Another One Bites the Dust

And another one gone, and another one gone, another one bites the dust. We are back in the market for another driver yet again. Drivers have proven to be an issue for us during our entire existence in New Delhi. We have yet to find a person to drive our family that is really suitable to our needs. Our most recent hire conveniently waited for our family to be away on holiday to return all his driver belongings to our house manager and announce he is leaving our job. All of this of course falls on the heels of visitors being here from the US. Just when a reliable driver is most needed, to make everyone most comfortable in India we are searching for the reliable driver. My pessimism is punchy right now and I feel reliable driver here is an oxymoron. He tried to explain to me when I saw him upon my return to New Delhi but in my defense I did not ask many questions. I have become very frustrated when I ask questions to people. It seems natural for most people to try to gauge what answer would please me the most and tell me that selected answer instead of search in their soul to find what I would call the “truth”. I need to step back, take a deep breath and accept that “truth” is subjective. In our search for another driver we do not have a long two years left to our stay in India which makes us undesirable to work for in most cases. As is with anyone looking for employment, drivers want to know you will be here a long time so they will not be looking for another job in six months time. So for now I am collecting bios and resumes this week and sifting through what could be a suitable fit. “Where do you live?” “How do you commute?” “What hours can you work?” “Do you have a record?” and I hum.

He walks warily down the street, With the brim pulled way down low. Ain't no sound but the sound of his feet. Another one bites the dust.-Queen

Lemonade Stand

Remember when we were kids and we would make a pitcher of koolade, write on a big sign "Lemonade 25¢" and then set up a table near the best intersection for stopping vehicles, it was like a popularity contest, how many people will stop for us today?
Temperatures have been above 100 for weeks now.  Lately the temperature range has been about 103 to 116 Fahrenheit.  And truly when the temperature is that hot you notice the difference of 103 or 116.  It's HOT and then it's brutally HOT.  Breezes during temperatures like this feel as refreshing as a blast furnace would about then.  AC is the only way our family chooses to survive the heat.  From the AC house into the AC car.  Drive to the AC location and stay there until we need to brave the heat and return to the AC car to go back to our AC house.  Not much adventure in that.
This fine Saturday afternoon, it is only 12:30pm mind you, the temperature has already risen to a balmy 108 Fahrenheit and I can see our guard waving his hat in front of himself to get a slight relief  as I sit inside my AC house and the lemonade stand of my youth comes to mind. 
Kids Middle and Three are gone for the summer and we have some lemonade concentrate, their drink of choice during the summer, in the freezer.  So I made a quick pitcher of the refreshing drink, grabbed a pile of paper cups we have from our last party. Then I trodded down three flights of stairs with pitcher and cups in hand and began pouring a refreshing glass of lemonade for the guard at our gate, guards from the neighbors' gates, the driver and others that begin to flock to the "lemonade stand" inside our gate area.  The same feeling of my youth and that of our children's youth.  Pour a glass and they will come, they also begin to smile.  All those gathered are happy to take a cup for themselves, most nod with appreciation.  One woman asks for her cup to be filled "more" to the top so she can take it across the street to the construction sight (there is one on every corner, right).  I pour until my pitcher is empty and my glasses are all used up.  Perfect ratio of lemonade for the number of cups, almost as if I have done this before.
"Stay hydrated" I say as I trod back up three flights and sit inside our AC house.  It was probably more fun for me because I was able to take a break from the work inside the house. 
By the way, I did NOT charge 25¢ per glass.  Hardly a martyr by any stretch of the imagination. 
Below I have attached the weather link from BBC for your entertainment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/1261481

A Bed of Roses

I have returned to being the single person who does the entire housework load as life in the US once was. Yes, the kids and Mister are requested to help as well but reality is time does not permit for them since they are gone from 7:30am to 4:30pm at the earliest often arriving home at 6:30pm or later on most days. I have found myself plenty to do in Delhi and it has been enjoyable doing the plenty of things but that all comes to an end when there is nobody home taking care of what needs to be done within the home for everyday living. The simple task of washing dishes is made into an all-day affair because five people eating morning and night brings a batch to wash both in the morning and at night. In the US I would require all those who ate to load their dirties into the dishwasher and we would all leave the house near the same time. In the evening we would eat and, they would load, wash cycle would take place and they were required to unload the dishes from the dishwasher. Here because an automatic dishwasher is not present in most Delhi kitchens we have the manual dishwasher and she left the country when her visa came through. That task could be shared with the other four who share this house with me but again reality is, homework and eczema type dry hands prevents the older two from participating and the intolerance of hot or even warm water from the younger hands causes me to just wash the dishes myself so we can prevent some communicable diseases that could be passed hand to mouth. I can stay home in the morning and do the dishes after our morning tears through the kitchen or I can leave with everyone else and return to a messed up kitchen and still need to prepare dinner for the family. Our kitchen is very small so stacking dishes waiting a turn in the bath can be problematic as well as the health issue of leaving dirty dishes for long periods of time with bugs and rodents willing to participate in our problems. So I stay home and drop out of the things I once participated in and enjoyed.
The saying "When it rains it pours"...I also had my group email address hacked and messed up. Ameritech which became SBC then AT&T is now Yahoo email addresses saw the suspicious activity and warned me that I had my email account compromised. I had noticed as well because I had more than 50 undeliverable emails waiting for me when I woke one Saturday morning in early April. As a remedy I changed my password, although that was a hard task given that Ameritech help is now filtered through the old SBC now AT&T to help the Yahoo email account holders. After looping through on many of the links I finally changed the password and was set to warn all possible recipients to no longer respond to “Wow, take a look what I found” type links coming from my group email address. Unfortunately when open of business in the US on Monday morning came AT&T who is handling the old SBC formerly Ameritech accounts in its infinite wisdom chose to suspend my account because the account was compromised and then the password was changed within India. So I called AT&T who I was directed to call in the “You may contact customer service at 800 ATT-2020 (800 288-2020) and speak with Technical Support if you need assistance with your password” email that I received regarding my Ameritech changed to SBC now AT&T email. I explained that I had Ameritech then SBC then AT&T services while living in the US for 12 years but when I went to move to India AT&T didn’t service anything in the area so I stopped all AT&T paid accounts (Uverse cable, land line phone and mobile phone services) and kept my Yahoo delivered email address. My unfortunate mistake is that because I am no longer a paid customer of AT&T my Technical Support can only happen at a very superficial level (IE they can answer the phone and tell me to restart my computer). They do not collect money from me any longer so they cannot help me in recovering access to this group email address, period. Literally, they stopped the chat session when I was getting help online with; that is all you have for options “period”.
So being locked out of my group email accounts now puts me out of touch with PSA and AWA and any of the NGOs I was working with as well as subscriptions, bill pays, online accounts. It also means that I am no longer inundated with all the emails but I am also out of touch. All the contacts I had through these groups are now gone. Any end of the year business is now being left in the vortex of undeliverable mail and senders are not getting the message that my email was undeliverable. Their only conclusion is that I am being unresponsive. This should be a good thing because I need a lot more time to wash the dishes and clean the AC units and replenish the water and gas and scrub the floors and make the dinners and wash the clothes but it is not good. It has made my life here in Delhi that much more lonely and sad and depressing.
As humans we often blame our problems onto others and take credit for the goods. I am human so right now I am blaming all my problems on AT&T! Tonight I insist AT&T must wash the dishes, and dry and put away. So there!

Signed,

Sad, Lonely and sick of the housework in Delhi

Home Sick

Home sick could mean one is ill and staying at home.  That is what I have been doing for a few day lately.   We are all taking turns with a fever or a stomach ailment or a cough and needing our rest as we adjust to our new environment and bacterias that are foreign to our stomachs and selves.  Today I am home with kid three as he is running a fever and can not be in school.
Home sick could also mean one is sad and missing a place of home.  About this time of year, plans are being made by most people posted overseas for summer travel back to their home country.  Since we just arrived in December those plans for this summer will not be happening.  We will be sending kid one back to the states to do some much needed summer schooling and college visits but kid middle, kid three and myself will stay put on this side of the globe for the summer break.  The mister will be doing all kinds of travel for work so we have placed him in the "exempt from our planning" pile.
Kid middle and myself both feel that going back so soon is just going to restart the pain of saying good bye so we feel safe in staying here for the summer break.  Unfortunately kid three does not agree with us and really would like to make the trip.  All the kids have adjusted to this move incredibly well but if I had to pick one that is doing best and one that is doing worst I would have to say, really all are doing "best" but kid three has had more "sad days" than the rest of us.  Those days that you just can't stop yourself from thinking, "if only I were back in the US"... He has been lonely for his home, his dog, his friends, his routine, his way of life.  On his birthday this month he was asking me if any of his friends from US would come and visit us in India.  I told him maybe his cousin and one other family from cub scouts expressed a small interest, both of which made him happy to think about.
I guess when a person goes away, in the sense that they have not died but simply left their last location, it is reassuring to know from time to time that one is not forgotten.  I think he is feeling a bit forgotten, as we all do for brief periods of time while we think, "if only I were back in the US"...
Our whole family has fallen into relying on the www. to update anyone about our activities here in India.  We have not written letters or postcards to friends and family like we made grand plans to do.
So our goal for ourselves during the summer is to do just that.  Write little notes to Grandma and Grandpa and neighbors and friends and cousins and "pen pals".  I hope you all can join us and make this summer one to remember because of the paper trail we will leave behind. Let's keep in touch!

Are Things So Different?

We were still awake at 9:30pm when the drumming began.  The younger kids were in bed but not sleeping yet.  There was some very loud drumming coming from right outside our building, performance type of drumming, but it was 9:30pm on a school/work night.  We looked out from our upper story windows and could see there was a fire right across the street from our building.  Nothing to note, it was just a small camp fire.  One like every other small camp fire happening all over the city at this hour of night.  Simple fires set to warm the bodies of those around it.  The only reason this fire was any different was that there seemed to be some people circling the fire and the drumming that brought our attention to the window in the first place.  Despite the attention, the drumming continued, the circling continued and after a bit there was even some rhythmic clapping to accompany the drums and an occasional whoop or holler.
We laughed with each other and mister commented, "Just like back home.  Our neighbors would have a fire and drum and circle until all hours of the night."  Although we didn't seem to stand at the window and watch them.
I asked our housekeeper the next morning if she too heard the drumming.  She had and thought it was someone getting married or maybe an Indian festival.  June seems to be the time of year to get married in the states but November and December are big wedding months in India.  She tells me that many times when it gets dark then the celebrations begin.  Hummm, that too seems familiar.

Added on Sunday, January 16, 2011
Just found this article reporting on the festival of Lorhi
 http://www.prokerala.com/news/articles/a194833.html

Analyze This

We are a family of vivid dreamers.  Some more detailed than others but we remember dreams at different times and often we discuss our dreams with each other.  We sometimes see clear connections to the dream and other times after discussing the dream we can better understand how we came to that dream.  Every once in a while we have a dream that is just odd, unexplainable, way out there.
This particular Saturday morning we decided to have a big breakfast of gluten-free, plate sized pancakes and sausage.  We all sat around the large dining room table and chatted.  This dream was shared complements of kid one.

The whole family of five was attending the US local amusement park for Thanksgiving break.  We were crowding into an area trying to be seated for the birthday celebration for Beyoncé.  We noticed the people seating for the event were the student council president and the staff advisor for student council so we talked with them in an attempt to get seated for the birthday party.  We managed to get a seat and waited for the celebration to begin.    The entertainment portion of the celebration was none other than Sandra Bullock dressed in boxing gear complete with gloves, and she was going in for a boxing match.  There was a scary roller coaster ride and many people and lots of fun but it was one of those dreams that when you wake you wonder, "Why the heck were Beyoncé and Sandra Bullock on my mind?"

So all you dream interpreters out there, analyze this.  We welcome your comments in the comment section.

Christmas In India

     We had been in India almost three weeks when Christmas arrived. Planning ahead, we packed all the decorations we would bring from "home" in our luggage so they were sure to arrive before Christmas. Our air shipment arrived from the US on Tuesday, December 21 and it was like an early Christmas (number one) for all of us. We couldn't remember what was in the air shipment and when we received word of its arrival I chose not to look at the inventory until after we could feel the surprise of opening the boxes. So that day was our first India Christmas. We had purchased bedding and blankets, shower curtains and drapes to decorate our new home before we left the US. When all of this arrived in our air shipment, we opened and inventoried everything and we began to decorate our house to look a little more like "our" home.
     On Christmas Eve we were invited to a new friend's home for the evening. We had great fun meeting new people, kids all playing, eating traditional Christmas food like turkey, ham, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cookies and desserts. We played a white elephant game around the Christmas tree and Santa even came in for a visit. It all felt like Christmas and we walked home saying that was fun and we were all tired. On our way home we even had a tuk-tuk driver yell "Merry Christmas!" to us as we crossed a busy street.
     Christmas day arrived almost a half day before it arrived for our family in the US, and Santa came to India first! Christmas morning arrived really early in our house because the kids just couldn't stay asleep. The three of them traditionally sleep in the same room on Christmas Eve, true to tradition the all piled into kid one's room and attempted to sleep for the night. At 5AM they crept into our room to announce the evidence that Santa had arrived and then we were up for the day. Santa found the kids in India and Grandma and Grandpa W's gifts were there too. (number two) The kids were feeling like Mom and Dad re-gifted when they opened the Fodor's tour book of India we have had from before our move. Seeing it was book marked to the page with our itinerary for Monday, December 27 we would take a ride to Agra and tour the Taj Mahal. (A whole post will be made for this soon-number three)
     We walked to church that morning and the walk reminded me we were in India, far away from our family and our home of ten plus year. No sooner than I started to feel that longing and a car drove by and the passengers greeted us with a loud "Merry Christmas!" and I felt this too will feel like our home when it comes time to leave.
     New traditions will come about, new friends will be made and still new gifts will arrive! Because on Wednesday, December 29 we had four packages arrive. Some was an order I placed but the box from Grandma and Grandpa D arrived with gifts for everyone. We all shouted with delight to find all the gluten free packages of goodies in the box for the family. Kid three opened his own package, a set of books from the cousin book exchange and we all had Christmas number four at our house. I am not sure we will get all the way to twelve days of Christmas but we will keep you posted.

Sunday afternoon Drive

Last Sunday after church we were invited by our friendly neighbors to go out and see some sights in Delhi.  Together we decided it would be fun to go see Red Fort.  Nobody bothered to take into account that Friday was an Islamic holiday, and most businesses were closed, making that weekend a three day weekend.  Red Fort apparently is in Old Delhi and a section where a lot of activity relating to this holiday were taking place.  The traffic was slow, at best, so we did some people watching.  Along with got watched, (stared at) ourselves.  This is a job none of us would like.  Look closely, there are three men in the wires, we assume attempting to fix something.  I really don't think that was a pleasure climb.

After almost giving up on parking we exited the car and started for the gate at Red Fort.  As you can see from these pictures, we did not have an original idea for a Sunday afternoon.

It didn't take us long to decide, we have lots of weekends to go to Red Fort in Delhi, India since we have agreed to live her for two years.  So we walked back to the car and drove back toward home.  The day wasn't a total loss though.  We saw a man on a bike with two monkeys in tow.  The kids have been wanting to see monkeys.  Not quite the same to have them on the end of a rope but it was fun to watch the little monkey act the guy put on with the pets.



Like meeting a Celebrity

In these first few weeks here in Delhi we have checked into the places that need to know we are here and begun to get around a bit.  We have become familiar with the US Embassy and have begun our membership process to the things the embassy has to offer.  We can shop at the embassy commissary, eat at the embassy restaurants, use the gym and bowling ally, all fine advantages of having the US Embassy membership.
In our moving around and checking in we have had the pleasure of meeting some of the fine people we either read about prior to arriving in India or even better, had contact with and corresponded with prior to our arrival.  When we found out where we would be living a very helpful co-worker of the Mister put us in touch with our neighbors down one floor.  We had emailed and Mister even talked to Mr first floor when we were still state side.  We have met the entire family and we are blessed to have such great neighbors. 
We met the famous Superman, a co-worker with the Mister, a helpful local man who works with Mister and has helped both while we were state side and has the answers to all or our local inquiries.  I think his name should be Superman, he is that helpful!  And even a superhero at times. 
Through sharing of our news prior to our move to India, my in-laws put us in touch with another family with ties to the mid-west who moved to Delhi in July of 2010.  I was put in touch with A who answered many questions from what to pack to where can I get a hair cut.  A and daughter E took kid one and I out for a day of shopping on Saturday.  They just took us to Khan Market and Sarajoni shopping areas. What a treat to do some shopping India style. 

We have now met face to face with these helpful people and are comforted by the help they continue to shower on us as we adjust.   I feel like I am meeting famous people when I see faces to these names I have had in my head for months now.  Thank you famous helpful people!