Back In One Piece

We had an amazing visit in the states! So amazing that I didn't blog for 3 weeks:) I was just having too much fun to think about what to write. And now, thinking about all we did, I know would take me paragraphs to convey so I will just summarize and add lots of pics. Once again, my camera neglection has left me sad that I didn't get pictures of everyone we visited. Again, having so much fun I forgot to get out the camera:( But I think there will be enough to look at:) Thank you to everyone who made our trip possible and blessed us sooooo much. It was so wonderful to see so many loved ones especially at this time of year.

Highlights (in no specific order:):

*Hugging and visiting so many family and friends
*Wonderful parents (mine and Brian's) who totally took care of us
*Extra doses of Mexican food!
*Getting to visit our church friends in Pearland
*Snow!!!! It only snows about once every 5 years in Louisiana and we were there to catch it!!! Awesome!
*Enjoying holiday fun...gingerbread houses, icing cookies, eggnog, light-seeing, and being showered with gifts--we are so blessed!
*Getting to eat my best meal ever at my Mom's office Christmas party--Mr. Lester's for those of you in La:)--my mom's boss is very sweet to invite me. And my parents' best friends babysat for me--ultra sweet!
*Doing lots of shopping to bring back "unfindables" to India--child-free shopping is bliss--thanks Dad!!
*Dinner with highschool friends--so much fun--we talked for 6 hours straight and could have kept going:)
*Sitting in front of the warm fireplace at different loved ones homes--i don't think it can get much better!
*Stress-free driving! I was a little confused at first--"Am I on the right side of the road?" "Do I get into the car on the left or the right?":) But I adjusted pretty quickly. Thanks to my Aunt Carlisa who sacrificely loaned us her car and my Father-in-law who rented us a car!
*Taco Bell, Mc D's, Chic-fil-a, Sonic...I never thought i would cherish fast food bites:)
*Shopping (child-free:) in Granbury square for 2 days (nap time get aways!) with my mother-in-law. Even sitting down for a cup of hot tea! Thanks Joni and Greg!
*Eating lots of amazing food! Thanks for all the homecooking and Mexican dining from our parents!
*Seeing Brian at the end of this wonderful trip! He's the best husband to let us go for 3 weeks.

We had a great Christmas with Brian and I'm happy to report that jet lag is not as dreadful this time as it has been in the past. The boys actually slept til almost 7 this morning! Unbelievable!! At this point they are usually waking up at 3 or 4 am for 2 weeks! Thank you Lord!!

Thanksgiving Pics

Here are some photos of Thanksgiving Dinner at the Savage Family home. They are so hospitable and have welcomed us for Easter, Thanksgiving and a soon-to-be Christmas party. It was nice to meet some new Americans too. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Thankful Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we woke up thankful that we don't live in Mumbai (Bombay). I'm sure most of you have heard of the tragedy so I won't retell the events. Bangalore is south of Mumbai by many hours so we aren't "living" the reality of this, but it is terrible news to have to digest. Thank you to those of you who sent emails and word of your prayers. Bangalore has had bombings as well in the last 6 months but nothing compared to this.

The amazing thing is I'm not afraid (and those of you who know me well know I have some anxiety issues in this area of my life:). I think this must be how there are still NY'ers living in NY after Sept. 11 and how there are still people living in many middle eastern countries that face bombings everyday. You have to detach yourself. We tell ourselves..."well we don't frequent these targeted places and we feel safe where we live". Now if these things that happened in Mumbai or Bangalore would have taken place down my street or in my neighborhood I know for certain I wouldn't be feeling the same...Brian would either have to stop me from packing our bags or help me pack them depending on how he was feeling:) (He is more rational in his faith than I am in a time of crisis:)

On a lighter note...my sweet hubby made a spur of the moment decision to send me and the boys to the U.S. to visit for 3 weeks! We bought the tickets on Saturday, leave this coming Monday and will be back Christmas day to be with him. I am just so excited I didn't think I'd be able to wait a whole week before we go!:) And the boys are equally excited. We will be running b/w TX and La. during those weeks but hopefully we'll get to see as many people as possible. This is such a gift and I thank the Lord for making this happen and giving me such a sweet husband to let us go away for 3 weeks.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Germ-Freak-Mom Still Freaking Out

One thing I haven't grown accustom to even after a year is the fact that food servers and medical workers do not wear sanitary gloves. For instance, when I went to have blood drawn a few weeks ago, the lab nurse put the needle in my arm and covered it with a band-aid without gloves on! I don't know who I'm more afraid for...me or her! And I've never seen any medical workers with gloves on. Granted I've never been in surgery so I can't say I've covered all the bases.

And for those of you who live in Houston, Marv Zindler would have had a field day in restaurants here:) I don't think there are any health code inspections. You know, I've worked in restaurants in the U.S. and I can't remember if cooks and food servers are required to wear plastic gloves or not. I think what freaks me out is that most of the washrooms (sinks) in restaurants don't have soap or towel to dry off so I automatically connect that to the hands of the cooks/servers that also have no soap or towel:) At one party we went to they were serving these snacks that could be compared to building nachos...the food server sprinkles all types of different things on a base of chips. But the problem was that he was using his fingers, not spoons and no gloves. I couldn't do it! Brian ate it and lived but I just couldn't risk it:) The thing is people's immunities have grown up exposed to this from birth. For foreigners being introduced to this type of dining you are certain to get stomach bugs somewhere along the way...which by now our stomach's have had plenty of their share. Our childrens' immune systems will be like steel after a few years here:)

The great thing is I love the food here too much to not eat out:) I just try not to think about it or take more than a glancing look at the kitchen...ignorance is bliss:) And with that said I know that there are many American restaurants that would gross me out too if only I saw the "slime in the ice" as Marv would say:)

A First

Yesterday we mailed our first letter from India! After 15 months!! There aren't many post offices near us so we had to drive about 30 minutes (really only about 5 miles, but with traffic). They had closed an hour earlier but the staff were still working and kind enough to sell me some stamps. They were not the self-adhesive kind but conviently the post office provided a large jar of glue and a paint brush to stick the stamps on. One of the staff did the gluing for me and stuck the letter in the letter box still wet. I hope it makes it:) This is test run #1. I've never seen another drop box around town but the woman assured me there were more. If anyone here knows what they look like can you let me know?

Another piece of non-important info (well except for Bangalorians)...
I recently saw signs around Bangalore advertising an all-in-one emergency response phone number...108. This would serve like 911. Before now, from what I could gather, there were multiple numbers in which you had to recall from memory in your time of emergency. For example...101 Police, 102 Fire, 103 Ambulance (there's also 1066), 104 for accidents, and I saw in Kolkata 105 for heart attacks. That's a lot of numbers to remember or program into your cell phone. I think 108 is much more efficient:)

Kai the Talker Part 1

Kai loves pretending to talk on the cell phone. Here's the end of one conversation:)

Kai the Talker 2

This video is from when we were visiting the Red Fort in Delhi. We stopped to take a break and Kai thought he would have a "conversation" with the camera. You can't hear his voice but his hands are doing the talking:)

Pics from the Trip

Delhi

We spent the weekend in Delhi and will be here til Wed. Brian had the weekend off so we visited some tourist sights like the India Gate (I'll have pictures to post when we get back home) and the Red Fort (a fortress built in 1638 out of red clay). Delhi seems alot like Washington DC to me. It's the capitol and has many monuments and federal buildings. The smog is very bad--taking pictures, even close up makes them very hazy.

We are staying in a popular shopping area of town for locals...Karol Bagh. There are row after row of jewelry, shoe, and clothing stores. We spent some time roaming the streets, riding the metro rail and visiting these sights. The boys even got to see a race car exhibition and a hot air balloon...perfect for them.

We didn't realize it at the time but our last room in Kolkata was a mansion compared to our room in Delhi:) I would love to give the details to show what hotel life in India is like but i'm afraid i would just be whining. We are getting to experience what millions of Indian families experience their whole lives...small living spaces with very little amenities. I'm not saying that the hotel doesn't have amenities...we do have hot water! yay!:) but we are in close quarters. We'll be happy to get back home on Wednesday.

Obama...the New Indian President

By the TV news and front pages of newspapers here you would think Barak Obama just became India's next president. They are crazy about him and think (atleast the media) that he is going to save the world or something. The funny part is that most of the articles or news segments are slanted with Indian interest..."What Can Obama Do For India?", "Which Indian American might possibly be selected for Obama's team?", "Obama spoke to Bill Clinton about leading US/India/Kashmir relations", "Who will be India's Obama?", "India's Prime Minister spoke with Obama to congratulate him and invite him for a visit to India (the headline read: Obama may be visiting India in the near future)".
I'm not downplaying US/India relations and their great dependence on each other but for some reason I don't think Obama had India on his mind the day after winning the election...or any country for that matter. I think he was just celebrating the win.
He does have a lot to live up to though...India seems to think he is Superman!

Kolkata

We are traveling right now...in Calcutta/Kolkata (English/Indian). I haven't seen much of the city. With 3 boys it's enough to get them dressed to go to breakfast, lunch and dinner @ the hotel restuarant much less explore the city:) We won't be sightseeing since we are here with Brian on business. From what I saw on our drive from the airport to the hotel, it appears more 3rd world than Bangalore. (I realize that my Indian friends may not appreciate the term "3rd World" but I just have to find a way to describe it to the Americans reading:) Granted we were driving at night but it felt like we were in a black and white movie...everything seemed gray and dingy. (Except for the line of 1950's yellow taxis at the airport:) just like the picture) I'm sure there are better parts of town. I spoke with an expat here and she said the gap b/w the rich and the poor is much wider in Calcutta than Bangalore. The IT business in Bangalore has created a large middle class.

It's funny because we are staying at a country club:) It's actually cheaper than staying at a mid-range hotel in America. I ate grilled fish and vegetables for $1 today! It's nice because I have things to do with the boys...playground, swimming, horseback riding. The club is pretty old but it is still where the elites hangout. Last night there was an elaborate outdoor party. I thought it was going to be a wedding but it turned out to be a birthday party...for a one year old girl! I think it was all her parents' friends attending:)

On Friday we head to Delhi where Brian will have the weekend off to explore. I'm thankful for this time to visit other Indian cities and to not be home without Brian for so long...i'm not a very good single mom:)

The Farm

We spent the weekend with our friends in Nandi Hills outside of Bangalore. Teena had heard about a weekend farm/farmhouse--a city getaway. It was amazing! The house was beautiful, fun farm animals, beautiful landscape, wonderful food and lots of time to veg. The 5 little boys loved it. We got to take a ride on an ox cart and feed the animals. Here are some pics...

Techie Friends

I know most people in our fast paced society converse by means other than the phone or personal visits...email, text messaging, social websites, blogs, etc. There is really no need to actually hear the other person speaking if you don't have to. I'm ok with that because I'm not a big phone person--i forget to pick it up and dial-a-friend-- and I love being able to edit my words:)

But one thing I've noticed living here, is that with the majority of my friends it actually makes our conversations a lot more enjoyable to not talk on the phone:) Whether they are Indian, British, German, Danish, you name it (except Americans) the conversation is always laced with "I'm sorry, say that again?", "What was that?" "I didn't get that", and saying "yes" yet only being half, maybe not at all, sure of what you just agreed with:) Without being able to read lips it is hard to get through very many sentences without having to ask for a rewind/repeat of that word or sentence. And add a southern U.S. drawl with rapid speed (is that an oxymoron? speed drawl?:) (either way that's my accent:) and the poor person on the other line is probably just bewildered:)
So I am very grateful for text messages (which i now live by), email, blogs, IM, etc. My friends of every tribe and tongue can understand me and I can understand them.

Ok, I do love to be face to face with people and believe true friendship can only deepen when you are conversing in the same room...screaming kids and all...but for those in between times--gotta have the tech props!

Bath Time

Most people will probably think this video is uneventful (boring) but i thought i'd post it for my Mom who loves to give the boys baths (ok, maybe love is a strong word, but she serves me by doing it). And for those who haven't seen our "bath tub" before on the blog, i thought i'd post it again for you to get a glimpse of bath time in India and as a reminder to love your tub (those in the u.s.) :) Real tubs are very rare here. Ours comes complete with toys and bubbles:)

A Few Pics...

A Tropical Autumn

The past month I have been missing fall...crunchy yellow leaves, pumpkin patches, apple picking, sweater-wearing-football-watching weather. What's funny is that I never missed that in the U.S. After we moved from Minneapolis to Houston I was so excited not to have to endure another winter that I didn't desire any of signs of it coming:) Well now that we live where there are no seasons I've been a little nostalgic about it.

Yesterday morning when I went outside to jog I found a great surprise...
Our complex is beautifully landscaped. On one side of the building there are about 6 trees with little yellow flowers blooming. I'm not sure if it rained during the night or if it was windy, but most of the flowers had fallen to the ground. It looked like fall! Instead of crunchy yellow leaves it was bright yellow flowers...and no sign of winter...perfect! Isn't God so cool!? Not that the flowers fell off just for me:) but He woke me up, got me outside (a huge task in itself) and showed me a little gift of "fall". I had to get the camera.

As a side note...i do love the weather here. You really can't beat California-like weather year round. And right now, even though everything is still green, the temp. is feeling very autumn-like.

The Time Has Come...

I knew it was highly likely that at some point while living here my vehicle would collide with a person(s)...not just the usual car, rickshaw or pole. And it indeed happened.

Saturday as I was driving to grocery store #2 (I usually cannot find everything on my list at one store) I had my blinker on signaling a right turn into the parking lot. 3 guys on a motorcycle passed me on the right side, ran into my car, kept going and tipped over, skidding onto the asphalt. My heart sank as I covered my mouth with my hands in shock. They all got up thankfully, and now began the crowd of onlookers gathering around to try to decide who was at fault. In Bangalore you don't call the police when there's an accident, (you just keep going if it's minor or let the crowd decide who's at fault if it's major) especially when you are riding illegally on a motorcycle (3 or more is illegal) or a white foreigner who doesn't know the laws of the land. So the self-appointed judge of the group (he spoke english) declared me not at fault but asked me to bring the guy who was scraped and bleeding to the hospital. I drove him to the nearest clinic as he began to cry and hold his arm. I started to get those same feelings that I had when Corban was lying on the ground crying with a broken arm. It hurts to see someone in pain. I put my hand on his shoulder as I drove to try to give some kind of comfort--we didn't speak the same language. I stayed at the clinic until he was treated and stitched. He had scraps on his forarm, ankle and little toe. I was then handed the bill.

I had already decided i was going to pay for him, which is why i stuck around, but i thought it was humorous that everyone else assumed i was paying for him too. Thankfully it was only $20. Meanwhile i had left the kids with the housekeeper to go shopping and had now been gone about 2 hours. I had bought them saturday morning breakfast (muffins) at the store so it was now noon and they still had not eaten breakfast!! Sounds like my last emergency experience. But my housekeeper was gracious and so was the Lord...no one died!! My biggest prayer while driving here..."Please Lord, help me not to kill any person or cow." Thank you Lord!!

Food...for Thought

SALSALICIOUS!

After a year+ I have found salsa that doesn't taste like ketchup and doesn't cost $4 a jar!!! I am so pumped!! I bought every jar they had at the store (this happens when you find something you like here b/c you never know if they'll stock more! i often buy granola bars by the dozens when found:)
Mexican food tastes 500 times better with salsa! We are still minus cheese but to me salsa beats out cheddar any day. I couldn't stop saying how wonderful my cooking tasted the other night simply b/c it had salsa poured on top of it:) Brian says our taste expectations have been lowered since living here:) I won't take that personal...he did have two heaping plates of fajitas:) My mexican food can't touch Papasitos, or even the craving of Taco Bell at this point, but it just got alot more mexicany in my mouth:)


COMFORT FOOD

Our friends in Minnesota told us of the days when they lived in Japan...every night they indulged in a bowl of homemade brownies and vanilla ice cream. Sounds great right? But would you do that if you lived in America...every night? They don't:) Right Christa?:) (Ok, even if you are a dessert addict you might atleast mix up the nightly menu a little, right?)

I really think there is something about living abroad and being just fine with gluttonly eating the same food over and over that you would normally never let your self eat on a daily basis. It's called comfort food and it overtakes any sensible thoughts of health, maintaining weight or willingly feeding addictions.

Our comfort food has become vanilla ice cream with crushed up Oreos. Fantastically we can get oreos imported from Indonesia here!! And when you make it yourself (i mean crush the oreos yourself instead of buying "cookies n'cream") it comes very close to Blue Bell! Try it! Even when Brian decides to take a night off i still sneak in the kitchen and get a little mini bowl of it:) It's so satisfying and i really do enjoy every bite of it...it's American...it's a treat that has become habit.

Our other addiction, and has been before we moved here, is pizza. We order Dominos atleast once a week and lately have been eating way more than we should of that stuff. We recently found out that Papa John's is now in Bangalore! Oh No!

Musical Chairs (See Post Below)

Concert (See Post below)

Party Week

Friday Brian's company had a huge celebration to mark the milestone of 150,000 customers in 1060 days (a little under 3 yrs). I've mentioned before that they are growing like crazy and Mr. Ghosh, the founder and president wanted to have a day of fun for the employees, customers and their children. We went in the morning and stayed til around 1:00 when I took the boys home for a nap. (The event was 9 hours) We came back to see the last of the party and pick up Brian. Most of the activity was dancing, singing, and skits performed by the employees and customers who had practiced for 2 months! We didn't understand most of it because we don't speak the local languages. But we could tell everyone around us was having fun:) When I came back with the boys they were ending with a concert and most of the crowd was jumping up and down like a mosh pit:) Brian said most of his employees had never been to a live concert and came to tell him that this was the best thing they had ever been to. I'm not sure that they were able to get much work done today after such a great party:) I'm including pics of some of the cultural dancers and a video of the concert (see video above). I missed getting the best part...a girl, dressed like a man (Elvis?), lipsinking in a silver sequined jacket!:D

Yesterday the boys and I went to a friend's birthday party at Pizza Hut (kinda like we used to have parties at McDonald's in the states--maybe they still do?:). We had a great time and I included a short video of musical chairs (see video above) to take everyone back to their childhood party days:)

Last night Brian and I got to go on our 2nd date in a year!!! Thanks to our dear friends who are trading kids with us:) They were in the last post's pictures (minus Isaac the dad).

Can You Read Me Now?

We are finally back up and running on our computer/communication life line. It felt like a month, but in some ways a forced sabbatical from the internet is always beneficial. We've experienced internet disablement a number of times here...it makes you appreciate technology when you get it back.

We've had a busy two weeks...lots of hanging out with friends which is always great. Brian is off tomorrow for Gandhi's birthday!

I'm including some recent pics just to show the boys and I'm sure I'll make up for lost time with more posts soon. There are some pictures of our friends from Ohio who live here...they are leaving in November at which time we will shed tears. They may possibly return in February which we are selfishly hoping :)

Computer Crash:(

Just wanted to leave notice--from my friends' house-- that our computer crashed on wednesday, was revived by an IT genius @ Brian's work--PTL! But since it is ancient, in computer years (8 yrs:), we are having to reinstall a driver to be able to connect to the internet. The IT genius is working on that too. It could be a few days or it could be tomorrow--who knows:) I'm thankful our computer is alive and just wanted to let anyone reading the blog know that we are alive too:)

Tea Time

I am officially a tea drinker. A year ago I would never have seen myself adapting to the culture of afternoon tea time. Yes, I've always enjoyed a cup of tea but maybe had it once a month in the states. The ritual seemed a bit victorian and stuffy. But now that I've bought into the practice I can understand and look forward to the "event" of it. Every afternoon when the boys go down for their naps I heat up a cup of green tea (trying to go healthy:) put my 3 tea biscuits on a plate...you have to include this accessory...sit down with my Bible and enjoy immense amounts of pleasure from my 3 minutes of tea sipping...i drink fast:) I'm not sure if the tradition originated with Indians or Britons but I'm thankful to whoever invented tea time and cookies to go with it:)

The Cast is History!

Corban got his cast off today!! Hooray! I'm not sure who is happier...him or me:)

I'm posting before and after pics. He doesn't look too happy in any of them but he is:) I'm really not sure that he knew what to make of the event. I think he was excited but there was the unknown factor...what will it be like without this attachment on my arm? There is also video of the cast being removed. He was very brave. I had Haddon and Kai there too so you can hear me trying to keep them in order in b/w cheering for Corban:) BTW...Kai wasn't crying b/c of the loud saw...he was crying b/c he wanted Haddon's toy:) I didn't realize when I stopped the second video that Haddon was feeling Corban's arm. I thought that was really cute when I watched it later and wish I would have known to keep filming:)

Corban says his arm feels like it's floating in space...i'm sure a cast can weigh you down after 6 weeks:)

The most amazing part about this...and I do mean amazing...is that after 4 doctor visits (to the chief doctor of the hospital), 8 x-rays, 2 casts put on and 2 casts taken off, the total cost was less than $100!!! Oh yes...compare that to the 1000's of dollars it cost for the uninsured E.R. bill and ambulance ride in the U.S. (We'll be getting travel insurance on our next visit:D) I'm not trying to invoke sympathy...the Lord is such a wonderful Provider and thankfully in America there is the "monthly payment plan"... but it goes to show the INFLATION of health care in the states. But you know I must say that in most of the he U.S. you are getting/paying for state of the art treatment and technology. I think the x-ray machine at the hospital here has to be as old as me (that's over 30 years old!:D). I prayed every time that Corban got one of the 8 x-rays that he wouldn't be "over-radiated".

I'm so thankful that his arm is healed and that in both locations, here and the states, we had great medical treatment. And,with 3 boys, I realize this is only the beginning of the injury list !

Part 1...the SAW!

Part 2...the finished product!

Date #2

Brian and I had our second date night in a year+ last night! Yes, when you only go on a date every six or seven months it is quite a treasure and you wish it could last a few hours longer!:) Our sweet friends suggested doing a kiddie trade-off so we went first and next Saturday they will get a date night. We chose Hard Rock Cafe as our destination and enjoyed looking at each other in the eyes and speaking in complete sentences without having to feed little mouths or tend to interuptions:) Brian got a gigantic juicy burger and I chowed down on chicken fajitas, topped off by a brownie sundae. A date and American food...can't beat that:)

Pacifier Blues

At 17 months of age Kai has had his pacifier retired....it went "ni, nite" forever. It was a sad couple of days of crying at bed/nap time but thankfully for his stuffed bunny (in the picture:) and friends that sleep with him he overcame:) It's one of those things in life that you know as a parent you should have done when he was 3 months old (or 6 months old, or a year old!) so it doesn't have to "hurt" so bad later. But you just keep giving it to him because it brings comfort. And we are learning that it also brought sleep! Since giving up the pacifier (he only used it for bed times) he sleeps 2 hours less in the mornings, which puts a damper on homeschool!:) and 1-2 hours less for his afternoon nap. Almost makes me want to give it back to him:) But the teeth are at stake here...really the only reason for the pacifier seperation...they are becoming "bucked":D

Strange Sights

There's never a lack of interesting scenery here in Bangalore. The latest oddity was this past week which was the festival of Ganesha. Ganesha is an idol (and a lord to Hindu's). I believe he is thought to bring success and from what I gather the festival is celebrated in South India. Well hundreds of little hot pink ganesha idols were for sale on many street curbs the past couple of weeks. Not that we aren't used to seeing idols living here but this one looks like a pink elephant man . It just made my stomach turn to see these little ceramic idols lined up by the scores. And scattered around town are shrines set up with life size ganesha's where people come to worship before it. From what I understand the idol is immersed in a lake or body of water before it is put in it's shrine/tent. Then as we drove around during the week, at different times, I saw tractor trailers with a large idol and lots of young men sitting in the trailer. I guess it's like a one float parade? Festival season is upon Bangalore which means the next few months will be one after another of idol worship so it shouldn't really be a surprise to see all of this...it's just very disheartening. I'm posting a picture of what a ganesha idol looks like...not to glorify it or make more of it than any other idol...but to show you how creepy the thing looks!:) I'm sorry to offend any Hindu's that may be reading this, but when you don't grow up around idols and you don't believe in them it's just a bit eerie.

Life Update

Corban: Just completed his first week of school minus one sick day (already--but it was legit:) He is eager to learn which is a great help. He is frequently counting to 100 for fun these days:) He's bending his arm and getting to bathe his elbow now:)

Haddon: Is getting the hang of the computer. He loves to play the "Smiley Ball" game, which is really just using my email to put different smiley face inserts that yahoo offers:) It's amazing how young kids can figure out how to use a mouse! It keeps him busy while we are doing school.

Kai: Is getting 2 more teeth. I call them the canine teeth--the pointed ones:) He is in "phase one" of potty training--which means when momma sees "the face" she runs him to the toilet, rips off his diaper and sits him down on it. It's working, when I catch it! And he loves the applause he gets for it. He is also beating up on his big brothers. He is not afraid to tackle, pinch and scratch their faces! He pays the penalty for being a bully but I don't know whether to laugh or cry inside. It's funny seeing a 17 month old taking down a big boy but I don't want my child to be a terror so we are working to put a stop to it!

Me: I just completed my first week of Kindergarten...again:) I loved it. One small little instance was when Corban was learning about cents in math. He learned about pennies and how many cents they are worth. Well I thought about that we won't have change lying around to show him what the coins look like. (He'll learn Indian rupees too) I went to get my "American" wallet that sits in a drawer and pulled out the few coins I had. Do you know that there was one of each type of coin in there! I was so excited:) A thoughtful gift from God. He sent us back to India with just the right amount of money in our wallet:) 58 cents:)

Not So Presto Pesto
Yesterday I made homemade pesto sauce for a pasta dish I was bringing to our church small group. I am all about shortcut cooking and you may know that I have joked about feeling like a pioneer woman here (in the states I would have bought pesto in a jar:). Well, the recipe called for toasted walnuts. So I did find some whole walnuts w/shells at the store. I don't have a nut cracker so I had to open them with a rolling pin all while the children are napping. It was quite loud and tedious. I was sweating by the end and only managed to get about half of the actual walnuts out of the shells. I was fantasizing the whole time of walking down the baking aisle at WalMart and buying a pack of chopped walnuts:) (There's that comparing again:) So I put them in the oven, started working on the pasta and then, oh yes, smelled the pungent burning coming from the oven. They were inedible. Ah, the joy of cooking. And though I know there are many American woman who prefer to make homemade pesto rather than use a store bought jar, I still feel like Laura Ingalls sometimes:D And really, don't let me fool you, I do have it easy here...I had a co-worker in MN whose wife had to wring their chicken's necks to get a meal when they lived in Africa. That's a pioneer woman!

Kai Helping Momma

Just the right height:)

Corbans First Day of Kindergarten

Monday was Corban's first day of school (homeschool) and he also had his cast taken off and replaced with a shorter one. He has two more weeks to go til arm freedom! Daddy went with him to the doctor for support and physical strength incase there was a need to hold him down:D Brian said he did remarkably well when the SAW was used to cut off the cast. His elbow hurt and brought him to tears since he hadn't straightened it out in almost 6 weeks. He is such a trooper. He never complains about being restrained. I can tell there are alot of things he is looking forward to doing once he gets it off.

Reflections of the First Year

Today makes one year since we moved here(a year and one month for Brian).
As I was thinking about what life has been like I realized that if i could "blanket" the past year, it would have to be described as comparing (India to the U.S) and acclimating. The comparing has tapered off a bit since getting over culture shock around month 6, but it still happens unconsciously, everyday. It feels like most of what I blog about besides our kids is differences b/w India and the U.S. (usually with a bent towards the conveniences of the U.S:) so I thought today I would post what I love about India...
#1 The people. As a whole they are very friendly, caring and serving people. Hospitality is abundant here. They welcome foreigners and do not have anti-west sentiments (or atleast don't show them:)
#2 The culture...tradition, religion, 1000's of years of history, all culminate into a vast, complex and varying land. I've only scratched the surface of learning about Indian culture.
#3 The food. We love it! Cooking here is truly an art, one which I still have yet to attempt, after a year. Yes I am afraid to fail (and work so hard for one meal:) so I leave it to the experts and enjoy it when I get to eat out:)
#4 The Potential. Even though India is centuries old, it's democracy and economic development are still young. The cities are booming and improving. Life for many is much better than it was a few years ago. Hopefully this will continue to trickle down to the poorest people.
#5 A Simple Life. Even though we live very well by Indian standards it is still much simpler and scaled down than in the states. There is no pressure to have a "nice" home, stylish wardrobe or latest gadgets. Even though we weren't really "hip" in the u.s.:) the tempations are still always in your face. But here you can wear flip flops to every event, formal or non-formal, and the walls are made out of concrete so you can't hang anything on them even if you had the latest decor:) (well it is possible but i haven't figured out how to do it:) It's freeing.
#6 Being Sanctified. There's a lot to be "battled" with here. For me it's been being content where God has me vs. where I wish I could be at times. Or grumbling about little conveniences that I was used to having and now don't. Or trying to figure out how a stay-home-mom can help the masses of people living in poverty and then continue to do nothing about it. Or how to break thru in conversation with a Hindu about my faith.

Here are some interesting statistics about India...
It is a nation made up of more than one billion people speaking 1652 languages and living in 17,500 villages, towns and cities in 28 states and 7 Union Territories. On a global scale one out of every 6 persons is an Indian.

So, here's to India and to our next year of learning!

Singing to Haddon

For the grandparents...:)

Haddon Turns 3!

Haddon celebrated his 3rd birthday with 3 days of fun. Friday night we sang happy birthday and ate cake with our church small group. Our friend Sini is making homemade cakes so we could special order a Power Ranger cake. It was the best chocolate b-day cake I have ever eaten!!

Saturday Brian took the day off from work to celebrate. We went to the botanical gardens called Lalbaugh. The boys took their cars to roll down the big hill. We saw monkeys and climbed the roots of a very old tree. After naps at home, we headed to a nearby mall to play in the arcade and eat dinner.

Sunday was Haddon's actual birthday. He opened his present...Power Rangers...the superhero of the month:)...and went to church. All 3 boys got haircuts too. We had a great weekend eating pizza three nights in a row (there's a theme going on here:) and lots of chocolate cake! Most importantly Haddon has lived 3 years of blessing the lives of those around him. He is a precious boy and we thank the Lord so much for letting us enjoy him.

The Wedding Adventure

I like to use positive terms for blog titles (aka "Adventure") even though I will probably be complaining for most of the post:) We definitely set out on an unknown adventure Wednesday morning when I loaded up the boys to journey to my housekeeper's daughter's wedding.

The reception was actually the night before but b/c of the rain (monsoon season) Brian felt like we shouldn't go. His co-worker warned him how long it would take to get there. So the next morning I started out at 8:30 for a wedding that was beginning at 10:15 in the outskirts of Bangalore. I started too late...It took us 3 hours!!!!! It wasn't that far geographically...only 31 miles. But traffic is horrendous! At the two hour mark we hit a line of cars stopped at an intersection. Nothing new there, but a man came up to the car and motioned us to go around the traffic so I did. Come to find a communist party was protesting in the street. They were sitting in the middle of the intersection not letting people pass. Ok, I must confess I went livid at this point. The wedding was starting, I had no idea where I was going, and I had already driven 2 hours with 3 kids....I was GOING to this wedding! I talked to the traffic police and asked him why they were allowing this--he couldn't understand my English:) So I waited a few minutes and when I saw the start of a clearing I inched my way thru, honking people out of the way:) I finally made it out. I was so upset, almost in tears:)--what a bad example for my children, but I was determined:)

So we finally made it to the wedding after stopping to ask a dozen people where the place was. Thank goodness for an invitation printed in the local language. We arrived at what the invitation said was to be the end of the wedding but it was far from being over, thank goodness.

Unfortunately we don't enjoy going to public events very much here. I know that sounds like Scrooge at Christmas but really we are made such a spectacle that it is overwhelming for us all--pretty stressful I should say. The two weddings we have been to have been so chaotic, people whisking away our children, pinching their faces, seating us in the front row (moving people that were already sitting there!), starring at us, videoing us, it's very loud--just crazy. Now I know why celebrities don't go out in public. I don't say that to suggest we are celebrities (ok, maybe Kai:) but just the way it feels makes one want to stay home:) Probably more realistically would be how a physically challenged person feels when people stare at them and their handicap everywhere they go.

So we stayed for an hour and then drove back 2 hours (traffic was a little better). I know our housekeeper appreciated us coming so it was worth it, but I'm glad it's over. Too much for this mom to handle:) I would love to view a wedding here as a fly on the wall:) I'm so curious about the cultural traditions but can't really take them in with so much going on around us. Maybe I'll just have to depend on the internet for that cultural learning.

Happy Birthday India!

Yesterday India celebrated 61 years of freedom!

Olympics in India

Brian and I both enjoy watching the Olympics. So almost each night of the games so far we have turned our TV to the Indian gov't channel that is airing the events. We've come to realize that living in another country means watching the Olympic events that this country prioritizes as "choice" rather than the American go-to's like gymnastics and swimming. During PrimeTime Olympic viewing, India, I assume from what's being aired, prefers air rifle shooting, badminton, table tennis, fencing, boxing and tennis.

Another difference is unedited footage-- i.e. large portions of badminton and table tennis:) I've come to appreciate highlights in the absence of highlights:) And we see news anchors commentating more than the actual games.

Ok, I've progressed to grumbling. Am I a spoiled American (accustomed to the brevity of Bob Costas and the editing of NBC)? YES. But regardless I have still been able to catch the Olympic spirit--mainly from reading the ticker tape at the bottom of the screen (i.e. "Phelps clinches his 7th gold medal":)

Kai Walking

This video is really grainy but thought I 'd post it anyway for the grandparents:)...

Back to Normal and a Laugh

We are finally back into our sleep routine!! Haddon and Kai spent the weekend battling high fever and colds. They are finally getting back to their old selves.

A Little Laugh...
I get emails from an Expat (foreigners) Yahoo group in Bangalore. People post things like items for sale, community awareness, gatherings, etc. Frequently people who are moving to Bangalore post a request to get suggestions on where to buy furniture, find good schools, etc before they arrive. One man from Canada was soliciting referrals for a housekeeper that spoke "English or Spanish, even broken Spanish". I had to laugh at this! No one in India speaks Spanish, except maybe a few International Language majors in college. Domestic workers know around 2-4 local languages but not Spanish:) It makes me think of all the misconceptions and assumptions I made before and after moving here and still do! Even writing some (probably many) in this blog:)

My Wonderful Husband and the Barbie Fridge

My thoughtful husband, aware of our shoebox freezer/ice cave (see pic), had eyed new refrigerators while we were gone. I was ok with the fridge we had--I accepted after about a month living here that fridges are about 1/3 of the size of most american fridges. It helps that you buy about 1/3 the amount of groceries and most packages are tiny here. No gallons of milk or dozen of eggs to try to stuff on the shelf. I was a little sorrowful though (in housework terms:) about our ice cave of a freezer. Many fridges here have a freezer box inside the main fridge. They aren't frost free so when the door on our freezer box broke it was all over. It would only fit about 2 things. Another plus (or minus when you "instant" cook like me) about living here is there aren't many freezer items for sale anyway. So we lived with our 3 ft fridge and ice cave.

But to my surprise, one night driving home as a family, Brian said he was taking us to a secret place. I assumed we were heading to the mall for the kids to play in the arcade:) But atlas, we pulled into an appliance store! He told me I could pick out a fridge with a seperate freezer! I was like a kid in a candy store! We opted for a quality brand--Whirlpool--to make sure it lasts.

The best (or worst) part about Whirlpool fridges in India are they all come with 6 Swarovski crystals studs--3 on each door handle! Oh yes, I am serious...fake diamonds...on a fridge!! I guess that leaves out any bachelors hoping to buy a Whirpool! I just wanted to laugh or find another fridge:) but it fit our price range and was the best brand. So now I have a "Barbie" fridge which seems a little too extravagant for me (the diamonds, not the fridge:) but I do have a freezer that holds more than 2 items!

Ice cave

New freezer

Little Updates and Side Notes...

While we were gone Brian had the car serviced. It now has A/C!!! We no longer have to breath bus fumes! And seatbelts were installed! Driving sanity has greatly increased now that Haddon stays in his seat:)

Kai, at 16 months, started officially choosing walking as his mode of transportation last week. He weighs 30 pounds and is now sharing clothes with Haddon--3T! We are constantly washing their clothes to keep up the supply:) He has now outgrown his cloth diapers which makes for many leaks:) Looks like we'll be potty training soon!:)

Haddon is close to completing the sleep transition. He's usually the "meter" to gauge if we've "arrived" at Bangalore time. He's the one that wakes up at 4am and doesn't know he can just lay there and try to go back to sleep--he's ready to start the day!:) But this morning he slept til 6:45--we're getting there--it's almost been two weeks!

Corban is doing well restraining from running and jumping with his cast. He's pretty good at using his left hand thankfully. He is itching to start school, but momma needs a little more time to get organized. He's at a great age.

Brian got a stomach bug that just keeps going:( His company is growing so quickly--they crossed 100,000 customers and 1,000 employees last month! He is a wonderful husband and my next post will show what a great gift he gave to me.

I'm doing much better than i expected to [re-entry] after having been away in the land of luxery for so long:D Today was a little trying but I did it to myself...I went grocery shopping with 3 boys:)...
Ever pushed 2 carts while grocery shopping? They are so small here that i have to use one to hold boys and one to hold food:)

Ever couldn't find milk? I went to 3 stores before finding some...i bought a whole case:) (Milk comes in boxes here)
Side Note: as an American my shopping list is usually long. It is rare when I can find everything on the list in one stop. Good thing we live close to 3 stores!

Ever shopped by candlelight? There's an energy crisis in the city so lights are out quite often. At our second grocery stop I literally shopped with a candle as wax dripped on my hand.

Ever backed up miles of traffic? I had to do a U-turn at a huge intersection which doesn't have a traffic light (most don't here), which due to small street widths and a non-compact car requires a 5 point turn. Cars/motorcycles/people were inches behind/infront of both bumpers. How am I supposed to move? Talk about being the "center of attention":)

Ever had your grocery bag of frozen goods picked up by the bag boy and accidently given to the person in front of you?
I discovered the goods had gone MIA as I unpacked. Although there was no phone number on the receipt, I knew I couldn't call b/c they wouldn't understand my accent. We had to drive back and tell the story and show the receipt to 6 people...thankfully they believed me:) I got to take home our shrimp and spring rolls:)

We did have a great time returning to playgroup today and we have new friends at church--a family from Ohio. It has been a huge blessing getting to know them. They have a son Haddon's age and another 8 months old. The boys love playing with the oldest son and he's happy to have his first friends in Bangalore.
Thank you Lord for friendships!

Blue Cast

Today Corban had his cast put on. It just so happens to be blue, his favorite color. The doctor we found worked in the U.S. for 18 years and started a hospital in Bangalore for orthopedic and spinal treatment. It was like most of the other hospitals and clinics we've visted...dark and gloomy, but thank you Lord for doctors and hospitals right? And it was incredibly cheaper to have it done here than it would have been in the states.
We got royal treatment b/c they marked our file "Medical Tourism". I'm assuming they did this b/c we're white--although i told the receptionist we live in Bangalore--and medical tourism is for foreigners who come to India just for medical care. I was glad she did this though b/c we got our own personal attendant who put us first in the X-ray line and directed us to the many different offices we had to visit. Otherwise we would have been lost in the chaos.

Corban cried when they put on the cast, a mixture of pain, heat from the cast drying and missing a nap. When it was all over he was laughing. For a special treat he got to ride in the front seat on the way home--something that can only be done legally in India:)

Minimum Wage

On Monday Corban and I are going to see an Orthopedic doctor to put a cast on his arm. It's scheduled during our "nap" time. It's already a chore to take 3 kids to the hospital let alone when they should be sleeping (i.e. cranky!). So I asked our househelper's daughter if she could come and stay with the boys while they sleep. There's really no such thing as babysitting here and that makes it difficult to know what the going babysitting rate is:)
As you'd expect min. daily wages are pretty low here. Previously, when our teenage friend from church watched the boys I paid $5 for 4 hours, and that's more than most people make in a day here. I felt cheap by American standards but I think she was happy.
So as I was trying to decide what to pay our sitter on Monday I looked up Minimum Wages for India on the internet. I was shocked to find out (although, i really shouldn't be) that the min. wage for domestic workers in our state is less than $2 a day! What floors me even more is that people can afford to eat here. Food is pretty expensive for that salary. I guess that's why people live on rice, vegetables and bread.
So if I pay her $5 she will be making more than 2 days salary. Incredible. Compare that to the going rate in the Woodlands, TX for a babysitter...$10 an hour!

Trauma for Corban..and Momma

Two days before we were set to fly back to India Corban broke his arm!--and I was alone with the boys! I won't tell the whole story b/c i feel like a terrible mom...but let's just say the song "10 little monkies jumpin' on the bed" is true!! I'm not sure who it was more traumatic for...Corban or me. I've never had nor witnessed a broken bone so this "first" was quite shaking for me. Corban seemed to put the ordeal behind him quickly but if I relive the images in my mind it makes me shutter. I just try not to "go there". We went to the hospital in an ambulance and spent most of the night in the E.R. Thank goodness for my grandmother who took care of the other two boys and my aunt who stayed with me at the hopsital! I can't imagine having to bring the other 2 boys with me to the E.R. for hours.

Corban was in pain the next day but after that he didn't complain at all and we were able to go home on our scheduled flight. He did great--no pain! Praise the Lord! I must say that I was already dreading the long solo flight, and the added pressure of a broken arm patient made me cry (literally) when we entered the security gate at the airport:) But the Lord was so good--besides being a long journey and Kai intermittingly yelping:), it was pretty uneventful. Thankfully Kai forgot that he took many strolls crawling down the aisle on our way to the u.s.!! He didn't even try to do that this time. And he slept for 7 hours straight!

We were so happy to see Brian--it was way too long to be apart. Thankfully for the boys and me it was 5 weeks of furious fun! We definitely had the better end of the deal:) Now we are trying to adjust to India time--it takes about 2 weeks (for kids). We were up at 4 am this morning:) Party time. Thank goodness for Diet Pepsi in India.

We had calmed down a bit by this point...enough to take a memorial picture.

Vacation Over

I took a few weeks off from blogging as I savored "vacation mode" in the states. Really we were just too busy to sit at a computer long enough! We had a great time touring TX and LA making our rounds to be sure we saw everyone we wanted to . There are a few people we missed this trip and we weren't able to go to our church there, but for the most part we were able to spend quality time with our family and friends. This was such an amazing 6 weeks! Thank you to everyone who spent time with us and served us in so many ways. We are very blessed.

I'm going to put some pics from our last few weeks there.

What we're up to lately...

For some reason it's hard to sit down at the computer while we're here... i guess b/c it's not my computer and we're having fun visiting. We are enjoying the lazy days of summer here in LA. We visited my grandparents yesterday...they are in their 80's and still work hard everyday. We saw my cousin and her kids--it's kinda weird when all our kids are together playing...not so long ago it was us playing at my grandparents house:) And we ate at my favorite pizza place last night. For those of you not from LA. it may gross you out to think of seafood on top of pizza but here in Lafayette it's a delicacy....Crab pizza, crawfish pizza, shrimp pizza...c'est bon!!
Here's some recent pics...

BFF's

Last Friday I had a reunion with my BFF from middle school and my BFF from high school. They were BFF's too...you know how that goes:)
It was great to see them and reminisce.

Ally is in the center, my highschool BFF and Jill is on the right, jr. high BFF. That's Jill's daughters head:) Sorry Natalie

What We've Been up to...in pics

Here are some pictures of what we've been doing while visiting. We've already done alot in a week in a half. We're in Louisiana with my parents right now. Brian made it safely back to Bangalore.

What's Happenin'

I'm trying to figure out how i'm going to upload our pictures on someone else's computer but for now I'll just give a little update...

we've been having fun visiting with family and friends. We got to spend Father's Day with my dad and grandpa, go to a going away party for my cousin's husband who will serve in Iraq, eat at Freebirds and have some friends over for a bbq dinner. The night we were having our friends over, I got back from Wal-Mart around 4:30 (they were coming at 6) and Brian tells me that we have to take Corban to the ER because he had been crying and holding his stomach for 2 hours. He was in major pain. So we got in the car, called our friends to cancel and headed to the ER. On the way Corban went from tears in his eyes to sitting up and laughing in about 10 minutes! He was healed before we got there! We don't know what was going on or what happened but we do know that the Lord took away whatever was hurting him and saved us a lot of money at the ER b/c we don't have health insurance!! Thank you Lord! So Corban is better and hasn't had the pain since then. We called our friends back and asked them to come for dinner again:)

We Made It

Sonic hamburgers, the sound of country music, exhaust-free air...we're in America!:)

The trip was long but thankfully uneventful. Our luggage made it this time and the airport dog didn't sniff any food or drugs in our bag to hold us up:) (last trip, a dog sniffed out the fruit in our bag so we had to go thru an extra security check...i'm the genius that brought fruit from a foreign country:) Kai was a squirmy worm, rightfully so for a 14 month old on a 16 hr flight. He kept me busy. The other 2 boys watched lots of Disney movies and slept.

The new Bangalore airport was awesome! When I say it is 1 million times better than the old one I'm not exaggerating. We could actually find a seat to sit in rather than the floor.

We've had a lot of fun so far with PawPaw and NaNa (my parents) and our family. It worked out great b/c we went to a bbq yesterday afternoon with my family so we were able to see alot of people at one time and be forced to stay up late even though we were exhausted. It helps with the time adjustment if the kids can stay up later. They were still up at 6am this morning, but better than 3:30am like yesterday!

This week we are getting emergency expedited passports so that we can renew our expiring visas. We are praying that everything works out exactly as planned so that Brian can catch his flight on Friday.

It's really great to be here. I'm going to try post pics while we're here.

The Looking Forward List

An Indian friend who has lived in America asked me what I was looking forward to the most about visiting. I told her that besides seeing family and friends they were all superficial things. She said “that’s what I want to know!!” So as long as everyone knows they are superficial I will go ahead and share what we are looking forward to…most involve food:)
Note: it’s funny how we don’t think about these things until we know we’ll be going to the U.S. Then you’re mind starts remembering the way turkey sandwiches taste for lunch:) and grilled mutton (outside Brian’s office) starts to smell like Papacito’s steak fajitas:)

#1 Mexican Food
Brian wants BEEF! (i.e. What-a-burger, steak fajitas)
Shopping at Wal-Mart
Not eating boiled eggs everyday for lunch (mmm...turkey sandwiches:)
Disposable diapers for 6 weeks!!!!!!! A vacation from cleaning dirty cloth diapers:)
Driving in an orderly, stress-free fashion

MEANINGFUL BEST PART OF OUR VISIT:
Hugging all of our family and friends and spending quality time hanging out!!!!!!
Can’t wait to see you all!!

Thanks for your prayers for our travel!!

Mango Madness

It's mango season in India and they are everywhere! Fruit vendors line the streets with perfectly stacked pyramids of mangoes on their carts. At the grocery store you can choose from about 6 varieties averaging around .70 cents for 2 pounds (1 kilogram)!! I remember not buying mangoes in the states b/c they were about $1 each! I was told that Lalbaugh--the botanical gardens that we visited with Melissa--has a mango display containing around 400 varieties of mangoes!! I had no idea there were so many! They are dee-lish!!!

Putting it Into Perspective

I was beginning to dread the journey we have coming up this week...
Since the new airport is much farther from our house (1 hr 45 min with no traffic), we will be spending the night in a cab and the airport (which means not sleeping) to catch our plane that leaves at 4 am Friday morning. We have 24 hours of travel (21 in the air). We have a 14th month old that communicates by screaming and screeching his desires (which is really what i'm dreading:) and to top it off I've heard rumors that airlines are flying at slower speeds due to fuel prices! Maybe you can imagine the bitter sweet thoughts of starting off our journey.

Well, I happened to read my friend's blog late one night this week and saw a post about this precious baby girl Elysha. Her parents, after surgery and a hard fought battle, were having to pull the plug on her breathing tubes that same day and watch their sweet baby go to be with Jesus.

It really puts things into perspective...I bet they would give anything to fly for 22 hours with a screaming baby--probaby 100 hours--just to have her with them.

Thank you Lord for reality checks and please, please help me not to grumble.

Brian's B-day @ Hard Rock Cafe

Hard Rock is our official b-day celebration station (for the adults:). It has the best American food in town and can only be afforded twice a year:) Brian has declared their hamburgers the winner after our city search for the best burger, (side note: our search was completed last weekend when we tried our 5th burger joint, 2 of which should be called "Sloppy Joes" not burgers:) We think we've exhausted our burger resources:)
The dessert was a huge brownie sunday which i remembered to get a shot of this time. We cleaned it up!
We are so thankful to have Brian as a husband and a daddy and grateful he is celebrating another year. He is a special man.

BRAIN's B-day

Today is Brian's b-day! He is joining the "30 Club"! (Finally! I've been there awhile:D)

Brian had two b-day cakes--he and Corban shared one friday night with our friends from church, and we surprised him at work on Saturday with another one. Both times the bakery spelled his name "BRAIN". This is how everyone in India spells his name:D And this is how they pronounce it as well. He had to show his co-workers how to phonetically pronounce his name..."Bry-Un":)Even though I spelled out his name for the bakery they probably thought I had misspelled it and "corrected" it for me:D