Furry critters, oh my!

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

Need I say more?

Merry Christmas everyone!

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!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Parry's Corner

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!!!"

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Dancing Queens in India

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:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Emma's Birthday

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

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:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Photo Contest

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.

Make a Smilebox slideshow