Sobha Rose

Great description of where we've been living for the last three weeks by one of Erik's coworkers. Only difference is we have been living on the 12th floor, he is on the 13th.
Click here

Welcome to a New America!!!

It is not about Obama vs. George, John or Hillary. It is about Obama fixing America and reuniting the world! Welcome to the next President of the United States of America!

We're moving 1st September!

Hey - we're finally going to be in our house!
So there won't be any activity from me for a few days, this weekend we're packing and getting ready for the move (gas, electricity, phone, internet, cable, etc.) and then Monday after the kids go to school, Erik and I will kick it into high gear and move us into our new home!

We've been living out of our suitcases since June 27th!!! 3 pairs of pants, over and over and over?!? We're looking forward to receiving our crates from home with our personal belongings. They're supposed to arrive on Monday.

I'll spend most of next week unpacking and getting organized.
I'll let you know how it's going as soon as I can catch my breath and get an internet connection!

My new nose ring

What do you think?
It's a little bigger than I thought (I didn't hold it up to my face when I bought it) but I like it. Erik hasn't even complained...

Ganesh Chaturthi

(Photo stolen from Bangalore Daily Photo)

It is a very colorful time right now. Sunday was Krishna's birthday and soon it will be Ganesh Chaturthi - a festival to celebrate Lord Ganesha's birthday. Large clay statues of Ganesha are for sale all around the city, painted in bright, festive colors, some as high as 12'.

People, neighborhoods and schools buy these statues for the festival, hold on to them for three days, then they are put into a lake. In Bangalore, they are put into Ulsoor Lake. The statues are just baked clay and pigment so they are degraded by the lake "easily."


(Photo stolen from Google Images)
For more info about Ganesh Chaturthi

More about Linda

Hi Helen
We called Linda again. This time Sunday morning here which was Sunday evening Egypt time.

The Drews seem to be getting settled in their new city/apartment/live style. Drew works Sunday to Thursday. Friday is the main day off for everybody. He works two days a week at one job site and three days at the other. The big boss at one of his sights is leaving soon. He has completed his two year assignment. They will have a temp boss until October when the permanent replacement arrives.

There are a couple of Bechtel people living in the same housing complex. One is from Canada.

School starts Tuesday for JP and Kaisa. Sunday there was an orientation for all students and parents to meet the faculty and tour the campus. There are 3 main buildings. JP and Kaisa's are in the newest one which is 5 stories. All of the K thru 6 grades are in that building. The second building is for middle school students and the last for high school. Linda says land is scarce, so everyone builds up, not out. They have hired a car and driver that will take the kids to and from school. Classes start at 8:15am and end at 3:05pm. They have to bring their own lunch (or at least Kaisa has to bring her own snack). I forgot to ask if they wear uniforms.

Linda says that her landlady has been very helpful. One of the burners on the stove wouldn't shut off once it was turned on. So she replaced the stove for safety reasons. Then Linda complained about the noisy refrigerator with a freezer that was so covered with frost that she had trouble opening and closing the door. The landlady took her to the store and Linda got to pick out a new one. It was manufactured in Germany and has a no defrost feature. She really likes it.

I mentioned to Linda that you had joined a Women's Club that does charity work for something to do while the kids are at school. She said they had a presentation at school from the head of the PTA and mentioned that they were looking for volunteers. She might do something with them.

Not much on our schedule this week. Just a lot of little errands and Kate has few meeting connected with City Hall. Saturday we are going to a baby shower in Sacramento. Ramona's brother live-in girl friend is having a baby. Their first. They have been going together for as long as I have known Kate.

All for now. It is time for us to go for our daily walk and stop by the grocery for some things I need for supper.

Love

Dad

Inner Circle Park

(Millipede - Not our photo)

We had fun taking the kids to the park today. We found a local park that is walking distance. The play equipment is old and VERY worn but well loved by the local children. The park also has a beautiful garden and a large cricket field where cows often graze or rest in the shade.

We brought our badmitten sets with us today to play in an open area. While trying to play badmitten we saw our first millipede. We took a break to watch it move over grass and old leaves. I used my raquet to gently push it over so the kids could see its hundreds of tiny orange hairlike legs. It was an amazing site. After we gazed at the legs it quickly curled up into a ball to protect itself, then we let it go on it's merry way.

After 10 minutes or so of badmitton Annika got bored, so she and I handed our raquets and shuttlecocks to some nearby 12 year olds who were watching our pathetic game. We headed over to the playground as they enjoyed playing with the badmitten set and probably played for an hour straight in the warm sunshine.

While at the playground we also observed a group of small children. A four year old girl, probably the oldest of the children, was caring for a baby I'd estimate at five or six months. There were no adults around. She was obviously accustomed to taking care of this baby because she carried it on her hip like a pro and when she sat on the swing she sat cross-legged so the baby could lay in her lap. The baby was used to her and she was used to the baby. After about 2 hours at the park, the troop of youngsters took off into the neighborhood. Heavy duty. The little girl was taking great care of this little baby I was just shocked at the responsibility the four year old has at such a young age.

During our time at the playground the local schools let out (the public schools are six days a week). Once the school kids invaded the park there was tons of activity. The badmitten sets got handed around constantly and even the extra shuttlecocks were used by clever children who used their schoolbooks as raquets.

Locals seem to have a lot of curiosity about these white people playing amongst them in the local park. Kids love to run up to A&A and ask in english "What's your name". A couple times now Erik and I have been called "Uncle" or "Auntie" when the local kids need our attention, like when a shuttlecock gets stuck in a tree. It's very endearing.

Govt regulations aren't so bad...

...they actually make living in the US really easy.

Here, people with disabilities have it rough. I have yet to see a wheelchair because a wheelchair would be worthless. There are no ramps, no set height for curbs (if there's even a sidewalk), getting in and out of buildings would be impossible because even with ground floor access the threshold is usually 2" - 3" high (enough to trip over if you don't know any better).

One US regulation that I really appreciate is keeping noise pollution in check. The horns on the cars here are horrible. But honking is actually a necessity because it's how the traffic flows. But because the horns themselves are not regulated, some of them are ear piercingly loud. I've been standing at the bus stop and a truck comes by with some crazy decibel horn and then I can't hear out of my left ear for the next hour. Not to mention the HORRIBLE black exhaust that spews out of most vehicles.

It also makes people/the government responsible for upkeep. Here there are pot holes, open trenches, sidewalks with big gaping holes, and misc. chunks of debris that make walking treturous if you don't watch every step. In the US a big gaping hole in the sidewalk would lead to a huge lawsuit if someone was injured. In addition people are CONSTANTLY mopping marble/tile floors (homes, hotels, malls, grocery stores, etc)... dude, marble is slippery when wet!

I'm not saying Indian residents should start suing people, I'm just saying I'm really starting to appreciate the regulations & accountability in the US. That's all.

If I could meet Joe...

...I'd kiss his feet and beg him to do trading with Bangalore.
As Joni said, "You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone..."

Although, I did buy some raw almonds today... that was a find! :-)

But you know what, the frustration and lack of "easiness" is part of the experience. I have been complaining lately but I wouldn't change it for the world. My frustration comes because I have to feed my family. But I rather enjoy the challenge. It's kind of like a daily scavenger hunt...

Priceless... (or worthless??)

We spent this weekend looking for furniture so we needed a tape measure.
Here's the one we bought.
The photos speak for themselves...

Photos from Erik's birthday

It took me four hours of driving around Bangalore to find a place that would make a birthday cake. Gopi finally took me downtown to a place called Sweet Chariot where he knew they made cakes. I looked through their photo album of cakes and found one I felt Erik would like. Next to the photographs are stickers that say "2k" or "3k" but I didn't know what that meant and I chose this cake. It happened to have a "3k" next to it.



I paid for the majority of the cake at the time of purchase so Gopi could pick it up on his way to get us on Erik's birthday. I say I paid for a majority of the cake, because the man behind the counter said it might be a few rupees more or less once the cake is finished. I thought that was odd, but I'm learning...

So Gopi shows up with this ENORMOUS cake. It turns out you order cakes by the WEIGHT and I ordered a 3 kilogram cake!! Gopi had to pay an additional Rps. 230/ that I reimbursed him for.

But it was a good cake and we were able to share it with LOTS of people. And that's what birthdays are all about, right??






A sketch on Erik's birthday card from work.
"I'm sorry Ganesha but you're doing shit!"
"But I'm TRYING!"
(As Ganesha destroys keyboards w/ his elephant hooves)

Traffic fines

I wish I could have photographed the whole list, but here's part of it. I particularly like #30
Rps. 100/ = $2.44
Rps. 300/ = $7.32

I asked my driver what would happen if he hit a cow, you HAVE TO call the police and it's a Rps. 1,500 fee = $36.60 That's HUGE!
I asked him what happens if you hit a dog, basically you just keep going.

Welcome to the land of Cardamom

Very happy :-)

People of America...

REJOICE in your clean/well-stocked grocery stores and safe tap water!!!

Been kind of tired lately...

I'm kind of out of sorts. I don't know if I've caught a bug, or eaten a bug, or just this experience is starting to catch up with me.

This weekend was Erik's birthday. I didn't do anything for it besides order the cake. I'm sure it was disappointing. I will hopefully post the photos tonight.

Saturday we interviewed our first potential housekeeper. Her name is Jennifer, she's 18, super sweet, speaks some English, doesn't cook, and she'll do babysitting on the side. If she works out, she might spend the night one night a week (Friday or Saturday) so Erik and I can have date night. The advice I've heard from other Expats is that you need to try staff out - an interview won't tell you much. So you start the arrangement on a temporary basis and make it permanent after you feel good about the decision.

We spent Saturday and Sunday furniture shopping. We'll need something to sleep on when we move into our villa 1st Sept. We ordered some kick-ass furniture made in India and we'll receive it in 6 weeks. We still need beds for the kids. All the bedrooms have built-in closets so we won't need dressers or anything like that.

Annika had tummy trouble all night Sunday night. She went to bed fine but then started throwing up around 11:00p. I stripped her bed and moved her to the livingroom couch with a bucket next to her. I tried to sleep next to her to comfort her during the sharp pain attacks in her belly but there wasn't much sleeping for either of us. By morning she was fine (that has been our experience - once the offending organism has been expelled you feel fine again rather quickly) but since she was exhausted, we kept her home from school. We kept Auggie home too since we weren't comfortable with him taking the school bus by himself the 2nd week of school.

Yesterday we were out of power ALL DAY. Am I exaggerating? No, from 9:00am until 4:00pm. I didn't make any phone calls about it 'cause I thought it was just an India thing. But when Erik called about 3:00p and I told him about the power, he said a coworker, who has an apartment one floor up, has power. So Erik made some calls and it turned out that someone with an apartment number "close to 1122" didn't pay their bill so their power was shut off. Only, they got it wrong, and turned ours off. Ahhhh, fun fun fun.

I finally bought eggs yesterday. To some this might seem like a mundane comment, but I've been trying to buy eggs for a week. I don't feel comfortable buying the ones that are out on a store shelf in the heat, or with past expiration dates, and then I found some fresh refrigerated eggs and I opened the carton to check their condition and they were covered in chicken sh!t. Dude... it's exasperating. So finally, yesterday, success... But it's not like the store will have them again tomorrow.

Today I'm heading downtown with a British Expat named Sue. Yippee!! She's going to show me Commercial Street and MG Road (Mahatma Gandhi Road - every city in India has one) two places too crowded to go with the kids on my own. I'm very excited. It's where the bargaining happens and lots of small shops and local crafts. Sue knows how to bargain so I'm going to learn. I'm sure Erik will have some pointers too. :-)

News about Linda

Hi Helen
We called Linda this evening (Monday morning for her) and had a nice long conversation. Great connection. She sounded like she was next door.

They have had as many trials and tribulations as you have had and then some. Friday they moved into their apartment where they will be living for the long run. It is on the 7th floor and the elevator works sometimes. They can walk to a hotel several blocks away where they signed up for a membership which gives them access to their pool and a beach.

XXXX blew it with regard to the school. Linda sent XXXX Jonathan's school records, pictures of both kids, and lots of other information but it never got passed on to the school. So when they went there on Friday, the school folks had never heard of them and didn't know they were coming. It turns out that the 3rd grade has plenty of room and Jonathan is in. Kaisa is on a wait list for kindergarden. They are going back to the school today and hope to get her into the class.

The closest grocery store is 30 minutes by car. The school is also 30 minutes by car. Drew is working 2 job sites both of which are about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours from the apartment. No bus service to the school and the Bechtel driver would not be able to drop Drew at work and get back in time to take the kids to school. So it looks like they will have to hire a second car and driver for Linda and the kids and Drew will keep the Bechtel car and driver.

Linda says the traffic is impossible. There is no way she would want to drive besides the fact she can't read any of the street signs, etc. She said one day her driver went down a narrow street with cars parked on both sides and had only inches to spare on each side. She said she would never have even considered going down the street but the driver thought it normal.

There is a good grocery about 30 minutes away. They have a very nice selection of fruits and vegetables. Other stuff is harder to find.

Their experiences in the hotel in Cairo and Alexandria were a nightmare. So they moved to a "Villa" on a temporary basis which Linda described as upscale camping. They are glad to be out of those situations. Linda likes her new landlady. She has been helpful.

They hope to have their email up and working soon. The apartment is wired, but a code is required to access the service provider and the landlady can't find the number. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow. Who knows.

All for now.

Love

Dad

Happy Birthday ERIK!!!

Our first birthday celebration in India.

Our driver just showed up, delivering the LARGEST birthday cake you've ever seen (photos to follow). Apparently, I don't know how to order cake in India. :-)

When Gopi showed up with the cake, a plumber (to fix the hot water in the shower - see earlier post) and the apartment cleaner were here, so we shared cake with everyone.

We're about to go out for the day to celebrate.
More to come...

The best and worst of food shopping...

This morning while Erik was sleeping in (Independence day, Erik has the day off), Annika was at school, and Auggie was watching cartoons, I went for a little walk to buy some items at local shops.

I went to a small fruit/vegetable stand to get some apples. Because I'm an American, I browsed the produce, found what I wanted, picked up a plastic bag, and started to pick up an apple... that's not how you do it here. I quickly learned that you tell the vendor what you'd like and how many and he picks the produce for you. He was very nice and was very selective in the six apples he picked for me.
Then I turned and eyed some bananas, I picked up a bunch that looked good, handed them to the gentleman, he eyed them, tore one off, tossed it to the side, then weighed the bunch (I guess one was not up to standard). I was trying to pay when he showed me a beautiful stack of mangoes. By this time I simply said "Six please" and he picked six beautiful mangoes and I was on my way. Very nice experience.

After picking up a few more things, I headed home to unload then headed back out to buy some packaged items at a "grocery store".

The grocery store near our house is gross. There is no other word to describe it. I've been to several grocery stores so it's not like this is how grocery stores are in India. This is the store where, in an earlier post, I mentioned finding cockroaches in my Apple Juice container.

Since it's walking distance and I needed a couple necessities I went there. The items are dirty or sticky or greasy. I tried to buy a simple cylander of table salt and of the whole bunch could not find one that was decent. I tried the apple juice again and checked them out for cockroaches and, by golly, there were roaches or roach poop on nearly every container I picked up.

OK, this entry is over...

What I'd give for some Tillamook Cheddar...

Happy Independence Day India!

Today is Indian Independence Day. Erik is home from work, Annika has a half day, and August's classes were canceled.

Wikipedia:
Celebrations Flag hoisting, distribution of sweets in schools, flying kites, singing patriotic songs, entertainment and cultural programmes, march past, speech, etc.

India's Independence Day (Hindi: स्वतंत्रता दिवस) is celebrated on August 15 to commemorate its independence from the British rule and its birth as a sovereign nation on that day in 1947. The day is a national holiday in India. It is celebrated all over the country through flag-hoisting ceremony . The main celebration takes place in New Delhi, where the Prime Minister hoists the National Flag at the Red Fort and delivers a nationally televised speech from its ramparts. In his speech, he highlights the achievements of his government during the past year, raises important issues and gives a call for further development. The Prime Minister also pays his tribute to leaders of the freedom struggle.

It is what it is

"It is what it is" should be India's slogan.

In this apartment the internet goes off for hours at a time, mostly during high usage times. So between this and the power outages, getting on the computer during the day is just an act of frustration.

Last night Erik was trying to work from home. An IT guy from work who lives in the building and the owner of the apartment were giving him fixes to try and reconnect but it wasn't working, wasn't working, wasn't working. Finally Erik calmed down and said "It is what it is" and I thought, yes it is...

First day of school

Annika is in 1st Standard (1st Grade) and they have official uniforms and P.E. uniforms


Auggie is in Prep I, they don't wear a uniform.


Every day the kids are fed breakfast, snack, lunch and tea with their classes. The cafeteria has vegetarian and non-veg options.


Two other families who work with Erik have kids going to Indus too.


Both kids had a hard drop-off, Auggie especially, but by the time I left them that day they were both having a good time and waved good-bye to me enthusiastically.

Annika's favorite part about school...

...no seatbelts on the school bus.

Love it...

In India there isn't one central water heater that is on all the time. Every bathroom has a "water geyser" and you turn it on 30-45 minutes before you need hot water (kitchen too).

We moved into our new apartment yesterday. We found out this morning (the hard way) that the COLD water is not connected to our shower. So we turned on the geyser 45 minutes before Erik needed it, he got in, and had about 10 minutes of hot, hot water then about a minute of luke warm water, and finished off cold. Hahahahaha... India. It just happened to me too, but I knew to hurry up during the hot part.

MTV in India

I'm at home working on Erik's expenses again (still) and I have a TV music channel on in the background. It's entertaining to see a group of Sikh men in their turbans getting all hip-hoppy to a great Punjabi beat.


And, of course, there are a lot of bollywood influenced music videos too... very entertaining.

Even in India the London bridge is falling down...

Just got back from taking the kids to their first day of school (photos to follow). They were excited this morning, and for the car ride to school, but once we found their classrooms both kids started crying. They were nervous and it's all very new to them from the country, to the uniform, to the food they were served for breakfast... it's a lot to take in. (Then why were my kids the only ones crying??)

But by the time I left the school they were both all smiles and waved to me excitedly as I left them with their new teachers and classmates.

The car ride on the way home was very quiet and lonely... for the last three weeks I've been looking forward to this day. And now that it's here, I miss them. No Annika chattering on about her latest imaginary story, no August telling me about the Tom & Jerry cartoon he saw, and no fighting... (I miss my little guys)

Today I move us from the Villa where we've been staying since our arrival to a 3 bedroom apartment a couple kilometers down the road. Someone else needs the Villa and our permanent house isn't available until 1 September.
Better get a move on!!

Neighbor's kids

The only children in our complex live a few houses down from ours. They are the children of the house's live-in maid. Annika and August love hanging out with them and play most afternoon. The children speak limited English but kids always manage to communicate. They love the cartoon "Ben 10" and A&A's Leapsters.

The night in the photo, the kids were at the house around dinner time, so I fed them too. I think they were SHOCKED to experience the BLANDEST food they'd ever eaten! Hahahaha! As they took bites they'd look at each other and giggle.

For the Marzipan Pig

We were driving around and I saw this advertisement for Yo! China restaurant and had to stop to take a picture.


Celebrate your child's birthday the Chinese way!

Mmmmm Nutella

Another oddity about India...
I go to the grocery store and can rarely get all the items I need. You have to go to 2 - 4 stores to cross every item off your list.
But it seems odd, most every store has Nutella.
It's never an item on my list, so I'm not looking for it, it's more of a mental note. "Oh, if I ever need Nutella, here it is... and here it is... and here it is... and here it is" I wish milk was as consistent.
But I have to admit, the last time I saw it, I bought it. It's one of those items I vowed to never have in my home, but sometimes a girl needs a little love in a jar.

I'm guessing because of the heat in India chocolate bars don't do very well so maybe Nutella is the next best thing?
Don't know, but Mmmm is it good. :-)

LINDA! YOU'RE DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!

HOW'S EGYPT?!?!?!?!

End of week #3

We arrived on a Friday and here it is, Friday again.

I've uploaded 51 posts since arriving in India! Except for a couple cases of tummy trouble I feel we've fared quite well. Kids seem to be adjusting. They get frustrated with the power outages mostly because they seem to occur during an important part of a cartoon, then come back on after the show is wrapped up.

Erik is kicking butt, I'm getting ready to really dig in once the kids are in school, and the kids are about to attend the most amazing school ever! I talked to parents of returning students and they said their kids love the school and are very happy there. So psyched.

General impression: Loving It!

I'm sitting here doing Erik's expense report (which ordinarily would be a fate worse than death) but I'm IN INDIA!! And as I sit here the warm breezes are flowing through the house billowing the curtains and making me happy.

Two new families from the Bay Area arrived late last night. It's nice to see familiar faces and to hear their stories of uneasiness and to know, only 3 weeks in, that I have passed that stage and I can get what I need. I'm really enjoying it here.

I know it sounds very elitist but...

...walking on marble all day really hurts your ankles.

Lovin' the power outages

It wouldn't be India without them, right?

This evening has been flicker town... off... on... off... on... off... but we are lucky. I think the longest power outage I've experienced has been 15 or 20 minutes. I've talked to people who live downtown and their power outages last for hours and their running water often stops too.

The freezer in this house is lined with blocks of artificial ice to keep it cold during sustained power outages. That's a great idea.

Directions for making packaged Masala Rice for Briyani

Clean & Cut 250g vegetable cook half boil in the pressure cooker then add Masala Rice for Briyani 200g packet along with 400 ml of water (or) the correct measurement of water needed. And keep pressure cooker till 3 whistle and serve hot.

Erik's home for dinner tonight... I was hoping to make something edible. We'll see how this turns out.

Found a place that sells fresh fish. Stinks to high heaven, but they clean and gut the fish for you. Fresh fish, briyani and zucchini tonight... I'll let you know how it turns out.

UPDATE: Erik just called. He'll be home at 9:30p :-( Oh well, at least I'm the only guinea pig for this briyani dish - 'cause I know the kids won't eat it. Good thing he called before I started the fish.

Banyon Tree / Attack of the Monkeys

Went to the 600 yr. old Banyon Tree on Saturday. This was Erik's third visit, our first. Erik knew to stop on the way and pick up some bananas to feed the monkeys that live in this amazing tree.

We arrived after a 1.5 hour car ride, the kids ask for the bananas, Gopi hands them each a bag of bananas and then tells me how the kids SHOULD NOT hold the bananas. Well, in a moment we understood why. Monkeys saw our bananas, scaled the chain link fence separating our car from the Banyon Tree Park, attacked the bag August was holding, and tried to fight him for it. We shouted "August DROP THE BAG!" He did, and the Monkeys ravaged the bananas right before our eyes.

We had another bag of bananas and two other friends who went with us also had bananas. As soon as we walked through the front gate the VERY AGGRESSIVE and quite frightening monkeys were after us. The kids liked throwing bananas to the monkeys not because they enjoyed it, but because it was the easiest defense mechanism.





As soon as the bananas were gone, the monkeys lost total interest in us and we were able to turn our attention to the amazing Banyon Tree. That lasted all of 5 minutes for me because the skinniest and lovingest stray dog started following us around. I fed it two bananas 'cause it was just so sad and pathetic, but sweet and very friendly. We ended up petting quite a few strays at the park. The strays here are a little different than the street strays in the city, these guys are used to tourists, petting and handouts.



As we walked around we came across 3 darling little puppies. Skittish but warmed up over time to the kids constant pets and quick movements.

As we fell in love with the puppies, here came skinny dog... puppies were happy to see mom and nursed off her eagerly. I have no idea how that dog is able to nurse when she is nothing but bones.




More photos from the Banyon Tree

Erik's overnight team building

The India team took a 5 hour bus ride to the Cauvery Fishing & Nature Camp. The camp took the crew through a series of team building exercises over the course of two days.

First exercise was to break up into two groups and make the longest line possible - only your imagination is the limit, so people were laying flat on the ground, head to toe, separated by pieces of clothing they took off and added to the straight line, jackets, shirts, and even some pants were used. (Sorry, no photos)

Next exercise was to secure a rope over a river and everyone had to use the rope to get them to the other side.







Check out Rule #2


In the morning everyone got up for an early morning hike followed by a trip down the rapids in boats made of woven reed.





The final activity was to get hoisted into a tall tree, then jump off the tree trying to touch one of two objects hanging in the tree nearby. Points were given for the different objects and what part of the body managed to touch it; hand, foot, head, etc.



He had a lot of fun but we were sure happy to have him home.

More photos/videos here including a lot of great Indian countryside scenery.

I guess we won't be eating street food

We have been warned since the idea of India first came up, that we should never eat the street food. Once the dream was becoming a reality we went in for some immunizations and the US Center for Disease Control said DO NOT EAT THE STREET FOOD. But in the back of my mind, I thought, well, after a year or so I bet we'll be able to have some street food (it all looks & smells so good and I'm SO CURIOUS!!! And how come the locals can eat it day after day?)



I met a guy at the grocery store today. He's originally from Los Gatos, CA and has been in Bangalore for 10 years. He says he's finally ready to go home. He said his one bit of advice for me is "be very careful what you eat, even if it's something someone gives to you". Those words are haunting me. I will take it to heart if after 10 years that's his biggest concern. Leads me to believe he's had some food borne illnesses while he's been here - no need to reinvent the wheel.

Another explosive device defused in Bangalore

Read the article

Annika translated

We were exploring our neighborhood this morning and walked down a dirt road a couple blocks from our house. Down the dirt road we found a school called Holy Cross. We entered the school grounds hoping to find a playground for the kids. We found one but it had a padlock on it.
After the disappointment of seeing a playground but not being able to use it, we walked across a large clay field where there were some young boys playing with soccer balls. August stopped to watch them, then one came over and gently kicked the ball to August. They passed the ball back and forth and as they played more and more boys came over to join in. Erik, Annika and I sat down to watch August play with the big boys.
After they played for awhile, a few of the boys trickled over to where we were sitting. The first question is usually "What country". I usually say "United States" but the answer they're looking for is "America" or "California".
Anyway, they asked what the kids names are, so I said August and Annika. They chuckled. One boy said "What is the sister's name?" And again I said Annika. They chuckled. Then they said something to each other and more chuckling ensued. So I was a little concerned about the translation of her name.

This afternoon the kids were playing in the front yard and that gave me an opportunity to speak with a very friendly neighbor. As we were chatting, I asked her what Annika means in both Hindi and Kanada (the language of Karnataka, the state where we live).



In Hindi, Annika is a medicinal herb used as a remedy to help many ailments, it is very positive.
In Kanada, it means hail.

I know, anticlimactic.

Ninja?

When the kids see Muslim women they sometimes ask, "Is that a good Ninja or a bad Ninja?"

Sometimes when I sleep really hard

...it feels bizarre to wake up in India.

The International Communicator

McDonalds in India

Took the kids to McDonalds today. Ordinarily I would avoid it like the plague, but I've actually been curious to see what McDonalds is like without beef. The kids ordered happy meals and with that came a choice of McVeg or McChicken. They both chose McVeg with cheese, the meal consisted of a small burger with a veggie patty, wilted chopped lettuce, a slice of processed orange cheese, and enough mayonnaise for a family of 4. The meal also came with a small drink and a toy (no fries). I had the McVeg combo meal with a slightly larger drink and fries. We all shared the fries and they tasted like home.

The veggie patty was OK. It was like a falafel with mild Indian spices. As soon as the kids bit into theirs and saw green onion pieces they said they didn't like it. I scooped off most of the mayonnaise hoping to make the sandwich more appealing but it didn't work.



Aloo Tikki = Potato Cutlett