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.