Brian's Work

I can't remember if I've posted this previously.
This video describes what Ujjivan does. This might give you a better picture of what Brian is doing and what the word microfinance means. Brian's department is responsible for processing loans and making sure these funds get smoothly into the hands of their clients.

Insignificant Thoughts

Here are some random bits that have no importance but thought I might share to further the glimpse of our life in India:)...Nugget Depletion
As I reported a month or so ago, McDonald's introduced chicken nuggets to India...apparently with much success. Although I don't care for them, the kids do and it brings along some great sentimentality of the U.S. But after a few short weeks here the supply has run out (represented by signs at each cash register in every McDonald's we've visited recently (3:). It says another batch is coming which I assume means they are being flown across the ocean. We are back to our Chicken McGrill (a spicy, orange chicken patty with green mint chutney sauce which we opt out of) happy meals. But despite any shortages I am thankful for McDonalds in India...a slice of home.Threading
After almost 2 years of living here I finally succumbed to the torturous act of having my eyebrows threaded. There is no eyebrow waxing here only the amazing art of threading. This requires the stylist to use a long loop of thread, catching your hairs in between and painfully twisting them out. Since mine were long over due I believe I got more pain than is normally required. Even though neither threading nor waxing is pain-free, I do think its better to pay $1 for threading than $15+tip for waxing in the U.S.! Here is a demo for those interested in seeing the process. Ignore the statement at the beginning that it is painless--not true:) And to get the full effect wait until she shows the close-up version:) (Couldn't embed it, sorry) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK6Y12IpCpMWeaned
As I observed an Indian women buying toilet paper, paper towels and Ragu sphaghetti sauce (which costs over $5 a jar here!!), I assumed that she must have previously lived in the U.S. at some point in her life. These 3 items are not usually on an Indian's shopping list unless they have lived abroad or are hosting foreign guests:) At that moment I had an amazing revelation... I have been weaned off of paper towels for 1.5 years now!!!! Really this is an amazing feat...just ask my mom...i can go thru a roll of paper towels at their house in about 2 days! How did I detox? It wasn't on purpose...it's just that the paper towels sold here are not that absorbent so I didn't see the point in them. Now I use a hand towel to dry my hands and dish towels to wipe up spills, etc. Which, i agree, is more eco-friendly but this doesn't mean that I won't bask in the luxery of paper towels when visiting the states:) And btw, I usually buy a 4-pack when staying at my mom and dad's house to make up for my serious over-usage:)

Domino Packets are Good for Something
With every order of Dominos pizza you get little packets (and more little packets) of Oregano Seasoning and Chili Powder. Since Italian seasoning is not available in stores I use the packets of Oregano to make sphaghetti sauce (can't do the $5 Ragu jars...just can't do it) and season salads. I know a few other foreigners (and probably many more) who do the same thing:) We all eat alot of Dominos:)
Washing's not Enough
Recently learned from a doctor that sewer water is used by many farmers to irrigate their crops. Ah, yummy. I already detox our produce in special cleansing suds then rinse with purified water, but she said anything that grows in the ground (i.e. carrots, spinach, cabbage) should sit in a covered pot of boiled water for 20 minutes. The sewer water, carrying parasites and bacteria, contaminates the produce. That could explain our on-and-off-again family stomach issues the last 2 years, including ecoli. So now I'm sold, and scald our carrots, spinach, etc. I'm a raw veggie girl myself but gotta do watcha gotta do. Not all doctors agree with her. Our pediatrician laughed when I told her. Makes sense to me.

Graduation Day!

I've always thought elementary/middle school graduations were silly. What are you really graduating from or to when you finish 1st grade or 5th grade? You're going to the next grade...big deal:) But after completing our first year of homeschool I am all about GRADUATION and celebration now! Why yes, there is cause to celebrate after completing kindergarten!! Not only for Corban but for me:) Btw, I found kindergarten much more informative the second go round:) I actually learned some things I don't ever remember learning:) Just think of all that I will learn in the next 15+ years of homeschooling!

Today was our last day of school so we made a construction paper graduation hat and a cookie cake to celebrate. And we went for a swim...one of Corban's favorite things to do. It was a great day.

Corban also learned to tie his shoe last week. We watched a few youtube demos, he sat down and tied his own shoe in about five minutes! It goes to show that if you wait until they are ready it goes ALOT faster. I had tried teaching him before but it didn't compute. Now he's tying every time. I'll have to remember this as I start Kai on hardcore potty training next week. When he's ready he'll do it...i'm just afraid from what I've seen so far he may not be ready for another year:) But atleast I can say I tried:)

Favorite Billboard

This is a picture of our favorite billboard in Bangalore. It is for a famous retail chain that sells gold jewelry. (Gold is the jewelry of choice for both women and men) Although this "look" is nothing unusual for India, he appears to Brian and me to have that Used Car Salesman nuance:D So, all this to say, most people in Bangalore probably don't think twice about this billboard but we think it should say...
ARE YOU BEING DUPED....BY ME? :D :D :D

Celebrating Corban and Brian's B-days

We had a great weekend celebrating Corban's b-day on Friday and Brian's on Monday. We spent Friday at an amusement park called Innovative Film City--a copy of Universal Studios. It included a Dinosaur park/museum complete with a life size T-Rex with a dead, bleeding man(nequin) in it's mouth! Is this place really for kids? Go-carts, skating rink, minature golf, Ripley's Believe it or Not museum, wax museum, arcade, 4-D movie, kids dress up area, etc. It was a great day and ended with yummy cake before bed:)
Saturday Brian and I got to go to Hard Rock Cafe to celebrate his birthday early...and alone. Burger, fajitas and nachos plus brownie sunday--nothing better in Bangalore. Monday we had more cake and ice cream from our dear friend Sini plus Brian's other fav--apple pie.
Corban is now 6 and Brian 31. Growing boys:)

Last Week In Review

Our house-helper returned after being gone for a week and a half. I wanted to do kartwheels when I saw her at the door--i wasn't sure when she was coming back. Her daughter had a baby in their hometown so she went for the delivery. Her absence reminded me yet again of the hard work American women daily endure--cleaning their their big houses:D--without the thought of paying someone else to do the heavy load (ok, there are plenty of thoughts but not enough to convince themselves to pay someone else hundreds of dollars a month to do it). So washing the dishes and folding clothes for a few days made me appreciate my house-helper and the luxery of living somewhere where we can afford one. BTW, her daughter is arriving back in Bangalore today, riding the public (overcrowded, i'm sure) train with a 10 day old baby! A little different from doctors orders in the U.S. to keep a baby out of public for 4 weeks!

I have a theory that when husbands are away on business freaky things happen...which I've reported here before...bats flying in the house, E.R. visits, being locked out of the house. So once again, last week as Brian traveled, the "strange" occured. First, it happened not to me but to Brian. He was flying to Kolkata where a cyclone just so happened to be touching down as they tried to land. (I don't think Indian airline companies are into meterology...they obviously didn't check the latest weather reports...or maybe they just didn't care:) So after a sickening bout of violent turbulance they diverted to a nearby city where he spent hours in the airport waiting to see if they would be flown to Kolkata (in the cyclone) or sent back to Bangalore. There was a riot by the passengers and one man arrested. The decision was made, after 15 hours of travel, to fly to Kolkata. They landed safely and amazingly he was able to work. The other freaky things that happened were Haddon falling out of bed onto the hard marble tile on his forehead. (Corban fell out of bed onto his head last time Brian was gone! They never fall out of bed when he's here!) Kai, woke up at 3:30 am, came out of his room and tried to jiggle open my door (over and over), which was locked. This is a first for a child who always sleeps thru the nite. And yes, i freaked out b/c when Brian is gone I'm expecting someone to try to open the door:) (i'm a wuss) so my first thoughts were not that it would be Kai. And last but not least a rickshaw played bumper cars with me and hit the side of my car while driving. He said I hit him but we were both going straight. Who knows, but glad I didn't have to pay off a raging rickshaw driver to let me get by which happens so many times to foreigners.

Last but not least...as you may know an Indian-American won the U.S. National Spelling Bee. She was the 7th Indian-American in the last 11 years to win and the 2nd back to back wanting to be a neurosurgeon! Wow! She turned 13 the week before the spelling bee and didn't celebrate b/c she was too busy preparing. But with $40,000 in prizes I'm sure she is having a great party now:) The documentary "Spellbound" is a insightful movie about the lives of students training for the Nat'l Spelling Bee and features an Indian-American winner.