500 Rupees

What can you get for 500 rupees here in India? 500 Rupees is just over $10 to help you put it into perspective.

* I can get a driver for 2 Sundays - Full days. They charge 250 rupees for a Sunday (yep, only $5 a day).

* I can get all my fruits and vegetables for an entire week. Actually I usually start with 500, and have at least 100 rupees to spare. So technically under 400 rupees!

* I was able to take Milan to the ER and for just over 500 rupees get a doctor visit, an x-ray, and antibiotic medicine! Yes, that was 250 rupees or $5 for the doctor visit, the same for the x-ray. And another 60 rupees for the antibiotic! Shoot, back at home my co-pay was $25 for the doctor visit, and another $10 for the perscription!

* I can get lunch for two at pizza hut. This include a appetizer, drinks, and 2 personal pan pizzas. Actually the bill comes to 400 rupees and we leave a 100 rupee tip.

* For 500 rupees we can get the whole family massages - with a lady that makes house call. She does each of us for an hour!!

* A pedicure for me and Mira!

* Now here is the twister.... Yesterday I spent 525 rupees on an item that I would never spend that much for at home... any idea what it might be??? Think.... it is not so obvious..... OK, I will tell you... A box of honey nut cheerios!! Yup! A box of cereal was over $10!!

Looking at the list of all that I can get for 500 makes me wonder why I would spend that much on cereal!! Honestly, I did not know that it was that expensive! It was only when I looked at the bill and saw that the total was just over 1000 rupees, and the cereal was half of the bill!!!

It goes back to a post that I had done a while ago trying to explain how things that they can 'mark-up', they do, b/c they know that people will pay for it. But the essentials they keep in perspective!

How far can your $10 go back at home??? I am sure on a good 'sale day' armed with some coupons, you can get 4 boxes of cereal!!

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving back at home was always a big time to get together with family. There were people that would come 'home' for thanksgiving so it would be a chance to catch up with those that were living out of state. It was a bit lonely knowing that we were all the way over here and not able to meet up with the family during the holiday!!

Thanks to skype we were able to catch a bit of the family dinner in Flint. And we will be able to catch up with some more family using skype during a baby shower on Sat! Skype is a wonderful thing!! Almost like being there... ok not quite but it will do!

Thankfully we have our 'extended' Banglorean family that we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving dinner with! Our friends Susanna and Robert host a really nice dinner last night (on Friday) and it was great! It was the full Turkey dinner with all the traditional side dishes!!! YUMMY!! The dinner was potluck style and everyone had to bring a few dishes. We had to bring cheesy potatoes and roasted veggies. Since I had to work on Friday and was not able to get out early, Vim had to take the lead on cooking!! I gave him a little guidance and he was on his own... and he did GREAT!! Both the dishes turned out awesome!

The evening was really nice and the company was great! It was not quite like the gatherings back at home, but it was close!!

Oh, and the other noteworthy (blogworthy) thing.... I did something last night after dinner that I have not done in almost 6 months..... Do you have any ideas that that might be?? Think.... think.... Maybe I should wait til another post to tell you...... nah... I just tell you now.... I DROVE!!! Ok, it was only within our neighborhood, and down 2 streets, and there were no other cars on the road... but still.... I DROVE!! The kids were so excited to see me drive. Before I started, Milan says 'Mommy, do you know how to drive??' I told him, 'I think so!!'!! Still, no desire to venture out into the madness on the main roads!!

One last thing that I really miss about Thanksgiving.... THE SHOPPING!! The big sales for the 'day-after' used to be so enjoyable for me!!!! AH.... shopping.... I do miss it!! Hopefully you all were able to land some good deals... I hear there were big sales to lure people in!!


The table all set before dinner!


VIM'S Plate all loaded up!


Swati, Beth, Me Sussana and Vivek...


The Kids Table!

Surfs Up, Dude!

Mira and Milan both take swimming at school. One of the biggest complaints is that the pool is cold. It is not heated and the nights are now going down to 65 degrees. So the mission.... warm swimsuits.... sounds like a tall request. We looked here locally and no luck. However, one thing that we have learned is that if you are looking for something... ask around. You are bound to find someone who can tell you where to get it from. So, asking we did (ok, asking Vim did)... and the findings were not promising. Some people had gotten there warm swimsuits from 'back home'. For most that was the US. Some people mentioned that they were able to get theirs in Singapore... Ding, Ding, Ding.... Vim had a mission on his trip there. Yup... he had to buy swimsuits for the kids. Now keep in mind, this is uncharted territory for him... he rarely buys clothes for the kids! Check out the pics below.... this is what the kids got... and they LOVE THEM!! Milan was so happy when Vim brought it home... he was running around the house wearing it!!

The kicker... they were $75 EACH!! Ok that was in Singapore dollars, that is about $50 USD! Still a steep price to pay for a swimsuit! But hey... they will get a lot of use out of them since Milan swims twice a week and Mira once!!

Trip to the ER

It was trip number 2 to the er earlier this week! Guess who the patient was.... yup... it was Milan - Again! The injury this time, a big wipe out on his bike and a injury on the nose. Vim thought it was broken so we took him to ER for a check up. A couple x-rays, and a few bandages later, he was fine. When I see you in person I will have to tell you the story about how they do the x-rays here in India.... lets just say... there are not the same safety standards here as back at home. But that is typical here ion India... lack of safety standards, that is.

Anyways, this injury was on Tuesday. And to make matters worse, he fell at school on Wednesday on his arm (the same arm that he hurt a few months ago - ER trip #1).All Milan keeps saying is 'I am sorry that this happened Mommy, I am sorry'. It is really sweet. Last night he was sleeping next to me with a big bandage on his nose, and his arm in a ace bandage. It was a real sight!

Needless to say, today he is staying home and hanging out with Vim. Hopefully he can make it thru the day without another injury!!

Weekend Update

Weekend update....

Friday we went to dinner with a few other couples... w/o the kidos. They stayed home with Manjula. We have not gone out without the kids in a really long time so we felt a little guilty! They were much happier staying home watching movies and eating popcorn!

Saturday... Mira got a hair cut... several inches off!! It took a lot of persuading but everyone (Mira included) is pleased with the end result!

BEFORE!

AFTER!



Saturday night was a big event.... a big first for me.... We went to the movies. First movie outing since being here in India. Now here is the big kicker.... it was a Hindi movie.... and the big shock... I stayed awake thru the whole thing!! Most of you are well aware that staying awake in movies is a struggle for me to begin with... couple this with the movie in Hindi (w/o subtitles), I thought that for sure I would be out...Surprise, surprise!! So... I am sure you are wondering what the movie was... Dostana. It was actually a pretty progressive story line. The 2 lead actors move to Miami and pretend to be gay and have a girl room mate. The verdict... not so bad! Here is the best part of the movie... Gold class seats! This is the way to go! They have these huge plush recliners that fully recline and food service to your seat! It was great!!

The World is Getting Smaller....

I posted some time ago about the connections we have made to other people we know being all the way here in Bangalore....Well there are more connections...

So, the friend that I posted about before, Jignasha.... well she used to work for the same company as a really good friend of mine from Michigan - Mamta. They both worked together at Freescale. They knew of each other....

The next connection.... it turns out that my cousin's wife from Flint (Madhu Bhabi) has a cousin that lives in the same neighborhood as us - Ozone. Yes, that makes another person from Madhapur (this is the name of our village in Gujarat) here in Ozone. Anyways, her name is Rattan and she came over the other day. Her and her hubby (Samji) are here from London. In the brief visit we learned that Rattan's husband knows my uncles from London.... It is really weird.... I am sure we will uncover other ways that we are connected to Rattan and Samji, we are going out to dinner with them tomorrow so I can post later about other random connections...

Case in point.... is it a small, small world!!

Pictures...

Here are some pictures from our Diwali Dinner at Ozone...

Joanie, Me and Charu...



Jignasha, Me and Charu....



Milan hangin' with the boys - Sajan, Grisham (both are Jignasha's boys) and Rohin (Charu's Son)...



Milan and Rohin... This is a great pic of the teeth coming in!



Me and Milan...


Mira and Aditi...



And here is a closing picture... Just thought that I would rub it into you on the weather here compared to Michigan!! 80's... perfect!!

Vonage Up and Running!

YEAH!! We are back in business! Vonage is up and running!

It took many calls to Vonage, shipping things back and forth between us and Vonage (DHL made a pretty penny off all of this!) and a switch in Internet Service Providers but we are in business!

One of the tradeoffs with Vonage up and running.... random calls in the middle of the night! That is what happened in the middle of the night last night.... 'ring, ring', my initial thought was 'what is that and make it stop'... then I realized... that is a small price to pay to being able to be connected with friends and family!!

Hopefully now that we are up and running we will talk to you soon!

Brothers and Sisters... Sibling Love or Sibling Rivalry?

Now that Mira is almost 9 (I know... where did the time go!) and Milan is 5 going on 15.... It is interesting to see their dynamics as brother and sister.

I think that they fit the 'typical' model of a brother and sister relationship. You know, loving, caring and completely dedicated to ensure that the other is happy.... NOT!!!!!

They are the exact opposite! Milan is really a little cheeky-monkey and crafty-guy who knows just how to push her buttons. He can get Mira so wound up and she is bursting into tears screaming because he is 'frustrating' her. And you look over at him and he has this look on his face... a smirky-grin (toothless grin!), and he is thinking 'yup, I did that!'. It is really entertaining to watch... I try to get Milan to stop, he does for a minute or two, and then he is quickly back on the mission to annoy the older sister. I think part of it is personalities, Mira does tend to get more wound up over things (brother-instigated, or otherwise), and Milan just does not care about much. OK... take that back... he cares a lot about his puppy!

Anyways... this begs the question... is the dynamics that we are seeing in Mira and Milan due to their personalities or is it because Brothers are always looking for ways to irritate their sisters??? Personally (from personal experience) strongly believe that it is the latter!! I have my own stories of being tormented by my brother..... And have heard of many other 'brothers-tormenting their sisters' stories. So when does it end.... when can we expect some peace between Mira and Milan? I am thinking... it will probably get worse before it gets better. Until then, I will sit with my bowl of popcorn and enjoy the entertainment!! Just kidding! I will try to do my best to parent thru this, but you all have to understand, I am trying fight the behaviour of brothers bugging their sisters for the fun of it! Is there any hope??

Languages

Growing up in America made me 'English-centric'. Fortunately I learned Gujarati growing because my parents spoke it at home. Most people in America don't know any other language (and a small percentage of them would fail most grammar tests). Those that learn a second language feel it is a huge accomplishment. Don't get me wrong... it is not easy to learn a second language, and it should be commended.

However here, being bi-lingual, tri-lingual, and even quad-lingual (not sure if that is a word, but you know where I am going with this) is the norm among the locals. Most of the people speak their local language which differs by their region (states). They also can speak languages of neighboring states (Telegu, Tamil, Malayali, Kanada). In addition to that most speak Hindi, which is the the universal language in India. And it does not stop there... they all try to speak English too!

In addition to the locals, you will see multi-lingual ex-pats here that carry their mother tongue (example - Friends of Mira and Milan are able to speak Telegu, others are able to speak Finnish). In addition, you will see mixed marriages where they are keeping up with different languages. Example - German mom, American dad - kids speak German, and Norwegian Dad, Indian mom - Kids speak Norwegian. It is quite impressive.

It is making us realize that we need to teach Mira and Milan Gujarati (our language from our region/state). So far they both have mastered English with the thick-Indian accent so I guess that is a start!! Soon they will be fluent in Gujarati... if we keep working on it!!

I will post some specifics on Mira and Milan's 'Indian-English'. It is pretty funny to listen to!!

Ex-Pat community living

Ex-Pat is the short term for expatriates. It is the term for people like us that are citizens of another country living in another… The community that we live in is largely an expat community. Most of the people here are from somewhere else. I would say 85-90% of the people are like us.

Living in this type of community has its perks. One the standards of living are a lot better. They understand that the tolerance and acceptance level for expats is different… they demand certain things…

So we picked Ozone as our Expat community, the other big one is Palm Meadows. By far these are the 2 larger communities and the most desired communities. So far, living in Ozone has been great!

People here are quick to befriend and help. They are quick to offer advice on places to shop, or how to get things done. They are welcoming and generally very kind. All of these qualities come because of the common thread among all of us expats… we are alone in a new country and have left family and friends behind. We are all quickly trying to fill the voids. As a result you meet a lot of people. It is great. We have made some really great friends, and most of the people we are drawn too are those that have kids of the same age… it just works out that way! These friends won’t replace all of you back at home… and I figure that there will be a select few that we may keep in touch with when we leave. Needless to say, making these instant bonds has really helped the overall transition!

We have learned that picking the right place to live can either make or break your ex-pat experience, and so far Ozone is ‘making’ our experience!!

Playing Catch Up....

The past few days have been a little 'off'.

We got new last week on Thursday that Vim's uncle in Singapore passed away suddenly. A big shock to everyone. Being so close to Singapore, Vim hurried on a flight to be there for the family. Needless to say, the news has really made me realize that there is no rhyme or reason to when or how we go... but, fact remains we all must go.

The weekend was a little quiet without Vim being here. We had our neighborhood Diwali dinner on Saturday. It was a GREAT time! The kids had a really good time. I will post some pictures soon. The party went until late... but Milan checked out shortly after 8pm! He fell asleep on my lap. We dropped him off at a neighbors house who had her 'nanny' watching her kids. We added sleeping Milan to the mix!!

Sunday we stayed close to home for the day, the kids hung out at the pool and later in the day we went to visit our friends from Syracuse, NY in Palm Meadows.

Vim comes home today and the kids (and I) are really excited to see him!!

Trade offs Between 42.5°N 83.1°W and 12.9°N 77.5°E

First does anyone know what the numbers above mean??? Think hard… Think back to science class… Latitude, Longitude, equator… Is it coming back to you????

The numbers above are the latitude on longitude coordinates for Rochester Hills, MI and Bangalore, India. The interesting thing to note is the position relative to the equator…42.5° vs 12.9°. Stay with me… Basically Rochester Hills is half way between the north pole and the equator, with the north pole being at 90° and equator being at 0°.

I know you are thinking… So, what does this all mean.

Well… If you take the distance from the equator and understand it in terms of the earths rotation around the sun… it impacts the length of the day (sunrise/sunset). Here is where I am going with this… In Rochester Hills, MI you had the beauty of enjoying long summer days where the sun would be out for 15 hours (well past 9pm at night), and in Bangalore the longest day is only 13 hours… and the shortest day is 9 hours in RH and 11 hours in Banglore…

Basically being close to the equator has its tradeoffs. Closer to the equator means very little difference in sunrise/sunset times all year..so it gets dark between 5 and 6 PM all year long…but the plus side....is it warm all year round!!

So in January, I can rub it into all of you that it is 80° and sunny, and in July you can rub it in to me that it is 80° and sunny at 9pm at night!!!

This whole ‘getting-dark-by-6pm’ business is a little difficult for me. Most of you know what happens to me…. It makes me sleepy earlier…

How was that for a little science lesson....

Obama Wins, Vonage is Down, and We have been here 5 months!!

So much to write about.... I didn't know how to break it up!!

Obama wins!! I am not much into politics and do not want to get into any heated debates over who 'should-have' won, so I will keep my comments brief. Change is good!!

On to the next point..... Vonage is down!! The irony of it all.... internet is working, and vonage is not!! If you recall, I reported earlier that we had instances where vonage was up, and internet was down!! It just goes to show that you can't have it all!! We are waiting for a new 'box' so it will be 3 weeks.... Have no fear, you can still contact us....you can call us on our home phone, cell phones, email, or snail mail.... Email us and we will give you the details if you need them!!

Lastly.... just to keep everyone on track... 5 months down!! We have been here for 5 months....hard to believe. What are some of the things we miss---

1. Mira misses taco bell. She has been talking about ways to make a chicken-ranchero-soft-taco here!! Seriously!
2. I miss shopping.... The weekend shopping adventures to Target, Meijers, Nino's, Kohls, Ann Taylor..... I have definately reduced our 'incidental-spending' as a result... I guess that is a plus to the bottom line!!
3. I miss driving.... it has been 5 months since I drove! Still no desire to drive here... but yearn for the freedom associated with driving.
4. Milan does not seem like he misses anything.... he is so easy going!
5. Vim misses work... I know.... It goes to show, you always want what you do not have!
6. And Most importantly... we miss all of you!!

One more 'Good' and 'Not-so-Good'

I forgot one more 'Good' and 'Not-so-Good'...

GOOD:

I think that this is by far the best part of the trip..... We managed to avoid the 'Indian-Toilet'!!!! YES!!! 6 days, many hours in the car.... and none of us had to visit the squat-toilet!!! It was truly amazing... Milan and Vim did their share of watering the greenery a few times... but Mira and I held our bladders tight!! Phew... The resultant... a little dehydration at the end of the trip... I think I was really watching what I drank to avoid the 'consequences'!!

NOT-SO-GOOD:

We missed a family wedding back at home..... My cousin Chico got married and the whole family got together.... We knew we were missing out on good times with the family!! One request to the 'wedding-crew' - POST PICTURES!!!! Please find a site where all of you can post the pictures from the wedding. We really want to see everyones pictures....

The Spectaluar South

In Munnar

A View from the hotel in Munnar

Waterfall

Father and Son!

Waterfall

A view of the hills

The lakes

Hills and lakes in Munnar

The hillsides

A view of the hills

Up in the clouds!!

Way up there!!

Going for a ride!!

The Elephant!!

A view from the hotel in Thekkady

Pretty Smiles!!

Brother and Sister!!!

Kumarkom Hotel Pool!!

Chillin in Kumarakom

A view of Kumarakom Lake

Kumarakom Hotel Pool!  It was Fantastic!!

Some friends that we made!!

On the House Boat!!

The Skipper, Gilligan and Mary Ann!!

A view from the house boat

Cheers!!

Villagers from the house boat!

Sunset off the houseboat

House Boat all covered for nightfall

Fisherman

Cheese!!!

All Smiles!!

Our welcome home thanks to Manjula - house was all decorated for Diwali

This post will detail our trip to Kerala.

It started on Monday with a flight into Cochin. We were quickly greeted our travel agent who had our driver, Oswald waiting for us. We loaded up the car and we were on our way. Our first stop, Munnar.

Munnar has the highest peaks in south India. The mountains were more like rolling hills, with lush green all around. There were tea plantations covering the hills, it was beautiful. We stayed 2 nights there. The hotel had a great view of the hillsides. It was great.

After the 2 nights there, we headed to Thekkady. Again this was another hill town, just as beautiful. In addition to being so picturesque, there was also a wildlife jungle. This was a national park that had animals in their natural habitat. There were supposedly 40 tigers still living there but we did not see any of them. We did see elephants, buffalo's, and wart hogs. Very cool. While in Thekkady we stayed one night at a beautiful hotel. It was set in the mountain/hillside. While in Thekkady we were able to go on an elephant ride. We also were able to visit the spice plantations. We saw how cardamom, black pepper, cinnamon, all-spice, cloves and vanilla were grown. Most of these spices are grown in abundance in the hills of Munnar and Thekkady. We also were able to visit a tea factory where they process the tea.

The last stop on the trip was Kumarakom. Here we stayed one night at the resort, and one night on the house boat. The resort was the best place we stayed at during the entire trip. It was really amazing. The best part, they had a meandering pool that was attached to some of the villas. Basically the pool was right outside our back door. The kids loved this!! The second night we stayed on a house boat. It was really nice.

All in all a great trip. Below are the top 10 things that were good about the trip, and the things that were not so good.

Not-So-Good
10. The long drives to get to the different destinations. 3-4 hours in the car for each leg of the trip.
9. The elephant ride.... it was good to say we did it and crossed it off the list.
8. Having to sit in the back seat on the winding roads going up the hills/mountains.
7. Having idli sambar for breakfast.... everyday!
6. Mosquitoes on the house boat...
5. The shower on the house boat...
4. Sleeping on the house boat...
3. The winding, narrow roads combined with the stick shift car... made for splitting headaches and borderline-motion-sickness.
2. That we only had one night at the Lake resort... it was so beautiful, we will definitely be going back
1. The it had to come to an end....

Good
10. The kids ate Indian food everyday!! They were troopers with the food...
9. The views.....Spectacular
8. Our driver Oswald... he was swift and safe. Even on the very narrow roads...
7. Shopping for antiques in Kochin
6. Lake Kumarkom Resort... 5 star in my book!
5. Seeing how all the spices were grown
4. Seeing endless fields of tea plantations
3. Eating fresh passion fruit... yummy!!
2. The weather... warm and sunny during the day... cool at night!
1. We made it through 6 days of 'togetherness' just the 4 of us, and Oswald, and puppy too!

We definitely recommend this trip to anyone traveling to India!! Check out the pics...