Conversations with Donna

Good Bye and Good Riddance!

2009-06-02T20:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-05T01:44:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-04-30T04:47:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-27T03:28:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-27T02:53:00.000-07:00

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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

2009-04-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-26T02:29:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-22T03:15:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-22T02:40:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-15T04:25:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-03T02:54:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-24T02:21:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-02-14T22:02:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-14T21:44:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-19T00:38:00.000-08:00

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

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Picture Tag

2009-01-16T01:16:00.000-08:00

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!!!)

Furry critters, oh my!

2008-12-12T06:26:00.000-08:00

RRRRRRAAAAATTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!

Need I say more?

Merry Christmas everyone!

2008-12-12T06:22:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone. You probably have heard my "unpleasant" experiences with the Indian postal service, so most of you who are reading this will NOT be getting an actual card. I love sending and receiving cards but while we're in India, this will have to do.

May your new year be blessed! We are blessed and thankful for all the friends and family who give of love and support. God Bless us everyone!

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Parry's Corner

2008-12-07T20:28:00.000-08:00

Parry's Corner is a famous market here in Chennai. It's an historic place that's been there many, many years. People always say you can only take Parry's corner in small doses and now I know why. It's crowded, overpowering, hot and at the same time so colorful and quaint--almost like a step back a few decades. I kept seeing things that would have reminded me of shopping in the 1950's. The pictures speak for themselves except for the last part where I had to put away my camera. Just as we came up the last street, we encountered water, then manure, then manure and water and at that point it was too late to turn around. Whichever direction we went, we had to go through "sludge"! Now I grew up on a farm, but the heat, the crowds, the smell and the sludge under my feet were just too much!!! When my friend asked me how I liked Parry's Corner, I told her, " I went, I saw, I'm done!!!"

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Dancing Queens in India

2008-12-03T06:52:00.000-08:00

One of my Danish friends is leaving in December and while we are sad to see her go, we are excited for her to be returning to her homeland. She threw a going away party last week and it was a blast. A high point was when everyone got up and starting dancing and singing along to the ABBA hits! My sister-in-law heard about it and sent me this YouTube video "Dancing around the World" which I'll also share. I wish we had videotaped our dancing and maybe we could have competed because so many nationalities were present but you'll have to make do with some fun photos!

Here's the link for video--if it's slow loading click for high resolution:

http://wherethehellismatt.com/videos.shtml?fbid=WcBKWWD0vQ9

Here's our version from India:

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Emma's Birthday

2008-12-02T05:12:00.001-08:00

Emma celebrated her 13th birthday with friends from school. Even though it was the last rainy day of the storm and we had to cancel the go-carting, they still managed to have fun. They swam, played guitar hero and watched movies. Emma is growing up fast and we are so proud of her and how well she's managed this international move.
You go girl!

Tropical Cyclone Nisha

2008-11-30T02:18:00.000-08:00

We survived tropical cyclone Nisha! The storm stalled over Chennai for about 3 days and dumped lots of rain. We mopped up lots of water around windows because even though they were shut, they are not tightly sealed and the wind blew it straight in. I think I used every towel in this house to soak up and mop with and I'm still washing towels today! However, I'm not going to complain as many people suffered severe flooding. Our drivers who had driven to the house on motorcycles were soaked from the waist down. Here are some of the sights we saw on the road this week:

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Photo Contest

2008-11-29T23:23:00.000-08:00

Every year one of the relocation companies holds a photo contest for expatriates. This year there were over 500 entries and Zach and I decided to put our photo skills to the test and enter some pictures. I've been taking a 10 week photography course and Zach had a year long course in school. Even though he didn't win this year, it was actually he who inspired me to take the course. (Thanks Zach!) Surprisingly, I did win one of the judges choice awards (from the Japanese consulate general!!!) Photo contests are very arbitrary anyway and I actually preferred another picture over the winner. I also won a drawing for a 2 night homestay somewhere in India! So it was a good experience overall. I'm taking the prints they made of Zach's pics from the Taj Mahal and making a photo collage to have framed.

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Thanksgiving in Chennai

2008-11-29T23:18:00.000-08:00

It's hard being away during the holidays but several of us got together this year to put together a Thanksgiving dinner. Thanks to the Vannette's generous use of their house, Lisa's donation of the turkey, Betsy's expertise with cooking the turkey and lots of other people bringing wonderful food, I think we pulled off a successful and delicious Thanksgiving! Only two weeks till Christmas break!

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Terror Attacks in Mumbai

2008-11-29T23:08:00.000-08:00

As I'm sure you've all seen on the news this weekend, Mumbai was under siege by terrorists with 100+ people dying and many more injured. Mumbai is several hours by car and a short flight from Chennai which was quiet during this assault. The only difference was we saw very increased security in some places, which we welcomed. We tend to not go to large public places anyway but still I'll have to admit targeting hotels where Americans stayed is a little unnerving. But putting it in perspective, it could happen ANYWHERE AT ANY TIME! While this happened to go on in India while we're living here, there were terror threats in New York subways. So I guess we just all have to pay attention, pray for peace and trust in God to protect us.

Thanks to everyone who emailed or called to check on us. It's nice to know we're loved :)

Emma's Class on Safari

2008-11-14T00:28:00.000-08:00

Emma's 7th grade class went to King's Sanctuary at Nagarhole National Park this past week for safaris and other team building activities. They toured the Tibetan monastery of Sakya and the Mysore Palace. They traveled by train and bus and toured the park in jeeps. They arrived back after a night train ride and were ready for a nap!

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Maldives, take me away...

2008-11-13T22:45:00.001-08:00

We spend our Diwali holiday in the Maldives, or heaven on earth as we called it! We mainly relaxed on the beach, took walks around our island and snorkeled and ATE! We had never snorkeled so it was fascinating for us. We saw baby sharks and tropical fish (since our aquatic knowledge is limited--we often referred to Finding Nemo characters in the Disney movie to describe what we saw underwater!) Since the Maldives may disappear underwater if global warming continues, and the newly elected Maldivian president wants to buy land in other countries such as Sri Lanka and India in case they have to relocate their citizens, we were thankful to have this opporunity and hopeful that it never comes to that.

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OBAMA!!!

2008-11-05T22:03:00.000-08:00

Well, history was made this week with Barack Obama's victory. I was so excited and moved to tears by his speech which signaled that maybe there is light in the midst of all the chaos that been surrounding us. I just hope and pray he can achieve the things he has promised. Of course, he won't deliver them all, but I really liked the fact that he was asking all of us to be part of the solution. It will be an interesting four year journey.

Since Farid's family was visiting, we celebrated with an OBAMA cake and watched his speech again. I wanted Zach and Emma to realize the importance of this day. It was a fun evening!

KEEP THE BEAUTY INSIDE???

2008-10-21T04:00:00.000-07:00

See our fence? It still gives me the creeps every time I look at it! There is this strange dichotomy in India. I posted earlier the pictures of our beautiful yard. However, no one can actually see it unless they are allowed inside our gate. So I guess the goal is to keep the beauty INSIDE your garden walls. The shards of glass are meant to keep out "undesirables". Most fences, which are actually concrete walls here, are topped off with either glass or barbed wire. So there are all these beautiful gardens hidden away from public view. I think it's a shame, especially when our only other viewing option is all the trash and garbage strewn along the roads and highways.

It's Puja Time!

2008-10-21T02:11:00.000-07:00

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Once again it's Puja Time! The annual blessing on everything related to the house and the running of it: the car, the motorcycles, bikes, the generator, the yard, the security gates, the house itself. They light incense, toss flower petals, throw puffed rice and walk around the house with a burning watermelon which they then smash on the road in the front of the house - sort of reminds me of Halloween actually :) Here are photos from this year.

STEP INTO MY GARDEN...

2008-10-20T01:11:00.000-07:00

Take a tour of the flowers in our yard... When we moved in last year, there was basically a bare yard. As you can see from the photos, the yard is in full bloom now. This is not due to any green thumb I have, but to our wonderful gardener who is out there every day weeding, watering, cleaning, and fertilizing. We do not personally employ him, but he is employed by the owner of the house. Of course the tropical climate helps too because there's an abundance of sunshine and things bloom continually around here. I'm enjoying it now late in October but also look forward to crisp October days full of changing autumn colors!

Diesel shortages in India

2008-09-24T06:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a fellow expat's news report about the diesel shortage in India. I believe it was filmed on the road going to our house. We usually see these long lines of buses in the morning waiting for their fuel. I guess fuel headaches are universal at this point! Click on the link below to see the report:

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/08/25/neisloss.india.diesel.cnn?iref=videosearch

Meet Our New Neighbors

2008-09-05T06:42:00.000-07:00

Behind our house

By our bedroom window

On other side of house

When we got back in August we realized we had new neighbors on all three sides of us. We were fortunate last year that we were surrounded by empty lots. However, Chennai is experiencing a housing boon and we are right smack in the middle of it. Over here, when a new home is built, a "village" literally moves in. Whole families set up shacks, huts, tents and live there while it's being built. We are now awakened by hammers, generators, smoke and lots of shouting orders pretty early in the morning. I guess growth is a good thing for Chennai but we miss our little bit of peace and quiet (and for those who live in Chennai you know that your home is your sanctuary!) I'll be very surprised if construction is finished before we leave...

School: Year Two

2008-09-05T06:17:00.000-07:00

First Day of School
Zach grade 11, Emma grade 7

If we compared last year's first day of school picture(which I cannot locate at this moment!) with the one from this year we'd see that obviously both Zach and Emma seem happier this year. Last year was full of unknowns (people, school, culture, poverty...) This year is full of promise. They have come back to good friends, and the school and culture is no longer alien. As for the poverty (see my post about our new neighbors) that never goes away, we just accept as best we can and pray that there's a better way and thank God for all the bounty we are blessed with!

More summer highlights

2008-08-26T00:51:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned in the previous post, on one weekend I attended three weddings and a golden wedding anniversary. I wanted to share photos from my niece Crystal's wedding to Thomas in June. They were beautiful, the wedding was beautiful and we all enjoyed celebrating this happy occasion. Congratulations Crystal and Thomas!

We also attended the baptism of Katie and Laurel. We were godparents for Laurel and I was godmother for Katie. Bless you both on your journey with God!

Summertime....and the livin' is easy...

2008-08-14T01:32:00.000-07:00

Grandpa manning the ice cream maker on Father's Day!

Fun down by the river!

Melissa, Josie and Emma down by the Ohio River

Sunset on the family farm...

It's not summer without a hayride. Of course Dad
enjoyed using his new tractor!

Just an update of our summer holiday before I get back into the blogging groove! We spent 7 weeks in Kentucky and loved every minute of it! I attended 3 wedding and a golden anniversary party (all in one weekend!) and loved it because I got to visit with family members from both sides of my family and my coworkers all in one weekend! We also did all the doctor's appointments but it wasn't too bad considering that was sandwiched between eating out at way too many restaurants to list here :) Othertimes were spent barbecuing, camping or hanging out at the county fair (kids choice--not mine!) We got to see almost everyone we wanted to see and just enjoyed the fresh air, sweet tea, cherry picking, porch swing, kind of life we have in Kentucky. It was great to see you all and we're looking forward to Christmas! In the meantime, tune in to see what we'll get into here in India!

Mangoes Galore!

2008-05-31T05:25:00.000-07:00

We have 13 mango trees in our yard! Needless to say, we have more mangoes than we could EVER consume. These green mangoes which are growing in our yard are cooking mangoes. Priya made a mango curry for us which looked like very dark applesauce. It was very sweet but of course with a "little bit" hot, as she says! Translation: No Indian food can be well-prepared without chili powder! It was to be eaten with flatbread. It was interesting but probably won't be on the menu again :) We are giving them away in bagfuls to everyone who works for us so at least they are being eaten. The yellow mangoes are probably what you've seen or had in the stores. They are the most juicy, yummy fruit you can imagine. I've decided they are a combination of peaches, oranges, and pineapple rolled into one fruit! Sorry I can't bring some home this summer to share, but I don't think customs would be too thrilled about that!

Zach's Prom

2008-05-17T23:30:00.000-07:00

Zach and Sam

Stylin' !!!

More Zach and Sam!

Checking out the tailoring!

This past Saturday Zach attended his first prom. He is a sophomore but at the American School the prom is open to all high schoolers since the enrollment is smaller than most high schools. For this event, he had a suit tailor-made which is very common and fairly inexpensive here. It was held at a nearby hotel and he said they had a great time just goofing around, eating and finishing off the night with a huge Conga line!

CNN coverage of Chennai

2008-05-06T23:40:00.000-07:00

I recently saw this on CNN International edition. The CNN reporter Liz Neisloss has a son in Emma's class and she has very accurately portrayed the political climate and the "climate" in general of the city of Chennai. Watch the video if you want to see what this city really looks like!

Click on the link below to see the report:

http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailToID=1649636359

Shake Rattle and Roll!!! To the Taj Mahal...

2008-05-04T02:09:00.000-07:00

These are the lights jumping up and down (a long exposure of the car lights)
that Zach took from the bus window. He is keeping the camera still but the bus is making it jump!

We took a tour bus to the Taj from our hotel. The benefit of this was that being in an organized tour, we were a "little" better able to fend off the hawkers, vendors, and beggars that greet you on your way inside the Taj since we were in a large group with a tour leader. However, the bus ride I can only describe by showing you this picture Zach took on the bus on the ride back home. There were no shocks and we rode 4 hours there and 4 hours back bouncing up and down like slabs of meat! Zach was not moving the camera, the bus was!!! We called it the Shake, Rattle and Roll express :)

The Taj itself is impressive and filled with beautiful marble mosaics. The story behind the Taj is just as beautiful and tragic as the building itself.

Click here to read the story:
http://www.tajmahal.org.uk/story.html

Zach took some fabulous pictures and it would have been nice to stay a little longer and soak up the sight but we had to move along with the tour and were glad we also got to see Agra Fort and the factory where the original family(their descendants obviously) still makes the tiles that were used in the Taj. We bought a set of coasters with the beautiful inlay work that will be our souvenir of the trip!

You know you're in India when...

2008-05-04T02:04:00.000-07:00

Monkeys at Agra Fort.

Snake charmer with two snakes.

Elephant with camel in background.

You know you're in India when you stop for a bite to eat and there's a snake charmer, an elephant, and a camel in the parking lot!!! On our way to the Taj Mahal, we encountered this sight at lunchtime. Back on the bus, Zach laughed and said, "You know you're in India when...!!!" We also saw these monkeys on the same day at Agra Fort. Never a dull moment!

Track Tournament in Delhi

2008-05-04T01:10:00.000-07:00

Zach clears the bars in high jump!

Emma finishing her race.

Zach's power running!

Emma, Ahnalies, and Ali between events.

The last weekend in April Zach and Emma both participated in the SAISA track tournament held in New Delhi for several international schools. Emma competed in the long jump, 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, and 400 relay. Zach did the high jump, 200 meter, 100 meter dash and the 4 X 100 relay in which he placed 5th. Regardless of how they finished, we were just proud that they had gotten up at 5:45 a.m. for the last several weeks for morning practices 5 days a week!

The event was two days long and they stayed with host families who happened to both be American. The heat was the main concern. Farid and I flew up for the second day and the heat was 106 degrees all day. There were several collapses, cramps, and one girl on our team had to be admitted to hospital for extreme cramping. Way too hot to compete, but all they did was stop competitions for a little while since the nurse's office could not handle any more kids! Overall, I think the kids had a good time though. In addition to the competition, they had movies, dinners and dances and met several new people. Farid and I were pleasantly surprised at how clean Delhi was compared to Chennai.

Zach's 16th Birthday

2008-04-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

Happy 16th Birthday Zach!

Even with the cake disaster, I know Zach enjoyed sharing his birthday with his friends, Jake, Sam and Ahnalies. We found him the camera of his dreams in Singapore so he's been experimenting with that. The only drawback with turning 16 in India is no driver's license. But we'll work on that this summer!

Animals we saw in Australia...

2008-04-25T02:41:00.000-07:00

They don't have to tell us twice!

Wild dingo.

Cockatoos--there were flocks of these in the trees!

Best shot Emma could get of kangaroo hopping away!

The only reptile we saw at the billabong where kids were swimming!

The best part of going to a national park is seeing all the wildlife in their natural habitat. These are the main animals we saw. We also saw more birds than I can even name here.

More photos from Kakadu

2008-04-25T02:14:00.001-07:00

Jumping Croc cruise where "Rogue" was filmed.

Giant termite mounds!

Resting at Nourlangie Rock until we couldn't take the flies anymore :)

Life in India is a piece of cake...NOT!

2008-04-22T01:32:00.000-07:00

This cake symbolizes everything that is infuriating about India. I have not done lots of baking here but Zach wanted a german chocolate cake for his sixteenth birthday and I was happy to oblige. Let me share what it took to get this disaster to the table. First, I go to the store to find a cake mix several days before his birthday because you never know what's going to be available on the shelf. Of course, no german chocolate, so I settle for chocolate. It's the icing that makes it german chocolate anyway, right? The day before his birthday I go to buy pecans-no pecans, so I get walnuts. Evaporated milk??? What's that??? "Ma'am, do you mean condensed milk, boxed milk, powdered milk, coconut milk?" "No" I say, "it comes in a can. It's for baking and cooking." "Okay, ma'am, I will check with salesman this week." "No, I need it today. Thanks anyway." So I go home, determined to make this cake work somehow. I sense there's trouble when the directions for the cake mix are in arabic with a small English translation at the bottom of the box. It calls for 1 and 1/5 cup of water. Have you ever used this measurement in your life??? As the cake bakes up into two grotesque mounds of large lumps, I'm beginning to worry. After the cakes comes out of oven and begins to cool, I decide to go online to find a substitute for evaporated milk. I go fire up the computer, wait 5 minutes for it to boot up, type in "substitutes for evaporated milk" and BLIP--the electricity goes out and shuts off the computer. I take a deep breath and make an executive decision. Isn't evaporated milk just MILK? I'm going with that. Later I turn the cakes out of the pans and I've never had them fall into so many different pieces on the plate! I lose it. I'm slinging pans into the dishwasher and Farid wanders in and asks, "What happened?" My response? INDIA HAPPENED!!!

Afterword: the cake tasted much better than it looked and Farid, the kids and their friends graciously ate the cake :)

Litchfield National Park

2008-04-18T06:11:00.000-07:00

Is this heaven on earth???

The mist coming off this waterfall was so refreshing on a very hot day!

Zach and Emma cannot resist jumping into the billabong!

The last full day in Australia we drove down to Litchfield National Park. After all the fun we had at Kakadu, we wanted to see another park instead of shopping and we're glad we did. A few days before, the paper had reported that a women was attacked by a crocodile at this park and pulled into the water. Her husband had jumped on the croc's back and poked it's eyes and it released her with minor injuries. The park had signs posted throughout that either said pay attention for crocodiles or simply that a particular area was closed. We felt we would be safe as long as we followed the signs posted. Our very first stop was a a beautiful waterfall with a rushing creek at the bottom. There was lots of swimmers in the water. It made me a little nervous and we had not brought any swimsuits anyway, assuming that it would not be safe. But boy it looked like fun. We went on to several other waterfalls, termite mounds and cliffs and as the day got hotter and hotter, I told the kids that if they wanted to stop back at the "billabong" on our way out, we would. They jumped on it and you can see from the pictures that they had a blast. The only reptile we saw was the big lizard that I have posted with the animal pictures. It was a GREAT last day in Australia! I highly recommend this area to anyone thinking about Australia. Most people tend to go to the Gold Coast and the big cities, but the Northern Territory was amazing and definitely worth seeing!

Kakadu National Park

2008-04-18T05:32:00.000-07:00

Emma and Zach at Nourlangie Rock at the ancient cave drawings.

Yellow Water Cruise where the crocodiles swam with us or after us, not sure which!!!

View of Twin Falls from plane in Kakadu National Park.

Our flight let us view all the beautiful waterfalls not accessible by road during the wet season.

Posing with the didgeridoos!

The second part of our trip was spent in Kakadu National Park which was a 3 hour drive from Darwin. We had so much fun renting a car and driving it ourselves!!! It wasn't too hard to get used to driving on the left side of the road. Farid only turned out into the wrong lane one time and the honking horns told us pretty quickly to scoot over :) Kakadu is magnificent! It's 8,000 square miles, remote, and full of crocodiles, exotic birds, kangaroos and waterfalls! It was where the movie "Crocodile Dundee" was filmed and we got a sense of the real outback. Everyone warned us about the heat there but compared to India, it was not a problem! We hiked to several important sites, including aboriginal cave paintings up to 20,000 years old! Worse than the heat was the flies but after our first outing we sprayed ourselves down and used small twigs to constantly swat the flies! I told the kids if the hikes were easy, we wouldn't be in the outback. We had alot of fun. Because it was the end of the wet season, we could not access the waterfalls, which really are the highlight of the park so we booked a one hour flight over all the waterfalls. The pictures speak for themselves! Most of the pools were closed due to crocodile sightings. We also took a Yellow River boat cruise where we saw saltwater crocodiles just like you see on The Crocodile Hunter swimming through the water. The hotel we stayed in was the Holiday Inn which is actually shaped like and looks like a crocodile from the outside. The rooms and food were okay but since it was the best one in the park and nothing for 3 hours out, we didn't have a choice. However, the staff was very friendly and helpful planning our itinerary. We spent 3 days there and would thoroughly recommend that trip to anyone. On the way back to Darwin we took a Jumpin' Croc Cruise where they take you out on boats and hold out bait to the crocs who jump up out of the water to get it. The funny thing about this place was that on our stopover in Singapore we had time to catch a movie, something we never do in India. The preview was for a movie called "Rogue" a sort of action/thriller about a croc jumping tour that is terrorized by a rogue crocodile - think "Anaconda"! Farid leans over and says that's not the tour we're doing, is it? Then when we show up for our actual cruise, there's a signed movie poster thanking the owner of this place for all his help making the movie so realistic! I asked him if anything similar to that had actually ever happened and he said in his Steve Irwin voice with a very serious voice, "Actually, those of us in this business were amazed at how frightenly accurate the movie is." Think he was plugging the movie??? Anyway, we survived the croc cruise and if you happen to see this movie, you'll see the area where we were!

http://www.roguecrocodile.com

The Ghaderi's Go Down Under!

2008-04-18T04:43:00.000-07:00

Zach trying a Croc Burger.

Zach at Crocodylus Park.

Sunset in Darwin Harbor.

Aquascene feeding the fish that come in at high tide.

View from our hotel of Darwin Harbor.

Termite mounds!

Emma thought the baby crocodile was "so cute!"

Many people think of going to Australia as a dream vacation. We always thought we'd go later on in life but one of the perks of being in India is our closer proximity to Australia so we decided to take advantage of it! Before our talk about our "dream" trip, let me share what I now know about Tiger Airlines. It's a new one and no one we knew had ever heard of it but they had great fares so we decided to try it. I now know the meaning of budget airlines. Now those of you that know me will know that I never look down on a bargain, BUT I would never recommend this airline to anyone. The seats were so jammed together that I felt sorry for anyone with long legs or over 6 feet tall. Emma was sure that the seats did not recline more than 1/4 inch. That wouldn't be bad on a short flight but we always boarded this airline after midnight when we are were ready for some shut eye. There was NOTHING complimentary on the flight. A bottle of water was $3.50. And they had the nerve to announce as they offered their $7.50 meals that outside food and beverage was not allowed on the plane! Luckily we had eaten before we boarded. The stewardess came through asking if anyone wanted a pillow or blanket and Farid said he would take a blanket. She told him it would be $12! Farid did without. Finally, after boarding Tiger Airlines three times we were told on the last leg of the trip that they didn't recognize our Indian visas, that they had never seen the type we had before and couldn't validate them. After several minutes and some heated exchanges with the manager, she finally said "We will let you on the plane if you sign this form releasing us from any cost should the Indian authorites not let you into the country." Go figure...

Okay, enough with Tiger Airlines. You get my point. The only good thing was that it took us to our destination! We spent most of our days in Darwin which is the northernmost city in Australia and the capital of the Northern Territory. We had a beautiful harbor view of the Indian Ocean from our hotel and we were able to take leisurely stolls through clean streets without anyone staring at us for being so "white!" We could walk to Aquascene where fish come in from the ocean to be hand fed during high tide. We toured the Museum of the Northern territory where Zach was able to see the youth exhibition from Australia's teen artists. He was majorly impressed with what he saw and couldn't believe they were only his age. We also went through a simulation of Cyclone Tracy that hit Darwin on Christmas Eve 1974. It was so strange to know this happened the same year as the tornadoes in KY that devastated Meade County where I lived at the time. I had no idea the significance that Darwin played during WWII. It was repeatedly bombed by the Japanese and there were many war memorials, including the USS Peary which was attacked and sunk during the first air attack on the city. Before we left Darwin we visited Crocodylus Park where we saw them feed crocodiles, got to hold them, and visited the small zoo there.

Hindu Holi Festival

2008-04-17T07:23:00.000-07:00

Zach with his friend Sam.

The Spring Festival of India, Holi - is a festival of colors. Celebrated in March or April according to the Hindu calendar, it was meant to welcome the spring and win the blessings of Gods for good harvests and fertility of the land. As with all the Hindu festivals, there are many interesting legends attached to Holi, the most popular being that of Prince Prahlad, who was a devout follower of Lord Vishnu. It is the second most important festival of India after Diwali. Holi in India is a festival of fun and frolic and has been associated with the immortal love of Krishna and Radha. The exuberance and the festivity of the season are remarkable.

Okay, that's the official definition. For the high schoolers at the American School it meant "Paint Wars!!!" They all donned old clothing and ran around splashing, pelting, rubbing and throwing brightly colored powdered paint at each other. To make sure it was really fun they turned on the sprinklers to "rinse off"! I thought I was seeing a seven year old Zach in a 15 year old body. They had a blast and I only had to wash his tshirt 4 or 5 times to get it remotely clean. But hey, I told him that would be his souvenir shirt from Holi :)

Easter in Bangkok

2008-03-24T02:41:00.000-07:00

Wat Arun Temple

Grand Palace

Surprise, Emma found the "perfect" purse at the Floating Market!

Zach found a fedora (his favorite hat!) at the Floating Market!

Easter Brunch at the Asiana Hotel-yummy-but I sure did miss Mom's coconut cake!

We spent Easter in Bangkok, Thailand and had a wonderful holiday weekend. I was not at all sure what to expect and really didn't know much about Bangkok, but we were pleasantly surprised! While the city is not as spotless as Kuala Lumpur, it sure beats Chennai! We did encounter more people working in shops and restaurants that did not speak English, but we managed. We spent the first day on a boat ride through the canals of the city and visited the Wat Arun Temple where Zach and I climbed up I don't know how many NARROW steps to reach the top. We had a beautiful view of the city and then--had to climb back down. My muscles are still feeling it! Emma and Farid might have been smarter than the two of us and decided to bypass the climb. Next we stopped at a Snake Farm (part of the tour or we would never have been there). They did a cheesy little demonstration with some venomous snakes and then we walked around a sad little zoo where the animals are kept in wire cages with dirt floors. They had bears, tigers, deer, monkeys, etc in these enclosures. Zach and Emma were both ready to leave pretty quickly because it was pretty depressing. That was the least favorite part of our trip. Third stop was the Grand Palace which is a Buddhist temple, actually several temples, covering several acres. We were given a blessing by a Buddhist monk who tied prayer beads on each of our wrists.
Day two we went to the Floating Market where you ride in a boat through several canals and vendors are lined up in shops over the water or boats float by you selling goods. It was everything you could imagine from souvenirs to fruit, vegetables, even hot cooked meals cooked on the boats or docks. From there we went to the weekend market which is a huge flea market covering about 30 acres. Again it was sensory overload. Crowded and hot were the best two words to describe this place but still I'm glad we went. We saw one old woman with several bowls of "raw" ingredients that she would cook up for you at your request. However, since one of the bowls contained what we believed to be live grubs---we passed! So instead we went to a nice mall and had Thai food which was wonderful. Fear Factor doesn't need to worry about contacting us! Up at 4 a.m. Sunday morning, we arrived back in Chennai just in time to go to Santhome Cathedral and then to Easter brunch. It was a very different but fun holiday for us!

LIFE IS A CABARET OLD CHUM...

2008-03-17T01:16:00.000-07:00

On Feb. 29 the school hosted a Cabaret night, including food and drinks and both Zach and Emma participated. Zach and his two friends who also happen to be our next door neighbors played "Without Judgement".(That is why they gave that title to the song!) It was Jake on bass, Sam on electric guitar, and Zach on drums. They had the house rocking and cheering.You could see how much fun they were having up on stage. "I guess they liked it," said Zach. Later in the show Emma played her flute with the sixth grade band. Toward the end of the evening, Zach performed a second number with a friend, Aravindan. Aravindan is an 11th grader who beatboxes. He mixed his beatboxing skills with Zach's drums. It was very entertaining! I was glad to see that these last few years of drum lessons were paying off. It was the first time Zach had performed in public and I think he'd say he's ready for more!

Hosting Pakistani students

2008-03-02T00:53:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we hosted four students from the American School in Islamabad, Pakistan. They were here for a soccer tournament for 3 days and all 140 students stayed with families. It was nice, especially for Zach, since all the boys were about his age. Two of the boys were born in Pakistan, one came from Nepal, and the fourth one was born in England but his family moved to Pakistan when he was 10 years old. All four boys are planning to attend college in the U.S. Two of them had applied in Indiana and I told Zach that it would be so strange if one day he walks into a doctor's office and his doctor is one of these four boys! The boys asked us about Kentucky and they told us that Islamabad is beautiful and we should come and visit! Of course just before that they told us that they had only been able to play two games before coming to India because that was the two weeks leading up to the Pakistan elections so they were unable to play. I'll have to think twice (or ten times) about visiting there. But it's just so interesting the perspective of the people who actually live in a country--usually it's so unlike what we see on the news. When I asked them if they had seen or experienced any violence or demonstrations like we had seen on TV, they said that they had not seen anything like that at all. Who knows, maybe by the time I'm an old lady, Pakistan will be a hot tourist destination???

India Week

2008-03-02T00:38:00.000-08:00

One week in February is Indian Week at the American School. As you can see Emma and I dressed up for the program at the end of the week. We are wearing salwars since we didn't feel comfortable showing our midsection in a sari :) Zach was not into dressing up at all but he did have some of his photos displayed for the Charity Fair held the next day. Emma worked selling baked goods which earned their club enough money to feed a meal to 150 children at a nearby orphanage.

Emma's EcoDunes field trip

2008-01-24T23:23:00.000-08:00

Emma working with friends to make bricks. Her favorite activity!
Climbing a four story treehouse!
Auroville
Mosquito netting over their beds (i.e. natural ventilation!)
Sleeping quarters. Isn't this the ultimate camp out???

This week Emma spent three days at EcoDunes, near Pondicherry, which is about 2 hours from here. This was the sixth grade field trip. EcoDunes is 30 acres with beachfront inhabited by several species of plants, birds, etc. Vanishing plant life has been replanted here and it features a waste-water treatment plane, solar hot water, natural ventilation (i.e. open huts!) and a demo farm developed through the NGO "Children of the World India". They took hikes, learned how to compost, how to make bricks, bake bread, make pottery and also had time for fun like volleyball and swimming. They also visited Auroville which "wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity."

Emma had a great time but was glad to be back home. Here a link to Auroville if you'd like to read more:

http://www.auroville.org/

Fortune-telling is for the birds!

2008-01-24T23:03:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went for dinner at Fisherman's Cove, a lovely resort area about 15 minutes from our house. They had various activities going on so we all had our fortunes read by an Indian who could not speak English, so he enlisted a translator and we started. He took a parrot out of a cage and the bird used his beak to pull cards off of a deck as the fortune teller talked to it. The bird "mysteriously" found the right card for our fortune (when the trainer gave it birdseed). He opened the card and began talking and then consulting a book written in Tamil. The interesting thing was that the cards all have Christian symbols on them. Mine was the Virgin Mary, Emma's was the Nativity, and Zach's was the sacred heart of Jesus----not your traditional Tarot cards!!! Of course, we all had glowing futures. And basically to sum it up, we would all be happy, healthy, wealthy and wise! Hey, this is a tropical resort---not the place you go to hear bad news, right? Anyway, it was fun, but we all agreed, fortune-telling is for the birds, literally!

Emma also had mehindi applied again and in the picture you can see it's a dark pigment that dries and then gets washed off after about 30 min. It will be an orange color underneath.

This is definitely a fun place to go for a family dinner. Right by the beach and we've always had good food and good service.

Puja for New Office

2008-01-17T22:13:00.000-08:00

Today we attended the Puja ceremony for the opening of Farid's new office. I had explained this ceremony in another post, but you can also get more info from this link:

http://www.asia.si.edu/education/pujaonline/puja/background.html

Basically it was a ceremony to bless the office before moving in officially next week. They will hold a grand opening ceremony in a few weeks when the entire office complex is completed. Zach and Emma attended and enjoyed seeing this firsthand (and skipping their morning classes!). For me, as a Catholic, there were alot of similarities in the ceremony. Candles and incense were lit, a table decorated with flowers, fruits, images of Hindu gods and ritualistic prayers were chanted by the priests. At the end of the ceremony, everyone offered flowers and put red ashes on their forehead. Then everyone attending was presented with a box of candied nuts. Aferward, we enjoyed breakfast and visited with the employees. We had some U.S. visitors, as well as a Scottish gentleman, who works out of Belgium. One thing about Chennai is the endless opportunities to meet people from all over the world. That is for sure one of the most interesting things about being here. I'm sure Farid feels like he has moved heaven and earth to get this office up and running and today we were all seeing how well it is coming together. The office is very nicely designed and all the employees seem happy to be a part of it.

Postal service in India, are you kidding???

2008-01-10T02:20:00.000-08:00

The postal service leaves much to be desired in India. Everyone has heard me explain my address change nightmare, just suffice it to say that we haven't received much mail here. What mail we have received is often torn, damp, shredded... However there are two items in particular that have literally been around the world and back. Zach worked all summer on a shelf that his friends had autographed with messages and artwork which my sister Julie mailed the day we left Kentucky in August. It never arrived in India but did finally make it back to Kentucky in late November, slightly worse for the wear. Also, at about the same time, my other sister Sarah mailed us a set of wind chimes she had given us as a going away gift. It arrived back in Kentucky on Dec. 17 in the condition you see in the picture! When I went to the post office in Kentucky to discuss my change of address situation, the postal supervisor dropped his jaw when I told him that he needed to know that the U.S. postal service is awesome and most people in the U.S. have no idea how lucky we are to have the reliability that we do with our mail in America. He stammered, "Well, thank you ma'am. Usually when somebody wants to talk to me, it's to complain!" I think I made his day...

Home Sweet Home

2008-01-10T01:27:00.000-08:00

Our very own welcoming committee--We love you guys!

Zach photographed this view from my parent's farm during one of our cookie baking sessions.

We arrived back in Kentucky for the holidays after four long months. We were greeted with our very own welcoming committee and boy, did it feel good! We spent a very busy but satisfying month visiting family and friends, shopping, dining out at our favorite restaurants, seeing movies, baking cookies and just soaking in the feeling of "home". We were able to attend the Christmas Eve service at St. James and we also did several presentations on India. Zach went to John Hardin social studies classes, Emma and I went to the sixth grade classes at St. James and Payneville Elementary and I got to visit again with all the staff and students at Howevalley. It felt great to be back and do some catching up. We are sure we have the best friends and family in the world! Happy New Year and peace and blessings to you all in 2008!

Emma's December

2008-01-10T01:11:00.000-08:00

Emma celebrated her 12th birthday with family and her friend Ahnalies. She shopped for new shoes, beaded ones that are popular here right now, and found several different colors! She also was selected to emcee the Christmas progam and worked hard preparing for the show. Her favorite part was wearing the shiny, metallic tunic (not!) She also played flute during the 6th grade performance. We were very proud of her! Before we headed out for Christmas holidays, she attended the "Snowball" dance with her friends Ali and Ahnalies and she left straightaway to the airport!

Wake Me Up when September ends...

2007-11-05T21:13:00.000-08:00

Emma and friends at American School Picnic.

Emma had “mahindi” done on her hand. It’s when they paint a design
which dyes the skin. It’s done a lot for weddings or special occasions.
Emma still has hers but it will fade eventually!

Typical bus scene in the morning as students and
workers crowd to get on. What you can’t see
very well is that the bus is tipping to the left
because of the weight as people try to cram in.

Here are Emma and our neighbor, Annalies, on their way to the 6th grade dance! They had a great time.

This is Zach with our neighbor Sam who is originally from Iowa but has lived
in various states and France and Canada. Sam plays guitar along with his brother,
so the boys have been jamming!

Wake me up when September ends…

Sept. 24, 2007

As the song goes, we are pretty much riding out September and anticipating the October monsoons. Weather here has been pretty mild but October will be much more rain. (Not looking forward to that.) I’ve attached some new photos from the past couple of weeks. Our house is shaping up and we now have a spare bed in the bedroom so we’re open for business for anyone planning to visit !

I talked last time about Indian Standard Time being a joke since no one ever showed up on time. But there is a further, more irritating part to that, which is that most people don’t even go so far as to make an appointment! People are just constantly showing up with a smile on their face, ready to assist you----when you had no clue they were coming. Just this past week, our three new security guards showed up with their manager at 8:00 am. All smiles and “Good morning madam. We are starting today. Please speak to our manager one moment ma’am.” They hand me the phone so that the manager can assure me they will do a good job, that they can speak English, and to please call if there are any problems or concerns. I’m red in the face, standing there in my pajamas, saying as pleasantly as possible, “I didn’t know you were coming this morning!”

Farid finally had the first Saturday off in three weeks and a carpet dealer rings the bell cheerfully just before 9 am. “I have come to bring you some more carpets to look at and some cleaning solution to try to repair your rug,” he exclaims. ---Which would have been lovely if we had actually had a chance to have a first cup of coffee or some breakfast before he arrived with no warning! He left approximately an hour and a half later.

It has become such a joke, that now when the doorbell rings, we just have to shake our heads and say, “It’s Indian Standard Time!”

Update from India - August 6, 2007

2007-11-05T21:10:00.000-08:00

Update from India: August 6, 2007

Kids started school today. Farid went with driver to drop them off. Felt weird not taking them to school but they insisted they didn’t “need” me! I was surprised they got up and went like it was just another day, but I think the orientation helped a lot and they saw there were some good kids and teachers there and realized there were many new students just like them. It’s been a little stressful living out of suitcases and going between the apartment and the beach all week---beach was probably not worth it for the time it took each day to get there. Kids didn’t do much swimming because by the time we got back there each night, we were all wiped out.

It’s hard to explain how draining it is just to drive anywhere. The streets are filthy and swarming with people, cars, motorcycles, buses and bikes and a constant honking and beeping going on. Sometimes you just have to shut your eyes and take a break. Zach zones out with his ipod and Emma usually ends of falling asleep which is just as well. Yesterday we went to Farid’s office( which is in a mall complex) to pick up kids packbacks and get a few groceries. Farid said he had never seen the mall that crowded and we had to carry several bags down 4 flights (escalators) and out to car. Everytime you go to store you have to buy several large bottled waters. However, that will change when we get into house. We’ll have big floor water dispensers that will be filled every week. One for kitchen and for every bathroom.

I’m very anxious to get into the house---hopefully by Wed or Thursday and get a routine going instead of every time I turn around, I’m asking “What do I do about this or that?” But I guess that’s just part of any moving process, it’s just more intense here. Thankfully Farid seems to be on top of everything and is more acclimated than we are so that’s making it less stressful too.

I’m being picked up at 2:30 to go get kids from school and we’ll see how their first day went.

Our Soggy Shipment

2007-11-05T21:01:00.000-08:00

August 24, 2007

“Our Soggy Shipment”

This week has been very “challenging.” We have had lots of repairment/delivery people/installers show up, frequently at the same time, frequently with none of them speaking English. Most here speak Tamil, so in an emergency, I’ll have to call Farid’s secretary or our driver (if he happens to be here) and ask them to get on phone or come in and explain our conversation. Most workers tend to work late afternoon so all this week starting around 4 pm they start showing up. Sometimes I don’t even know what they’re here for, but the security guard will usually be able to tell me what they are doing or the name of the company. For example, two guys showed up for the intercom system and kept asking “Where?” After walking around like the three stooges, unable to communicate, I called Farid’s secretary who told me they were there to install the intercom system and I should show them what 3 places I wanted them located---which I did. They got that but kept asking about “BOX?” Another call and I find out, they also need to know where to install the main receiver box for system. Okay, great! But they keep looking around the house and I am clueless what they need. They ask for phone and I hand them my cell phone. No, that’s not what they want. Another call to secretary. At last we realize we can’t even get the intercom system yet, because we don’t have a land line phone yet!!! Only 30 minutes to figure that all out!

Our worst day so far has been receiving our air shipment. I was so excited to finally get it here. But, par for the course, the generator and the back up generator were not working and the heat in the house was sweltering. As they carried the boxes in, I told them where they needed to go and then they asked if I wanted them to unpack boxes. I hesitated, not sure if I wanted to deal with another 2 hours of this in the heat, and they all quickly said, “Okay no unpack!” and jumped in the truck. I signed for the shipment, writing a note that all boxes had not been opened yet to make sure I could claim damages if something was discovered to be damaged. They leave and about an hour later, I decide I’ll open up a couple of boxes. The first box was so wet, it just came apart in my hands when I tried to take tape off. I panicked. I start opening every box and checking. Many boxes were wet inside the box. Many contained electronic equipment . So far, anything we’ve plugged in, does not work---including Zach’s digital drum set. He was ready to come home that night! About 10 of our family portraits were wet, I peeled them carefully off the glass and dried them, but they are damaged. Some of the frames were so waterlogged, the wood was splitting apart. Two of my scrapbooks were ruined. About 20 pages will have to be redone. I tried to salvage as many of the pictures as I could and set them out to dry. Farid’s large expensive Persian carpet he had brought from Iran was totally soaked and mildewed. All the colors ran and it’s ruined. Our printer/scanner was wet. We don’t know about computer yet. In addition, there are several items we didn’t receive at all. Some boxes had been opened and retaped. The moving company was very apologetic and the company here in India told Farid they had tried to their best to dry things off and that they had received it wet from Italy, but if that was the case, why wouldn’t they tell us that upfront when they delivered it. The delivery guys here were too anxious to get out of here and we think they probably left some boxes sitting out and they got wet. We had a lot of rain they day before. So I’ve been busy sorting, cleaning, and taking pictures of all the damaged items and trying to remember what all didn’t show up at all. We should get reimbursed for the damaged items but at this point, I would have much rather not had to deal with this hassle!!!

Well, I’ll go back to sorting. I hope next week will be BORING!

Love and miss you all,
Donna

Pondicherry

2007-11-04T08:03:00.000-08:00

Emma looking through bathroom window!

Man sleeping in street below our balcony.

Dinner time.

A toast with sparkling juice!

Emma enjoying the stay!

One Saturday in October we spent one night in the town of Pondicherry which is a small coastal town originally settled by the French. Although our touring was rained out due to monsoons, we did enjoy the stay at the historic hotel which had previously been a mayor's mansion. It was remodeled into 21 rooms which are each unique and have kept features from the original property. A loft was added in the room to accomodate more guests and I'll have to say it's the most unique hotel we've ever visited! But as you can see from the photo of the homeless man, I hope no one gets the impression that we are living a life of luxury. India is a country of stark contrasts. When you walk out of any nice establishment, you are hit in the face by the poverty and misery all around you and you can't help but be grateful for everything you have and to say a prayer for everyone you see around you.

By the way, after our rained out weekend, the kids got a treat because school was cancelled that following Monday for a "rain day!" Excessive rains made travel difficult and even though we had no problems, people in the north part of the city did experienc flooding and downed power lines, etc!

Photos from United Nations Day

2007-11-04T07:53:00.001-08:00

Zach enjoying the international lunch!

Emma with her sixth grade friends.

Japan's display.

Zach and Emma in the colors of USA
for UN International Day.

One Week in Our House

2007-11-03T01:35:00.000-07:00

One Week in Our House
August 17, 2006

After almost one week in our house, here’s the scoop:

We have no stove. The first one was tooooooooooo small (20 in!) the second one was tooooooooooo big (35 in) and we’re hoping the third one is juuuuuuuuuuuust right!!! Especially because if I serve one more bowl of porridge---I mean, ramen noodles, I think the kids will throw it at me J

Our washer is probably half capacity of what we’re used to, so I’m washing 2 sheets or 4 large towels maximum, which on a medium cycle takes about 2 hours!!!!!!!! Then since our dryer has not been vented yet (they don’t use them here much and the contractor acts like he is reinventing the wheel) I hang them on a drying rack in the spare bedroom which is nice and toasty since we cannot run all AC or we’ll have power overload---which happens multiple times a day. (I am beginning to understand the need for a maid here now.) The houses are not weatherproofed by any stretch of the imagination and it’s pretty dusty all the time---part of that is due to this being a new house I guess, and there’s still a lot of yardwork going on. Since it’s tropical most houses run fans and open all the windows. We requested screens and what we got is velcroed sheets that are stapled around each window. To open or close a window you have to peel off the screen, reach through the iron grates, unbolt a top and bottom lock for each side of the window and push it open. However whenever windows have been opened, we have found lizards in the house---gray, tan, brown, red---depending on what camouflage color they need and what part of the wall or floor they are on. I don’t think Emma has seen one yet, but Zach has had a couple in his room and they didn’t freak him out. Someone told us, “Actually the lizards are quite helpful because they are eating your mosquitoes!” J

Okay, even though I could go on and on about the “challenges” we are having, I should tell you about the positives here. The main one being the people. They are so open, friendly, helpful. I’ve heard “Welcome to India, ma’am!” so many times. They are very patient people. They seem to have mastered the art of waiting. Waiting for buses, waiting for traffic, waiting for people to arrive. Time is not all that important. When you need to get things done it’s so frustrating but I think when you’re settled down here, it will be freeing to not feel that the clock is always ticking. I was telling my neighbor –who is also American--- that that we had called some service company about coming to hook up our stove and had told them they needed to take care of it immediately and she just looked at me and said, “ You used the word “immediately” in India????” We both had a good laugh. And trust me, we need to do lots of laughing here because there’s not much else we can do sometimes!

I’m attaching some photos from resort, from our house, from the street and the last one is of our driver..

With love from India,
Donna

October in Chennai

2007-11-02T22:18:00.000-07:00

From left to right: Pool man, gardener, helper, my driver with his daughter, security guard and Farid's driver.

At the OWC Ball.

Emma with Puna's daughter.

Oct. 31, 2007

We've had a busy October here in India. Sorry for not sending more news but this blog is an attempt to keep in better touch with family and friends. You can check in with us anytime and send us your news as well!

OWC Fire and Ice Ball - Oct. 13, 2007

Farid and I attended the OWC (Overseas Women's Christian) Charity Ball with our neighbors Lynn and Mark Vannette. We got to dress up for a night on the town where we enjoyed a nice dinner and dancing with friends. I'm not sure what the attendance was, but it seemed like every ex-pat in Chennai was there! We met some very nice people from the U.S and many other countries as well.

Puja Ceremony - Oct. 20, 2007

This was our first experience with an Indian ceremony and it was so interesting! Here's what my Google search turned up to explain this ceremony:

Pujas are typically directed towards different deity forms in order to invoke the attributes of that deity, connect with the light of God, and receive blessings. Pujas may be done for specific areas of life such as health, career, relationships, spiritual growthand so forth. During a puja elaborate steps are performed by the priest (called a “pujari”) in order to cleanse and prepare the space for worship; to invoke the deity and all his/her qualities; and bring in positive energies to the puja space, to those attending the puja, and to the world at large. Pujas involve Sanskrit mantra chanting along with offerings of flowers, fruit, rice, sweets, incense, milk, honey, water and other substances.

Ultimately a puja is performed for the purpose of honoring God and receiving blessings. By performing a puja, our minds and souls become purified and negative tendencies are washed away.

All the staff members at our house insisted that we have this ceremony. They spent all day cleaning the cars, the generator, the yard, the pool, and decorating for the event which had to occur at a particular time to be most beneficial. So at dusk, we went outside to witness this ceremony. They offered prayers for blessings on all the things used for the coming year--that they would work well and that they, their families, our household would be blessed for the coming year. One of our drivers, Puna, brought his seven year old daughter with him and Emma enjoyed meeting her. They offered us a tray filled with flowers, fruit, puffed rice and sweets. We, in turn, gave each staff member a bag filled with similar items, that thankfully, Farid's secretary prepared for us, since we were clueless about this event!

United Nations Day - Oct. 25, 2007

The American International School, where the kids attend, celebrated United Nations Day with a flag ceremony and a lavish international lunch prepared by the parents. Each country set up a display with foods from their home country and the entire school came through to sample all the delicacies. The school educates children from several different countries including- but not limited to - Korea, France, England, Belgium, Australia, Finland, Denmark, Canada, and of course, the U.S.! I believe Emma and Zach would say this was, by far, the best school lunch they've ever had!

Basketball!

Both Zach and Emma are playing basketball. The season here runs from October to the end of November. Emma has practice every morning at 6:45 and Zach's practice is after school until 6 pm. He was selected for the traveling team and they will travel to Bangledesh in mid-November for the tournament. He is very excited about this opportunity and we're glad he is enjoying it! The coach said of course Zach needed to defend the Kentucky pride!!!