Photos from Trip

Here are some pics from our visit--I wish I would have remembered to use my camera when we were with everyone--but this will probably be enough for you to look at in one sitting:)

Haddon Asleep too early

We are adjusting back to Bangalore time...here are some pics of Haddon falling asleep at the dinner table and on the sofa chair. It's too early to go to bed but he just can't hold out any longer:)

We're Back in Action...Almost

Our whirlwind trip was pretty amazing...we visited Louisiana, The Woodlands, Granbury, Pearland and Houston in 13 days...traveling over 8,000 miles by air and more than 1,200 miles by car! We saw lots of family and friends and missed seeing some too.
Except for arriving into Houston 3 hours late and going without our suitcase for 5 days (lost luggage!) it was a smooth trip. Thank the Lord!
Now we are trying to adjust to Bangalore time again. It'll probably take a week or so to get our body "clocks" back into the old sleep routine. Haddon has had the hardest time and wakes the rest of us up to play in the middle of the night:) The first night back he was up at midnight, the next night 3:30 am, and today 5 am. Maybe tomorrow he'll wake up at 8 am!! I'm including a video of him falling asleep at the dinner table. It was so cute...he was pretending to be asleep and then really fell into a coma!:D
Brian and I have both felt it harder to come back to India this time than when we moved here. He because he was reminded of how much easier things are in the U.S. (and how clean it is there:). I was reminded of just how far we really are from family. I know it will take a few days to get back into the swing and refocus our minds on why we are here.
p.s....if you're unsure of what the loud girl-like noises are in the video...they are Brian and Corban saying "Chopper Frazier" to try to get Haddon to wake up:)

Comin' 2 America

Well, we are packing up to head to the states very, very early friday morning! I wanted to be sure and share the things we've been doing lately so there are 3 posts today:) I probably won't be blogging for the next few days or more--that is if i find time to post while in the states. I have a feeling we'll be a little bit busy on our whirlwind tour! We are so excited to see many of you in the next 2 weeks! Please pray for our 22 hour flight and our sleep schedule being turned upside down!! We really don't want to be zombies for 2 weeks:)
In case I don't blog again before then--Have a very blessed Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior!!

Doctor Visit #3

Kai had to get his 6 month shots today (he's almost 9 months:) so we went to a pediatrician that was recommended to us by some American friends. I am still amazed after visiting 3 clinics how simple these offices are. There's no reception window to sign in at, no nurse to call your name, no insurance accepted, and the doctor visit averages around $3-$5 (although the immunizations were much more). The exam table has no disposable paper to change after each patient and the waiting area is so small that if the person next to you is sick there's no sitting on the opposite side of the room to avoid them:) the one room office is divided by a wall partition...one side is for waiting, the other side is the small doctor's office and exam table--you could see into the exam room from the waiting room. It's only the doctor there. She examed the children, gave them the shots, took the payment, answered the phone, etc.
Being the germ freak mom that I am I prayed the whole time that the kids wouldn't touch something that a sick child touched then put their hands in their mouths--isn't it funny/sad and prejudice that i rarely had these thoughts at doctor's offices in america where the same germs exist!) This doctor has worked in the west and was very knowledgeable so i think that's why the simple office still amazes me. I'm not writing this to gain sympathy or look sacrificial--really. This is life in India...millions of people attend clinics just like this one. It really makes me appreciate the wonderful facilities we've had in the states and that there are doctors in India who care enough to only make $4!!

Dinner Guests

We had a family from church over for dinner last night. Brian and the husband have gotten to be good friends and we just met his wife last Sunday for the first time. I would like to share some things about them to give a glimpse of life here for so many people. They are by far not the poorest of the poor. I think they might be considered lower middle class. But still, compared to most Americans they struggle financially. They said they would like to invite us over for dinner but their home is so small and they don't have a dining room table. They were laughing as they said this so I just laughed along but afterwards I felt bad that I did. I don't ever want them to think we wouldn't go to their house b/c they don't have a table!!

Mohan works for the state as an auditor and was hired b/c he is a good soccer player:) There's a state team that has a quota to fill spots on the team with good athletes therefore giving them day jobs to be able to play on the team. He is looking for a part time night job in addition to his day job and soccer schedule. His job doesn't start til 10:00 am but he has to leave at 7:30 to get his wife and daughter to school on their motorcycle. This is a common thing in India for families to ride on motorcycles when they can't afford a car. We've seen a family of 5 before!Judy is a kindergarten teacher who wakes up at 4:30 am to make homemade lunches for her family (rice, gravy, flat bread, etc) and get she and her daughter dressed. She works 24 kilometers out of town ( i don't know how many miles that is maybe around 18.) Her husband drops her off at a relatives house, she then rides a bike about 2 km to school and rides it back after school for her husband to pick her up. When they get home she cooks and cleans until bed time.

Their sweet daughter is in third grade and has a beautiful smile.

The amazing thing is that they brought this huge fruit basket with candy bars and fresh strawberries. I know to them that was an expensive gift to give. Judy also wants to make us a beef roast since we don't get to eat much beef here...in her spare time?

The hard part about having guests over is we live in a nice apartment--i'm learning that what most americans would consider to be an average apt. is considered luxerious here in India. It's hard when people are embarrassed of their small homes b/c ours is 1200 square feet. And it's hard when they think we are so rich and have left a life of luxery to come and live here. Ofcourse, compared to India standards we are rich, but we don't want anyone to put us on a pedastal in their mind--which it seems like most people here do with westerners. We'd love to just be on even turf--no money involved--but i'm sure that's impossible for us americans to acheive--there is definitely an image and stereotype of america--and it's called wealth.

India vs Pakistan

We attended our first Cricket game on Saturday. Some of Brian's co-workers met us there and we exprienced India's national pastime. It's a little like baseball but a little more boring:D We sat in a section where the official "cheerleader" of Pakistan was sitting. He's gone to every game the last 19 years, following the Pakistani team all over the world. This made for fun rivalry yelling and true Indian spirit. The Pakistani team pays him ($160 a month) to go and mingle among the crowd and get them fired up. He's called the Cricket ChaCha (Uncle) and even has full color business cards he hands out:) The TV camera also came by to film the ChaCha with the indian fans. We made our debut on national indian television:) I think the cameraman stayed on Kai for 5 minutes:) (the white baby is a celebrity everywhere we go:D)

Also in the pictures you'll notice the white plastic chairs as stadium seats. We thought this was great...India is known for these plastic chairs everywhere...restaurants, doctors offices, churches...so it was very fitting that the stadium would use these as well, including color coded sections...red chairs in one section, blue chairs in another section, the white section (where we were sitting). Wearing light blue--India's color

This particular game was lasting for 5 days in Bangalore. We saw day one. At the end of the 5th day whoever has the most scores wins. Brutal:) There are also games that last 2 days, one day and 2 hours. Cricket is "THE" sport in India and sadly enough the only one you can watch on tv besides soccer on Sat/Sun nights.

Christmas Time in Bangalore

It has been really nice to experience the Christmas season in Bangalore. If it weren't December and I didn't know what time of year it was I would have no clue it was Christmas. People here do celebrate Christmas--they call it "Western Christmas"--with gifts, trees, food, etc. But since there are so many religious festivals here it doesn't get much advertisement. That is what has been so nice. There is no hustle and bustle like I feel from Thanksgiving to New Years in the U.S. The calendar hasn't become full of events every weekend, the stores aren't decorated and traffic is always bad, not just for the mad rush of Christmas shopping that happens this time of year in the states:D And apart from our nativity screensaver (shown above) there are no decorations in our house. It has been so wonderfully simple this year. It has allowed us to focus wholly on Christ's birth which is very refreshing.

Ofcourse, I am sad that the real reason for Christmas is not celebrated here--Jesus and His salvation! There are many Christians here that are geniunely worshipping but for most of the people it's just another god and just another festival.

I think too it is easy for me to revel in the simplicity and non-commercialism right now when I know we are coming to the states to be with our family and friends for this special season. We know Americans that will be staying here alone and I'm sure it will be really tough. That would be the true test of being satisfied in Christ's birth alone--without all the familiar traditions and loved ones that go along with it. I hope that we can continue to experience the simplicity in the states even among all the nice "extras" of this season.

Mattress

Brian's back has been really bothering him the last 3 weeks so we decided to break down and buy a better mattress than the cheap roll up mattress pad we were using on our bed. The queen size bed came with a mattress (shown in picutre) that is literally as hard as a rock:) So Brian bought this roll up pad that you can get from pillow stores here. We figured our housekeeper would want the old mattresses. When I asked her if she did she was beside herself, she even got tears in her eyes. Previously when we had visited their home I noticed that they only had one twin size bed although there are 4 adults that live there. I assumed the other 3 slept on the floor. When I offered her the mattress she told me that they sleep on a mat on the floor. I'm not really sure where they will put the mattress during the day because their home is not big enough to leave it out. I'm sure they will prop it up against a wall or something.

I share this not to demean her at all--but to give you a glimpse of what life is like for millions of people here. She is actually well off compared to others that live in tarp tents, concrete cyclinder block or sheet metal homes the size of an american bathroom.

Even though we are faced with poverty here everywhere we go, amazingly you can still distance yourself from it, especially when you have a nice home and luxeries to remove yourself from the reality of the world outside. I am so thankful for Vanajakshi and her family. It reminds me each day of the words Jesus says in Luke 6:20-26

"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kindgom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. "

"But woe to you are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets."

I know that Vanajakshi, and millions others, will always be "poor" until they know the spiritual richness of our Father and I also know that thanks to the saving power of Jesus those who are "materially rich" and have these woes pronounced against them have a way to become "poor" by following Him and receive eternal "riches"! Thank you Lord!

Peas and Yogurt--yummy:)

These videos are of Kai eating peas mixed with plain yogurt. It made him pucker but he just kept eating:) Corban & Haddon got a kick out of watching Kai's funny faces:) so did I

Boys Racing Cars

Boys Racing Cars II

Boys Racing Cars III

Bad News...Good News

Bad News...
We were so excited to finally have a car (bought last Monday) but on Friday night it "broke"...yes, 5 days later:) This seems to be the way of life in India--or atleast ours:) We dropped it off at the shop yesterday. We're hoping it's minor since the car checked out great before we bought it. So we are back to rickshaws and buses--hopefully not for long:)
Good News...
I found out this weekend that our building has an ironing service!! I get really behind on ironing Brian's work clothes so i was so excited to find out they do it for the equivilant of 5 cents a shirt and 10 cents for pants!! I took the clothes down to the parking garage this morning where the ironing "shop" is set up in a corner. They were using these huge metal irons that have burning coals inside of them (well they were burning red--i don't know if it was coal). Noone spoke english so i hope i get them back:D (i did get to sign a book to tell them which flat we live in)

My Apologies to Customs

Well I mentioned earlier in a blog that Indian Customs is known to lose or pocket international mail. This may be true but the reason our mail is arriving late is because we had the wrong zip code:D I noticed on our packages that they were crossing thru the zip code we thought it was and putting a different one. I asked the security guards what the address was and it is in fact different along with some of our address:D Addresses here are more like directions:) The street we face does not have a name so our address directs people using landmarks near us. Here's our correct address:
Frazier
Apt 115-B1 Sobha Aquamarine
Sarjapur Outer Ring Road
Near INDIAN OIL PETROL Bunk
Vill-Bellandur, Bangalore, Karnataka
India PIN-560103

Johnny Jump Up

We brought this Johnny Jump Up with us from the states and for 3 months I've been racking my brain on how we could make it work on our doors. We have door frames but one side of the door in every room has a big thick concrete overhang. Well last week I asked Brian to take a look to see if he could figure something out. Being the engineer that he is, he figured out how to attach it in less than a minute!:) 3 months lost b/c I didn't ask my smart husband sooner!:) But Kai loves it and it helps momma out during dinner cooking time!

Driving in India

I've delayed posting about driving in India. Mainly because it's just such chaos I didn't really know if i could describe it. To summarize:
No rules
No laws
No lanes
Very few Traffic lights (which means more chaos at intersections)
Everyone is out for themselves
Rush hour traffic most of the day/night
It's an obstacle course filled with buses, cars, SUV's, motorcycles, scooters, ox pulled carts, rickshaws, bicycles, pedestrians, people crossing in front of you, people pushing fruit carts, cows, dogs, sheep, goats, tractors, three wheel pick-ups (very slow), potholes, massive speed bumps and i'm sure i'm forgetting some. Plus re-learning how to drive a standard (all cars here) in the midst of it all!
There's no talking on the cell phone or looking down to change the radio station--you'll surely hit something:) We don't feel like we are in danger really because the traffic moves so slow, if you hit something or something hits you the impact won't be too great. But it's more frustrating than anything. To get out of our apt. complex onto the main road we can't cross over the median to take a right turn toward the city. So we have to go left and sit in 10-20 minutes of traffic just to make a u-turn to go in the right direction:) Things like that. But you know what? it is so nice just to have a vehicle and we are so thankful that we can drive! I think most foreigners feel incapable (which is why they hire drivers) so it is nice to be able to manage it!

FINALLY!!

We are so thankful to have this vehicle! After 3 months (4 for Brian) of rickshaws and buses we really appreciate the room and a/c (which means not having to breath stinky exhaust:)! It is a 2001 Mahindra Bolero. (Note the racing stripes that are non-optional on all SUV's--Brian says it makes the car go faster:) People here either drive tiny compact cars or large SUV safari types like this one. The large family needed to opt for this kind:)

We learned quickly that buying a vehicle in India is not like the states. You can't go to your local CarMax, pick out a car and drive off. Finding a reputable dealer is a challenge and although we worked with an honest salesman for 2 months (the first month was wasted with a dishonest dealer:), most of the cars he told us would be available fell through (the dealer works with individual owners who decided not to sell them). We actually looked at this same vehicle about 2 months ago but held out to see if we could get a more recent model (and the man selling it was holding out to get the price he wanted). Nothing materialized. We assumed this is the one the Lord wanted us to have.

Like most cars here there are are no seatbelts in the rear:) We are going to have those installed so we can make use of those carseats we value so much in the u.s.:)

Kai Balboa

This is a night video--so it's a little hard to see

Kai Turns 8 Months

Kai sat up on the floor by himself for more than the usual few seconds:), he's enjoying looking at books and was introduced to his Johnny Jump Up on friday. Just a side note: it's hard to "catch" good pictures of Corban these days--his eyes are sensitive to the flash so nearly every pic has the "closed eyes" pose:)

Mysore Trip

This past weekend we visited a city called Mysore about 3 hours (if you don't get lost:) away from Bangalore. There is a great zoo, beautiful palace and Brindavan Gardens outside the city which is irrigated by the lake/dam next to it. The landscape at the gardens was stunning and worth getting lost for an hour before stumbling upon it:) (The whole road sign directions thing hasn't caught on here yet:) If you run your mouse over the slideshow you can control the viewing options.

Mysore Palace lighted

Mysore Palace

Internet Anxiety

I experienced our first internet outage of 4 days (really 3 1/2) this week. Even though I don't really "need"the internet, it felt like I lost my right arm:) I wanted to be able to communicate. We usually have interuptions each day but this was a long one! The problem was finally solved today and I am thanking the Lord for Email and the Web!! What did people do 20 years ago or more when there was no such thing!! I'm sure they wrote letters by snail mail but even that is so unreliable. We have been expecting packages and a card for over 3 weeks now. I've heard that they can get held up at Indian Customs--pocketed or lost. I'm hopeful they will arrive someday:)

I'm just so thankful that we live here in 2007 when we can email--high speed-- anytime of day! And I realize that I'm very far off from Paul's biblical advice to be content in every situation and to not be anxious. Maybe that was the lesson I was supposed to learn from this!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well here in Bangalore it's just another day--the Pilgrims didn't land in India unfortunately:) I'm thankful that it does feel like just another day and I'm not sitting here depressed that I'm missing green bean casserole and pecan pie:) Actually some of Brian's coworkers (all of the American ones) are getting together Saturday night to celebrate Thanksgiving since they aren't off of work today.
Turkeys are rare here and have to be special ordered for a pricey sum. We saw a sign at a restaurant to order imported Butterball turkeys...for a 5 lb turkey it would have cost $200!! You can get them cheaper--between $20-$50-- which our friends are doing. We will all be improvising the side dishes since none of us own ovens:) They plan on frying the turkey outside on their portable gas stove:)
The only thing you can't improvise here is cranberry sauce--none to be found.
As I contemplate Thanksgiving here on the other side of the world, on just "another day" in India, I realize it's quite amazing that so much fuss is made over turkey and stuffing:D But I know it goes deeper than that...being thankful for all our many blessings, family, friends, food, and football!:)
Happy Turkey Day!

Birthday Party

Last week we were invited to go to our housekeeper's daughter's (Ramier) 18th birthday party. We were honored to be invited and had fun celebrating with her. It was interesting to see some of their traditions. One is somewhat like our wedding cake in the States...the birthday girl cut a piece of cake and each person at the party took turns standing next to her and taking a bite of the cake while she fed it to them. She had her picture taken each time as well. She got gifts and blew out her candles.

In the pictures you can see that she and her family don't smile when posing for the camera. I think it is a cultural thing. Ramier has a beautiful smile but she didn't show it for any of her pics.

In the picture with all of us you'll notice behind Ramier that there is a poster of an elephant looking creature. This is Ganesh, a popular hindu god here. They had a whole shrine of "household gods" set up. That is what they call them too. It brought to life the Old Testament talk of people having "house hold gods". I had never seen that until coming here. Also if you can see the poster behind Ramier and her aunt (lady in red saree) it has 2 big houses, a new shiny red car and a manicured lawn. The quote at the top said "Arise, awake, do not rest until the goal is reached". Hindus believe that when you die if you've done enough good works you come back in your next life with more material possesions. You keep coming back into different lives until you've reached your richest status then die and go to heaven. This poster motivates them to do good works and strive for material possesions. Very sad.

Corban Dancing

Haddon Dancing

Diwali

Diwali (pronounced Da-Volley) is the "Festival of Lights". This was the biggest celebration since we've been here (in two months there has been atleast 5 festivals/celebrations!). People spend lots of money on commercial grade fireworks. This means anyone can pop the firecrackers that you would see at a 4th of July show--the huge kind--right in their back yard (or their apt. complex) For 5 nights fireworks can be heard and seen around the city. Near us they went off until about midnight. On Thursday morning they started at 6am!! We thought for sure it was kids, but when Brian went outside to take a look it was families, lots of them, popping fireworks:) We learned that in South India it is traditional to pop fireworks in the morning and all day. We bought the boys some Sparklers and took them to the swimming pool Friday night to watch our neighbors pop really BIG fireworks.

What about Brian?

Hi everyone! This is Brian. I thought I would take a blog and write about all the things that I have been up with regards to work.

To say things are busy is almost laughable. Our company is growing so fast right now that every manager is following their daily activities, planning for future growth, and managing a number of new initiatives designed to help manage the growth.

For those that are unaware, our company's website can be found at http://www.ujjivan.com/ Since I have just finished my first three months with the company, you probably won't find me on the website yet as I just finished my probabtionary period.

My official job title is Operations Manager. Ujjivan has three major areas of Operation: Bangalore, Delhi, and Kolkata, where Bangalore is where our headquarters are located. As of today, and soon to change, we have 17 Branches in the Bangalore region, 7 in Kolkata, and 4 in Delhi. We just recently eclipsed 40,000 customers. Such a number after only 2 years in existence is unheard of in the microfinance world. As all of our branches are working with poor women in their areas and offering a number of financial services, my department processes and makes all of those actions possible, currently for all of regions. All paperwork for the customers, loan applications, insurance forms, transactions occurring in the branches, and loan disbursements are processed in my department. We are currently receiving around 200 new customers per day and over 300 loan applications per day.

In our department, I report to the Head of Operations for the company. The Accounts department, data entry and loan booking department, customer service, and help desk report to me. I have also recently hired an engineer to handle our IT-related projects. Our department also has a Cash Manager, MIS Specialist, Credit Manager, and Risk Manager, each with their own sub-departments who report to the Head of Operations like me.

The main challenges for day to day activities are in handling the large volumes, controlling errors, and managing all the change going on in the branches. My group has 25 people but the turnover for our data entry group is very high as many people move in from semi-urban villages, get training from us in data entry and English, and then move on for higher paying jobs from IT firms. Many of the changes I have had to make since Istarting have been in putting tracking mechanisms in place to monitor the daily capacity and branch priorities associated with them, instituting a batch process for our loan applications to make the process more efficienct, teach our supervisors better planning and management techniques, and managing all the people problems that take place every day. I have had to make my first termination a few weeks ago, which was very unfortunate because it was a young girl who is dealing with mental problems and was not willing to receive help.

Other projects I have been working on or leading include developing a Change Management procedure for the company, process mapping all company processes and perform risk assessments on every process, develop process management training for all of our branch managers, prepare our main software and network capabilities for transitioning the company to a regional operations set up so that Delhi and Kolkata can begin to process all of their branches' activities, modify our operations to handle a new individual-lending product (where we are currently completely group lending right now and this new product woud also onclude men), institute our customer service and help desk which just started this week, and begin a pilot project in January that would give our field staff hand-helds to perform all transactions.

I also get to get out to the branches and meet our customers. Real change is being made but not every customer wants to get out of poverty or even make life better for her and her family. Some situations can be disappointing but the majority are very encouraging. I am confident that what we are doing is the financial solution for the poor. More wholistic approaches are being explored, though still lacking in spiritual substance.

A great part about all of it is that I don't feel overwhelmed and have been so excited about everything that I am doing. Things are never perfect. People are still the same sin-bearing vessels that they are everywhere else. Some days are better than others, but the work atmosphere here is very good.

After 3-1/2 months, I am completely confident that the reason for coming here is being fulfilled. I am learning every in and out of microfinance and even banking itself. The experience I have been getting would never have been possible in the US, even with firms doing the same thing.

There are only a few born-again believers here at work. Going deeper with people here is difficult being an American. The real inroads I have made have been with 19-25 year olds who work in my group, but the boss-employee issues that go along with that make it more challenging.

There are an infinite possibilities with future ministries being involved in microfinance. The future is still unclear but the experience I am getting here is invaluable.

There are a few men at church who I have been able to get to know better. One of the pastors and our Sunday Bible study leader have already begun to be real partners and mentors for me in faith and sanctification.

There has also been a recent big event ( more of a step in the process though) with four wheels that I will let Colette disclose the details to....

Hopefully this has provided a little more information on my job and what I do every day.

Thanks,

Brian

Not Your Local Walgreens

Most everyone these days in America has access to a Walgreens or CVS just around the corner. In India there are pharmacies on every street but you may not want to get your medicine there. This is what most of them look like...

I'm not saying I wouldn't get my medicine there b/c of the way it looks; rather, because it's open to the heat and elements and expiration dates are questionable which makes you think twice:) So as I was calling around with my American accent to find out if any pharmacy carried prenatal vitamins (I'm not pregnant, i'm just still taking them:), I found one that did. It happens to be the most famous and reputable pharmacy in Bangalore...The Cash Pharmacy, started by an English man by the name of Cash in 1908. I wish I had a current picture of the outside. First I'll show you how it used to look...really beautiful...the top picture is the first building which looks more like a house. Then for some reason they cut the top floor off and it turned into the next picture. Then after a long battle b/w the pharmacy and the land owner it was torn down.

Now it looks like a hole in the wall! We were in disbelief when we saw it--this couldn't be it--a famous pharmacy? Made of concrete cylinder blocks, no windows, one door, and a hand painted sign. Inside it's about the size of a pharmacy at Walmart but triple the inventory, and they still have the same medicine cabinets from 1908:) (atleast that's what it looked like). But it is enclosed and air conditioned, which keeps the meds good. I couldn't get a great shot of the inside b/c i didn't want to look obvious, but you can see the medicine stored in the cabinets below. It took me a 2 hour round trip by rickshaw to get there (traffic is really bad!) The first time I went with Brian and it was closed:) When I arrived the second time they didn't have prenatal vitamins but did have a multivitamin. I'll be stocking up when we visit the States next month:)

So I'm learning here that "reliable, trustworthy and good quality" do not equal "clean, new or convenient" like they do in America. And I thank God for the Cash Pharmacy that even though it's not around the corner or "Walgreen's clean", has some of the best pharmacists/chemists in Bangalore, has a/c to keep medicine good, and has some vitamins. And when I'm in TX next month I will thank the Lord for wonderful Walgreens:D

Laundry Pile

Corban had fun loading all the clean clothes onto Kai--Kai thought it was great:)...

PEEK A BOO!

Forgot Salwars

I wanted to show those who are interested another type of popular apparel for woman. I like these the best... they are called Salwars and the scarf is a Dupatta (a sign of modesty). My friend Asha in TX gave me a Salwar suit before moving and I hope to get more while here. There are tons of BEAUTIFUL fabrics here, so colorful with lots of embellishments. And there are just as many tailors that will design and make clothes for a great price. You can also find ready-to-wear as well as lots of western clothing stores. The woman here look very feminine with the sarees and salwars.

Men and Women in India

Just a few little observations about men and women...

* It is accepted here that men can hold hands, put their arms around each other, walk down the street holding hands, etc. It took me off guard at first, not expecting this cultural difference, but it is innocent and a sign of friendship.

* It is also accepted that men can urinate right on the side of the road! I hate to sound crude but it's true. Thankfully they turn their backs to the street but they do not bother to hide behind a tree or bush:) So oncoming traffic knows exactly what they are doing. One time our rickshaw driver pulled over to relieve himself:) We even saw a commercial advertising motorcycles and the actor pulled over on the side of the road to go to the bathroom--it's that accepted!!

* Women, as far as I know, don't wear bathing suits, so there won't be any women swimming or laying out at the apt. complex pool. They also don't wear shorts. It's acceptable for women to wear pants and jeans but the majority of the population wear sarees like these, even to clean houses.

* Many women go to live with their mother after giving birth...for about 6 months. I'm not sure if this is just for the firstborn child or even when you have 4 or 5, but it's a common practice to live with your mom so she can help you. Poor husband...he's left alone to fend for himself:)

* You always want what you don't have...while many American woman are going for that tropical tan, via the tanning bed or spray tans, woman here are hoping to become lighter. L'Oreal sells a product to whiten your face and i'm sure many other brands do as well.

Fast Food vs Health Food

Here in Bangalore you can really find neither of these very readily... fast food nor health food. Unlike the U.S. there are not fast food chains on every corner, which is probably a good thing, except when you are looking for a quick meal:) So far we've seen only 2 McDonald's both at malls, 2 KFC's & 2 Subways also at the mall/shopping area. This is a city of 6 million people--pretty amazing that there's not more. The Fast Food craze has thankfully not hit India. Also in the way of fast food via the freezer section there is little selection. I'm amazed now when i think about 4 long rows of freezer aisles at U.S. grocers. Here there are only 2 freezer doors of food. My kids are no longer eating frozen waffles for breakfast and microwaved chicken nuggets for lunch everyday...another good thing:D And one more thing about fast food...there are no baby food jars at grocery stores. I knew I would be making my own baby food when i got here to save money but i didn't realize there wouldn't be an option:) we did go to one toy store that carried jar food, before Kai was eating solids, but i didn't price it.

On the other hand, the health food/diet craze hasn't found its way to India either.There's not an abundance of healthy choices. No Baked Lays or "Lowfat" versions of food. Of course you can find foods that are not fattening but it seems America has been populated with fatfree, lowcarb, lowcal options on every aisle. Most things here are cooked with oil--fried, gravy with an oil base, not many grilled options. Lots and lots of yummy, buttery bread with each meal:) Thankfully there are many fruits and vegetables at the grocery store. Another luxery I had become spoiled with in the U.S. was Nutrition Labels on food packages. It is not government mandated here and when there is a label on the package it is for a serving of 100 grams (not 1 cup or 5 cookies for example), which is usually way bigger than a person can eat in one serving:) Many times the whole content of the package is less than 100 grams:) And sugar content is never listed on a package. We can buy "whole wheat" bread but it's white so i'm not sure about that:)

I hope i don't sound like i'm complaining i just enjoy sharing about differences. My kids are eating much healthier now...scrambled eggs for breakfast, grilled cheese for lunch. And we do still order Domino's Pizza every Sunday night to get our pizza fill! Yes they have Domino's!!

Airplane Store

Today we took our Saturday outing to the airplane store. We've passed it several times and noticed the real airplane in the window. The boys had a blast...Haddon said "Look at this Momma" for every piece of merchandise he passed:D It's a store of hobby airplanes, toy airplanes and apparel. Ofcourse we did have to purchase souvenirs:) Corban got a styrofoam plane that flies across the room (when thrown:) and Haddon got a die cast "toddler size" bomber. They were happy. Kai was just along for the ride:)

What's that Noise?

The past few mornings I've been awakened quite early, atleast by my standards (Brian's already out of bed:), by a loud noise outside our bedroom window. I thought it was the neighbors above us on their balcony--maybe having sunrise coffee or something:) This morning I decided to get up and open the curtains. I discovered a pile of milk bags down on the grass below. I guess the noise is the milk truck delivering the milk. I'm assuming the "milkmen" take it from here and deliver door to door. Gotta have milk in the morning right?:)
Just a side note: you can also have groceries, furniture, movie tickets, takeout food and pretty much anything you can think of delivered to your door for free here. Very nice.

Kai in Reverse

This is Kai walking backwards in his walker--he only goes in reverse right now:)

Loud and Messy

The next four posts are video clips i took the other night of the boys singing and dancing LOUDly . The house is MESSY but please just ignore the background:)

Haddon--Happy Birthday Tia

Haddon was singing Happy Birthday to his aunt Tia...

Corban singing and dancing

The Boys Dancing with Daddy

Corban's First Writings

Corban wrote his first words last week--all by himself without my help! I was really pumped and just had to share for the grandparents/great grandparents. Usually they are the ones who care about such menial things:) Or do just the parent's get excited about little things that every other child on earth does? it seems so monumental when it's your's:D We don't have a scanner so I had to take a picture:) The words are Bat, Corban and Sat incase you have trouble reading 4 year old writing:)

Tea Time

I'm sure most of you remember from history class that India was once ruled by England. Even though it's been independent for 60 years English tradition is still around.
Take for instance, tea time. It is observed twice a day...around 10 am and 3 pm. Tea is served with lots of milk and sugar so it's basically chai. Coffee is the same and reminds me of my Granny's "coffee milk" she used to make us as kids....lots of milk, even more sugar and a little bit of coffee. This would definitely be my kind of drink except that the 2nd time I drank it here I got diarrhea and stomach cramps--while having to hide the grimaces--at a birthday party:) So i haven't participated again:) Brian's office is served tea (chai) twice a day and he loves it. It's also served after church. I really can't get into having tea with myself at home--it seems like something you do with company:) but we have really become addicted to tea biscuits! They come in lots of shapes and brands but they are basically the same...they taste like vanilla wafers or shortbread and they are very cheap.
Some other English traditions that remain are driving on the left side of the road with the steering wheel on what would be the passenger side in America. That one's going to throw me off when i start to drive:)
and formal english writing and speaking. They add the letter U as in colour and flavour and use the letter S instead of z as in organise.
I haven't asked anyone what the national feelings are towards England. I assume they are good since Europeans are welcomed and live here. But there was one shady piece of evidence that I discovered in a language translation book that suggested India might not have the most fond affections for England. It is a "Learn Kannada in 30 days book". My housekeeper speaks this local language so we bought it to try to help us in conversational translation. As I looked through the random sentences like "It was raining outside today", this phrase caught my attention..."In the last world war, the Germans were fighting bravely." Hmmm. I couldn't imagine why you would ever need to say this to anyone in any language so i asked Brian what he thought it meant. He assumed it was b/c India was against England who was an adversary of Germany. Anyway--thought that to be a little strange for a book written in 2007:).

Kai Army Crawling

Kai is starting to army crawl--just tempt him with a toy and he's on a mission to get it:)

The Queen of the Netherlands

The Queen, Prince and Princess of the Netherlands visited Bangalore today! One of their stops was Brian's company, Ujjivan. The Prince and Princess are investors in the company and are very interested in microfinance.

The city gave a warm welcome to the royalty. They paved the dirt road in front of Ujjivan (usually full of potholes). The funny thing was they paved it to the building just past Ujjivan then stopped:) They also picked up all the trash which usually surrounds the area (trash surrounds every area of the city but they combed the streets where the Queen would pass). It looked nice.

Here is a picture of Brian and the other managers that work for Ujjivan (there are about 100 people employed at this office). Brian was sad that the other employees were forced under "lock down" which meant they weren't allowed to see the Queen--even to peek out the window. Police and secret security poured through the neighborhood surrounding the office prior to the royalty's arrival and a bomb squad searched the building.

The other 3 pics are of the Queen, Prince and Princess...i must say that I think only royalty could get away with these hats:D

The Queen and Mr. Ghosh, President of Ujjivan

$3 Imports

I've found a number of imported/luxery items (as in toilet paper:) here that cost $3. That's a lot of money here and i have trouble paying for these items at this price when they are so cheap in the states:)

1- 80 count pack of baby wipes...$3
8oz (half the size of American jar) Peanut Butter..$3
1 box of sandwich size ziplocs...$3
4 roll package of toilet paper...over $3 ($4.45)
3 small rolls of paper towels...$3
Bottle of Worcestershire sauce...$3
Bottle of BBQ sauce...$3
Bottle of pancake syrup...over $3 ($4.40)
Tiny bag of almonds...$3
Small jar mayo...$3
Small bottle French's mustard...$3

The list goes on but the moral of the story is don't buy "American" in India:) Except for those baby wipes:) and the peanut butter:) and the toilet paper...:) and the...

What Are They Doing Now?

I thought I'd update you on what the boys are doing these days...

Corban is getting very good at riding his big boy scooter (he and Haddon practice in the house:). He is a creative lego builder (hence the green dog in the sidebar pic:). He learned to spell his name a few weeks ago and is excitedly learning to recognize and write his letters and numbers. He was glued to the computer yesterday as we watched the launch of space shuttle Discovery. He's very much into rockets and airplanes (which most of his lego creations attest to:)

Haddon is getting new molar teeth, which I don't think he realizes:) He is starting to sing alot and memorizing lyrics. He sings "Jesus Loves Me", "He's My Rock", "Go Diego Go" and "Old McDonald" He imitates pretty much everything his big brother says and does:) He is also getting very quick on his scooter and is the cutest thing when he's running--he looks like Rocky Balboa:)

Kai turned 7 months yesterday. He's cutting a tooth, starting to army crawl (going after the object of desire on the floor), loves to laugh and make other people laugh, and rode for the first time sitting up in the grocery cart yesterday. He's trying different foods but unfortunately didn't like avocado this week so we'll have to try again later:) He is such a happy baby which makes momma very happy!

Funny Faces and No Shirts

The boys are in to two things among others this week...they like to go around in the house without their shirts on--like their daddy:) and they are into making funny faces. Last night as we hung out after dinner I took pictures of both:) Kai, unlike my first two babies, doesn't go around in just his diaper very often (i'm not sure why i'm deciding to dress him--i love baby's in diapers:) so he's not part of the shirtless gang in these pics. Daddy was part of it but I won't show you his bulging muscles:D he might be embarrassed:)

Speaking in Code-- with a Southern Drawl

I think i've mentioned before that most people cannot understand me over the phone here. I rarely call places of business for information b/c i know it's useless. Even when I spell words out they cannot make out the letters I'm saying:) I did have to speak to the airline company we are flying with in December on the phone the past 3 days--they have an office in Bangalore. We were having trouble with our credit card processing so I've had to give all my credit card info (Name, address, city, state, zip, telephone #, email, , credit card #, exp date, secret code, etc) a total of 6 times now spelling out each letter! It's been over 4 hours of phone time:) I learned the alphabet code that this airline uses after the first two information sessions. Alpha (A), Bravo (B), Charlie (C), Echo (E), Yankee (Y), etc...so that i could speed up the process. Amazingly they still didn't get some of the letters:) I had to repeat my email address (flipflops) scores of times:) Thankfully the Lord gave me patience and a desire to succeed so we could get to the States in December!:D Finally today there was victory after an hour!:)
Another little communication note is that here they say two letters or numbers in succession as "double T" or "double 2" instead of "t, t" or "2, 2" so i've now got it down to spell "C-o-l-e-double t-e" or they won't understand:)

The Boss

This man is a huge movie star and his picture appears on many richshaw driver's windshield in the form of a large sticker. It cracks us up because he's this older guy with a big belly and "Miami Vice" look. His nickname is "The Boss" and many guys here call each other by this name:) The times I have flipped through the TV channels to see what interesting cultural sites I can see about India, I noticed how many music video channels there are...atleast a dozen...and in all of them the video features a beautiful young woman in her 20's dancing and singing alongside a "Boss" look alike --an older man with a big belly, 80's Topgun glasses, and the "Miami Vice" look going on. He could be her father in age but it looks to me that they are singing about love--to each other. It's really funny. I haven't seen any actual couples like this out on the streets but I guess it's the "Sugardaddy" image they are trying to create on tv.