Ice Cream Party

Corban has been working on being able to recognize all his uppercase and lowercase letters. He accomplished the task on Monday so we celebrated with an ice cream party! People have been telling us about The Corner House--the best icecream in Bangalore. So we tried it out and we agree. We had the "Brownie Bomb" and strawberry and vanilla cones. Yes Dad, I cheated and had some bites (my Dad and I are trying not to eat sweets--we are both addicts and trying to break free:) I had to celebrate too:D

Funny and Not So Funny

FUNNY
Today I called to make an appointment to get Kai his 9 month shots (yes, he's 11 months--a little behind:). My experience so far with doctors is that they can usually see you the same day you are calling and they assume that's what you want to do. They are thrown off a bit when you want to come in a different day. I asked if I could schedule the appointment for Saturday (most doctors work Saturdays) and she said "Will you remember to come if you schedule it so early?":) I laughed and said yes. I didn't tell her that in the u.s. you have to call a month ahead to schedule a well visit!:)
NOT SO FUNNY
So I have tried 4 times to stand in line at the local electricity bill kiosk to pay our overdue bill. This is how it works here...you go to the local atm-like machine in your neighborhood, scan your bill and insert your bills or check like a vending machine. Normally I go after we drop Brian off at work (early morning) and there's no line--too early for most people to be out. Well it took me awhile to get the correct amount of bills this month (it doesn't give change) so i've been trying to go during the day. There's always a line of about 6-10 people. Some are paying multiple people's bills so it takes a very long time. Others have a stack of bills 2 inches thick that have to be fed individually to the machine. Other people think it's ok to cut in line and just go to the #3 spot without waiting like the rest of us. (One guy did this and I tapped him on the back to make him aware there was a line going on here. He just gave me some excuse in a language I couldn't understand:) I had to repeatedly remind myself "The last shall be first and the first shall be last" as people cut so I wouldn't boil over and yell at someone:D)
So each time I've given up--mostly due to my kids sitting in the hot car. The last time I timed it. I was in line 12 minutes and it did not move. No one paid, no one left, I have no idea what was going on. So I left.
I asked one guy in line if there was such a thing as Bill Pay (online payments) here. He said yes-- you have to sign papers at your bank. We definitely have to look into that--or-- just pay on time and beat the rest of the world to the kiosk at 8:30 am:)

Veggie Tales

Here is a clip of Haddon singing the Veggie Tales theme song. He usually sings all the verses very clearly but i think he got a little camera shy:) It is cute to hear him singing. He used to say "collary" for collard greens and we would get a kick out of that. Here's what he's singing..."If you like to talk to tomatoes, if a __?__ can make you smile, have we got a show for you. Veggie Tales, Veggie Tales, Veg-gie Tales. Broccoli, Celery, gotta be Veg-gie Tales. It's Time for Veggie Tales....Ha Ha Ha Ha." :D

Slip-n-Slide

Kai was trying to play piano but kept slipping on the wet floor. I won't say what the liquid was but he was a naked baby:) We thought it was funny... then he went to get a bath:)

Another Taste of Driving...

Well today I was out driving with the boys and one errand required a u-turn. Like most u-turns I've taken our car is too big to make it in one turn. It usually takes about a 2-3 point turn to manuver it--meanwhile there's oncoming traffic honking at you, motorcycles whizzing by and people turning behind you. It's an intense few seconds:) Well on this 2 point turn(due to a parked car on the side of the road) which was onto a 3 lane major road, I didn't realize that there was a car close behind me. When I backed up I hit them. I was so bummed for many reasons...1) my big SUV is sure to hurt the smaller compact car I ran into 2) Being a white person, you have no idea what to expect when dealing with the law here 3) I really didn't want to have to sit there for an hour while the police came with 3 tired kids in back and an angry family in the other car 4) I had fresh chicken that needed to get to the fridge!:)
So I pulled over and waited for the other car to do the same. As they passed me I saw the dent, which had taken off paint, on the left side. The passenger/wife got out of the car to assess the damage. As I was waiting for her to walk to my window to get my contact info she just got back in the car and they drove off! I couldn't believe it! In the states it would have been a sure insurance report--especially with missing paint! Granted they could have already had the scratch--but they could have easily claimed that i did it and gotten it fixed for free.
One great thing about driving here is people EXPECT their cars to get messed up. It's a given that your car will gets scratches, dents, dirt, lost hubcaps, etc. The few times I've seen Mercedes around town I just laugh--it's impossible for a nice car to stay nice.
So needless to say I was thanking Jesus! It could have been a really long day!

Fresh Lime Soda

In India FRESH LIME SODAS are very popular. They are sold at most every restaurant. It is made up of real lime juice, soda water(clear carbonated water) and sugar syrup. You can also get them "salty" but that calls for major puckering:) or sweet & salty. They usually cost about $1. They are oh so yummy!

Fresh juice in general is really popular here. There are street vendors that will make sweet lime (sort of like an orange) juice, coconut juice (really milk:), etc, and lots of little open-front juice shops that you walk up to the counter and order fresh juice. You can also buy watermelon by the slice and green grapes on the side of the road.

Pondicherry

Brian had Saturday and Monday off so we traveled to the eastern coastal city of Pondicherry. It is a tourist hotspot--we saw more white people there than we've seen in 6 months:) Pondicherry was settled by the french in the 1700's which is what makes it such an usual place in India. There is french architecture, french cuisine and french speaking Indians. It is a very charming seaside city--it felt a little bit like walking in New Orleans when looking at the buildings.
The roads that led to Pondy were TERRIBLE! wow. We were warned, but I don't think I could have warned my body enough. Brian and I both felt battered by the time we got there:) It is a 7 hour trip to go the same distance that it takes to drive to San Antonio or Lafayette, LA from Houston (approx 4 hours). This is due to crater size potholes, slow trucks and other moving objects, crazy drivers passing cars while playing "chicken" with oncoming traffic to do it, a 2 lane highway and ofcourse, the inevitable in India for us...getting lost:). What made the trip feel shorter was the beautiful scenary of the mountains, countryside and small roadside villages made of straw huts all along the way.
While there we had french and italian food/seafood in open air restaurants, walked the promenade (seadside) in town, went to the beach to swim, shopped, played at the park and took naps!!
Our room was great--we stayed at a guest house, similar to a B&B in the U.S. but cheaper. The best part about it was the shutters that made the room pitch black even in the daylight. We slept in and took long naps--beautiful! The guest house served croissants and tea for breakfast out in the courtyard.
C'est Bon!

For the Love of Enchiladas

If you have ever been over to eat at our house (in the states) you were probably served enchiladas. They were my favorite thing to make--they are quick, serve alot of people and taste so good--it's hard to mess up enchiladas:)
But then we moved to India--far far away from Mexico and mexican cuisine:) How can a family from the Tex Mex haven of the world make it without weekly doses of mexican food? Somehow we are surviving but not without cravings. So when I heard I could get "real" chedder cheese at a new european supermarket that opened I took the boys on a field trip determined to fill the desire for enchiladas. We did indeed find "real" cheese imported from England--which I paid $7.33 for 8oz!!! Now I know you think i'm crazy but wouldn't you pay this much after 6 months of no cheese? Uh huh:) (although my english friend tells me the brand I bought is a farce and is not the "good" english cheese:) but atleast it was hard, yellow and could be shredded). Atlast I could attempt the former staple food of our household.
I believe I have blogged before how I sometimes feel like a "pioneer woman" cooking here. Most everything is from scratch. I learned to "quick cook" , aka with cans, a box, jars, packages, etc. My mom is not very proud of my cooking heritage but I think it is super efficient and tastes just as good as from scratch. So you can imagine that going from making enchiladas from packaged tortillas, frozen chicken breasts, a can of cream of mushroom soup, a carton of sour cream, a can of mexican flavored stewed tomatoes, a jar of enchilada sauce and a bag of shredded "mexican" cheese as well as being able to cook 2 pans at one time in my big oven to this would be torture...you're right:)
I started the cooking journey at 9:30 am...making tortilla dough, kneading, rolling (i can't roll a circle to save my life!), cooking each one on a skillet. Then I chopped up the whole chicken (which still had its neck on!!!!!!!!!!), cut tomatoes and peppers to stew, added seasoning, yogurt, & stewed tomatoes to the chicken to simmer, mixing and cooking the enchilada sauce ( i brought back McCormick packets from our visit in Dec.:)), shredding the cheese, soaking the black beans for an hour(which i also brought back), cutting up onions and garlic and cooking the beans, and making dessert (for a Valentine's Dinner). The cooking escapade ended at 3:00pm! (albeit I was doing other things in between cooking)
So after we got back from playgroup I put one pan in our toaster oven (a friend of mine loaned it to me! Thank the Lord!). I was so excited and drooling as I waited for the cheese to bubble. Finally we sat down to our Mexican fiesta that I had been craving for so long. So how did they turn out? Have you ever tasted Mexican grits? I haven't either but that's the best way to describe them. I was sadly disappointed--i'm blaming the tortilla flour--but I'm also throwing in the towel for cooking mexican food here. Too much work for this "instant" girl. All of you who cook from scratch--please excuse my whining!:D

Colette's B-day @ Hard Rock

Monday we celebrated my b-day at Hard Rock Cafe'. It was a really cool place. I took some pictures...although I couldn't seem to get a "smiling" shot of anyone--we really did smile alot while eating yummy nachos!!, french fries, hamburgers and the one thing I forgot to take a picture of...the huge brownie sundae that came in a stemmed glass the size of a fish bowl! It was delicious and could have served 10 people!
It was a little different celebrating my birthday in a country where noone knew it was my birthday:) but then again, I stopped really "caring" about my birthday and if people know or not when I turned 30:D I'm just thankful to have lived another year and be able to celebrate with my family. Thankfully I have a great husband that refused my "mom" idea of going to the new arcade at the mall and eating at the food court to celebrate:) Hard Rock was much better--and I got to sit down:)

Education Matters

I'm seeing how important an education is here for those who can't afford them. Our housekeeper's daughter is 18 and also cleans houses. Even though I can't really communicate with her I often wonder why she is not going to college like her cousin or trying to get a full time job somewhere. She is so sweet and beautiful--not that those two things make her anymore qualified than someone else--but in my mind she deserves a chance out of the "caste" she has been born into. From what I understand the caste system is not nearly as strong as it used to be and people can rise above it, it's just really hard for the poor. I was thinking maybe it was just assumed that she would also clean houses like her mom does. Well I found out this week that she only finished the 9th grade because her family couldn't afford to send her to school (public school costs money here). Her older brother did finish school. The way I learned this is because Brian's company is hiring data entry positions. To apply you have to have graduated from 12th grade and be able to type. I told Vanajakshi (my housekeeper) about it and offered to help Ramya, her daughter, learn to type so she could apply for the job. It pays 6,000 rupees a month which is ALOT of money for a poor person here. It equals about $154.
That's when I learned she had only gone to 9th grade. Her brother is going to apply for the job. It makes me really sad that she is "stuck" where she is. Not that cleaning houses the rest of your life is a bad thing but it is hard work and with a little money and schooling she could have so many more opportunities. I know there are millions of people just like her here and around the world, in the U.S. as well, but it's hard when you want to help someone and can't do much to solve the problem.
Vanajakshi asked me if people cleaned houses in America. I told her they did but it costs a lot more there to have cleaning help. I also told her some wealthy people hire nannies:) She asked me to take Ramya with us if we move back to the states. She told me I wouldn't have to pay her much and she would take care of the kids. It made me sad. I told her she would miss her daughter very much and Ramya would miss her family. But from what I could gather it would be a very proud thing for them to have someone in their family leave India and go to a "better life". I didn't have the heart to tell her that we can't afford to take her back with us and that she'd face the same problems there. If only I had the money to get her a G.E.D., english lessons, a college education, a good job,etc. But then I have to ask myself is an education and a good job really what makes a person happy? She is a very happy person. Maybe it's about being content where you are...which is easy for me to say since I'm not poor. Ok, enough philosophying and rambling...I'm just confusing myself:) But what I wanted to share is the plight of so many people here...hard work and poverty.

Focused

Kai is focused on his lego building...he's starting to be able to play alone or with his brothers for longer amounts of time. It's cute to watch him. Haddon is not in the video because he is in the bathroom potty training:) You can hear him calling to "get down" in the background:)

Raindrops are Falling on my Head...

Well I'm not sure if my blogging about no rain for months caused it to rain twice this week or if I just haven't lived here long enough to really know what i'm talking about:D I'm assuming the latter. I'm sure they will be a lot of things I've blogged about that will need correction when I learn differently:) It downpoured one day this week and for half a day this weekend. Both days in the morning...I stand corrected:)

Are We Over Culture Shock Yet?

Supposedly it takes 6 months to get over culture shock when entering a new country. That means Brian is over his and I'm close to it:) Actually we felt settled in and at home way before now but there are things that have taken longer to become "normal" or not noticeable around us...sounds, smells, scenery, etc. Although I don't think anyone in Bangalore ever feels like traffic is "normal":)
I was weaned from my Walmart longings (everything-under-one-roof/one-stop-shopping longings to be more specific:) about 2 months ago and now shopping at a convenient store size grocier is "normal". And why buy everything in one spot--there's alot of people whose livelihood depends on you buying a light bulb, etc at their store:)
I also weaned us off of "biscuits" (cookies)this month. They were pretty exciting for 5 months but I think we can live without them now.
And after 5 months we were invited to have a meal at someone's house:) Please don't feel like I'm soliciting sympathy here:) It has been a really good lesson in cultural expectations and norms by having to "wait" to make friends. Friendships always came easy in the states; but here, either b/c we are foreign or b/c that's how relationships go, I'm not sure which one, it has taken longer to connect and make friendships but now it seems that's happening and it makes us very thankful for them. Our friends Sinni and Sinoop had us over for lunch after church and served us a yummy meal. To my surprise she even used Tony Chachere's!!!! Her husband had bought it for her on a trip to the states. I was so excited to see that in her hand!:)
And now our week is filling up with activities...bookclub/baking with church ladies, playgroup, small group, homeschool, etc. I think we are integrating. It just took a little longer than expected-- which seems to be the way things work here--even my Indian friends say so:)

Kai Starting to Cruise & Dance

Just ignore our talking:)

Company Dinner #3

The third group of Brian's co-workers came over last night for Shrimp Creole and brownies. This was the record # for people piled in our car--13!! Brian took the camera to take a picture of the event but in the commotion of things forgot to document it:) There were people sitting on top of people:) even two people sitting on some people:)
The boys, again posed for lots of pictures, got picked up and passed around to everyone:) They loved it. The reason Kai is in almost every picture is b/c everyone wanted a photo with him. Babies rule in India:)

Kai Chasing Corban

Weather anyone?

You can't get much better than Bangalore weather...It's tropical...right now the high's are around 80 and low's around 65. This is winter. We hear the summer (April, May) can get pretty hot--I'm not sure how it compares to a concrete summer in Houston but we'll see. In monsoon season it rarely rains before noon and outside of monsoon season it doesn't rain at all, so it is pretty certain you will have every morning free of rain (with a few days exception). We really enjoy it. So far we haven't missed not having seasons--maybe b/c we haven't ever lived where we've experienced all four seasons for very long--we don't know what we're missing:)Some parts of India do get extreme weather--super hot in summer and freezing/snow in winter. I'm glad we live in sunny Bangalore!

Company Dinner #2

This past Tuesday we had over more of Brian's co-workers. This time the party was co-ed:) The boys had lots of fun again and even dressed as superhero's for the occasion (Corban decided to change into Kent Klark attire--he's into changing clothes alot these days--a phase I presume). We didn't think the pancakes went over so well last time so we opted to serve Shrimp Creole, peas, rolls and brownies this time. Spicy gravy with rice is a staple item here so it seemed to go over pretty well. At first everyone took a little dollop on their plates--maybe this is being polite when eating at someone's home--- but regardless i was teasing them that i was going to eat way more than them:) Then they all went back for seconds, thirds, etc:)
It's nice to get to know the people Brian is working with and TRY hard to learn names--Indian names don't come to quickly to me--just like my name doesn't stick with most people here either:)