Cold Snap

We heard that on Sunday, January 8th 2011 it was the coldest in Delhi than it has been in over forty years.  Temperatures were all the way down to 37.5 degrees Fahrenheit. To us from the mid-west, we walked to and from church without making a big deal of the cold.  Yes, it was cold, but we had jackets.  Not the winter coats we wear in the snowy mid-west, but a jacket.  I went a little native and wore my pashmina that mister had purchased for me on one of his many overseas trips.  We were fine.  We also had the luxury of going into our home and having heat in each room.  Not the forced air heating we are accustomed to, but heat.  I went to a meeting with many women who have spent from a year or more here in Delhi today.  They compared the cold from the snowy areas we are from by saying this was bone chilling cold.  Typically here there are not wall heaters in many rooms and most bathrooms.  There are fans for releasing steam but no heaters in the bathrooms.  Many kitchens also do not have heat in them.  Fortunately our kitchen has heat in it.  Which means it also has cooling/air conditioning in it when the cold takes a break and the heat outside kicks up.  But there are many homes in Delhi and in India that are without heat all together.  There are also homeless who naturally are without heat as well.  Here is a link to a yahoo article I read regarding the cold snap we are experiencing here on my side of the world.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110110/wl_sthasia_afp/indiaweather

I am beginning to meet with groups that are throughout the Delhi area.  The PSA organization is the Parent School Organization at AES, the kid's school.  One group I met with today is called the American Welcome Association (AWA).  http://www.awadelhi.com/ They seem to have many opportunities to do some outreach in the area.  It's a non for profit organization of American expats in the Delhi area.  They run a thrift store and use the proceeds to do outreach work.  I will be attending a Seven Cities group tomorrow that will give me another option for another kind of playgroup for me while the kids are in school and mister is at work.  Soon enough I will have so many play dates I will have no time to get things done for others.  I will let you know if that happens and how it goes for all of us.
By the way Christmas five (gluten free order from Amazon), six (package from a hometown family support)and seven (books from the cousin book exchange for the other two kids) happened. We are still counting those twelve days of Christmas.