International Day at INDUS

Today was International Day at Indus, and what a culturally diverse day it was! (This time around there will be less typing and more posting of pictures to tell about it!) There were 6 countries represented by the different grade levels: India, Papua New Guinea, Jamaica, Brazil, Japan, and China.

Sacia's class represented India, so she wore Indian-style clothing (that I bought for her yesterday), a very pretty blue tie-top with a long skirt. She was so excited for her song and performance, and did a fabulous job! All the children in her class looked so cute in their Indian dress.

Ella's class represented Jamaica, and 6 from her class (including Ella) put on a play involving animals, a mossy rock, and falling over! Ella was the giraffe, and performed wonderfully! They also had a song and dance, most of which I was able to video, while managing to keep Zach from running off, and taking pictures, and feeding Zach snacks, and and and!

Other highlights were the costumes by the 1st graders, adorable hula girl and boy outfits. The class representing China had a beautiful dragon with colorful students dancing underneath. All the students did such a nice job!

It was just a wonderful program by the prep-1 through 5th graders, so colorful, interesting, and fun! Parents were to dress in costume for one's country, but what is an American 'costume'? Jeans and t-shirts?! I wore capris and a sweater tank top. There were many beautifully dressed people, including Indians in saris, a gorgeous Japanese mother in costume, a European woman in some type of bunad or costume (perhaps German?), and others. There was no mistaking that we're definitely not in small-town Minnesota!

I hope you enjoy the pictures! I had such fun taking them all!

Heather

Wednesday random pictures

Various pictures to go with the Wednesday posting.

Random Thoughts Wednesday

Everyone is now asleep here, and Brian is again on a call-in with work. We had a new cook come to interview tonight, but it seems her husband is the one who can work our needed hours, so we may give him a try. Our current one is fine, but wants full-time work, and also only can cook Indian food. The husband of the other one supposedly can cook European dishes and others... We'll maybe give him a try over the weekend to see how he is.

I went to a playgroup this morning, and about 10 other moms and toddler-aged kids were there also. I had met maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of them already. One I hadn't met is from CA, and her husband from Eden Prairie, close to our age. They have a 4-5 month old who is nice and chubby just like Ella was at that age! I reassured her that she'll grow out of it, and she is perfect!

I hope tomorrow to go into town to do some shopping, I may have to tell my maid and cook to come later, because it takes so long to get home. We could ride in with Brian, depending on when he leaves. Perhaps I could call a friend in town, and hang out there until stores open.. maybe.

The girls and I are especially enjoying our cook's chapates, which we make up like lefse with brown sugar and butter :)

There was a parade here today, to celebrate the end of the festival for Ganesh's birthday. I got a good video and some nice pictures too, mostly of the group of Indians watching the dancers ahead of the tractor pulling the Ganesh statue. Many families of the people who work here, came to watch and celebrate. It was a great photo-op!

I also hope to get out and shop for some nice potted plants for our steps outside. Hibiscus, and many other tropical plants would be perfect there, and I'm pretty sure they're quite inexpensive. I don't know if the owner here would allow for any new shrubs to be planted or not.

We bought some beautiful carved walnut furniture from a family who is moving and doesn't have a place for the pieces in their new house. I'll send pictures. They just had it waxed so it looks perfectly new. If we have enough weight left in our shipment, it'd be fun to bring some of it home. One of the pieces in particular is just gorgeous. I'm looking into some websites like Pottery Barn to find pieces I like, to have someone here make for us for 1/3 the price.

If there's something you want to know about here, send me an email or comment on this. For now, I just let all the thoughts out...and type!

Heather

Saturday Notes

More notes about the Minnesota State Fair party, our 'staff', and other fun interesting things:

The State Fair party was a lot of fun, meeting lots of other families and people, mostly from MN, but some from other places as well. I felt especially at home when someone walked in with a Concordia t-shirt on, but it was Moorhead, not St. Paul. Still fun! There were lots of little kids there too, and great food. We brought our S'mores ingredients, and people roasted the marshmallows over the coals on the grill, then made the S'mores. They were a big hit, since marshmallows and hershey's bars, and graham crackers are hard to come by in India. Everyone wanted to know where we got them, and we just said Target! :) The marshmallows had worked wonderfully to pack between jars of PB and other things that we brought in one rubbermaid tote from home, with our luggage. But overall, it was a fun party, complete with "MN State Fair arm bands", MN music, a 'tent' set up, and great people (missing you of course!!). Thanks to Tom and Tracy!

We haven't gotten to do much shopping for the house yet, just necessities like silverware, some dishes, other kitchen stuff, and some more transformers. I'm anxious to do some more furniture looking, and picking out drapes and such, but it will be challenging, going into town with Zach (long drive) and shopping with him, as you know how he loves to run and climb! But getting to spend our furniture allowance $$$ will be fun!

This last week I really had to be at home almost all the time, because we had our maid and cook just starting, and I wasn't comfortable at all yet leaving them unattended in my house. This week, I'm having them start later, and perhaps I'll give them a day off so I can just go to town, and not worry about anything/having to get back in time...

I did hire a nanny, just from 4 until 7;30 or 8, so that I can get the kids all home from the bus, fed, homework done, watched while playing outside, and bathed and to bed before Brian comes home... It's just crazy, I feel so strange paying someone so little. It's right now less than 1$ an hour, but she doesn't have any experience, and it's slightly more than my maid makes per hour . The kids do already enjoy her, she's young (20) and very kind and helpful. Her name is Menika (May-Nick-a, like Monica). We'll see how it works out having her help, but I think it will be wonderful!

(Just for comparison, a good full-time salary here is 10-15,000 rupees a month, which is $250-375/month).

Our cook is Mamtha, and she's also very nice. We've worked on having her dropping out all the strong spices for now, especially the chilis, but will gradually add some later once the kids eat it! The favorite now has been the chipates (spelling?), which we've treated like lefse at home, adding butter and brown sugar. Mmmm!! She's also made masala chicken, masala rice, some yogurt type dish, and more. She only knows how to make Indian food, but if we show her, she can learn some others. We'll see how it works for us as well. It is nice having everything made, the table set, and the food ready to eat! And maybe the best part is that after all that, the kitchen is cleaned!

The maid's name is Komala, and she has been very helpful as well. There are many things that I need to show her, such as the way I want my toilets cleaned. She was basically just doing a lot of spraying with the sprayer by the toilets, and everything (including the $1/roll t.p.) was getting just wet, and left that way (yuck, a wet seat!). I've showed her how to run the washer and the dishwasher also now, but she still needs direction. Hopefully that will change too, as we get into a routine. She uses a straw-type style broom, which Zach loves to borrow and help with!

I can't leave out our driver, Murthi! From the day we met him, he was very friendly and confident. The kids are warming up to him, but mostly he's driven Brian to and from work. His English is pretty good, but sometimes it's the phrasing that is tough to understand what he means. He's taken care of such things as picking up items for the cook, helping with some household shopping, translating for the other 'staff', and watching Zach or the others outside for just a bit. I hope things continue to go well with all of our help.

The toughest part of having all the help is communicating with them, as their English really isn't great. A lot of repeating, restating, and having our driver translate is needed! His English is better. It is funny when everyone else starts chattering in Kannada (local language). The cook and maid actually knew each other before they started working here, so they are very chatty!

I've been a bit disappointed in our shopping, that the selection here isn't what I would have hoped for. It's interesting, that so many things sold in the U.S. are made here, but the variety I've found here just doesn't match up. They do have most things here, but the quality and selection just isn't up there. And the strangest things are very expensive, like (I've heard) an ironing board costs $100. Just a simple, basic one. Other things, like a loaf of bread (which the variety is lacking...) costs 16 rupees, or less than 50 cents.

Our house is so empty still, empty walls that ECHO echo echo echo! I'm anxious to get some color schemes going for coordinating everything! Of course, I'll need some room to be green! Then curtains, cushions, couches, and decor. I looked at some beautiful ornately carved wooden furniture today that is for sale by someone moving out... I think we'll go for it. It's very special, I think from Kashmir, and will be fun to have while we're here. More exciting than something plain, and we might as well enjoy some interesting Indian handiwork-- for the same price as something new but same-same-same-boring!

Oh, we finally have music! Much nicer than just quiet (when kids are sleeping only of course!) or tv noise. Right now it's streaming internet 80's music, but Brian also copied over 100 CDs from home onto some DVDs, so I have lots of music from home, which really is comforting! Anything familiar like that is so neat! Even just seeing a little girl today wearing a tank top from Target, and a helmet like Sacia's from Target was neat. In the city, like at the mall, there is so little that's familiar, and we really are a center of attention there. Here, there are many families like ours, and it's a great feeling to feel like we fit in!

So, Ella and Sacia, (and we as well), now are making friends with children from Minnesota, Germany, Australia, Finland, England, California, Boston, and many more that I don't even know. It's really just amazing! They've been having fun being so close by to other kids here. Sacia has played a few times now with a 4-year-old neighbor girl, Sanchee, from Boston. We have had some trouble with them just going out... gotta use the deadbolts on the door tops more often! But we're always here, and notice it quickly! When people, such as our driver, come in, they often leave the door open, and Zach just zooms on over to escape! He's enjoying riding his bike, and pushing the stroller also, down the sidewalk and back. We are very lucky, too, that it is very safe here! No stray dogs, holes in the sidewalks, busy traffic, etc!

The kids are sleeping, the Nestle eclair wrappers are piled up next to the laptop.... They're almost gone now, so that must be my clue that it's time to wrap this up! Keep sending me your updates, I LOVE to hear back from all of you! We miss everyone very much!

Heather

We are in our house!

Hello again!

Sorry to keep you waiting so long for the next Indian update! It has taken several days to get all the important things needed in the house! But we are here, living in Palm Meadows! Our rental furniture (that we chose for a month until we can do some other looking) arrived shortly after we did, so now we have a place to sit, eat, and sleep! For all of $80 for the month, it's not bad! Not much for comfort, but the dining set is quite decent. When we got here, however, there was no cooking gas, and that took a few days and many phone calls to get. Our red Toyota Innova that we picked out last month arrived, complete with a ribbon down the center, and a box of chocolates! The 'villa' had a television already, but cable took a few days to hook up as well. There really wasn't much we could do, without more of the kids' toys, a working tv, a club membership, a cook (especially since there wasn't gas to cook with!), and the all-important INTERNET!

Our shipment did arrive, and Brian was home to help unpack AND make sure DSL was installed that day. It took many many days of calling, calling, calling to get it all hooked up. It was great to have the kids' toys, and our KING-size American pillow-top mattress to sleep on! The mattresses here are not much of anything. But, ahhh, what comfort to sleep on our own bed, and our own sheets and down comforter! Also very strange to make that bed here, and to put all our clothes in the closets here, and the kids toys... It's quite a realization that we aren't here for just a short time. It's slowly sinking in. I've been having dreams of home, thinking of places and people that are surely missed. I think we really miss knowing how things work and what is going on, and of course, people speaking GOOD English!!! How great it would be to see any of you tomorrow!!!

The second day in our house, I got a great box delivered by a small UPS truck. I had ordered some shorts from Eddie Bauer, clearance of course, after figuring out that they COULD ship to India, and they arrived MUCH faster than I had imagined! (hmm, now I seem to have learned that Gymboree will do the same!--- and Ella DOES need shorts! they don't have much here for that). The last time I had checked, the estimated delivery date said Dec 13!! So I was pleasantly surprised, and very glad that we had indeed moved into the house, or I wouldn't have gotten it!

The girls are beginning to really enjoy school, and not dread it tearfully. The first 2 days riding the bus were very difficult, (for Ella especially) but things are looking brighter. Ella learned on Friday, after coming home to Palm Meadows, that an Australian girl in her class lives just across the street from us! So Jana (Yana) and Ella have played together quite a bit, and often walk to the bus together. Zach enjoys waving good-bye, but more so delightfully waving "HELLO" to his sisters when the bus drives up to the clubhouse to drop off the kids after a long day. He misses them so! At bedtime when we say prayers, Zach enthusiastically names "ELLA" and "Daddy" and "ELLA" and "Mommy" and "ELLA" and sometimes other people get added to, when we say, "God Bless..."

We've met so many wonderful people and families here. It really comes alive after 4:30 when all the kids start arriving home from school. The streets are busy with kids riding bike and playing, until the mosquitoes force everyone in an hour later, and everyone shuts up all the windows before they do the fogging for mosquitos. Walking the girls to and from the bus has been a very nice time to meet the other parents in the neighborhood, and to learn everything that's going on. We have neighbors from India, from Australia, from Germany, from Boston, from all over! It's really amazing.

Tomorrow there is a 'morning coffee' for IBM expats at someone's home maybe 1 hour away. Several people from here are going, including 2 neighbors. There definitely are a lot of IBMer's here, along with Target!

**there goes the electricity again!! crazy**********

We're anxiously waiting to get to use the clubhouse. All the pools have been very tempting lately, as it's been humid and very warm. We can go as guests with others here, (but would like to go when we please.) Our membership is 'in-progress' in HR. We've used the pool once (Ella twice!) with a friend, and enjoyed it very much.

More another time! I'll tell you about our maid, cook, and driver, and by then I may have my much-needed nanny (just for the time between school and bedtime so I can help Ella with homework and feed and put all 3 kids to bed before Brian comes home nice and late)....

I need some sleep! Missing you all! Send updates from there PLEASE! It's amazing how just reading about directions to somewhere in Rochester, or seeing pictures from home can make my day!

Love to you all,

Heather

Scenes from the morning drive to school

I thought I'd post some of the daily sights we see on the commute to the girl's school. The bus from our current apartment to the school was full, so we have had to drive the girls to and from school each day (about 40 minutes EACH WAY). We are starting to recognize familiar landmarks along the way, such as the 'Pork Shop' which has a skinned pig hanging in front and the 'wholesale chicken shop' with live chickens in cages. One time, we saw bundles of live chickens (4-5) tied together by their legs, being loaded onto the back of a motorbike for delivery somewhere.



Fresh lime juice is very common here. It ranges from sour, to sweet (with and without soda), and salty. These two stands are selling limes. At the cafeteria near work, sweet lime soda costs 10 rupees (25 cents). We have not yet priced the juice from the street vendors.




If all goes well, we will be moving into our house Friday. On Wednesday, the relocation company received the key and began cleaning. On Thursday, it was discovered that due to being vacant for 2.5 months, the water line leading into the house had become plugged and there was no water! They had to dig up the front yard and clear the blockage, so that pushed moving day to Friday. We will pick up the key at 9AM Friday, and use Friday and the weekend to move in. Our car will also be delivered Friday as well.

Tuesday Update

Hi!

So, the girls have made it successfully (mostly) through 2 days of school now. Sacia really really has had a great time. Ella also enjoys it, but of course, doesn't get to 'play' as much as Sacia! Sacia had an extra special treat at school today. She got to RIDE a HORSE!!! The teacher said they took pictures, so we very much look forward to seeing those! Of course, a teacher was with her every step. I think she just loved it!

After bringing the girls to school, with Suresh, our driver, we dropped Brian off at work, then I headed to a playgroup in town with Zachary. We had a fabulous time there, meeting many new people, some who I'd already met at the OWC. There were mostly moms, with young kids 1 - 2 years old. Many had others in school, and they were from all over. One from Australia, several from England, one from Canada, Texas.... I really enjoyed meeting so many others in the same situation, and Zachary loved playing with the other kids, (well, for sure at least the toys!!). The host served snacks, including tuna melt sandwiches for lunch, and BROWNIES!!! Mmmm. Her name is Heather also, and she's from California. A great time was had, and I'm sure I'll come into town for another Tuesday playgroup after we've moved.

So, after arriving back at the apartment, I was expecting to have a break from all the driving (7;30 - 10;15 I was in the car, with the exception of walking the girls to their classrooms). I got an unexpected phone call from the school nurse, saying Ella wasn't feeling well, and had an upset tummy. I talked with a distraught and emotional Ella-gator on the phone, and then planned to pick her up early. That meant finding my driver, who was having lunch, getting him back here, and driving the long way back to Indus, over the same roads that we've seen so many times already. Interestingly though, I've only tired of the carride itself, not the interesting views from it! Always a little different, always so lively and colorful, and seeing unexpected things (even if it is unpleasant, as a small child squatting alongside the road, leaving a pile...ugh!). Mostly it is great, especially if Zach happens to be snuggling or watching closely as the rickshaws, motorcyles, trucks, cars, cows, dogs, and people go by.

I got to school, found Ella at the "infirmary", sound asleep. Once she woke up and we went to get her things, I could tell she was already feeling better. Great! We stopped by Sacia's classroom to bring her home also, as we would have arrived home at the same time we needed to pick Sacia up again anyway. It was really neat to see her, without being seen by her, and to watch her actively involved in the activity. She is doing SO well! I am so proud and happy for her! The drive home was pretty good, maybe because the girls had suckers in their mouth most of the time, when they weren't busy telling me about their day. Everyone was happy. They do need something to keep them happy and not carsick for the long bumpy ride.

By the time we got home, everyone was in good spirits, including Ella, who was back to her normal self, and feeling good. The girls played, I ordered Pizza Hut double cheese pizza, and Zach fell asleep early (before 6) and has been out since. Brian arrived home around 7, and I had ordered some 'surprise' for him from the place next door, as the pizza was all gone. Unfortunately all the cheese (well, 3/4 of it) had slid off the pizza sometime before it arrived here. We had to pick out some cardboard in order to enjoy the cheese! The girls are now asleep, and Brian and I are beginning to have more time to spend typing on our laptops after all is quiet here. He is working on a computer in Rochester as I type this, and also typing with another IBMer from Rochester who lived here for 1 year.

I'm trying to remember the rest of the weekend that I have not written about yet, but can't remember much other than another trip to LalBagh, and a bit of furniture shopping, and playing at the park area here with kids. Oh yeah, there were a few firsts! Brian and I each crossed the road (different times) in front of this place, and you really feel strange suddenly doing that after only really riding in a vehicle anywhere and getting dropped off at the door. Brian had to avoid getting stepped on by cows. I, on the other hand, only had to watch carefully where I stepped. The other first came at our wonderful 'Total' store, where we again shopped and even had a nice lunch afterward. I was very disappointed to learn, when I needed a restroom, that they do NOT have western toilets. Well, it had to be sometime!

Oh, Ella is excited that tomorrow she will have swimming! And she gets to also wear the swim cap, the one that we had so much fun all trying on the other night. Zach looked so darn cute!! We should have taken a picture. Next time! Also in news for us, our relocation consultant gets our keys tomorrow, and then will have the house cleaned so that we can move in Thursday! Yay!!! I'm not so down on this place. It's a little more manageable now that the girls are busy having fun at school, and it's just Zach and I. Very different. It's amazing how quickly they're all growing up. Sacia is just suddenly in school full time. I still have mixed feelings about that, but I'm so very glad that she's having a blast, and that there is so much for her to do there. It is so enjoyable to get to see them at the end of school and hear about all their activities...

Okay, time for me to enjoy a little Bailey's, which we got in London at the duty-free shops. (We learned that a bottle here costs 3 X as much as in the US, $60! If you come visit, you can pick me up some more ;)

Sleep is calling... and maybe Zachary as well!!!

Love you!
Heather & crew

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for Ella and Sacia. Ella started grade 2, and Sacia started Prep-I (preschool). Ella has her sports uniform, and the tailored uniform will be ready next Monday.

Ella was very helpful and reassuring to Sacia in the morning, helping her tie her shoes and explaining how school works. Until we move into our house in Palm Meadows, we will have to drive them to and from school. Hopefully this doesn't last too long.

We left for school at 7:35 and got there at 8:15. The teachers weren't there yet, so we waited in Sacia's classroom. Then the two teachers and three helpers arrived.

Ella's teacher didn't arrive until after 9, but Ella was out playing with her two friends she had previously met, and was busy meeting new friends.

We left the girls at school, departing about 9:30 to head up to Palm Meadows to visit the Murphy's, where Tom had arranged a cook, driver, and maid interview. After interviewig the driver and maid, (cook will come later), Brian went into work, and Heather and Zach lounged around the clubhouse and went back to the Murphy's until it was time to pick up the girls at 3:45.

After her first ever day of school, Sacia was energized. She got to go swimming (with a swim cap) and was very talkative about her day. Ella enjoyed her dance class, and also had Spanish. Lunch was pancakes!

Sunday Part I

Hi!

So I have a few days to catch you up on! Friday, Saturday, and today! (I hope I haven't forgotten already too many details!) I'll send one at a time.

Friday....

We headed out around 9:30 to get to the school for our appointment at 10:30. I'm not sure what time we arrived, but it did certainly take a long time! And that time of day traffic was terrible, and the ride was quiet bumpy and swervy. Not good for carsickness, but we've been taking along Jolly Ranchers to help with that. (But they're almost gone!) So we got to school in Sarjapur, filled out some papers, finished a payment for Sacia's tuition (for which our first credit card was declined - for security reasons, being in India, spending $XXXX was a bit 'high-risk') (but of course is reimbursed by IBM), and then walked around a bit.

There was a special parent-teacher welcome day, with carnival type activites. So when we found their classroom, they were empty, but we found their names on the doors and looked around anyway. The girls are both in the primary building, Sacia on the ground level, and Ella upstairs on the 2nd level. Ella was excited to see that a girl we met here, Pooja, was in her class section, as well as another girl we met that day from Michigan, Arhanna. So she already knows 2 people in her class, and is so very excited to begin!

Sacia also knows 1 boy in her class section, another Minnesotan family who lives in Palm Meadows, who we met the other night for dinner and playing. She was excited to see the classroom, very much so, but still is not quite sure about this school thing. I keep reminding her about how much fun she had in her swimming class this summer, even though she was very concerned the first day.

We headed across the campus, past the main building and secondary building, and the dining hall, to the sports complex. There is a large gymnasium with an outdoor gravel/rock/dirt track. The area was full of students, parents, and teachers eating, playing games, and dancing. The girls got their faces (and arm) painted, and we enjoyed some Indian snacks (corn and beans, not at all Minnesotan flavored), and then some ice cream for 10 rupees. Everything cost 5 or 10 rupees, which is 12-25 cents. We spent so much ;)!

We got to meet the girls' teachers, the pictures you may have already seen on the website. Sacia was quite hesitant, but by the way she is warming up to our driver (who we've had for only 3-4 days), it won't take her long! They may wish she was still quiet and reserved after she gets more excited! :) Sacia will have 2 main teachers, with 3 or more helpers. Ella's class has 1 main teacher, 1 helper.

While we were there, we saw a familiar-looking man, but I couldn't place him. The second time, though, I figured it out. He works at an emporium, where nice rugs and trinkets are sold. That was the very first store we looked at on our first trip with Zach. You can't bargain there, and we didn't stay long, as Zach wanted to pick up all the statues... Anyway, it was interesting to see him at the school.

After walking back to the front of the campus, we were picked up by our driver, and went back to the apartment. Unfortunately, the weather made it impossible to go outside to play! It rained and rained. So we were 'stuck' here once again. Brian returned at 7pm, and had his call at 8. Not a very fun afternoon. But the first part of the day was enjoyable anyway...


Saturday coming soon...!

Love,

the Bangalore Blondes