Church...strange, Valentines...good

Church was the same…and yet different...the format was the same, the songs were the same, prayers were the same, but the faces were different.  There were even a couple "foreigners" there, not including S.  It was disappointing.  I must have been hoping for a mini reunion ...argh, unmet expectations.  After the service I mentioned to S that none of the crowd that I hung out with (13 years ago) was still going to this church…my “gang”.  OK, I take that back…there are still three around...and one of them is me.  There used to be a rather large young adult/career group…about 20 - 30 of us and what fun we used to have together.  The "gang" probably consisted of 5-6 of us of the whole.  Most of them are gone now, some in Australia, some in the UK, couple in the US and I know some are still here…but don’t go to this church anymore.  
 
When we came here last, three of "the gang" were still coming here, so I at least got to see them on Sundays.  This time around, only one…the other two have disappeared and I have no idea how to get in touch with them.  Sad - to come all this way and not be able to hang.  But it was good to see the other one…in the last three years she’s gotten married and is expecting a little one in May.  It’s amazing how much you can miss when you’re gone for even a short while…but I guess a lot can happen in 3 years.  We not only had J, and he's had surgery, and it's been over a year since his surgery and he's almost two.  
 
One of the couples celebrated their 1 year anniversary, so they treated the church to lunch after the service.  It was good, but extremely greasy (to be expected of catered food)…I and J enjoyed the rice and chicken and curries…fish was too spicy for them, but J had a few bits.
 
S and I got a chance to go out on a date, it being Valentine’s and all.  We walked to a little joint and had pani puri and shakes...and took some dinner back.  S thinks we should introduce pani puri to the West,  but it probably wouldn’t taste the same.  We might be able to find them in some restaurants...but it'll be quite the search and i don't think that's part of our budget.  Besides, we're still working out the other Indian eatery idea.  

Dinner consisted of: Singapore noodles (ehh....way better in Singapore =D)
Siddharth Special noodles (same as above, but with more grease, spices and cheese).  
Aloo palak (potato and spinach curry) - very bland
Roasted chicken curry (from a curry stand) - pretty good
Badam milk (almond flavored milk) - eh...
 
We'll be visiting the curry stand again.  The noodles place - their shakes and pani puris were decent.  Will have to introduce S to the usual way we eat pani puris - one at a time, standing up.  Probably get the full quota that way.


Tomorrow...exhibition

Two of my mom's sisters live in this city.  The one closest (about a mile) to us has three kids: the youngest one is still in college and the older two...post college.  The one farther away (about 10 miles) from us has four stepdaughters - with a combined total of 7 grandkids.

Today we visited both sisters.  The close one had toys for the kids, so they really liked that, especially when they were allowed to "borrow" the toys for the rest of our time here.  And since her kids are "younger", they were quite enthusiastic about playing with their niece and nephew - hopefully we can use them for some babysitting int he future.

I was worried about our visit with the "far" aunt...but was told she has cable, so yeah!  Got there and the cable was terrible.  There was maybe one kids show, but it was in Hindi.  S and I welcome shows in Hindi for the kids, gives them more exposure to half their heritage.  This show was terrible - the kids were so violent!  We didn't spend more than a few minutes before changing the channel.  So, the kids spent time running around the balcony and getting themselves super filthy...but boy! did they enjoy themselves.  Our kids are very happy about anything outdoors, even on a balcony.  We didn't my aunt prior notice that we were coming, so when her husband got home from work and saw us, he went back out and got some goodies for the kids, including a couple teddy bears.  Un-needed (is that a word?) but much appreciated.

Even though the "far" aunt lives about 10 miles away, it takes us between 1 and 1 1/2 hours to get there by taxi, much longer by bus because of all the transfers.  It's been a long, full day...time for bed and church tomorrow morning.

We learned this afternoon that my father's oldest brother passed away a couple hours before.  He was around 85.  The funeral is early tomorrow morning, so Dad's catching the night train to get there in time, but he has to hop back on the next train in order to be back for church on Sunday.  S is amazed that they can arrange things this quickly...i am a bit puzzled as well. 

To make Dad's departure a little easier, a couple hours before he leaves the UPS blows up.  The "UPS" is a battery system that supports the computers that are used at Dad's work.  Apparently, it can support up to 3 comoputers at one time...and i turned on a 4th.  Oops!  Due to the fluctuation in their power supply, my parents got this battery system.  When the power is on, it charges the batteries and when there's none, the computers can still be used.

Here in India, and i know in China too, there are scheduled power cuts to balance the input and output of electricity.  They're supposed to tell you when they're going to do it, so you can be prepared, but of course, there's no way to hold them to that.  So...we have no idea when the power goes out...in fact, it comes and goes all day long.  It's much more steady in the evenings when offices shut down.  Havind said that, because of the constant use of computers here, our batteries (the UPS system) have not had a chance to recharge and the system got overloaded, hence the "fireworks".  Basically, the batteries that supported the computers are fried and they have to get a whole new system.  Since i'm the one who doesn't need a computer to get my "work" done - getting on one from now on is going to be a privilege.  Frustrating, but i guess i should count my blessings.

So, Dad's off to his hometown for his brother's funeral and our first weekend back home begins...

Exhibition - Part I

So, today's big program was going to the Exhibition.  It's very similar to a fair...where vendors from all over the country come to exhibit their goods.  It happens every year from January until February 15.  It takes us about 1 1/2 hours to get there by cab and up to 2 hours by bus.  The traffic on the way was horrendous and we found out later that tomorrow is a holiday, so everyone was headed to the Exhibition...great!

This was my chance to get some shopping done...which i did, but not enough.  This place is huge and they have so many "bargains" - it's hard to find the right one.  I did buy some shirts for B and mom was able to score a saree and we got some fabric as well. 

I think it was hard on Sam and the kids.  Sam couldn't really barter...once they saw him coming, or even heard him speak...they would hike up the price.  He and Dad kept the kids busy, but how long can you do that with 1 and 4 year olds...but they managed.  The kids were getting a bit restless and wanted to eat all kinds of junk food and go on the rides...i guess, kids will be kids.  We were maybe able to check out 1/4 of this fair.  Mom and I are going to go back on Monday (the last day) and get some more bargains.  We left around 9:00 p.m. and there were still crowds coming in...it was crazy, but i think the kids loved it (especially since they were able to talk daddy (S)  into getting them creamsicles).

SIDE NOTE: I remember being able to "talk" my dad into getting those for us too...i think he really liked them and used us as an excuse to get some.  Apparently, dads will be dads too =D

I promised the kids (B mostly) that they could watch a movie if they behaved...the choice was Tarzan.  I think there were a couple parts that were scary, but on the whole they enjoyed it.  Just before putting them to bed, i asked B what she thought of the movie.  Her response, "yah, it was nice because Jane wore the same panties as Tarzan"  I love my kids!

venturing out

Well, the kids are pretty close to normal.  We ventured outside the house today and went for a walk.  The last couple days B went on outings, and she already has mosquito bites.  One of them doesn't look like a mosquito bite and isn't acting like one, so we'll see how it does tomorrow.  She was allergic to mosquito bites the last time we were here, and i guess that hasn't changed.  J seems to be doing ok, but its still the beginning, so there's plenty of time for something to happen. 


This morning B heard a vendor outside shouting his wares and asked, "What's that noise?"  It's so interesting to see my home through her eyes.  I'm really looking forward to experiencing India with both B and J. 


Might do some shopping tomorrow...can't wait to start bargaining...need new shoes.  I did a little warmup in Dubai, but this will be the real thing...must keep S far away...don't have much bargaining power when he's around.

Upon request...

So...i'm adding a few entries/thoughts of my own. Most of this stuff is new/novel to S. and i thought you'd be more interested seeing India through his eyes. I'm used to most of this stuff...he's not.

However, India is very different since we lived here...more than i ever imagined. I think in her effort to become "western" she's giving up a large part of her culture. To someone who was raised in the era where women didn't show their ankles...seeing scantily dressed girls in the newspaper is not only shocking, but very disappointing as well. Indian women walking around in shorts and belly-baring blouses - it's just not us! Sure, the saree bares our mid-section...but at least there is some semblance at propriety, now even that facade has been removed. But, perhaps to our credit, this has mostly hit Bollywood and some "rich" suburbs in big cities. I'm pretty sure jeans and shorts won't ever get to rural towns and villages, but you can see them in "rich" urban cities, Bombay.

The other day we went shopping to find some men's "ethnic" shirts...but after several hours we returned empty handed. All the stores we went to boasted "western" style men's clothing. We have to go to specialty stores to find Indian style shirts - IN INDIA!!! I guess only foreigners want Indian style clothes - natives want western-style. I am deeply saddened by this change.

The joy of giving

Yesterday, S and B went with my dad and a couple others to pass out Shoe Box Presents (through Samaritan's Purse). From what i heard, B did well, after a little talk with Daddy about the joy of giving. She ended up getting her own box, since the people at one of the churches wanted to give her one...but i hope she knows this is the only one she'll get. It was her first motorbike ride and she loved it!

They also went today after specific instructions that B only give and not ask for one, since she already got one.  I guess it is hard for kids her age to give away presents without receiving something.  But i'm sure during the course of these next couple months both B and J will be getting loads of stuff from folks here.  S and I are both hoping that she'll learn to be more generous with all the blessings.  I wasn't sure she'd learned anything, until she prayed at dinner today...she prayed for those children.  Hopefully a seed has been planted... 

My feet are pretty swollen from all the travel, so my attempt at walking this morning was truncated after less than 10 minutes...  The kids slept quite a bit today too, but i think they'll be all sorted over jetlag by tomorrow.  To tomorrow!

Mickey D's Expanding

When I first came to India 5 years ago, I didn't see any. Now, just outside the brand-new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport next to arrivals....a McDonald's restaurant. The only restaurant we saw in the airport's front, in fact. And open 24 hours to boot!

 

Why izzit?

Peeve O' The Day:
Airport luggage cart costs are NOT created equally.

Luggage cart at Sea-Tac International Airport, USA	$4.00
Luggage cart at JFK International Airport, USA	$5.00
Luggage cart at Dubai International Airport, United Arab Emirates	FREE
Luggage cart at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, India	FREE

Are U.S. airports THAT hard up for money?

Mum ..and chai

We arrived around 3:00 a.m. this morning.  Both the kids were fast asleep when we landed, so we had to wake them up...which is never fun, especially going through immigration.  Those agents were probably as tired, if not more tired and were very gracious in dealing with us.  By the time we got through immigration, baggage claim, customs, finding my dad and arriving at my parents home, it was almost 6:00 a.m.  B fell asleep during the ride and didn't wake up until later in the day.  S and J (and my dad) washed up, changed and promptly went to bed.  Mom and i saw treasure in this uninterrupted time and caught up.  It was so nice to just sit there and talk over cups of tea.  I've missed her.  We were able to talk for a few hours, but jetlag caught up to me and i passed out later in the afternoon...just before the kids woke up.

The next couple days will probably be devoted to loads of sleep and getting over jetlag.  Nothing terribly exciting...besides mum and (real) chai.