I was delayed in getting my weekly email out last week due to electrical issues. They were cleared up, but we are now experiencing more issues. The A/C in the spare room, the girl's room, and our room is not working. Charles is best to explain, but there is a Phase issue. We are hoping that is will be fixed today still (it was phoned in around 4:00p, I am writing this at 5:45p). I am also having some computer problems, so this may take a couple of attempts. By the time I had this finished, the electrician showed up and replaced a fuse in the electrical box. We now have a/c again. Just in time for bed.
The exterminator came at the beginning of the week and sprayed for termites. He told us that he only found 4, but the damage was already done. One of the cupboard doors will need to be fixed or replaced.
Our week was relatively slow. We found a couple of new restaurants. The first one was outside. Possibly in the yard of the people that own the restaurant. We were seated in a hut with a table. There was a fan wired to the hut, so we had a nice breeze. The menu had a variety of food, and the desserts were great. They had some great french fries as well. It was liked by all, so we will return. It is also close to our house. Our other new find is also close to the house, but it has a fun story to go with it. We arrived, and we could choose where to sit. We chose to go upstairs. There is a roof similar to our hut on the top of the restaurant, just fancier. I noticed shortly after being sitted that there was a lizard on one of the columns. Charles assured this is atmosphere, and good material for the blog. About 10 minutes later, I noticed something flying around. BATS! Charles quickly shared that we would not be eaten by mosquitos since the lizards and the bats will eat them. That does not really make me feel better. Everyone got a kick out of it, but me! So I was able to dine with lizards and bats. This is INDIA!
I think we have gotten into a good routine. I have my usual 4 stores to get my groceries. There are some after school activities and birthday parties every other week. It is fun trying to get birthday presents. There are a couple of stores, but the selection is limited. Gift cards are not really an option either.
Friday night we had the extraordinary opportunity of being a part of a turtle release. In January through February, the Olive Ridley female turtle will come on shore and lay her eggs. It takes the eggs a few days to hatch, and then the little turtles make their way to the ocean. Unfortunately, there is are many predators to these little guys. Some of the eggs are dug up and used by local fishermen's kids for Cricket balls. The street dogs will dig up the eggs and eat them. After the little turtles make it to the sea, they may even get eaten by other sea animals. We went to the Tree Foundation and watched a short documentary of the turtles and then we proceeded to beach to see the hatched turtles. When the female turtles lay their eggs, the volunteers at the Tree Foundation will carefully dig them up. They are then transferred to a hatchery and carefully put into another hole that was dug. Once they hatch, they are then released into the sea. We were able to watch them be released by the volunteers. It was truly an amazing experience. They were so tiny, and they can grow to be enormous. You can also go along the beach and watch to see the female turtles lay the eggs during these months. We chose not to do that since it could be as late 11:30 or 12:00m before they come on shore. While we were at the Tree Foundation, we saw two turtles that had been rescued. One of them had only 1 fin left and the other only had 2 left. They had been caught in fishing nets, and the fishermen cut the fins instead of cutting their nets. It is very sad, but the Tree Foundation has begun educating the community. There are now ordinances in place so that the fishermen cannot fish in certain sections of the sea until after the nesting season. This is one of those experiences that would not have happened had we not been living in India. I am sure the kids will remember it for awhile.
My craft desk arrived on Saturday night. I am busy getting the room reorganized, so I can start scrapbooking and card making. It will not be too much longer now!
Click here for the latest pictures of the turtles. There is also a picture of the a frog that I noticed just hanging out on the wall on the outside of the house.
I have planned our China trip, and we have our tickets and lodging booked. Good news - there are many Starbucks and an Outback Steakhouse. It should be a great time!
Okay, I almost forgot! Probably the scariest moment so far - Charles driving! We went to Fisherman's Cove for lunch, and we gave our driver the day off. Well, it is a pretty straight shot from the house to the resort. Traffic is a little lighter also. I have to admit, he did a pretty good job. Afterall, we arrived there and back without a scratch! I cannot say that I would venture to other parts of India with him as the driver, but this is manageable!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Termites and Water Buffalo
Here we are...another week here in Chennai...
This week started off relatively uneventful. Sunday we spent out at the Fisherman's Cove Resort. Hanging out in the pool, having a nice lunch, and reading a book. N had mentioned to us that his foot was bothering him, so we took a look at it. You know the rest since Charles has already posted a blog entry on the experience. Look for more to come from Charles on the follow-up visit. N is doing well, and of course anxious to be back and playing sports.
I was able to work on a couple of papercraft items. I am not able to do much scrapbooking yet since we do not have any storage or work space in that room. I am hoping that we will have that fixed by the weekend. I printed off a picture of something that I wanted to have built. Charles took it to our classical dancer man/furniture builder man. We will hopefully have it on Friday night. I am really anxious to get started on my albums.
I did finish the Christmas cards for the Youth Group at Church. I ran out of time before I left the States, but I wanted each of them to get a card from me with a personal message. I did that as well as wrote some other letters. When my desk is delivered, I will be back to making cards again. Oh, how fun to have time for my hobbies.
I finished purchasing some items for my nephew who will be studying India in a few weeks back at home. I bought him a traditional Indian outfit as well as some items for him to share with his classmates. We also found a Cricket Bat. I am sure I will have a good story next week when I visit the post office or "Fed Ex" place.
A couple of weeks ago we stopped by a place that makes furniture out of cane and bamboo. We talked to them about making us a shelf for our bathroom downstairs. They told us that they would send someone out the next day and get measurements as well as a drawing. They were prompt, and we were giving a price. They told us that it would be delivered next week (Sunday) at 10a. Sunday came and went but no shelf. They did not stop by the next Sunday either. Our driver stopped in to talk to them, and they assured him that it would be delivered on Tuesday. It was again not delivered on the day it was promised. We just figured that we would forget about it, since we were not out any money. Guess what, on Wednesday at 6p, they showed up with the shelf. So now we have a shelf unit. It looks nice, but both our driver and our exterminator told us we paid too much. Oh well, it was not really expensive, and we know better now. Our exterminator is going to help us find a place to make our "hut" furniture. He assures us he will get us a good price.
One of the privileges of being at an international school is the opportunity to host students from other countries. This past weekend there was a big tennis tournament. We offered to host a couple of girls. We hosted two girls from Nepal, but one of them was actually from Washington D.C. The other girl was born and raised in Nepal. They were very sweet, but we did not get to spend much time with them. They had to be a the school early in the morning, and we did not pick them up until late.
I have not been disappointed in the bug department this week. I was getting a bowl out of the cupboard, and I noticed there was some sand like residue in the bottom. I thought that was a little strange, so I got down another bowl. It also had some of the same residue in it. Now my mind starts thinking, and I look around the cupboards. There is a little pile in the corner of the cupboard. I am sure that is not a good sign. I show it to Charles, and I ask if it is termites. He is not sure, but our bug exterminator was here. He checked it out, and he assured us there were termites. He is coming this week to spray. We are also going to have him check the staircase. There are some spots on the stairs that are questionable. Hopefully, it is a small problem. I do not do bugs well. He already had told me that he got rid of 4 lizards the night before.
The grass does not really grow here, but there are a lot of weeds. The groundskeeper gets a group of 2 - 4 ladies, and they "mow" the lawn. It is very interesting. I have actually seen this at the school as well.
The only other exciting thing I can think of is the water buffalo that ran in front of our car. Usually the cows and water buffalo are slow moving and stay out of the road. Well, a bus was on the other side of the road, and they decided to move fast to get out of the way. I thought it was a close call, much like a deer in Michigan.
Here is the link for the pictures of the hut that we had built. There are also couple of pictures of the lawn mowing.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Priceless
Registration at hospital...........$3
Doctors Visit.....................$10
Ace Bandages (2)...................$5
2 x-rays...........................$9
First experience with a doctor in India... Priceless
So before we get too far on this, let me just say 2 things. First, there was no major issue. N had injured his foot playing basketball and after a few days the swelling had not gone down, so we decided it best to have an x-ray and; secondly those prices are WITHOUT insurance. That's right folks, those aren't co-pays, they are the actual prices. No kidding I have insurance, but for $27, why bother?
The hospital/clinic was clean and modern. The doctor was good, Dr. Ananth. I could best describe him really as a bit chatty. He kept trying to chat up N, and N wasn't really up to the task....
UPDATE: N has a "Fractured mid Shaft 2nd Metatarsal" (hairline fracture in his foot), this according to the follow up EMAIL I received tonight from the DOCTOR. BTW the EMAIL had the doctors HOME and CELL PHONE numbers. sheesh
Here are a few pics's for the visually curious.
Doctors Visit.....................$10
Ace Bandages (2)...................$5
2 x-rays...........................$9
First experience with a doctor in India... Priceless
So before we get too far on this, let me just say 2 things. First, there was no major issue. N had injured his foot playing basketball and after a few days the swelling had not gone down, so we decided it best to have an x-ray and; secondly those prices are WITHOUT insurance. That's right folks, those aren't co-pays, they are the actual prices. No kidding I have insurance, but for $27, why bother?
The hospital/clinic was clean and modern. The doctor was good, Dr. Ananth. I could best describe him really as a bit chatty. He kept trying to chat up N, and N wasn't really up to the task....
UPDATE: N has a "Fractured mid Shaft 2nd Metatarsal" (hairline fracture in his foot), this according to the follow up EMAIL I received tonight from the DOCTOR. BTW the EMAIL had the doctors HOME and CELL PHONE numbers. sheesh
Here are a few pics's for the visually curious.
The Hut Part II
P.S. The "hut" on our terrace now has electric, lights, and wi-fi. I am posting this from a chair sitting in it right now. Somehow you knew it would have wi-fi, quickly, right? I've configured a router as a wireless "repeater-brige" back to the main house wi-fi... Now if I could just figure out the bluetooth... everything is better with bluetooth...
Photos coming soon.
Photos coming soon.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Okay...I don't think I signed up for this...
Well, I have more fun and exciting stories to share. I am sure they will not disappoint those who are looking for a laugh!
We seem to be getting along okay in the plumbing and electrical departments. We have a couple small drips, but we can handle that. It did seem like they were having scheduled power outages on Saturdays, but we have made it through today without any outages.
Two weeks ago we bought a membership to a resort that is about 10 minutes south of us. It is called Fisherman's Cove. They have a really nice pool, full salon, spa, and workout center. We went to the resort last Sunday. The kids had a blast and loved the fact that you could order food poolside. I think we are planning on going there often for Sunday Family Time.
We have had a full week of school activities. Our dancer started ballet class. She is older than all the girls, and she is more advanced. We are looking into another class for her. I inquired, and we found out that she can take classes at the Russian Cultural Center. We are going to check into it and decide what is best. She is making some really cool things in her paper quilling class.
Our All Star Athlete has a couple more weeks of basketball. He found out last night that he made the travel team. He will go to another city and play in a weekend tournament. We are not sure if all of us will be going or not. We are still trying to figure that out. He also decided to do a math night at school. They get paired up with a high school partner and do math games. At the end of the week, they had a Valentine Dance.
Our oldest daughter is finishing up tennis. We are not sure if she made the travel team or not. She has seemed to enjoy it, and I think we may try to get her some private lessons. She opted out of the math night. She was not sure if she was comfortable being partnered with a high school student that she did not know. She also does not necessarily like to work with partners. She went to the dance as well.
It is hard to believe that they went to their first dance. They are getting older.
We had a "hut" built on the terrace of the house. It is unusable space because it is too hot up there. I thought it would be cool to have a gazebo, but we did not want it to blow away. We asked about getting a hut made. Okay, it is pretty cool, but it is huge. I guess it is about 20 x 22. Now, I have a funny story to go with it. Wednesday morning Charles left for school with the youngest. I decided to get into the shower before our housekeeper arrived. When I got into the bathroom, I heard some noises. I dismissed it because the dog was not barking. I finished up and walked out of the bathroom. I could see through my curtains that there were a couple of men on the terrace. I quickly gathered my clothes and retreated to the bathroom. I then called Charles, and I asked him if he knew that they were coming to make the hut. He said he thought so, but he did not think they would be there that early. I got some pictures, and I will be posting those soon. We are looking for lights for the hut as well as some furniture.
Thursday was looking like a pretty normal day. I have not had much success at cooking. The stove is a little different, and the oven is also different. I hope I can get this figured out soon. Well, I had decided I wanted to make some potato soup. Most of the ingredients can be purchased here, so I knew that I should be okay. I started making the soup, and I needed my big stand up mixer. I pulled it out from the corner, and somewhat freaked out. Behind my mixer was the fur from the squirrel's tail. If you looked closely in the picture of the squirrel that was in my house, his tail was missing fur. I had just assumed it was because of the fan in the stove hood. Well, somehow I guess it was not. I jumped, let out a small noise, and I motioned to Shanthi. I told her that I would get Morigesh, but she insisted on taking care of it. I took a picture, and she disposed of the fur. That is when I called Charles and told him that I did not recalling signing up for "this".
Okay, you are probably thinking that I am making some of this up, but there is no way I could do that. My material is my real life experiences here in India. I keep thinking that there cannot be this much craziness to last me until I get home.
On the way to the store one day, I noticed a water delivery truck was in the middle of the road next to the median. The driver was unloading the truck. I told my driver that I thought it was a pretty strange place to unload your truck. He told me that I was not in the U.S. anymore, this is India. We both laughed. Unfortunately the truck had a flat tire.
I am trying to think of how to explain this next scene. Our main road to school from our house is like a 4 lane divided road. Similar to M-59, but the median is much smaller. There are parts of the median that have a cement barrier. Short enough to step onto it and over. There are no walkways, so the people just cross wherever. This is why the median has to be short. Every once in awhile there is a break in the median so you can make a "Michigan left" so to speak. At one of the breaks, there is a slight incline. On the incline, there is a cow that likes to stand there. I am not sure why the cow would just stand there and watch traffic, but it is pretty funny. I am hoping to get a picture one day. Just a funny thing here in India.
We have been receiving mail and some packages from home. It is great to get those things. I feel pretty blessed. Many people told us not to get our hopes up for packages because people back home do not usually send packages. They are always surprised when I mention that we got something from home. The letters are also great.
I hope this email finds everyone doing well. Charles found his glasses. I am in the middle of the Hong Kong/Beijing trip planning. We miss all of you.
Have a wonderful day!
We seem to be getting along okay in the plumbing and electrical departments. We have a couple small drips, but we can handle that. It did seem like they were having scheduled power outages on Saturdays, but we have made it through today without any outages.
Two weeks ago we bought a membership to a resort that is about 10 minutes south of us. It is called Fisherman's Cove. They have a really nice pool, full salon, spa, and workout center. We went to the resort last Sunday. The kids had a blast and loved the fact that you could order food poolside. I think we are planning on going there often for Sunday Family Time.
We have had a full week of school activities. Our dancer started ballet class. She is older than all the girls, and she is more advanced. We are looking into another class for her. I inquired, and we found out that she can take classes at the Russian Cultural Center. We are going to check into it and decide what is best. She is making some really cool things in her paper quilling class.
Our All Star Athlete has a couple more weeks of basketball. He found out last night that he made the travel team. He will go to another city and play in a weekend tournament. We are not sure if all of us will be going or not. We are still trying to figure that out. He also decided to do a math night at school. They get paired up with a high school partner and do math games. At the end of the week, they had a Valentine Dance.
Our oldest daughter is finishing up tennis. We are not sure if she made the travel team or not. She has seemed to enjoy it, and I think we may try to get her some private lessons. She opted out of the math night. She was not sure if she was comfortable being partnered with a high school student that she did not know. She also does not necessarily like to work with partners. She went to the dance as well.
It is hard to believe that they went to their first dance. They are getting older.
We had a "hut" built on the terrace of the house. It is unusable space because it is too hot up there. I thought it would be cool to have a gazebo, but we did not want it to blow away. We asked about getting a hut made. Okay, it is pretty cool, but it is huge. I guess it is about 20 x 22. Now, I have a funny story to go with it. Wednesday morning Charles left for school with the youngest. I decided to get into the shower before our housekeeper arrived. When I got into the bathroom, I heard some noises. I dismissed it because the dog was not barking. I finished up and walked out of the bathroom. I could see through my curtains that there were a couple of men on the terrace. I quickly gathered my clothes and retreated to the bathroom. I then called Charles, and I asked him if he knew that they were coming to make the hut. He said he thought so, but he did not think they would be there that early. I got some pictures, and I will be posting those soon. We are looking for lights for the hut as well as some furniture.
Thursday was looking like a pretty normal day. I have not had much success at cooking. The stove is a little different, and the oven is also different. I hope I can get this figured out soon. Well, I had decided I wanted to make some potato soup. Most of the ingredients can be purchased here, so I knew that I should be okay. I started making the soup, and I needed my big stand up mixer. I pulled it out from the corner, and somewhat freaked out. Behind my mixer was the fur from the squirrel's tail. If you looked closely in the picture of the squirrel that was in my house, his tail was missing fur. I had just assumed it was because of the fan in the stove hood. Well, somehow I guess it was not. I jumped, let out a small noise, and I motioned to Shanthi. I told her that I would get Morigesh, but she insisted on taking care of it. I took a picture, and she disposed of the fur. That is when I called Charles and told him that I did not recalling signing up for "this".
Okay, you are probably thinking that I am making some of this up, but there is no way I could do that. My material is my real life experiences here in India. I keep thinking that there cannot be this much craziness to last me until I get home.
On the way to the store one day, I noticed a water delivery truck was in the middle of the road next to the median. The driver was unloading the truck. I told my driver that I thought it was a pretty strange place to unload your truck. He told me that I was not in the U.S. anymore, this is India. We both laughed. Unfortunately the truck had a flat tire.
I am trying to think of how to explain this next scene. Our main road to school from our house is like a 4 lane divided road. Similar to M-59, but the median is much smaller. There are parts of the median that have a cement barrier. Short enough to step onto it and over. There are no walkways, so the people just cross wherever. This is why the median has to be short. Every once in awhile there is a break in the median so you can make a "Michigan left" so to speak. At one of the breaks, there is a slight incline. On the incline, there is a cow that likes to stand there. I am not sure why the cow would just stand there and watch traffic, but it is pretty funny. I am hoping to get a picture one day. Just a funny thing here in India.
We have been receiving mail and some packages from home. It is great to get those things. I feel pretty blessed. Many people told us not to get our hopes up for packages because people back home do not usually send packages. They are always surprised when I mention that we got something from home. The letters are also great.
I hope this email finds everyone doing well. Charles found his glasses. I am in the middle of the Hong Kong/Beijing trip planning. We miss all of you.
Have a wonderful day!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Lizards, bats, and cockroaches, oh MY!
Well, we have managed to stay electrical and plumbing issue free this week. Sorry to disappoint all of you who were waiting for the latest catastrophe!
Don't worry, I still have some funny moments. This week was full of kid's activities and some shopping endeavours. Elle is taking a paper quilling class. She loves to create things out of paper, so I decided that she may as well as learn a cool technique. She is doing well, and she got a cool container for all the materials and tools. Of course, I thought this was cool myself. Apparently, I should be able to find all sorts of containers here in Chennai and for really cheap. I will keep all of you posted on that. Mackenzie has tennis practice two days a week - morning and afternoon. Makes for a really long day for her. Noah has basketball practice 4 mornings a week, and he had a game Thursday after school. They lost, but we found out that they played against a high school team from the city. They did pretty well, for playing against kids 3 to 4 years older than them. We find out on Friday who makes the travel team. If he makes it, we will be traveling to another city in India. Should be exciting, but I think it is a 2 to 3 hour trip by plane. Travel to the Max!! Elle gets to start ballet this week. She is excited, but she misses all her friends at the dance studio.
Last week as India week at the American School. We celebrated all the wonderful cultural traditions of our host country. The kids really learned a lot, and Elle even learned some Bollywood dancing. She loved it. They all wore their Indian clothes on Friday. I even bought one for Noah. Just a shirt. He was not too excited, but he survived! Our host country has a lot to offer.
Okay, so did I entice with the subject line. Most of you know that I absolutely hate creepy crawly. Well, I had my share this week. Something that Michigan does not really offer, and that suits me just fine!
We really do not have a place to ride our bikes, so I have not unwrapped my bike. I noticed a lizard running into the opening of the wrapping. I am not sure that I will unwrap that myself. We also had a rather large frog on Charles' tool box. I was looking for something, and I pick up a piece of paper. There was the frog. Not expecting it, I jumped and let out a small scream. I have to say we are pretty fortunate that we do not have a lot of bugs and critters, but this is enough for me.
I wanted to have a piece of furniture made for my craft room. We received a quote from someone, and we were not so thrilled with the price. About $900, not quite what we were thinking of. I was asked if I wanted to go to store that refinished furniture. It was an all day trip, but it was worth it. There is a German couple that have a refinishing business. They have a ton of wood pieces, and they will refinish and repair to your specifications. One of the ladies took we into the place where they have a lot of pieces such as desks, armoirs, etc. I was told not to be concerned if I see bats. WHAT! I thought that was a bird flying around. Well, I was assured that the bats eat the insects, so the wood will not be infested with bugs. YUCK!
The next day I went with some friends to a shopping mall. The mall has locals as well as branded shops. Of course this meant haggling for a good price. Not really my comfort zone as most of you are well aware! After a couple of hours we found a little stand that sold cold drinks and some kind of Indian cuisine. At first I was a little nervous that we were going to get a bite to eat here. I thought I would have to pass, but as it turned out we were just getting a cold drink. I noticed on the cupboard behind the gentleman helping us that there was a small bug crawling around. I asked my friend what type of bug that was, and I was kindly informed it was a cockroach. Now, there was a man standing at the counter eating his food and a man inside the stand cutting onions. YUCK!
Oh, I forgot to mention that the day before, we stopped at a restaurant along the rode for lunch. I cannot believe that I actually ate there. There was a kitten walking around, and later the kitten was sleeping on a shelf next to the cash register.
Okay, so I have not made cookies in awhile - 3 months almost. We all were wanting, but the baking is different here. Yesterday, I decided to give it a whirl. I made chocolate chip cookies in my convection oven. I have to say they did not turn out bad, but I can only make 6 at a time. This put a real damper on dinner. The kids were so excited to have the cookies. I could not believe it.
I am going to work on planning our Hong Kong trip. Charles has lost his glasses. We are getting a hut/gazebo made for the roof top. We will then have to have some outdoor furniture made. I think just as we get it how we want, it will be time to go back home. Well, it is time for me to sign off. I hope all is well with everyone back home. We are enjoying the weather.
Take care. We miss and love you guys!
Don't worry, I still have some funny moments. This week was full of kid's activities and some shopping endeavours. Elle is taking a paper quilling class. She loves to create things out of paper, so I decided that she may as well as learn a cool technique. She is doing well, and she got a cool container for all the materials and tools. Of course, I thought this was cool myself. Apparently, I should be able to find all sorts of containers here in Chennai and for really cheap. I will keep all of you posted on that. Mackenzie has tennis practice two days a week - morning and afternoon. Makes for a really long day for her. Noah has basketball practice 4 mornings a week, and he had a game Thursday after school. They lost, but we found out that they played against a high school team from the city. They did pretty well, for playing against kids 3 to 4 years older than them. We find out on Friday who makes the travel team. If he makes it, we will be traveling to another city in India. Should be exciting, but I think it is a 2 to 3 hour trip by plane. Travel to the Max!! Elle gets to start ballet this week. She is excited, but she misses all her friends at the dance studio.
Last week as India week at the American School. We celebrated all the wonderful cultural traditions of our host country. The kids really learned a lot, and Elle even learned some Bollywood dancing. She loved it. They all wore their Indian clothes on Friday. I even bought one for Noah. Just a shirt. He was not too excited, but he survived! Our host country has a lot to offer.
Okay, so did I entice with the subject line. Most of you know that I absolutely hate creepy crawly. Well, I had my share this week. Something that Michigan does not really offer, and that suits me just fine!
We really do not have a place to ride our bikes, so I have not unwrapped my bike. I noticed a lizard running into the opening of the wrapping. I am not sure that I will unwrap that myself. We also had a rather large frog on Charles' tool box. I was looking for something, and I pick up a piece of paper. There was the frog. Not expecting it, I jumped and let out a small scream. I have to say we are pretty fortunate that we do not have a lot of bugs and critters, but this is enough for me.
I wanted to have a piece of furniture made for my craft room. We received a quote from someone, and we were not so thrilled with the price. About $900, not quite what we were thinking of. I was asked if I wanted to go to store that refinished furniture. It was an all day trip, but it was worth it. There is a German couple that have a refinishing business. They have a ton of wood pieces, and they will refinish and repair to your specifications. One of the ladies took we into the place where they have a lot of pieces such as desks, armoirs, etc. I was told not to be concerned if I see bats. WHAT! I thought that was a bird flying around. Well, I was assured that the bats eat the insects, so the wood will not be infested with bugs. YUCK!
The next day I went with some friends to a shopping mall. The mall has locals as well as branded shops. Of course this meant haggling for a good price. Not really my comfort zone as most of you are well aware! After a couple of hours we found a little stand that sold cold drinks and some kind of Indian cuisine. At first I was a little nervous that we were going to get a bite to eat here. I thought I would have to pass, but as it turned out we were just getting a cold drink. I noticed on the cupboard behind the gentleman helping us that there was a small bug crawling around. I asked my friend what type of bug that was, and I was kindly informed it was a cockroach. Now, there was a man standing at the counter eating his food and a man inside the stand cutting onions. YUCK!
Oh, I forgot to mention that the day before, we stopped at a restaurant along the rode for lunch. I cannot believe that I actually ate there. There was a kitten walking around, and later the kitten was sleeping on a shelf next to the cash register.
Okay, so I have not made cookies in awhile - 3 months almost. We all were wanting, but the baking is different here. Yesterday, I decided to give it a whirl. I made chocolate chip cookies in my convection oven. I have to say they did not turn out bad, but I can only make 6 at a time. This put a real damper on dinner. The kids were so excited to have the cookies. I could not believe it.
I am going to work on planning our Hong Kong trip. Charles has lost his glasses. We are getting a hut/gazebo made for the roof top. We will then have to have some outdoor furniture made. I think just as we get it how we want, it will be time to go back home. Well, it is time for me to sign off. I hope all is well with everyone back home. We are enjoying the weather.
Take care. We miss and love you guys!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
No Euphemisms in India
So now that Melanie is doing the hard work of maintaining the major "update" items on the the blog, I can get back to doing what I do best... what is it that I do best, exactly? The easy work of course... so here's an interesting observation about India.
I saw the side of a bus this morning that read something like - "Institute for the Advancement of Persons with Multiple Disabilities". Makes it very clear what the bus is for, but I was thinking that in the US, it wouldn't say that. It would say something more like "La Barea", or "The Casa House", really just something that sounded nice, but was meaningless, and then you'd have to look into it to know what it really did, and who it benefitted, etc... It go me to thinking about other such signs Mel and I have seen. Some off the top of my head are... "Home for Aged, Destitute Women", and the "Center for the Study of Ultrafast Processes", They sound a bit to me like a Monty Python bit, but they are real. Sometime soon, we will go out sign hunting with the camera... I think you'll get quite a treat.
P.S. We are "officially" on our way to Hong Kong and Beijing for two weeks in March. I booked the tickets last night.
I saw the side of a bus this morning that read something like - "Institute for the Advancement of Persons with Multiple Disabilities". Makes it very clear what the bus is for, but I was thinking that in the US, it wouldn't say that. It would say something more like "La Barea", or "The Casa House", really just something that sounded nice, but was meaningless, and then you'd have to look into it to know what it really did, and who it benefitted, etc... It go me to thinking about other such signs Mel and I have seen. Some off the top of my head are... "Home for Aged, Destitute Women", and the "Center for the Study of Ultrafast Processes", They sound a bit to me like a Monty Python bit, but they are real. Sometime soon, we will go out sign hunting with the camera... I think you'll get quite a treat.
P.S. We are "officially" on our way to Hong Kong and Beijing for two weeks in March. I booked the tickets last night.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Just another day...so to speak
Okay, Charles is too busy, so I am going to help keep the blog updated.
Well, since his last update, a lot has occurred around the house. We received our shipment, and I have officially opened each box. We had a little bit of damage but nothing too serious.
We have had some electrical and plumbing issues which seem to have been worked out for the time being. We are enjoying a nice hot shower with good pressure right now in the bathroom upstairs.
We visited Singapore over the holiday weekend. The kids had a 4 day weekend, so we decided to head to Singapore. It was beautiful. We ate at the Outback Steakhouse, Chilis, and Black Angus to name a few. It was just like at home. We also had a lot of Starbucks Coffee. We went to two movies and did a ton of shopping. We went to a grocery store and bought some groceries. There are some things that we cannot get here like all purpose flour and chocolate chips. We went to the Singapore Zoo. The girls rode on an elephant.
The kids are settling into their sports and after school activities. Kenzie and Noah have practices in the morning which is a challenge. We have hired another driver just for the morning. They have to be at school by 6:15a. Charles will usually drive with them to school and then come back home to get ready for work. I get Elle up and ready in the meantime. They all seem to like school and have made some friends.
We celebrated Mackenzie's birthday at Dominos pizza. She wanted pizza and chocolate molten lava cakes. Since I did not have an oven, it was nice to have an option for cake.
I am getting settled into a routine sort of. Shopping for groceries is a little crazy right now. I am hoping that improves as time goes by. I have found some friends that have some similar interests, and they are helping me get more settled with places to find things.
I will post some pictures. We found a couple of friends in the exhaust vent above the stove. I had heard something, and it was just not settling right with me. I told my driver, and he mentioned it to the a/c repairman that was here. The a/c repairman and groundskeeper started taking the exhaust fan apart and noticed that there were some leaves inside of it. Well, I knew that meant that something was bringing it into the fan, but they thought it should just be cleaned. They offered to clean it, and upon further inspection - a squirrel fell out. It ran under my stove top. Okay, I am in the chair hoping that it will go outside or they will catch it, and they are poking it with a stick. It ran across my counter, and they were able to get it with a towel. They let me take a picture before they released it back into the wild.
Here is the link for the pictures: Most of them are of Singapore. The camel was along the road that we take from our house (main road). The picture of the squirrel was the critter sharing our house with us!
http://picasaweb.google.com/qsi1cem/SingaporeAndMore?feat=directlink(This is my first time putting a link into the blog. I am not sure if I did it perfectly, just bear with me!)
Well, since his last update, a lot has occurred around the house. We received our shipment, and I have officially opened each box. We had a little bit of damage but nothing too serious.
We have had some electrical and plumbing issues which seem to have been worked out for the time being. We are enjoying a nice hot shower with good pressure right now in the bathroom upstairs.
We visited Singapore over the holiday weekend. The kids had a 4 day weekend, so we decided to head to Singapore. It was beautiful. We ate at the Outback Steakhouse, Chilis, and Black Angus to name a few. It was just like at home. We also had a lot of Starbucks Coffee. We went to two movies and did a ton of shopping. We went to a grocery store and bought some groceries. There are some things that we cannot get here like all purpose flour and chocolate chips. We went to the Singapore Zoo. The girls rode on an elephant.
The kids are settling into their sports and after school activities. Kenzie and Noah have practices in the morning which is a challenge. We have hired another driver just for the morning. They have to be at school by 6:15a. Charles will usually drive with them to school and then come back home to get ready for work. I get Elle up and ready in the meantime. They all seem to like school and have made some friends.
We celebrated Mackenzie's birthday at Dominos pizza. She wanted pizza and chocolate molten lava cakes. Since I did not have an oven, it was nice to have an option for cake.
I am getting settled into a routine sort of. Shopping for groceries is a little crazy right now. I am hoping that improves as time goes by. I have found some friends that have some similar interests, and they are helping me get more settled with places to find things.
I will post some pictures. We found a couple of friends in the exhaust vent above the stove. I had heard something, and it was just not settling right with me. I told my driver, and he mentioned it to the a/c repairman that was here. The a/c repairman and groundskeeper started taking the exhaust fan apart and noticed that there were some leaves inside of it. Well, I knew that meant that something was bringing it into the fan, but they thought it should just be cleaned. They offered to clean it, and upon further inspection - a squirrel fell out. It ran under my stove top. Okay, I am in the chair hoping that it will go outside or they will catch it, and they are poking it with a stick. It ran across my counter, and they were able to get it with a towel. They let me take a picture before they released it back into the wild.
Here is the link for the pictures: Most of them are of Singapore. The camel was along the road that we take from our house (main road). The picture of the squirrel was the critter sharing our house with us!
http://picasaweb.google.com/qsi1cem/SingaporeAndMore?feat=directlink(This is my first time putting a link into the blog. I am not sure if I did it perfectly, just bear with me!)
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