Random stuff.... Pedicure, Tea and BO

This post is going to cover several unrelated topics, all were noteworthy and I did not want to forget them, so here they are:

Pedicure:
Summers back home were times when the toe nails were tended to more closely. With the sandals and flip-flops, I was more aware of the 'state-of-my-toes'. This usually led to more visits to get a pedicure. Now being in India my toes are exposed more, and will be so all year round. In addition the marble floors were leading to 'cracked-heels'. To sum it up.... I was in desperate need of a pedicure. So this past Sunday, Mira and I were off to search for a suitable place. I started off at the Spa in our housing complex - it was a little pricey, and they did not have any openings. OK, off to another place. Now we went to Palm Meadows (the same place where we stayed before we moved into the house). They had openings so both Mira and I decided to go for it. IT WAS AWESOME!! They sloughed off so much dead skin, I think my feet shrunk at least one size (OK, maybe not). Anyway, the true pleasure came when it was time to pay. We had 2 pedicures - and they cost......$10..... FOR BOTH OF US!!! Can you believe it!! With prices like this, I can justify a weekly trip to tend to my toes!

TEA:
Another bargain that I just discovered at work. The other day I was in a meeting with some colleagues and we decided it was time for a coffee break. I was ready to head to the vending machine, the usual place that I go, its not great, not bad, but its free. Well, they led me away from the vending machine and to another place. We had to walk down this hallway, and make a few turns... but soon, I could smell it. It was chai 'Indian tea'! There were 2 guys making chai and coffee in a little 'kitchen' area. The tea was really good 'masala chai'. You could smell that it had been brewing for some time. I indulged in a cup, it was great!! Now it was not free like the vending machine. It cost a whole 4 rupees... that converts to 10 cents!! Bring it on!!

OK, the best for last.... BO.
I was going to post about this earlier but I thought that it might be offensive and insensitive. But as I go on at work, I see that I need to go there. Now, BO is Body Odor. Most Indians are aware that BO is highly prevalent in Indian people. Well, on one of my first few days at work, I had a 'office boy' come to my desk to move computers and things around. He came in and the 'smell' filled my area. It was so strong that my eyes started to tear up (really). Then he left (and I stopped holding my breath), but unfortunately the stench lingered. Now, I did not think much about it b/c he was an office boy. I figured he did not earn much. Maybe he did not have access to running water. I cut him some slack. Now more recently, I was in an all day work shop with some my peers. Again, I was bombarded with the BO. It was coming from multiple directions. Now these people are all educated, earning people. I don't think that I can cut them any slack. So anyways, this got me thinking.... why? Why is BO more prevalent in Indians? I am going to throw something out there.... It is really a function of personal hygiene? Or is it a resultant of the food/diet? Maybe the turmeric collides with the yogurt yielding to it?? I think that someone should research this... maybe it could be a good research project for someone in college! Until then, I will bring floral lotion and perfume and help counteract the negative odors!!

First day of School!!

The Patnode's from Syracuse NY

Milan ready for his first day at INDUS!!

Cheesy Smile!!

Big sister ready to take care of the 'little guy'

All Geared up in the Sports Uniform

Heading off to the bus!

And they are off!!

  

Lunch Time!!!  Yep Milan is eating an Idli!!

Yum Yum!!

Mira sticking to something a little more familiar - Corn Flakes!!

Walking the halls of the Primary Block

Picture of the campus

 This post was co-authored by Vim and Dev.

Today, Aug-11-08 was the big day!! The kids did great! Mira took great care of her little brother. You would have never known from looking at them today that they were the same kids that were irritating and annoying each other for the past 2 weeks!!

Mira was the one that was a little nervous about going to a new school. I (Dev) tried to reassure her that the unique situation with her school is that there were at least 10 other kids in her class that would be starting their first day at Indus too! She would not be alone. I think that helped.

Milan on the other hand was the happy easy going chap he is. He took to the room with a bright smile, had his listening ears on, followed the instructions and he also proceeded to make friends, even those kids that were quite or crying. This is a contrast to the days when I (Vim) would drop him off at Troy Montessori; he was either the teary eyed kid or Niagara Falls. Seeing both of them settle in so well, bought allot of assurance that they will be fine, and as the school days proceed very little to worry about.

Mira has to wear a uniform. She looked great in her green uniform. This is the PE kit as they call it. She will have a regular uniform too with a skirt and button down shirt. However, there was a mix up with the tailor so she has to wait another day or so for it. Milan does not have a uniform, but he is insisting on wearing his shirts and ties to work. This was what he was wearing at his old school. If you want to hear the whole story about that, drop me a comment I will post about it.

Anyways, back to the first day of school... they had breakfast and lunch at school, all buffet style with choices from Indian, Chinese or Continental cuisines. With the vast array of choices, breakfast started off with Milan tasting everything that was served to him, Mira was more conservative and opted for plain old corn flakes. The lunch choice was simple for both of them... Spaghetti. And yes, they liked it, considering we are talking about school lunch here.

The day did go by quickly without the kids today (for Vim). Before I(Vim) knew it I was at the bus stop waiting for them with Manjula our maid. When the bus arrived Manjula went up to greet them – yes she took the lead! I stood back. As soon as the kids off loaded from the bus, they hugged her, smiles all round, by passed yours truly and ran home!!!! Only conversation; Vim “Kids how was your day?” Mira, “Can I go and play with my friends? Ok Bye!” Milan, “Gooooooood”.

Milan was so tired after school, he fell asleep on the bus. It was good thing Mira was there to wake him up when it was time to get off the bus!

Conclusion to the first day... GREAT! Milan had the same smile as he had when he left the house in the morning. Mira, excited to go out and play with her new friends. Manjula, just went back to cooking dinner and I went out and played soccer with the other kids already at the park, with persistent calls from Dev wanting to talk to the kids and find out how their 1st day was, but no kids in sight and nothing to report until we all sat down at dinner.

No homework on the first day. That will quickly change, they will be expected to do at least 20-30 minutes everyday. Both kids have a diary which has to be reviewed with comments from teachers, return comments from parents all of which has to be signed and returned daily. It was a long day for the kids close to 8 hours – now this will be typical, so by 8pm they were shattered out for the count. Only to do it again the next day!

Taste of Freedom!!

It started on Thursday. The kids and I had walked to the clubhouse and looked like it was going to rain. We could see the lightning off to the distance. We decided to go anyways. Just as we walked in it started to rain. No big deal, a little rain, right? Then is just started pouring. The kids were a little scared wondering how we would get home. I told them that we would just hang out til the rain stops. The storms typically blow right through. Just then we saw our car, and Vim was driving! This was the first time that he had driven since we arrived. It was the first big step that led to our freedom this evening!!

We were invited to an afternoon pool party at our friends house in Palm Meadows (this is where we stayed before we moved into the house). The party lingered into the evening and we were invited back to a friends house for Pizza. The issue became the driver/car situation. I suggested to Vim, lets go home, let the driver go and then drive back (mind you it is only 2 or 3 km away!). Yep that was it.... Vim drove on the main road out of the complex and the kids (and I) were geeked!!

Lets see what our radius of comfort is!! Hopefully Vim gets his local license soon so that it is all legit!

Until them, we will enjoy our 'secret' freedom!!

Tomorrow I will post about the open house at the school and post some pictures!!

Take care!

Rich... Poor

This is the land of no middle class. It is really evident. I just learned that our house is worth $800,000!! Almost a million dollars, really! It is nothing fancy. It is about 2700 sq ft, 4 br, not a huge yard. It is the fast rising real estate here that is driving these prices. Now, think about the driver that earns about $200 per month. How can he move up into a decent house? With these prices, not possible. The other end of the spectrum is the price of food. Not luxury food, but the basics, fruits, vegetables, etc.. Fruits and veggies are about half the price (or less)from home. Examples of some prices: large cucumber $.25, 4-5 bananas $.25 Bread loaf $.50 So the basics are affordable to support the lower class. Now, the imported things, or luxury items are 3 or 4 times the price. Example - pancake mix $5, prego spaghetti sauce jar $6, peanut butter $4 for a small jar. They mark up the things that they know people will pay for!!

It is like the 'haves' and 'have-nots'. I guess we 'have' a lot more being here in India. But with the 'haves' come the things that we 'have-not'!

Haves:
We have a satellite dish (similar to cable) - this is big deal since we never had cable at home
We have a flat screen tv - some of you know what we were using for the last 6 months before we left (a small 26 inch tv)
We have attached bathrooms to each bedroom
We have a driver
We have a maid
We have a gardener

Have-nots:
We don't have our family and friends near by
We don't have the freedom to drive
We don't have an oven (hopefully soon!)
We don't have taco bell

Really all jokes aside, I think that at the end of the 2 years we will definitely have a new appreciation for the value of the things that we have, and help those that have-not!

School Starts on Monday

Mira and Milan start school on Monday, Aug 11! Only a few more days of summer vacation. Today we went to the school for an open house. They had us pick up uniforms, bus schedules, class room assignments, etc... The kids were happy that some of their friends are in their class. Milan has a friend from back home, his dad also works for GM and they used to live in Troy. Mira has a friend that she met while we were at the hotel. She is from Syracuse New York. Hopefully this will help ease the transition on Monday!!

We had a nice morning call with my cousin and her family. It was really nice to speak to the kids!! Now that we have the vonage working it is nice to get calls from home.

I will post some pictures tomorrow from the school!

Hope all is well on your end.

1 Month has Gone By!!

Can you believe it, we have been in India for a month now!!

Really, it has gone by fast. What are some of the things we miss the most being in India?

I will start with my list (I will get the kids and Vim to add to it too!):

Driving!! Not that I want to drive here, don't get me wrong. But there is something liberating about being able to just hop in the car and go somewhere, anywhere you want!!

Nachos / Chips and Salsa!! I have not had nachos since being here! That was a staple in our kitchen. You would always find tortilla chips in the cupboard and shredded cheese in the fridge! Regretfully we have neither in house right now!

We will have our first visitor from back home in a few weeks (a family friend of my parents). We are looking forward to a familiar face from home!

One month down, and 23 more to go!! : )

Trip to Mysore

This was our first road trip. It was good... it was about 3 hours away. Distance wise, it was just over 100 miles, but the way the roads are and all the moving objects (cars, buses, rickshaws, ox carts, cows, goats, tractors, motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians, etc...) that share the road, your speed is limited!! Devraj was a good driver, and managed to avoid any collisions!! Check out the picture of the bus... what do you do when the inside of the bus is full? Ride on top!






The hotel we stayed at was OK. Not great, not horrible. The funny thing is that this is one of those places that look a lot better on the web! It is wonder what a little photoshop action can do!! Here is a picture from the front of the hotel



On Saturday we went out for our excursions. We started off with a trip to Chamundi Temple it is on the top of a hill. It was very nice. As with all temples, we had to take our shoes off. But here, the place where you remove your shoes is around 200 ft from the entrance to the temple. Needless to say, the ground was a little dirty. After the visit to the temple we quickly went to the car and used the wipes to clean our feet!! Check out some of the pictures below.




After the temple, we went to the Mysore Palace. It was very nice palace from the inside. There was a lot of beautiful architecture inside. Ornate doors and pillars, stained glass ceiling,... very nice. After the palace the kidS were getting a little tired and hungry. So next, we were off to lunch.




Devraj took us to a place for lunch... keep in mind we were on his turf (He lives in Mysore) so we let him be our guide. He stoped in front of this little place and we were a little leary. We walked in and the place was packed. We waited for a table. It did not take long for Vim to realize that there were no plates in this restaurant. All the food was served on a banana leaf. Yup... a leaf. And most of the people did not use any utensils... Vim was ready to skip out and head to another place. I gauged by the crowd inside and the steady stream of patrons behind us, that this place had to be good. I convinced Vim that we should stay. We found 2 older French ladies that walked in just after us. We ended up sitting with them. It turns out that this is one of the recommended places in the Lonely Planet book. Anyways, the food was awesome. We ordered vegetarian thali and they kept bringing out the food. Very yummy!! Check out the pics!! We started with the hands to eat, but after a while we had to ask for spoons!!







After lunch we decided to do a bit of shopping. We went to buy some sandalwood carvings. We purchased some really nice things. I am sure we paid too much, but the pieces were really nice. We also stopped at the city market. It was great! Wonderful sights and sound! Awesome colors of the fruit stands. Ladies making garlands from fresh jasmine! Check out the picture of the stall selling powder dye. It was so pretty all arranged in the mounds!






The last stop for the day was Brindavan Gardens. There is are fountains that are lit at night. It was really pretty. By the time we got there it was already dark so we did not get to see the full effect of the gardens, but the night show was great!

The next day (Sunday) we did not have much planned. I initially thought that we would invite Devaraj to lunch with us with his family. Well, it turned out, he made arrangements to have his wife make lunch for us at his house. I tried to convince him otherwise but he insisted. Keep in mind that he does not earn much. We pay him the equivalent of $200 per month. Yep, that is all. He told his that his house was very small, it is 1 bedroom with a small room and kitchen. He was very glad to have us at his place. We met his wife, mother and son. They all were very nice. They prepared a great meal. We really enjoyed ourselves. Before we got there, we made a trip to the store and picked up some things for Devaraj's son. He was grateful. Now, all of you that have been to India know that with this type of house comes a certain type of bathroom. No need to go into anymore detail. I whispered to Mira before lunch, 'hold it' you don't want to use the bathroom here. Of course both Vim and Milan had to go!! Mira and I held it till we got back home - 3 hours!!

All in all a great weekend trip!