We Brought a Piece of YOU

We knew we would miss you so we packed a little of YOU to go.  These things that we brought to help us remember people and moments we miss, to give us a little hug from you when we need it.  We also have portraits but these are little things we see in our home that remind us: of a neat gift made by a nephew, grandmother, close friends, or a Godfather.  A trip we made with cousins to get out of the blistering heat, in home parties we had and attended with friends, little gifts from friends, souvenirs of places we love.  We simply remember our favorite things and then we don't feel so sad.

We miss you, we remember you, and we love you!

Our Ship Has Come In

Our ground shipment that is.  We received our belongings from our stateside home a week ago. 

(above) Our GREAT room not looking so great.
Kid three has called this the Wii shipment since it left the house and is anxiously awaiting my approval of location where the Wii will be set up in our new home. 

(above) Wii waiting for the proper plug arrangements to be made in the India home. This could qualify as Christmas number ten.  We wanted hangers, real hangers with the neck and all, now we finally have some.

(above) I was warned I would want hangers, the real ones we know and love, so I packed them, and then I missed them.  It is sort of like the multiplication by 9 tricks.  You hear about it and maybe are a little curious about it but until you really know and experience it, you truly don't understand how wonderful it really is.
Kid middle recovered from her stomach ailment in time to join the fifth grade class trip to Ronthanbore and took some impressive photos.

(above) A view from above in Ronthanbore.
She saw many birds and learning the appreciation of bird watching from her grandparents. She snapped many photos of different birds.

(above) a peahen

(above) a partridge

(above) a Tree pie

(above) a spotted owlet

She also saw a lot of other wild life;



And what everyone goes to Ronthanbore to see...the tigers, she saw prints to show tigers had been here.

(above) and even a tiger on one path.  An unbelievable experience!



She recently was put in touch with a viola so she can start to play again here in India.  She has missed her instrument and it feels so cruel to tell a child you can't play music when there is such a desire to do so.
Kid one now has a transcript from her stateside school showing she completed the first semester and has grades to prove that accomplishment.  She is now a full time student at AES and only AES which is a load off her plate.
The mister and I have been buying furniture to store our belongings in.  Closets are not something Indian homes have much of and we are finding we are quite fond of putting things out of sight.  Shopping for wardrobes and cabinets has become our weekend habit.

Hello to Scouts!

We received a nice package from Girl Scout troop *916 this week.  That would make it Christmas number 9 but it really was a Valentine's theme.  Kid middle came home from school sick the day it arrived and was able to open the package, see the contents and read the messages some before she had to retire to her room for the night with stomach flu (affectionately called Delhi Belly in these parts).  The package was filled with fuzzy socks and a cozy blanket, sports team cups, it was as if the Scouts knew just what to send for that very day.  Always be prepared, right Girl Scouts.
I celebrated my birthday with a tour of cities one and two from a seven cities tour group. I was fortunate to join this group for the spring.  Throughout the ten weeks that we meet we will visit the seven cities that have made the history of Delhi what it is.  I was part of a Las Madres play group with kid one when we lived out in Northern California.  This is my equivalence to a play group for me in New Delhi.  The city was fun and the tour was well done but the people are what I will post here.

(above) Kids being kids, this group was visiting the city while we were there.  My kid one pointed out the boy picking his seat on the right. (kids being kids)

(above) A woman buying flowers at a local flower market.

(above) These little girls wanted me to take their photo and show them how it looked on my camera.

(above) These school children are walking to a picnic area inside some ancient ruins.  Must be field trip day.

Kid three is in full swing with a Cub Scout pack here in Delhi.  He did a camp out with the older boys of the pack in the yard of one of the members.  He took pictures so he could give a shout out to Pack 155.

 (above) This is camping in Delhi, India in February.  A little different camping experience than the February camp held for his US pack.

A Cultural Evening

This weekend we didn't have any real plans so we put together what we could of the things we had available to us.  It has shaped up to be quite a nice weekend.  Friday night there was a play at AES put on by the staff from the school, Fiddler On The Roof.  We also were given two tickets to the Accademia Teato alla Scalia di Milano performance of an Indian Cultural inspired ballet performed at the Siri Fort Auditorium.  With a bit of planning and creative scheduling we were able to meet the Dad of the family at the school after he finished work.  He took kids middle and three to the play while I took kid one to the ballet.  We met back at the flat when all was complete a little after nine in the evening.  The play was something many of the kids have talked about at school so it is nice to be able to contribute to the conversations with friends about school events like this.  The kids liked the story but because they know that a fiddle is a violin or viola it was a little sad that a REAL string instrument was not played for the performance.  For the most part it was a three thumbs up, one from each that attended.
The ballet was a different experience.  We were dropped off at the VIP entrance and told that our tickets were general admission and we were to go to gate two.  (It didn't say that on the ticket but the ticket was free so we didn't complain).  Kid one and I had no idea where gate two was but followed the others that were sent away from gate four, all the way around the block to the opposite side of the auditorium where a line was formed that was at least as long as the parking lot depth, another block back.  This alone was a sight to see.  We don't see that lines form in India.  People tend to cluster, but a true line really is a rare thing.  It was an eclectic crowd waiting in line to attend the ballet showcase of Italian culture with an India flair.  We visited with people in line as we waited to be shuffled through the single gate to enter the auditorium.  The gentlemen behind us in line shared that ballet culture is not something India has very often so when opportunities arise many are interested.  Once we were in the auditorium and seated for the show we learned that many are interested but unaware of the proper behavior for a ballet.  Seats were scarce by the time we entered and we quickly went to the balcony in hopes to find a seat.  We found two in the far left side of the balcony and watched the ballet from the viewpoint of looking onto the side of stage right.  It was a seat and we had free tickets, again remembering to be thankful.  The performance was interesting and music was unique and the ballet was more contemporary in nature.  This make up, I think was the biggest issue.  Because of the contemporary nature those that didn't know much about ballet had envisioned another type of performance with tutus and classical music.  When that was not happening on stage little kids became restless and adults whispered, everyone shifted seats to get closer or further and all in all a different crowd than we are accustomed to at a US performed ballet.  There is an etiquette to attending the ballet, not the dress, not the attitude but the act of being still and letting those perform do the movement undisturbed.  This was not part of the experience in this crowd.  Interesting ballet, interesting audience, enough said.
As we began to exit the auditorium we were glad to see the ballet class that kid one skipped to attend the performance also skipped class to attend the ballet.  We ran into the instructor and most of the class members when we exited the balcony.  We followed the crowd out to the streets that were packed with vehicles and people, like most of Delhi.  I had no idea where to get a taxi but I was pretty sure right at the corner was not going to get me one any time soon.  So kid one and I elected to walk with the crowd down a block to try to catch a cab further away from the busy intersection in front of the auditorium.  It seemed okay to do but some street dogs had a barking, running fit right down the sidewalk towards us at one point, we were offered to take an unmarked taxi if we would like to do that, my instincts said no.  A few tuk-tuks offered us a lift but I wasn't sure how far we had to travel so I declined.  We ended up just calling our trusted cab driver and some helpful gentlemen who were walking in the crowd helped us give directions to the cab driver for where to find us.  We made it home and so did the other three who also took a cab because they were unaware our driver was waiting at the school to drive them home.  We had to call the driver and ask him to drive himself back to our house because we all took cabs home.  All is well that ends well.  We slept fine and dreams of sugar plums danced in our heads, not really.  Saturday and Sunday bring weekend errands and time for outside enjoyment.  The weather is supposed to be highs in the high 60s-low 70s.  What are your plans for the weekend?

Picture This

Many of you want to know about how we are living and what it all looks like.  Ask and you shall receive, we aim to please.
First up, the American Embassy School (AES), the place the three kids in this family of five attend school.  Because the kids are American born citizens admission to the school pretty much meant filling out paperwork in triplicate (three kids).  There are many nationalities represented at the AES, in fact their website states "53 nationalities" of which 35 percent of the student body, nursery through 12 grade, are Americans.  Visit the AES web site here http://aes.ac.in//index.php?sec=44

(above) This garden is inside the security gate at the Gate 2 entrance.  A peaceful little campus entrance garden.

(above) This is a look at the inside of the security gates.  There are turn-style entrances for people with school IDs and a locked gate entrance for those without IDs. A sign in sheet and identification check is done for those without IDs.

(above) This is a directional sign outside the elementary school building area.  It shows just a few of the areas within this small campus.

(above)Here is a walkway between the elementary school and administration area that houses the lunchroom, library, business office, school director's office etc. These neat little sculptures are all throughout the campus area. (shown both above & below)

(above) The high school building on the right with the breezway table area on the ground floor.  The left building houses mostly middle school.

(above) The performing arts auditorium is called the Hall of Peace.
The school is in the "heart of the diplomatic community" IE right across the street from the American Embassy in New Delhi.  We joined the ACSA organization within the Embassy and have enjoyed some of the benefits of the membership.  http://www.acsaindia.com/
ACSA restaurants serve a variety of food choices, most of which are NOT gluten free.  Our family drink of choice, first tried at ACSA but served everywhere, is sweet lime soda.
Recipe for Sweet Lime Soda: serving 1
Ingredients: 
*Juice of 1 lime (key limes are not as sour)
*Sparkling water
*Sugar for sweet lime (salt for salt lime)
Directions:  Squeeze the juice of one lime into a tumbler glass.  For sweet lime add 1 tsp sugar (for salt lime add 1/2 tsp salt).  Fill up the glass with sparkling water.  Enjoy on ice only if it is "safe" ice.

(above) This is the more formal ACSA dining room.

(above) The pool side cafe area of ACSA.

(above) The counter inside the cafe area for ACSA.



And then there is a Baskin Robins which serves mostly gluten free real ice cream.  http://www.baskinrobbins.com/Nutrition/allergen.aspx  We have not frequented a Baskin Robins so regular as we have in the recent month, not since we left northern California and lived within walking distance of the BR 31 flavors, and that was pre kid middle and kid three. 

(above) Because he serves the ice cream, Sanjay has become the kid's favorite server in ACSA.

(above) The bowling alley at ACSA is a hopping, four lane alley that has the bumper bowl option and automatic scoring making it a "strike" for our family. 

(above) Costa Coffee is the UK version of Starbucks and located here in India.  Costa Coffee shops are everywhere, including in the ACSA area of the American Embassy.  During these cold winter months we have enjoyed an occasional coconut hot cocoa from Costa Coffee.  Yummy!  When the heat hits we will add our cool drink of choice from Costa Coffee.

Added side note.  To make "safe" ice in India we need to use distilled water in ice cube trays and make it at home to be sure.  We are told ACSA ice is also "safe" ice.  *An ice spike is an upward-facing icicle that forms as a body of water freezes. Ice spikes can form in natural environments or can be made artificially by freezing distilled water in plastic ice cube trays.  We didn't know this before we started making "safe" ice at home.  Enjoy one more picture of our "safe" ice.  Sharp but safe.