Lal Baugh

Today we went to a Botanical Garden called Lal Baugh. It was so beautiful and peaceful. The boys did really well considering we were walking around looking at trees and flowers for 2 hours:) So to finish off our tour we ate ice cream. There are lots of pictures of the beautiful orange trees that are in bloom right now.
Yesterday Melissa and I got to go on a girls' trek to Commercial Street which consists of rows of streets with anything and everything for sale. Melissa was looking for fabric (beautiful and cheap in India) and other gifts. I was looking for nothing, but ofcourse couldn't leave without buying a few fun things:) We each bought shirts made out of cool fabrics and had them tailored to our desired length (they came long). Tailors abound in Commercial street and will do alterations while you wait. We also found this really cool shoe stand--his electricity was out (which has happened everytime I've been to Comm. St. but most stores have back-up generators) so it was sort of a blessing that we couldn't see all the shoes b/c we might have bought lots more than we did:) And Melissa was overwhelmed with meters and meters of beautiful fabric! She got some good deals and great material.
Tomorrow we are flying out to Kerala--the land of coconuts, bananas, palm trees and seafood! We'll be staying in the coastal city of Ft. Cochin then setting sail on a house boat for 2 nights and then off to visit South India's largest wildlife preserve. It should be lots of fun, really hot and beautiful! I'll post pics when we return.

Surprises in the Bag

It felt like we were having a big party as Melissa opened her suitcase full of goodies for us!! Mind you, she brought two bags...the carry-on suitcase was for her clothes and the large check-in size suitcase was full of our surprises!!!!!!! Wow! We were amazed at the blessings. Melissa had asked if she could bring anything from the states for us and ofcourse I took her up on it:D I told her to keep a tab and we would pay her back. Well, to our surprise some of the church families back in Pearland had signed up for things on the list and purchased them for us!!!! They also sent cards and letters. I was so amazed. And the best part of what they gathered to send as an extra surprise was everything needed to make ENCHILADAS!!!!!!!! I can't wait. I had included my old enchilada recipe in one of my past posts. Afterwards I thought that was pretty dumb to have included this unnecessary, long list of ingredients in a blog but i'm so glad i did b/c Melissa used it to gather the goods to make my favorite dish!!
My mom and grandmother also sent us a package of fun goodies and Melissa came bearing MANY, MANY space gifts for the boys!! T-shirts, soap, toys, a book, pictures, school activities and the greatest of all...an autographed photo of the 7 astronaut-crew that will be on the next mission!!!!!!!!!!!! Now tell me what boy wouldn't think that's the coolest thing ever! It may not fully register now but just wait til they're about 10! It'll be an even bigger deal! Melissa is so thoughtful and GENEROUS especially to get so many people involved in bringing us joy. I took some pictures of the goodies and the boys in their space gear but what I can't figure out is how I managed to not get a picture of Melissa yet:( I've always been one to miss photo ops--like picking her up at the airport and out sightseeing yesterday!!)--so I will be diligent about taking and posting lots of Melissa shots to document her trip here.

Good and Bad

THE GOOD
Well we went on quite an adventure yesterday to the other side of Bangalore (which was probably only about 5 miles away but took an hour to get there!) We drove thru the crazy traffic to visit an historic Fort and palace. Both were uneventful and are far, far away from making the list of "to do's while in India" as you'll see from the pictures--Bangalore isn't known for its sightseeing. But we did get a great taste of culture...this part of the city is called "Majestic" and is quite a contrast from the wealthier IT parts of town. We received many stares and seemed to be the only foreigners around:) There were bazaars and markets set-up along the sidewalks selling colorful produce and clothing. We braved a drive thru the crowded City Market which comprises rows of streets lined with tiny shops selling anything and everything. There were so many people everywhere--especially in the bus loading area--which we passed thru to and from our car. I had to fend people off from pinching Kai's cheeks--I've learned to do it with a smile:) It was definitely "another world" of Bangalore that I had not explored yet. My Indian friends laughed at me when I told them where we had been. They said "even we Indians don't go to that part of town"--I'm assuming she meant Indians from our side of town:) I had no clue and took my vacationing friend on quite the introductory tour:) She was such a great (and PATIENT) help with the boys!
THE BAD
I'm so sad to report that Melissa got a stomach bug on day #2 in Bangalore. We didn't eat out so we're assuming it was some of the fresh vegetables we ate last night at our friend's house. I was so sad when she told me this morning. But she has been a good sport and even managed smiles while conversing. I am praying that it's a 24 hour thing and that she won't encounter another bug while here.

She Made It

Our friend Melissa arrived this morning! It was so good to see her face and give her a hug. We haven't stopped talking since she got here:) She was going to try to stay up til bedtime tonight but when it got really quiet in the house (boys' nap time) it became harder to keep her eyes open:) Jet lag is rough when you travel east. We will be showing her around Bangalore and then to Kerala next week to ride/sleep on a houseboat in the backwaters, visit a wildlife sanctuary (home to 1000's of elephants and other animals like tigers!) and visit the coastal city of Cochin. I'll try to blog and post pics when I can before and after our trip. For now here are some pics of Kai in his new outfit that my grandparents sent him along with birthday balloons that all the boys love!!

Dinner Guests and Random pics

Last night we had Brian’s co-worker and family over for dinner. It is a cultural tradition here for guests to come bearing gifts for the host family. Each time we’ve had an Indian family over for dinner they have lavished us with gifts. It’s very humbling. They brought each boy a toy, Brian and me a gift and lots of Indian snacks/treats. They also brought their wedding album, traveling pictures, their children’s report cards and a letter from Veera’s orphanage to share with us. It was great getting to know them better. Veera (Brian’s co-worker and father of the family) grew up in a Christian orphanage. They cared for him and gave him a good education. He was the first person to graduate from his village! After school Veera went back to his village and married Esther, his first cousin (this is common in rural villages to marry close relatives). Once Veera converted from Hinduism to Christianity his whole village (all his relatives) rejected him and will still not speak to him or accept his family. He just smiles when he talks about this but I’m sure he has been through so much pain knowing that he can’t speak to his loved ones. Even his relatives that live in Bangalore don’t associate with him b/c his village has forbidden them to do so. This is what a Christian convert potentially faces here. Veera seems to have a lot of joy and peace about his decision.
His wife speaks only her native language, Tamil (and I only speak my native language, English) so we didn’t get to talk much which was sad. His children Abraham, 9, and Angel, 8 speak English and go to a very good school which you can tell makes him very proud. He has told Brian that most of his salary goes to providing them this education.
So, I made shrimp pasta which they were kind enough to eat without making funny faces. I know Indians don’t really care for the food I cook b/c it’s pretty bland to them:) They are gracious though. I think they liked the dessert—ice cream pie with oreo crust—who doesn’t like sugar plus sugar?:)

What's Inside that Anthill?

I've noticed these huge anthills around the city--on the side of the road or in a dirt field. The large ones range from 4-6 ft that I've seen. I wondered why they were allowed to grow this big--seems like a like a health hazard to me:) I figured the ants must be sacred like most animals here in India. Come to find out snakes live in these anthills and snakes are considered hindu gods. To exterminate an anthill would mean messing with the gods (inturn one's fate) therefore noone's going to destroy the 6ft anthill that gets in the way of their soccer game--they just play around it.

Perplexing

After spending hours trying to solve our camera problem and hours of researching on the internet for the best digital camera to buy... i gave the ol' camera one more plug-in just to see if a miracle had taken place since last try and.....it had! It's working! Go figure.

This isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened. Last week our internet modem wouldn't work. After investigating I realized the A/C power adaptor had gone dead. I called the internet company to report the problem. They said they would send someone over to take a look. I knew from living here for some months now that that wasn't going to happen anytime soon so I set out on a quest with 3 kids around town to replace it myself...to no avail. I ended up using an adaptor we brought from the states plugged into our power converter. When the repair man showed up a week later he asked me to plug the modem into the fried adaptor. And guess what? It worked!!! I felt a little stupid but it really didn't work before!

I'm so thankful that both of these gadgets have been revived!!

And what is the lesson I'm supposed to be learning from this? I'm not really sure, but if you are in the market for a new digital camera let me know and I can tell exactly which one to buy!:D

Non-Eventful but Cute Belly

Since the camera is broken --thank the Lord Melissa is coming next week and can deliver a new one!! (Electronics are double+ the price here)--I'm posting the only video I have right now:) It's from January and it's pretty non-eventful but it will demonstrate Kai's jelly belly that still exists:) and my ever-ready Superhero-Corban. Haddon was napping at the time:(
Corban was trying to play peek-a-boo with Kai, who was getting a big kick out of it, but as soon as the camera came on he got distracted. I'll work on making more videos!
The boys started VBS today at church and had a blast--the theme is "RESCUE ZONE" (aka-firemen, policemen, etc) right up their alley:) I think they will also learn how God rescues us.

Good News...Bad News

GOOD NEWS
Really Great News! We found out yesterday that Brian is going to get to come back to the U.S. with us for a week!!! It'll be so good to have him with us to visit family and friends and a huge help for my sanity on the flights there. We are planning on coming mid-June.
BAD NEWS
Yesterday, among other technical difficulties throughout the day, our computer stopped recognizing the digital camera. This means no uploading pictures or video clips to post to the blog. Somewhere in the crazy move here, we lost the installation CD so I'm on the hunt for free software downloads. In the meantime i'll try posting videos from our handycam to YouTube to put in the blog.

Pirate

Here's Corban with his pirate mask...it started out as a flag for his "pirate ship" then was cut out into a scary mask:)

The Rudest People In the World

Bangalore is the IT capital of India and India is the IT country of the world for outsourcing, offshoring (not oil:) and call/tech support centers.There are huge IT Parks all around the city. These are clusters of IT companies like Dell, Yahoo, AOL, Google and other software companies that share acres of beautiful/immaculate campuses. The latest trend is work/living parks in which an IT company builds it offices surrounded by multiple apartment complexes and retail stores to house their employees. I guess this saves on gas and commute time? It doesn't sound like a fun idea to constantly mix work and life but these are going up everywhere here.
I met a girl at church who does tech support calls for ipod. She asked me where I was from and I told her Houston, TX. She looked at me and grinned. I said, "Oh, you've heard of it?". She said "oh yes, Texans are known at our company for being the rudest people on earth". I was in shock!! How could someone talk to a friendly, down-home Texan and come up with such a conclusion???:) She said that they are usually irate, demanding and whining about their ipod problems. Wow! She also said that she can tell where each call is coming from via caller ID and every time she sees TX she immediately diverts the call to someone else. Maybe that's why Texans are so irritable b/c they are getting passed around by every employee in the company trying to avoid them and therefore are on hold for an hour:D j/j. So with this in mind, all you Texans out there with ipods or any American with any gadget for that matter...the next time you speak with Tech Support just remember they are probably in India, so be on your best behavior so as not to live up to the "Rudest People in the World" reputation:)

Tickle Torture & You Tube

I finally took the time to learn how to upload clips from our video camera to You Tube. Not too hard, except that it takes a long time due to our connection--then if it happens to be uploading during our daily electricity outage/flickering then you have to start all over:) The biggest test will be when we receive the bill for our internet service. They charge a flat fee for a set amount of time/up & downloading on the net and once you pass that you pay according to how much you use. We'll see after this month's bill if I will still be able to upload to You Tube:) But I really can't complain--thank the Lord for internet!!!! It makes a HUGE difference in living abroad. I can't imagine living overseas even 10 years ago. Having "connections" to loved seems so vital and it's so easy with email, blogs, webcams, digital cameras and You Tube!
So anyway... Brian was inflicting tickle torture on the boys before bedtime last week. He also used his ultimate take-down weapon--"Slobertooth"--our one year old drooler who loves to give his brothers wet-willie-kisses!:)
While I'm on Slobertooth I should probably tell you all the Wrestling nicknames in our household...Junk Yard Daddy, Crocodile Chopper (Haddon) and One-Eyed Wild Wolf (Corban) :D I think I have one too but I forgot it. I don't join in during wrestle time:)
Just as sidenotes you might notice the mosquito net tent behind the boys on Corban's bed. And that there are no fitted sheets in India (really), and that our sons use pink flowered sheets:) They don't know the difference at this point:) WARNING: Very loud content!

Our First Visitor!

We just found out today that we will have our first visitor/friend from the U.S.!!!! Our dear friend Melissa Wallace just finished the docking of the ATV space vehichle at the International Space Station for NASA (she's in Houston, not in space:) and since everything went so smoothly they are sending her to India in appreciation for her great intellectual contribution. Just joking:) She is paying for herself which makes it even more special that she is coming all the way across the world to visit us and see this wonderful country! She arrives on April 22!
And recently I found out an answer to a prayer that I've been praying since December... I get to come to the u.s. this summer with the kids! (Brian has to save his vacation days for our trip to the states in Dec.:( I have an amazing Father above and a wonderful father-in-law who are both making this possible! It is so great knowing that we'll get to see so many friends and family in a just a few months. Yes, I am insane to try to fly 22 hours with 3 small children!!!!!! I may return with gray hair and even more wrinkles but it will be worth it.

Stickin Out

I think I've said before that we are one of very few white people in our neighborhood. Supposedly there are around 50,000 foreigners in Bangalore but when you hold that up to a population of 6 million you can see how we can stick out in a crowd:)
Because of this it seems that lots of random people near our flat know where we live (even the exact apt. number for some!). Employees at the grocery stores, people we've never met in our complex, ofcourse the security guards, people in other complexes around ours', and today I went to a new pharmacy two or three streets over and the guy behind the counter knew which apt complex I lived in! I've never seen him in my life.
I don't say this because I feel like a rock star or anything (that's our son Kai:--people love babies here--especially fat white ones:) it feels a little more like a stalker movie to me. But you know what...for some reason I feel safer here than I did in the U.S. where noone in the grocery store knew me. These people don't know where we live because they are tracking us down--they just know us because we are different.
On the other hand, if you know me you know I'm a fearaphobic about some things so I won't be letting my kids play outside by themselves or leaving the windows open at night--we stick out a little too much to take any chances:)