Veg or Non Veg

Many Hindus are vegetarians therefore EVERY food item at the grocery store is labeled “Veg” or “Non Veg” with these symbols above. Even medicines and vitamins are labeled. Restaurants also are “Veg”, “Non Veg” or “Mixed Cuisine” and identify this on their signs and menus. I'm not sure if this system is enforced by law or it such a part of the culture that this coding has arisen out of respect.

Some Hindus eat veg but eat seafood. Some are veg but eat eggs. Others are sometimes veg and sometimes not, like when they eat at our house--trying to be polite i guess:) (i usually make both veg and non-veg when we have hindu veg guests) Or they are veg on certain days of the week like Brian's co-worker. I’m sure there are other methods to it as well…maybe if you feel like being veg today or not:) But it’s not just a trendy thing here like it is in the states, it’s not about health or animal rights, it is about religion and probably economics for many.

Random Notes and the Attack of the Ice Cream

Translating english (U.S.) vegetable names for english (British) vegetable names (passed onto India)...

Bell Pepper=Capsicum
Cilantro=Coriander
Okra=Lady Finger
and lots of others that I have no idea what they are:)

The grocery store I shop at has one telephone line...if someone is talking on the phone they can't run credit cards. There's usually only one check-out line open...this causes problems. I have to say it usually takes longer to check out than it does to shop--even if no one is on the phone:) Imagine if WalMart only had one telephone line:) scary thought. Our little grocery store is about 1/100 of the size of Walmart--they have an excuse to only have one phone line i guess:)

Even after 9 months living here I'm still flabbergasted that there are no streets signs--even at major intersections. We have a great map but no signs:) I'm always on an adventure driving. I usually pass by things atleast twice as i circle the area looking for my destination. Amazingly, by the Lord's help we end up where we are supposed to be and then back home. Seriously, you could drive around for hours in this city:)

I've mentioned before that there is a store for everything here...well i went to the light store the other day to buy light bulbs. To my surprise, the light store doesn't sell light bulbs (just fixtures):D They told me to go to the "electrical store" down the street. Indeed this is the light bulb store...it's about all they had-- plus ceiling fans--which the light store had as well:)

Kai had lots of fun eating an ice cream cone all by himself...

Brian's Away...the Drama Unfolds

Thankfully Brian has had to travel only twice while working here, but for some unknown reason both times have brought drama to the Frazier house. You may or may not remember last time he was gone all the boys and I came down with a stomach bug--our worst illness to date-- for a week:) I was cleaning up kids' messes and making them myself:)
This week proved to be just as adventurous. I posted about night #1 with the invading mosquitoes and the bat doing laps in our living room. Night #2 was just as interesting...i started having mild chest pain in the afternoon but thought nothing of it. I took the boys to a mini carnival to get out the house and noticed the pain getting sharper. Normally I would have just waited til the next day to see if it passed but when you are alone with 3 children you really don't want to take any chances. I pictured myself having a heart attack and my 3 kids stuck in our house w/out a mom until Friday when Brian came home:) (you know that over imaginative mom mind:) So I consulted my doctors...WebMD and Mayoclinic.com:)...they both said if you are having sudden or gradual pain on the left side of your chest seek medical attention immediately. Ok, great, but do i really have to lug 3 kids with me to the emergency room? Yes.
I drove to the clinic down the street--the one that is 24 hour heart emergency care--it was closed. Are you kidding me? So I drove to the next hospital and thankfully was admitted right away. I won't go into to the details of the dark and dingy ER except that my children had not eaten dinner yet (it was after 9pm--how did that happen?) so I fed them crackers as I lay on the bed and prayed they wouldn't ingest a staph infection or deadly disease:D
The doctor gave me a shot to see if the pain would stop (therefore indicating it was just heartburn) and took my vital statistics. Well the pain went down though didn't subside but she assured me I was ok and it was just indigestion. I guess I should have taken a clue from the burping every few hours--next time i'll try TUMS first:) You just have to be sure when there are kids involved though. So I was dismissed and sent away with drugs (antacids). Guess how much my bill was for the E.R. and prescriptions? A whopping $8.15. Amazing! Hence the dark, dingy E.R.:)

Well the drama wasn't over...when we got home at 10pm I realized that our new lock (the one that created the mosquitoes and bat upon installation) wasn't working with the key!! We were locked out! I had to ask the security guard to climb up to the 2nd floor via the balcony rails, go thru my sliding door and unlock the front door for us!!! Thank the Lord we only live one floor up and that I left the sliding door open! We would have been homeless. The day was finally done--kids in bed at 11pm.

The next day, thankfully, held less adventure except for the "terror" child at playgroup biting Haddon's hand, breaking the skin, and me burning my fingers on a hot skillet (genius:). Thankfully I had read that apple cider vinegar takes away burn pain immediately--hey home remedies really do work!

Brian came home last night and we were so happy to see him! Now we can go back to our normal, boring lives:D

Brothers and Sisters

You can tell I've been reading my friends' blogs--I just had to post this one...it is hilarious. Her 6 year old son created the "scene" and videoed it all by himself!:D I'm pretty sure Desiree added the soundtrak:). It reminded me of my brother.

Just an Explanation

Last night I posted about May as National Foster Care Month and adopting hard-to-place children. The reason I mixed these two subjects in the same writing is because older, special needs children are usually in the foster care system. I also posted a link to a poem about why we (I) avoid adopting these children. I realized later that this poem may sound anti-foster care, although she does explain her last stanza in the comments section and clarifies that she is not anti-foster care. My brother and sister-in-law were foster care parents and were wonderful servants to the two girls that lived with them. And I know there are many, many others that have been faithful stewarts of the children that God has placed in their homes. I didn't want to send the wrong message--that Foster Care was bad and everyone should be adopting. Instead I was hoping to link the two because this is where so many of these children are living--in the foster care system.

National Foster Care Month

Brian and I are adoption advocates and truly believe in not only the ministry of adoption but transracial/transcultural families as well. I just learned that May is National Foster Care Month. I have often avoided the thought of adopting an older, "hard-to-place" or special needs child b/c of my selfishness and wanting to have a "safe and easy" life. I read this post thru another friend's blog and wanted to share it with you.
I knew this lady in MN and she and her husband have adopted more children than they have borne biologically. She is a supermom (as you'll see in the picture--she homeschools all 9 of her children--ok, some are too young to do school but someday...!!) and i'm glad she is going deep on an issue that i try to stay away from. I know not everyone is called to adopt but this may help you to encourage someone you know who is considering it or help you try to understand that bully (hurting) kid in your child's class. Click here to link to Dorothy's poem.

Bat in the House

Tuesday night we had carpenters here installing new locks on our doors. From 5:30-9:00 pm they had the doors wide open. Given the time of day...dusk to dark it meant 100's of mosquitos were inviting themselves in to visit! Our house was swarming with them!! I was just swinging the racket around and killing like 5 at a time!! The carpenters and I didn't speak the same language so I didn't want to be rude and shut the door (they left it open even when they weren't working on the actual door) so i just left it alone so they could get their work done without feeling watched:)

To top it off a BAT flew into our living room and continously did laps. Corban thought it was the coolest thing ever!! I on the other hand freaked out (if i'm scared of cockroaches just imagine me with a swooping bat!!!) So i gathered the kids--minus entertained Corban--and ran into the bathroom shutting the door. Here we were trapped with millions of mosquitos in the tiny bathroom:) Finally Corban called out that the men had killed the bat. I came out to find it lying on the floor all balled up. I didn't even take pictures of it b/c it was unrecognizable although now i wish i would have just for the memory:) I was hoping the men would take it with them but they left it right where it landed. What did this mean for Scaredy Cat? I had to sweep it up!!!!!!!!!! Ughhhhhh--and put the little furball into the garbage can and take it outside.

Why did I have to do the dirty duty you ask? Brian wasn't home--he got to miss out on this lovely adventure!:D

Latest Pics...

Indian Marriage Part 2

My housekeeper's daughter got engaged thursday. After learning the details of the arrangement I thought I'd post about dowries, an ancient practice in many countries. Vanajakshi will be paying a dowry to her daughter's husband and his family. This practice is supposedly illegal in India (since 1961) but still very common. The dowry owed by Vanajakshi is very expensive and probably close to a year's worth of salary for her. (She has a husband that also works but it's still a large sum like most dowries are--to learn more about this practice in a short article click here) Brian said most families have to take out a loan to pay for the dowry/wedding. His co-worker and sister both took out loans to cover the expenses of the sister’s wedding. He said that this money is also used to pay for the wedding expenses not just to “pay off” the husband’s family.

I decided to read up on dowries. Well you know with 3 kids I don’t have much time to read so b/w Wikipedia and another article I found online I learned more than I wanted to know. Dowries are illegal in India only if it is forced by the husband’s family. (In my opinion, this is such an ancient practice that both sides consent simply because it’s expected and it’s tradition. I’m sure the sums demanded can get out of hand and abusive, hence the law). Then I learned that there is something called “dowry death” or “bride burning” where the husband and/or in-laws burn their brides to death b/c of insufficient dowry payment!!! Crazy—and it still happens today. And I have a German friend here who is married to an Indian. Their daughter (age 5) is very light skinned. She told me that light skinned Indian women have it made b/c they don’t usually have to worry about paying a dowry. Light skinned woman are seen as more beautiful and are sought out as marriage partners.
It's all very interesting to me.

Baby Naming and Attack of the Pearland Ants

Yesterday we attended our first "baby naming" event. Hindus wait to give their baby an official name until they are older--this baby was 9 months. So they are called "Baby" until they receive their real name at a ceremony. We went to Brian's co-workers house (mom of the baby) to eat lunch and visit. They received guests from morning til night and were dressed up for the big event. We ate a "meal" (rice with different gravies) on a big banana leaf with no silverware--which is normal--i just haven't gotten used to slurping up rice with my fingers. I used the hard tostado-like bread as a shovel:) This family, like many others, have built-in altars set up to their household gods. They had offered their "gods" fruit and flowers for this occasion. It really makes the Old Testament come alive.
Attack of the Pearland Ants...I usually try to check the U.S. National headlines each day. I don't usually read them but when I saw that Houston is being invaded by ants that destroy computers I had to read it. The two people they interviewed lived in Pearland. Props go out to all my Pearland friends who are being attacked by these creatures!! That probably means that our house is too. I hope it was just media hype and not as bad as it really sounds...they said the population is in the billions! yikes!

Marriage in India

I couldn't remember if I had blogged about marriages in India so if I have forgive me...

This morning our housekeeper told me that her 18 yr old daughter will be meeting her future husband and his family tomorrow for the first time. First of all I didn't know that her daughter would be marrying soon (I asked her about a month ago and she said "Oh no, Ramya too young"), and two, I tried to imagine what it would be like to be meeting my future mate for the first time--knowing I HAD TO MARRY HIM no matter what! This is a concept I am still trying to wrap my little pea brain around--arranged marriage. If i had to guess I would say that about 95% of Indians have arranged marriages, regardless of religion. I have met only one couple who did not have an arranged marriage and the rest were "arranged" even if the couple knew each other and were friends. I know I posted previously that in the rural areas it is common to marry cousins and relatives.

What would it be like to one day not know your mate and the next day meet this person that you are going to marry whether you are attracted to them or not? I think statistics show that arranged marriages are much more successful than choose-your-mate ones. Brian and I really admire this type of marriage (although I haven't yet come to the point in my mind to agreeing to do if I had to:). The mindset is totally different--you know going into it that you will grow to love this person no matter how they look or their shortcomings and you trust your family to choose the right person for you. In the west we have so many expectations and standards going into marriage that we suddenly become disillusioned when the other person falls short of that perfect person we dated/courted. Ok, i won't go into all that, but I'm just amazed by this tradition and I'm so curious about it...i ask almost everyone I know about their arranged marriage story:)

Mother's Day

Today at church each mom received a red rose and they gave a dozen roses to special"winner" moms. For example, the "youngest mom", "oldest mom" and the "mom with the most children present". Guess who won? Me! (It was a 3 way tie with 2 other moms) Can you believe 3 children is a lot in India? We knew it b/c we always get asked "how do you handle 3 children?":) The government HIGHLY encourages couples to restrain their family size to one or two children at the most. It's a citizen duty to help control the population. So in India we are a large family:) What if they saw some of the family's from our church in Pearland...the McFarren's with 11 children, the Shy's with 8 and the half a dozen other family's with half a dozen children each!! They would be in shock:) or think America is over-populating the earth:)

Boys

A Tribute to Melissa

It was really sad to see Melissa go yesterday. She was part of our family for 2 weeks--bearing the good and the bad of the Fraziers with a smile. She played with the boys, read to them, listened to them sing the same songs over and over, patiently endured them coming into her room and giving her very little alone time, put up with our turtle-speed of traveling with 3 kids and much more. She will be a great mom some day. It was so good having another girl in the house too!! I think we talked and shopped more than I have done either of these two things in the past 8 months since we've been here. It was so refreshing and encouraging to have her here. She is a dear friend. Melissa, I hope you have landed now...it's been 24 hours since you departed. (It takes 22 to get there via Delhi-Newark-Houston so hopefully she is on good ol' Texas soil.) And I hope you have a great time in Arizona with your family. You are missed--Haddon keeps asking where you are:D

Kerala

Our trip to Kerala was FANTASTIC!! I don't even know where to begin conveying how much we did and how much fun we had. Melissa was such a trooper traveling with 3 small children too! We packed alot of things into a few days. Here are some of the highlights plus pictures...
*Touring Fort Cochin...the Portuguese museum (Portugal settled in Ft. Cochin in the 1300's), a palace, a dutch cemetery, seeing Chinese fishing nets, the beach, visiting "Jew Town" including a synagogue built in the 1500's (Supposedly King Solomon traded with this area of India and later Jews settled here), going to a cultural drama and dance show, and staying at the Mother Tree Inn.
*The car we rented has to be the only car in India that has the Statue of Liberty on the side of it!! Not what American tourists should be riding in if you're trying not to look like tourists:) but it was easy to spot in a crowd!
*Spending 2 days on a houseboat--absolutely amazing! A MUST to do in India. All of our meals were prepared on the boat for us. It was so peaceful in the backwaters of Kerala!
*Having to stop on the highway for a work elephant moving a huge log!! Only in India!! We were so excited to get to see this.
*Visiting Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary--by God's kindness we were able to get on the last (soldout) boat tour of the lake--we saw elephants swimming across the lake!!, deer, bison, water buffalo, birds and boars. It was beautiful.
*The boys got to get on an elephant and take their picture.
*Melissa and I got in some good shopping!
*We had a beautiful drive thru the mountains and tea plantations to get back to the airport.
*Lots of wonderful Indian food.
*And last, but definitely not least, I have to give my wonderful husband loads of props for spending every night with our three children while Melissa and i enjoyed peaceful sleep in another room:) He is a very sacrificial husband and dad!!
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Kerala Trip