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...