanks for making the 34 hour flight---you are troopers!

New Zealand Memories

We made it back from New Zealand after two weeks of paradise and it was hard to come back to Chennai. We did a road trip and we loved driving ourselves around! We spent three days on the North Island (not enough) and 11 days on the South Island. We saw as much as I think you could see but Farid felt the pace was too quick. However, this just gives me more ideas for our next trip there! The word that I have used most to describe New Zealand is MOST: most blue water, most clean air, most clean bathrooms, most friendly people, most beautiful scenery , etc. This place tops my list for its beauty and I would love to return some day. I highly recommend it to anyone trying to decide where in the world to go! Here are highlights. I won't bore you with all the 1000+ photos we took! Many were taken by Zach. Enjoy:

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Zach in Kathmandu

Zach attended the SAISA International Art Conference in Kathmandu the first weekend in March. I tagged along with some friends but we went our separate ways once in Nepal. Zach's graphic arts teacher shared these photos from the weekend. Zach said it was a great experience and like me, he would love to go back again! The people were so warm and friendly and you can't beat the landscape and culture. So different from ours and so interesting!

Cabaret 2009

Every year the school presents a student Cabaret and this year Emma, along with several of her friends, performed a dance. They practiced very hard for several weeks and it paid off. They did a wonderful job and the show was great! It was amazing to see all the talent at the school.

My Son the Artist

This weekend I attended the PTA Mardi Gras ball. We had a great time. The five of us that went to Nepal got together for a picture and spent the evening discussing where we should go next! The most fun I had was posing by the billboard that Zach had designed for the ball. We went the next morning so he could also get his picture snapped with it. We're wondering if we

can put this up in our basement back home!!! I told him it would look cool behind his drum set.We are very proud of you Zach!

Emma's Basketball Tournament

Emma participated in a middle school basketball tournament with the Bombay, Bangalore International schools and a local team. Unfortunately I was gone to Nepal with Zach during the tournament but I did manage to catch a game the week before. The girls had fun and Emma has really improved her ball skills. Mainly they had fun! They got up at 5:30 every morning for about 6 weeks for practice and I think they all enjoyed the tournament. Thanks to my neighbor Mark for sharing pictures he also took last weekend! Way to go Emma!!!!!!!!!

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Nepal trip of a lifetime

Zach attended the SAISA Art conference in Kathmandu last weekend, so four of my friends and myself tagged along for our own trip. We toured Kathmandu and Pokhara during a five day trip and it was definitely the trip of a lifetime. Betsy, Karen, Rose, Darlene and myself made good traveling partners and we had a great time. I highly recommend this trip to anyone. Also I have to thank Yan and Katrin for all their invaluable suggestions, as they had done this trip before! Enjoy the photos. Sorry there are so many but I had to whittle it down from almost 300 photos!

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Wedding reception

Priya with some relatives.
Jan, Lynn, myself and Neoma enjoyed our banana leaves!
The newlyweds with "us foreigners"!
Happy couple!
This picture has nothing to do with wedding but got imported. Anyway, this is the lovely banking facility where we get money exchanged. You can't see it but you have to walk across a wooden plank over a ditch to get in. Not sure how secure this is???

Recently we attended the wedding reception of our housekeeper's niece. It was the first wedding function I have attended so I really enjoyed it. Everyone is beautifully dressed in their colorful saris. Gifts were presented to the couple while musicians played and then we headed down for a meal. The traditional South Indian meal is served on a banana leaf, usually some stews with rice and several relishes on the side. South Indian food is very spicy, so I was a little worried about it. However, they also had some oriental dishes that were less spicy so I didn't choke from the spices. Priya and her mother were so happy that we had come. Myself, along with three other friends, gave the newlyweds an electric grinder which is considered a necessity in an Indian kitchen. Not really sure what all they grind up, but I remember when we were looking for kitchen appliances when we first came, the salesperson couldn't understand why we wouldn't want a grinder! When we left they offered us a coconut because according to tradition, a guest should never leave empty-handed. A fun evening!

Laundry Blues

As I was loading the washing machine and longing for the day I come back to my BIG American washing machine, as opposed to the tiny one here which washes 3 pairs of jeans max, I noticed the directions on the TIDE package:

Kind of puts a whole new "spin" --no pun intended--- on the idea of laundry!

So next time you grumble about doing the laundry, remember all these millions of Indian women who follow the directions above because they don't have a washer! I know I'll be more grateful...

More fish photos!

If I grit my teeth, I can keep my feet in the water...

After several minutes, we are able to relax...

See explanation on the previous post!

Fish Feeding Frenzy

It will all be worth it in the end, Lynn...

Okay, I'm freaking!

Lisa and Carole (I mean Carole ) braved it first. Lisa finally took the plunge!

I had heard about the fish pedicure last summer on Good Morning America and when I saw it advertised here in Chennai, I knew I had to give it a try. Anything for my poor feet! Obviously for something this bizarre (hear the Jaws theme song playing in your head) I enlisted the support and participation of three friends. So Lynn, Lisa, Carole and myself set out for Temple Bay to give it a try. It was a very bizarre sensation to have hundreds of little fish nibbling away at the dead skin on your feet, almost like a electrical, effervescent sensation. As you can see from the pictures below, at the beginning you just want to yank your feet out, but after awhile you get used to it and it's pretty relaxing. My feet are softer, but I won't say they are fabulous. I think you would need to go pretty regularly to see any benefits. Lisa found out that these fish from Turkey are even used to treat people with psoriasis or other skin conditions. How interesting is that? So for any of you planning to visit us, let me know if you're up for a fish pedicure!!!

Christmas 2008

Here's our recap from our quiet and wonderful Christmas holiday!

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Picture Tag

Darlene tagged me to post this picture following these rules:

The object of the picture tag is to:1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer2) Select the 4th picture in the folder3) Explain the picture4) Tag 4 people to do the sameNO CHEATING! (cropping, editing, etc!)

This picture is from Emma's 13th Birthday dinner at the Asiana this past December. They brought her a delicious cake and sang to her! Since I had already posted this picture, nothing too unusual here!

I'm tagging Michelle Green or anyone else who reads this blog!!! (Sorry I couldn't think of 4 who weren't already tagged!!!)