We let Jennifer go :-(

It's one of the hardest things I've ever done.

When we first moved here and hired Jennifer on a referral by a woman who was leaving Bangalore, her cheerful personality was so wonderful to have around the house. She was always sparkling. I'd see households around with maids with sour looks on their faces and hardly spoke a word of English and I thought, "I would never want that. Why would you want a total stranger in your home, just some entity that you pass in the hallway but never get to know." Well, now I know why.

Making Jennifer a member of our family was my mistake. She's 19 and we loved her youthful vigor and accepted that she wasn't the best maid but we could help her by giving her a job in a fun, safe environment. But then the work started slipping and when you'd ask her to pick up the slack it would be like asking your own 19 yr old to do more chores.

So today I told her it isn't working out. I'll do the housework until we leave on our vacation and once we're gone Erik won't need much help.

She asked to borrow my phone to call her Auntie. She came back saying her Auntie needs me to pay her Rps. 10,000 for the short notice of letting Jennifer go. So I said, "Why would I pay when the work not getting done is the reason we're letting you go?" So she asked why do we think the work is bad, so I looked at her and said "Do you think you've been doing a good job??" And she dropped her head...

She blamed a lot of it on Angel. That Angel creates too many vessels to wash and that her Auntie had been telling her to ask me for more money due to the extra work Angel creates. I said I pay for 6 hours every day and that's more than enough time to straighten the house, put two load of wash in the washer, and wash a some vessels. Plus Angel is only here Mon, Weds, Friday... so what about Tues, Thurs?

I have to say, now that it's over, I feel a nice calming sense of relief. Not about the confrontation but about the drama being gone from the house... We really like Jennifer and we hope her all the best.

UPDATE:
Angel told me Jennifer was let go from her Palm Meadows job last week. I'm glad I didn't know that because it would have made it more difficult for me. She worked there longer than she worked for me.

UPDATE Tuesday:
This afternoon my doorbell rang. At the door was a woman I didn't recognize. She told me she has employed Jennifer's sister Sheela for the last three weeks and is having trouble getting her to work. She was at my home to kindly ask me to keep my maid from constantly going to her house to talk with Sheela. Ah hahhhhh... So I explained that I let Jennifer go yesterday and the problem was that nothing seemed to get done. Well, I guess as soon as I'd leave she'd head off to socialize with Sheela.
By the time our chat was over the lady pretty much decided she's going to let Sheela go too. Too bad because Sheela has been looking for work for a long time.

Again, we wish her the best. I hope she gets a great job with a great family. Best scenario would be to do it in another town - far, far away from Auntie.

Cobra in a bottle

Now here's something you don't see every day...
This evening my gardener came by to show me a baby cobra he'd caught in a bottle. He was about to release it outside of Ozone before he showed it to me.

Shogun - Day 1, Part 3

Part 3 was supposed to be photos from the bus stop. I brought the camera but was too overwhelmed by the rush of children that photos were not possibile.

I've also been reprimanded twice by security officers for not registering him. I said he is only here for 3 days.

I wear a size 9...

'nuff said.

Shogun - Day 1, Part 2

Angel went from being frightened of Shogun to being his personal chef. She asked if she could make a meal for Shogun. She's making a dish for us using minced mutton but he showed no interest in the mutton at all.

So she made a dish of: .5 kg rice, 2 eggs, carrots, spinach and cheese.



He ate every bite...

...then needed a nap.

Shogun - Day 1, Part 1

I previously warned Jennifer and Angel that Shogun would be at the house today but I was looking forward to their shock and awe when they opened the door and saw him in all his splendor.

We waited on the upper balcony to watch for them arriving. Shogun loved the balcony because he had an unobstructed view, didn't have to struggle to see over the railing.

Jennifer froze. I was laughing so hard. But then I "saved" her from Shogun and explained that he's a lot less scary than her Auntie's dog. Her Auntie's dog is some kind of lab mix that is strong, jumps and bites (love bites that hurt but don't break the skin). I said Shogun is soooo mello, doesn't jump, and it's hard to even get a lick out of him much less a bite.

Once she realized he truly doesn't jump or bite she warmed up quickly.


Angel was another story... she was frightened for a long time.

Even after watching Jennifer interact with him she was still afraid. But she takes care of stray dogs that were born in the lot next to her house, I explained that those dogs bite too, Shogun does not.

Such a pretty boy.

I really wish I had a photo of Gopi's expression... he was too terrified to come within 5 feet of Shogun. No persuading could get him to come any closer. I kept Shogun away, it's not fun to be terrified.

The circle of life

On the right is our potted Xmas tree. We kept it in our livingroom until the end of April because it supplied a nice green touch to the room. It started to look like it needed some sun so we put it outside. I guess five months of no direct sunlight took it's toll 'cause it went brown within days of going outside. There is a twinkle of life left in it, we'll see if we can revive it.

To the left is our papaya tree. We planted that as a small sapling in January. I'm shocked by it's size! It was Annika's height just last month and now it's taller than me! We might actually get to sample our own fruit before we leave India at this rate!

Monsoons are coming!

Bree and I were downtown again today. We were having lunch when the sky just opened up and dumped water continuosly until the streets became rivers.
We decided that it's the Oregon + Oregon combination that has caused us to be caught in these incredible downpours together.

Here a Rickshaw driver is pushing his rick

The orange mailbox was being washed downstream by all the water.

This BMW's high performance tires were probably it's downfall.

Traffic was INSANE getting back home. Luckily the rains hadn't hit Whitefield yet so traffic got increasingly better the closer we got to home. I actually made it to the kids' bus stop with a couple minutes to spare!

Do you know what this is?

I bought this copper necklace pendant today. The seller said it was from Tibet. I've seen this design before but I don't know what it means... do you?

UPDATE:
Mandi:
This is the Hand of Fatima. It's a symbol of protection/warding off the evil eye. Think it's connected with both Islam and Judaism.

SkyGirl:
I am not sure how to spell it but it is called a "humsa". I had one from Jaffa, Isreal with my zodiac sign on it. It is a protection symbol of travel and home. My disappeared in Belfast. My second protection came in the form of an evil eye from Istanbul. That disappeared in Seattle. Now I am on the black cat from Japan. Let's see how long this one last.

Prabha:
Mandi is right. It is typically from Israel. I have 2 of those at home :)
You should hang/stick it on your main door or in the living room.
Sorry...you say its a pendant...then it goes around your neck obviously!

Urli

Shogun

Next weekend we will be dogsitting the world's largest dog (unconfirmed, hahaha). A new co-worker of Erik's is going off to Agra (Taj Mahal) next weekend and we're the lucky ones who get to look after Shogun.

Even Michael, Shogun's Papa, says he's big for his breed. He's more the size of an Irish Wolf Hound.

Such a face!

The neighborhood kids had fun coming by to see him.



More updates next weekend!
Should be interesting since most native Indians are not dog people - mostly from lack of experience. So walking this gentle giant around Ozone will be an experience indeed. (I'm not looking forward to the pooper-scooping though.)

I've been unemployed for ONE YEAR!!

My last day of work was May 15th, 2008

I have to admit I haven't fully taken advantage of the time off. Since I've always worked I seem to feel like I don't deserve it. It's strange to not be contributing to the family financially and be content as a housewife/mother/adventurer in India.

Time to really appreciate what I have if I only have 1 year left!

Nandi Hills

For a fun get-away Bree and I went to Nandi Hills, 1.5 hours outside of Bangalore. I went before, after the rainy season.

Bree and I walked around and found two small temples, one for Ganesha and one for Hanuman. A priest held pujas for us in both temples, then he asked if we'd like a photo with him.

Then he asked us for copies of the photos. Hahaha

Tipu's Drop - the place from where Tippu Sultan made his prisoners fall








Bull Temple

Poor Nandi... covered in spoiled Ghee from past pujas.

The smell was too much on a hot day

Even Nandi wasn't happy about it

So Hot You're Cool!

Jennifer update

Jennifer has been back for a week. She's working 9:30a - 3:00p and going home at night.

We still don't know the whole story of her sickness. Her Auntie is keeping Jennifer on a VERY short leash. Very strange. Like coming by the house to pick her up to walk home together (this woman is NOT maternal). And Friday we asked Jennifer if she could stay the night and watch the children and she said yes but had to call Auntie. Auntie said it was OK - only if Jennifer's little brother Vinay also spent the night. They don't want to leave Jennifer alone since her doctor told them Jennifer's thoughts were one of the reasons for her sickness.

I was not able to take Jennifer to my doctor. Last Monday another Expat needed my car for a family emergency then there were other obstacles that prohibited visits other days. But Jennifer has been bright and smiley since she's been back so I haven't been worried about her. At the first sign of trouble we will be sure to race over to my doctor.

Science in Prep 1

Indus had a science fair. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of Annika's presentation on "Natural Sources of Light".

August and his best friend Rohan showing the difference between dry sand and wet sand.

They really enjoyed the wet sand.

Auggie's teacher.