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