Bannerghatta National Park

On Friday, as mentioned, Wade required "a day off," having submitted his vacation request via email and near the end of his rope on Wednesday. I similarly submitted my vacation request to my boss and we were set... start the day with a family visit to the Park (thinking like the zoo back home) and then Wade could have the afternoon to do as he saw fit, free at last.

This was the plan, but this is India. We set off early to avoid traffic, with our driver who showed up late, but not as late as the maid, who didn't show up at all. Bannerghatta Park is 22kms away, and, in hindsight, takes one turn to get there. Of course our driver didn't really know the way (this is more than suspected, we stop to ask for directions along any journey at least three times). So, we made it there just shy of two hours after departing and a little frazzled. But the park was open, as were the bathrooms, an unimposing structure where I paid two rupees to squat and luckily brought my own toilet paper (I've been around now and I think this is ok).
The zoo portion was a little less than the MN Zoo, with the animals mainly behind concrete and chain mail structures with dirty water, but at least it wasn't crowded.
Caden had fun with the peacocks.
And like any good zoo, it had a park where Caden had a fun time playing while the stray dogs watched.
And any good zoo needs a stray monkey, right?
We wrapped that up quickly and went on to the bus for the safari. The bus was a very Jurassic Park feeling thing (but old and with no shocks) that whisked us off to the safari, complete with the series of gates to ensure the bus got in and no animals got out. Caden inquired: "why are they locking us in here? Are we tiger food?" Of course, the first enclosure was where the deer were kept.
Finally (and a little shaken, literally), we made it to the tiger enclosure. I had told Caden (not very nice mommy I know) that anyone with their fingers out would get them bit off. So when we saw this tiger and I pointed at him, Caden grabbed my arms and held them back for the rest of the journey, scolding me "don't put your fingers out there mommy!" Super cute, but I managed to snap a couple photos under his watchful eye after my reckless pointing.
It was pretty cool, and I was glad the tigers here at least looked better fed than the cows...
Out the "window" of the bus...
So the safari was fun. The ride home, which involved piling dirty, tired and hungry into the car, very persistent begging, a brief car accident (our third in six weeks), getting turned around not once but twice despite our "expert" directions, and just an hour long car ride with a three year old who insisted he wanted the windows down to let in the "fresh air" (there's no such thing in Bangalore), was not fun.
But hey, it was a good outing, and helped Wade to thoroughly enjoy his afternoon off while Caden and I went up to the pool and also enjoyed ours. Not coincidentally, today, we decided to go...nowhere.

Rhythm of Life

Every place I've been, and through each phase of life, there is a certain rhythm to it. It's generally pretty easy to describe all of the places in general, and even in specific, and straight-forward to describe different phases - college student, married, mom, etc... This will be my attempt at the somewhat more difficult exercise of describing that indescribable part - the rhythm to being an American expat in India. (For those of you that "read" the blog only for the pictures - check out here!)
The roller coaster analogy is probably the most helpful at illuminating the general feel of it in most things. Some days are awesome - relaxing in Palm Meadows, exploring the Vijayanagar ruins of Hampi, celebrating Holi with a giddy three year old, champagne brunch. Some days just suck - sitting in traffic next to a cow, the utter dirtiness of India, days spent in the bathroom and the subsequent lingering fear of eating, the frequent cold showers and warm beverages. But the roller coaster is about more than just cool adventures and minor (and some major) annoyances. There's just not much middle here - no gentle sloping part to this ride where you go peacefully around the corner and reflect on the rest of the park. That's because it's entirely unfamiliar - there's so little that isn't extremely cool or really crappy; living here generates a near-constant unsettled feeling.
Trying to identify with things generally just makes it worse, so I'm re-reading my yoga book and trying to learn to just accept it as it is. For example, having a driver, cook and maid seems simple enough to explain. What's hard to explain are the days I hate it. You are never alone here - driven around with no control over when you leave or when you get there, never alone in the car to turn up the music and jam out to a song you can actually understand, or alone to fight with your husband about his crazy driving. Our cook now is actually really, really good, but there's days where I would kill for a bowl of grape-nuts for dinner (with brown sugar and tasty milk, mmmmm) and not wondering what it is I'm eating or if it will kill me. The maids sound nice, and generally are - but they are there constantly. In six days of two people working nearly full time, they get less done than our old cleaning service did in two hours. Now, since I realize this sounds like me bitching about our pampered existence, I am bitching about a full-time staff of four people in a palm-tree lined resort. I know. There's times it just makes my American blood boil - I CAN DO MY OWN DAMN LAUNDRY AND DRIVE MY OWN DAMN CAR!!! And (in my opinion), better than it's getting done here. It drives me nuts some days to the point where if one more person calls me ma'am....
Anyhow, the lack of a "middle" applies also to classes. And this is confronting as I've always been a solid part of that middle, and I like it there. It's hard to teach Caden humility and respect for others (and remember it yourself) in a place that really doesn't seem to expect it. I can only imagine the blog comments I'd get for going too far into this subject, but socio-economic reality pervades the "rhythm" here nearly everywhere you go. It's hard to describe, but not something I thought about much (or appreciated nearly enough) living in a wealthy country. I'm simultaneously annoyed with the begging and the lack of sanitation and basic infrastructure, and annoyed with myself for being annoyed.
Last observation in this theme, is the sense of time. There's really only two times here - now, or later. Not too many clocks (why would there be when the power goes out every day?). Either there is a sense of urgency, real or imagined, that it must be done NOW (this sense happens mostly at work with emails coming in at all hours of the night expecting immediate response - could someone tell them we're in a different time zone?). Or there is a complete lack of now... it will get done later (this also happens at work but I won't elaborate - it's sometimes clear that we are in start-up mode, and there are many priorities, apparently not all of them mine). Our days at home too are either a whirl-wind of activity or a complete lack of it (refer to above and the stigma tied to doing your own chores).
I'm not sure if that cleared anything up, or just won me a plethora of blog comments, but there is something to the rhythm here that is really hard to describe. When everything seems just different - even things you'd never expect would feel so uncomfortable. There's days where I really do visualize myself as Elizabeth Shoe in The Saint - running toward the US Embassy at full speed, screaming "I'm an American... Open the gate!"

Missed Caden pictures

Caden's new favorite obsession - the face painters they have at every party, brunch and event here in Bangalore... he'll sit patiently (yes really) while they paint his whole face, arms, etc... they are really quite talented.

From Wade's camera... a cute photo from Holi - such a mess and such fun!
Super cute - Caden smelling the flowers. A good reminder to us all...
And a smiley, happy picture to close out the night... Caden enjoying the pool.
Good night (day) everyone! We miss you and we love you!!
~Wade, Angela and Caden

Hampi - third edition

Picture of the ruins by Hampi, near the river...
In the entrance to the Virupaksha Temple...whoever thought bare feet were a good idea must have had some super solid soles... ouch! (Caden had the right thought/response to this challenge. Smart kid.)...
Outside the Lotus Mahal building... apparently in its day, a favorite of the queen one of the few "air-conditioned" buildings in Hampi, an effect accomplished by having men pour water through piping which wound its way through the building. Also smart.
The tour group...
The Vitthala Temple, grandest of all the religious monments in the sacred centre (dedicated to Vishnu the preserver); the columns emit different musical tones when tapped (allegedly - this was guarded for preservation!). But still cool. And I can't even really use an iPod!
That concludes the pictures of Hampi... hope you enjoyed!

More photos from Hampi

Starting Saturday's tour of Hampi in the auto-rickshaws. Apparently riding in an auto rickshaw is not cool if you are from India. I thought it was cool. And so did Caden. So there.
Thought this picture was so sweet - Caden and his five year old hero Jimmy.
As the day got long, Caden hitched a ride on Saravanan...
On the way home (this didn't entirely upload in order), yet another testament to widespread health and safety regulations. Dad, thought you'd appreciate this a motivator to "pass on the left" - except of course, it's India, so you're supposed to pass on the right....
The elephant stables... thought this was cool. Can you imagine the spectacle of the Royal Elephants housed in this cool and totally grand city?
Still more to come...

FINALLY - some photos from Hampi

Ok, before this becomes a series of "updates from two weeks ago" posts... here are some photos from Hampi (and a promise to update from the weekend by Monday night - I'm taking tomorrow off and we're having a family morning at the park before Wade has the "day off".)

So back to Hampi... starting with the town on the way (Tumkur I think) and the enormous statue of Hanuman.
The "hotel" room... mosquito net hanging. Our bed looks that comfortable too, but at least it's our own dirt. Yes, I did just say that out loud...
The infamous monkey that took my banana...
And the result of Caden's successful defense of his banana... getting to feed it to the temple elephant.
At the end of the bazaar, overlooking the ruins on the back side of the climb...
More to come...

Happy Ugadi!

Monday was a holiday for our state, Karnataka, called Ugadi. Apparently this is something like lunar New Year for Hindus in our state and two nearby. Bottom line, it was a day off and the reason for our excursion. Monday we had arranged for auto-rickshaws and a guide. This happened as we had been instructed (as foreigners) to register at the police station, which consisted of signing a book while a guy tried to sell you guide services. Interesting. But we were foreigners in need of a guide…

After checking out of the room and having breakfast at the rooftop dining, we boarded the auto-rickshaws and headed out for a morning of exploring the ruins and Hampi. It was a ton of fun, the kids loved the rickshaws (even the big kids) and it was cool to learn more about India and the civilization. It must have been an awesome place to behold in its heyday. Presently, it fits the bill for a really cool place that time seems to have forgotten, save for the locals, tourists and hippies (there were really some still there). When I tried to explain ruins in 3-year-old terms, Caden nodded knowingly, and said, “don’t worry mommy, I can fix those ruins” and comment on pretty much every one that it was ok it was broken now – he’d fix it up. By afternoon, it was getting REALLY hot, and most of us had had enough. We loaded back into the cars for the ride home. Tired and dirty, we had a little more luck with naps this time. Traffic was a little less for the Holiday (a bit fewer near-death experiences, maybe only 286) and we made it home – home sweet home where I never thought I’d be so happy to have a 2 ½ minute hot shower and settle into my rock-hard, but layered with a 2 inch pillow topper, bed. The power was on, and the fans were working. We’d been out to India, been cultured, and were back to sweet Bangalore. Caden had asked the entire ride home – “are we in Bangalore now?” Yes, it was good to be home.

A road trip to Hampi

On Sunday we took a road trip to Hampi with our favorite neighbors/Target expat family. It was our first trip outside Bangalore as a family (Wade and Caden have done some exploring to Mysore) so we were excited to take a vacation and experience a little more of India. Hampi was once the capital of one of the largest Hindu empires in Indian history, Vijayanagar – from the 12^th to 16^th centuries. It was a center of international commerce and industry, and now is home to a lot of cool ruins, temples and a much more hippy-India, “away-from-it-all” feeling.

We set out on Sunday morning, a happy clan on a road trip - us in our car, and five more adults and three kids in the other. It is only about 286 miles from Bangalore (comparable to the 262 from Burnsville to Lutsen, right?). But the traffic is worse than a 3pm rush to get to the cabin on the Friday before Memorial Day, the roads aren’t quite as good, and it’s not just cars hauling boats – but the usual overloaded trucks, motorcycles, cars, rickshaws and cows. Most of the trip was a near-death experience, and between bumps hurling the car into the air and honking it was hard to fall peacefully asleep, even out of self-defense. So it took a solid 6 ½ hours, and three stops (various bio-breaks) to get there. But tired and generally happy (to be alive) we got there. Peanut is ok and Lokesh did get us there, but we were missing our old Ricky with her amenities and safety features (a little size and airbags) quite a lot. Still, it was generally cool landscape along the way and again good to see outside the cityscape of Bangalore.

On arriving, we met up with our friends, and headed to lunch – a roof-top restaurant with great views of the nearby river, temple and town (and really cheap food prepared in a kitchen dirty enough to make most rodents cringe). Luckily, all of Hampi is apparently vegetarian, so with no meat on the menu food safety is a little less scary. Of course, of the six page vegetarian menu, they only had about two pages worth to offer! Anyhow, we ate and put the bags in the room, then headed out for a walk through town – a very much like expected bazaar of beggers/vendors selling their wares to tourists.

We started our exploration at the Virupaksha Temple, started in 1442 (the year Columbus sailed the ocean-blue!). It was a neat temple, complete with an elephant and an army of monkeys. We had picked up some bananas to feed the elephant (conveniently for sale just outside). As I was holding mine I felt a tug behind me take the banana, and looked around to see a monkey cheerily eating it. Crazy! A moment later I heard Caden scream bloody murder (as you know he can do), and looked around to see him clinging to his banana as if it were the royal jewels. He was completely traumatized by the experience and went through the next five minutes clinging to his banana for dear life and looking around frenetically at every monkey telling them in an authoritarian tone that it was his banana. After feeding the banana to the elephant, we enjoyed the walk through the rest of the temple and grounds. At the edge of the bazaar is a section of climbing / hills / ruins and we did a little exploring there. It was fun, the kids had a great time and the scenery was amazing!

We got a little cleaned up at the room – there wasn’t exactly a shower (and lucky for us we packed a towel), and no A/C so it’s hard to get to clean in the 100+ degree room. But we did the best we could and realized Wade had packed Caden precisely one change of clothes, which we’d went through on the drive up (semi-successful bio-break). Luckily, we went shopping in the bazaar, and while I couldn’t find a change of clothes for Caden (no Target), I did find one woman VERY willing to make Caden a new outfit while we waited, for 100 rupees (about $2.50). In addition to the outfit, Caden got a half hours’ entertainment enthralled with the process. We then went to dinner, more of the same scary vegetarian food on another rooftop restaurant (kid you not, a bucket of poop on the entrance to the stairway up – very welcoming and hygienic). Did I mention there is also no liquor in Hampi, not even beer?

Still, we ate and proceeded back to the room (notice I haven’t been using the term hotel). We stayed in a guest house where I was glad to have my very resourceful husband who had packed a roll of toilet paper (if not a change of clothes for Caden). This is because the room was a room, with a dingy bed, lots of bugs, a fan that didn’t work and a nasty bathroom with no toilet paper, a shower head in the center of the bathroom that sort of worked (no temperature selection – your option was water on or off), and a sink that had no drain – the water just ran into the floor same as the shower and drained into the corner. But it had a “western-style” potty and I was practicing being optimistic and happy (when in Hampi…). So we headed there in the pitch black (the stars were very cool, no light pollution) and went to turn on the lights and fan. Nope. No power for you tonight. It was about 105 degrees in the room, and dark. We were already pretty sweaty, and the bug-filled, dark room with little ventilation was a little tough. We all changed into jammies by lantern-light (did I mention my husband rocks at packing for these things?) and crawled into bed under the mosquito net. It was a rocky night, but sort of sweet that Caden really wanted to cuddle so I got to sleep with a little, sweaty space heater too…. The power came back on intermittently a couple hours later and we were tired enough to get some rest. I’ve now made a mental note to be a little leery going forward of rooms costing less than $10 a night…

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

On to this weekend, Saturday was St. Patrick’s Day, and our best neighbors hosted a parade/party. After a relaxing morning, we headed over to the green and white balloons, a shamrock cake and an auto-rickshaw with green streamers and a hat… doesn’t every St. Pat’s Day parade have one? They also had a face painter that was quite good and did everything from the typical butterflies to a really good leprechaun. The crowd of course consisted of the hosts (first generation Irish-Americans), an Irish couple (really from Ireland), us, quite a few Indians, several Americans, a Swiss couple, etc… I am really starting to admire this place. How cool to see the diversity and the international ability to rally around cold beer and cake!

Updates from two weekends ago…

So it was probably rude to leave town after posting a note that I wasn’t feeling good…sorry Mom! I’m feeling much better now, but also realize also that I skipped two weekends ago, and we had a great weekend. Friday night was a Indian food fest (can’t remember exactly what it was called). But it was good food and a fun family night out – Caden ate mainly dosa, which is a pancake best as I can tell. He wanted syrup and we offered him ice cream, but other than that it was uneventful.

Saturday was another good day of shopping and family time, with a Saturday night “lane party” with all the neighbors – SUPER fun and a great experience/reminder of how neat it is to be here. Our neighbors that hosted the party were German (which Wade of course loves) and the food was thus German too – MUCH closer to home and quite good! Our neighbors are great, and from all over – Germany, India, Korea, US, etc. It was a lot of fun and good to meet some new people/friends. Caden also had a great time with all the kids. It’s neat how welcoming people are here; I guess being largely expats, you learn to make friends quickly.

Sunday was the brunch at the Taj, which was quite good. As our neighbor put it, “a high rent” way to spend a Sunday (even by US $ standards), but we had fun and certainly ate/drank our money’s worth! Sunday night we got invited to a restaurant’s “birthday” party nearby in Whitefield, so after a quick nap, we freshened up, dropped Caden with his babysitter at the neighbors and headed out. The night was a lot of fun with a very international crowd. The food was good, music was fun, and they even had a comedian that was really funny.

I guess this is what they mean by work hard, play hard…

Some thoughts on Food

I realize I’m starting to get delinquent in this again – sorry! Time seems to be accelerating… and I’m a little intimidated by the number of people claiming to be reading this. Well, one of my goals for the year was to practice sharing more personal information… brace yourselves!

After nearly a month of perfect health, I’ve spent the last day with a constant nauseous feeling that Tums won’t help (and yes Dad, the crabby disposition that comes when I don’t feel well). I won’t complain about the cafeteria food that I’ve been eating every day (bar two), but I will enclose a picture.

• I hope that says enough. (Sorry work colleagues, especially the vegetarians; I do really miss the Capital Grille…mmmm. And Katie and all the great staff. Thanks again guys for buying my last lunch in MN… where rich mahogany, sumptuous leather and cool marble set the stage for incomparable dining in the Hennepin Theatre District. Just blocks from the Target Center, you’ll find dry aged beef that’s always right on the mark. No wonder Zagat Survey wrote, “awesome steaks served by the pros are the order of the day.”
  http://www.thecapitalgrille.com/Locations/Minneapolis/Main.asp?Location=Minneapolis
• To keep this balanced, on Sunday we had brunch at the Taj West End in town. Think MASSIVE buffet with every kind of food – seafood, beef, Indian, continental. They had awesome smoked salmon with capers, great marinated tenderloin, tons of pastries, and a dessert bar about 20 feet long with sumptuous desserts. And an unlimited, and fully-flowing supply of champagne. All this while visiting with great new friends and while Caden played with tons of kids in a fully-enclosed, adjacent courtyard set up with a bouncy jumper and playground equipment. Not bad.
• On the other hand, Wade fired our first cook for some basic hygiene and food safety concerns. Having a cook here is not exactly the chef/dietician I’d pictured. The most common advice I’ve gotten regarding a cook is “make sure to get them tested for diseases”. No, it’s not the “you just have to try her tiramisu” that I’d been thinking. I guess a cook generally does shopping also. This is because Wade and I spent some good time driving around on Saturday trying to find the milk that doesn’t need to be boiled, unsuccessfully. Wade got a chicken – really fresh. So, part of the attraction of a cook is the ignorance of knowing where your food came from. (This isn’t that different from me back home; everything looks better to me delivered under cellophane). I should probably unsubscribe to the Simon Delivers emails I've been getting...
• Back to the cafeteria, everything is vegetarian. This is fine, except that living off carbs and overcooked veggies, I’m hungry about 15 minutes after lunch. So, some thoughts on snacks. Snacks I’m used to cost a fortune. I paid $5.43 for the tiny jar of peanut butter last weekend, and, I’m embarrassed to say, over $6 for pop-tarts. But these things are available. Some good snacks I’m learning to like are nuts. You’ll be happy mum, bags of the most enormous cashews are about 40 cents.

Overall, I do like Indian food most of the time. I’m learning to like ladoo (sp?) for dessert, which is basically a ball of sugar I’m sure held together with fat. The spices and flavors are great; the food is really fresh since there seems to be no refrigeration, there are great restaurants in Bangalore, including the clubhouse in our neighborhood; and the snack bar sells Cadbury chocolates for 10 rupees. So I’m not starving anyhow, just barfing right now…

Some pictures of the commute

I feel well-positioned a little for this commute, having worked first in DC, then in the 'burbs of MN during winter. Traffic and the nothing-you-can-do-about-it reality is something I'm used to. I even don't mind the time to think, and ponder the objectives for, or take-aways from the day. I miss commuting with Wade, although Lokesh makes me laugh nearly every day. "Madam, what means 'bum'?" (a joke on the radio).
Or today's conversation...
L: Tomorrow is Wednesday
A: I think tomorrow is Thursday
L: No, tomorrow is Omence day.
repeat.
A: huh?
L: You don't understand me. Like Mother's Day.
A: Tomorrow is Mother's Day?
L: No, Ladies Day.
A: WOMEN'S Day?
L: Yes, Omence Day. For the ladies....

I'm putting the commute to good use learning culture anyway. Lokesh is also teaching me something like Hindi or Kannada, I'm not sure. At any rate, a long lead in, but so far I don't mind the 30-90 minute commute. There's a lot to look at, and plenty of fun. My treo still doesn't work after three weeks of back and forth, but for now...some scenery.

So much for child safety seats... this is a family of four on a motorcycle...Not entirely unlike 35W, half of the road is under construction... but we just drive up the embankment to the side of the road that's good. Just like the oncoming traffic....Coming up to Lokesh's least favorite part ("such a circus ma'am")... this is the back-road shortcut to work. A two lane, really...
Even big trucks can make it over, but it's an adventure... preceded by tons of honking.
It is a little narrow though on the other side... good thing the mirrors are turned in.Pedestrians are really brave here. Or something.And, at last, we make it to Target...
So, that's the pictorial version of my commute in. Of course, there's also the cows (almost a whole herd this morning), the pee-ers (I have to say it, I've never seen so much public urination in my life), the dust, the bustle, the fuel trucks, the buses, the vendors (who said India doesn't have retail?), the bumps and the rest of the conversation ("roads in your country are so nice ma'am?"). But as an overview, there you go. I promise I won't complain about 35W when I get back (for at least a week)! :)

More pictures from the neighborhood

Bangalore has the best flowers....this is only one, but makes me think of the hibiscus that I never quite successfully nurtured. Mom, aren't you glad I didn't leave that for you to look after?? :)
A picture of the pool and park... it is a great facility for kids, and Caden has a blast on the waterslide. The water is still pretty cold, but we've had a great time up here. The gym is also nice but un-air-conditioned (you can be proud SISTA, I went for a run yesterday instead so I'm practicing up!). It costs comparably to our YMCA membership... somehow, I like this better than my occasional prior routine of dark exercise at 5am....
The clubhouse. It has the pool facilities, gym, restaurants, spa....NICE!
Next up, some pictures of the roads... :)

A correction

Ok, admittedly blogging is a new experience for me, and I'm not sure any of you read the comments, so I thought I'd bring this up... since it shows what I know.

Kapil Gupta said...

Whitefield name is due to white people, since during independence this place was given to British who decided to stay back. So not to do with current foreigner population, but to do with anglo indian population 50+ years back... :-).
There are still some apartments as well a club for anglo-Indian people in whitefield.

March 7, 2007 10:42:00 AM IST

Thanks Kapil for the note. I am constantly amazed by the history and diversity of my new home. I am learning so much every day, about the country, about the people and my team, and about myself.

Regards,
Angela

An afternoon in Palm Meadows

It was a leisurely afternoon after showering up again after the Holi festivities. After lunch we headed up to the clubhouse, which also houses the spa. Caden got his haircut for $3 (with tip). I got a 45-minute Avocado and eucalyptus oil massage for $16 (rounding up, inclusive of 32% tax and tip). Since this is a family blog, I’ll spare details. It was good, but definitely of the overly personal, your towel is only a minor nuisance variety massage. Wade and Caden were hanging by the pool and I joined them for a while. Then I went back to the spa a little later for a manicure, pedicure and head oil (a head oil is what I get for referencing an 80s song earlier). That set me back another $16. The head oil is a conditioning coconut oil treatment since it’s so dry here, and involves a hot oil head and neck massage – think like the shampoo part of a good haircut, but for half an hour, and resulting in a Fonz-style hairdo. I also went home smelling a little like a tropical guacamole air freshener I think, but relaxed. Caden and Wade had been out riding bike through the neighborhood. And we ordered Pizza Hut for dinner… it’s not quite Italian Pie Shoppe, but, man, it’s good to be home.

Holi: Festival of colors

First, a little cultural background: The Festival of Holi marks the advent of spring with varying religious rites, depending on which area you’re in. Here in the South, although there’s no real “winter” to end, the celebrations were still in full swing. The common hallmark of Holi is the throwing of colored powders and water on everyone around.

Last night, I ventured off on a walk… outside the gate, and was intercepted by our driver, Lokesh, who insisted he accompany me. I think I must be getting used to being “handled” as it didn’t seem like a bad idea. It was a very different experience than life here in Palm Meadows, which is located in something like a suburb of Bangalore called Whitefield. As a side note, the other day Lokesh told me that they call it Whitefield because there are so many foreigners… hence, white-field. I doubt this to be true, but do believe that Lokesh believes it to be the case. At any rate, Lokesh and I continued on the walk into the town outside the gate where festival celebrations were in full swing. I was the only white person in a crowd of hundreds of people (no Whitefield here!). Two little girls came up and wanted to shake my hand, and another little girl ran up to me, touched my arm, giggled and ran off. Most people just stared. It was an interesting festival, part county fair, part religious rite, part just all-out party. I didn’t totally get all that was going on, and felt a bit out of place, but enjoyed seeing a more authentic side of my new home-town.

Today in Palm Meadows, they had their own celebration of Holi right here at the Phase 2 Children’s Park. Seemed like a good way to check out the morning festivities. The part that tells you I didn’t know what was coming is that I took a shower before heading to the park…

Caden eased into things with a small mark…And, newly armed with a colored water gun, quickly got more involved from there!

Even I ended up involved in the fun…

And Caden had a great day.

At the end of it all, some of the paints were washable, and some weren’t… Caden’s hair remains a shade of green that makes me not look forward to his teenage years. But we had good fun, and it’s hard to imagine a mess like that happening in MN so it definitely fits the “experience” category!

Fore! (a posting by Wade)

Many have been wondering when Wade would find his way to the golf course and get a round in. Although the clubs still hadn’t arrived, I joined Kyle, Vinit, and Tarun at the Eagleton golf course (www.eagletonindia.com) on Saturday for a morning of golf, which included an early rise of 5am. Although par golf wasn’t quite in the cards, I had fun and learned a bit from the caddies, who speak almost continually during your swing to provide advice on hitting the ball. Since the golfers were on carts, there was little else for the caddies to do but try to improve the players’ games. Another lovely day!

The Day our Stuff came

Talking with neighbors (all other ex-pats) over the past weeks, most seemed to recall the day their stuff came with a fondness usually reserved for days like your wedding, or the birth of a child. But then there’s “the day our stuff came.” Actually, for us too, it was a good day. Just five hours after promised (not counting the week to clear customs), a truck pulled up with more stuff than I even remember having. That we left the overwhelming majority of our things in MN doesn’t seem possible as box after box of US-bought possessions come in. Golf clubs, Caden’s bike, a box labeled dry grocery, more than half a suitcase worth of clothes. I flash back to Madonna’s classic hit, Material Girl. The coffee maker box comes in. I could almost dance to the beat. Our picture books of home and the MN-photo calendar get pulled out.

I can fully appreciate how wretchedly material this sounds (I even acknowledged the flashback to the 80s song), but the welcome comforts of home brought a sense of ease to the day that really is nice after a few weeks of everything being foreign. And the breakfast of Lucky Charms and tall mug of coffee this morning were comforts that soothed the soul, even if the milk either comes off the shelf (if you can find this kind at about one in every 6 stores – labeled “no boiling required”) or delivered to the door in bags… boiling required. Anyway, my mind jumps ahead to the next move, and I can’t help but wonder what we’ll pack from this home. I know the tapestry that my team got me will be making the journey, and the memories of an indescribable place that makes you miss home but yet now is home.

Placing our stuff around the house highlights the contradictions. I place the toaster oven on the counter, and try to explain to our maid what it is (we don’t have an oven). I’m excited for the clothes, but have no idea where to put them as Wade and I share a 15” hanging closet rod (and I remember worrying I didn’t have enough summer clothes for this climate). My yoga mat is here and reminds me to embrace the culture and country, all our toys come box after box and remind me to embrace a the culture and country – the materialism is both comforting and maybe my first lesson to take home on being at least appreciative if not ascetic. Could I really not live without 200 paper plates, Archer Farms dried mangoes, and 24 rolls of Quilted Northern? Well, I don’t have to find out – I packed them!

I heard it's snowing in MN

Have I mentioned it's 85 degrees and sunny EVERY day here? That there are the most amazing variety and quality of flowers I have ever seen? We haven't shut our windows since arriving (it's a pleasant low 70s with a gentle breeze in the evenings). Our house gets so much natural light that we really don't turn on lights during the day.... ok. enough. I just wanted to point out a few positives. :)
We still haven't gotten our stuff yet and are thus on the suitcase supply of stuff (running out). As I mentioned, our camera battery charger is in there, so we'll have to wait for pictures. But I snapped a few with my phone..

Caden and Ronaldamanathanikrishna. (It is McDonald's, but apparently the most customized in the chain. For example, there's no beef, and no chicken nuggets, but they have fries and milk(I think milk)shakes.)
These are the views out the side and front of our car on the ride home today....