December 23, 2008

Could this be Ground Hog Day (the movie)?

Yesterday was the shortest day of the year in Bangalore.  June 22 was the longest.  There is barely an hour and a half difference beween the two.   
 
Dec 22, 2008      Sunrise> 6:37 AM       Sunset> 5:59 PM      Hours of Daylight> 11h 21m 51s
Jun 22, 2008       Sunrise> 5:55 AM       Sunset>  6:48 PM     Hours of Daylight> 12h 53m 25s
 
In the winter we have nearly 3 more hours of light a day than in Minneapolis where the sun rose at 7:48 AM and went down at 4:34 PM on Monday.
 
Weather is similarly consistent.  Here are the averages for high temps of the day.  It got down to a record low of 54 degrees here one time!
Jan-81   Feb-86   Mar-90   Apr-93   May-91   Jun-84   Jul-82   Aug-81   Sep-82   Oct-82   Nov-80   Dec-79
 
Small talk requires a whole different skill here.  People give you a really funny look if you bring up the weather wondering why on earth it is worth mentioning when it never changes.  You hardly ever see anything about it in the paper.  Why waste ink on something that is always the same? 
 
Something that has taken me time to adjust to is when people talk about summer here they are referring to March through June, not the months I typically think of as summer.  I don't think the other 9 months have a nomenclature.  They are just "not summer" as far as I can tell.
 
 
 

December 19, 2008

Thank you to our realtor: Seth Johnson

Thanks to Seth Johnson, our house had an offer in an amazingly short period of time given the housing market.  It went on the market the beginning of Oct and the sale closed on Dec 1.  If anyone needs a great realtor I recommend Seth.  He went above and beyone to help us.  Tell him I sent you...
 
Seth H. Johnson, Coldwell Banker Burnet,  612-827-9437  direct,  612-889-7853  cell, www.cbburnet.com/seth
 
I'll save the long story about what it's like to arrange a house sale closing from across the world for another day.  Big learning... assign limited power of attorney to someone who can sign papers for you.  Overnight mail take 3-4 days each direction and costs alot!

December 18, 2008

O' Tannenbaum

Our little Christmas tree for our first holiday in India.

December 17, 2008

A snail's pace

Kind of puts futility into perspective, doesn't it?  A nights journey through the yard, across the sidewalk, up the stair, navigating the porch just to end up in a dead end corner.  I've had days like that.

December 16, 2008

Google knows...

Google knows where I am apparently.  When I search for something now days, I get references within documents originated in India primarily.  I can't quite convince Google that sometimes my point of reference really needs to be Minnesota, not Karnataka.  Could Google be "Big Brother"?  It also seems to read my email because all the links offered in the sidebar are relevent to whatever my email is about.

December 9, 2008

Breakfast Biking in Bharat

The sea shipment arrived this past week, and an important item in the manifest was our mountain bikes. Upon reassembly and pressurizing the tires, I casually mentioned to a fellow expat, Alex that he would have to show me some of his biking trails, as he has often talked of several trips he has taken. Apparently, there is a Sunday morning biking group that goes out into the country side for 30-40 km rides. Alex invited me to go this Sunday past, and so we ventured to Varthur and beyond.

Departing Palm Meadows at 6:45 am seven intrepid adventures headed South towards Jessie’s school (2 through 7 on the map), which meant that we needed to traverse the narrow road atop an earthen dam on the road to Varthur (2-3). At the dam we encountered dense fog for the next 10 km or so, and it did not burn off until we were quite a ways into the country side.

Other than being on the highway from Palm Meadows to where we turned into the country, which was kinda busy with traffic and other hindrances, the ride was peaceful trek through the fields and coconut groves of rural Karnataka.

Breaking for chai somewhere around 9 or 10 on the map, we continued deeper into the country traversing fields with people harvesting sugar cane and coconuts, planting rice, irrigating, and tending to livestock. We rode through several villages where the people were just beginning their day. In most of the houses it appeared that there was no electricity; so, their day begins when the sun comes up. People were out and about, talking in groups. The children were playing. Our entourage caused a bit of a stir whenever we went through a village. The children always waved their hands and yelled hello or good bye with big smiles, and we always returned a kindly reply accompanied with smiles.

Since we were out in the country, and since I have seen several TV programs regarding the whereabouts of big snakes in India, I was acutely aware of me immediate surroundings at all times. No one in the group encountered such a critter, which was fortuitous, but the possibility was there – especially around the rice fields with standing water. Two dangerous critter encounters to report upon. The first was when I almost collided with a chicken in the road as we went through a village. I was not sure of the outcome of striking a chicken, and you never know just how much the fowl was going to cost if it suffered a premature basting. The second encounter was with a cow. As you are gliding by on your bike, and you must pass within inches of the south end of a north facing bovine, your thoughts center around if you’re going to get past the howitzer before it goes off.

Somewhere between 18 and 21 on the map our fearless leader, Arun, stopped and chatted with a local person as we passed through another village. He then indicated that he wanted to backtrack a bit to see if a well they had been searching for the past two months existed. We ventured down another path for 200-300 meters, and indeed, we did encounter a well. It was a big hole in the ground – there was no fence around it to keep things from falling into it. The well was about 10 meters across, and the water level was down from the surface about 8-9 meters. The well was lined with a wall of granite blocks cemented together, and it had a staircase that went down to below the water level that was made of granite planks cantilevered out from the wall. The granite steps looked to be about 4” thick by about half a meter wide, and they stuck out from the wall of the well about a meter. The story of the well and this cycling group was that on a previous trip, with much higher water level, one of the members of the group jumped into the well for a swim, which we did not do, of course.
Further on, around 22 – 23 on the map, we encountered 10-15 frames of silkworms in the road soaking up sun as we went through yet another village. Silk worms are quite large – about 8-10 cm in length and almost a cm in girth. These were white as snow, and I do not know if they are any other color.

Leaving the silkworms, we quickly encountered the hustle and bustle of urban civilization, and we scurried back to the safety of Palm Meadows around 10:15 am. In total the trip was about 37 km in length. Many thanks to Arun for leading the trek and for having the presence of mind to take a camera to document our travels. I must say that it was quite liberating to know that I can make such a trip. I would never attempt it without a guide as every little trail goes somewhere and nowhere at the same time, and it is quite easy to get lost. Even with the use of a GPS we found ourselves repositioning a few times as were on a trail of dubious destination. Upon our return, Alex and I went to his house for a medicinal bloody mary, which was the perfect end to a successful foray into the countryside of Bharat.

December 8, 2008

Bakrid Festival

Tomorrow is an important festival in India call Bakrid.  Schools are closed in honor of this day and many people will be celebrating with their families.  http://festivals.indobase.com/bakrid/index.html

December 3, 2008

Oh Rats!

Today when we got our sea shipment we discovered we have 9 new family members... Grandma Rat, Grandpa Rat, Papa Rat, Mama Rat, and 5 baby rats.  And they didn't cost us anything to import from the U.S. or perhaps Dubai. That's in contrast to the cats that cost almost $5000 to bring across. 
 
Good news from the shipping company... they have never, ever heard of anyone else having rats show up in their shipment.  So rest easy, expats to come.   I was kinda bummed not to have a rat story to tell like all the expats that have preceded me.  Now I have my very own rat story.  And I have cats to finish the story for me!

November 29, 2008

Typical traffic scene in Chennai India

 

Note back to Hannah

Hi Hannah, I like our house. I switched bedrooms because I wanted to sleep in the one the cats like. I play soccer and take Tai Kwan Do lessons. I like to draw. Math in school is hard. They are way ahead to multiplication with carrying. Preston and Jimmy are my friends. They came from Minneapolis too. That was the elephant trainer giving it a drink. I got to pet a baby elephant though.

I miss you too. Jessi  You can email me directly at ThorneInIndia@gmail.com

Big snail in the yard



Gecko's new tail

 

Re: Update from Jessi

The gecko's tail is growing back.  Their tail falls off to confuse a predator, and they are pretty neat.  We have geckos all around the house.  I'm sending a picture of the snail my dad saw outside our house.  It was really big.  Mom says that she sees lots of snails on the rock fences when she goes to work
 
On Monday's I wear a blue button up shirt and tan skort to school and on Tuesday I wear my house color shirt [greenish] with dark blue shorts.  The rest of the week I wear an orange polo shirt and the dark blue shorts.  On all days I wear dark blue socks.  I don't have my shoes yet.  Dad says they are on backorder at the store. 
 
It's Thanksgiving week here, but you would not know it.  It is not a holiday celebrated here.  Mom says about 25 families are going to dinner on Thursday.  Where we live, Palm Meadows, has a Halloween celebration, and it was a lot of fun.
 
In school we are learning multiplication with carrying.  When I started it, it was really hard, but now I'm getting the hang of it.  On Wednesday and Friday I have soccer after school, and on Saturday mornings I have a tae kwon do class.  I have homework on Monday's and Friday's.
 
We had a big rain Friday night.  Dad said it was part of the Northeast monsoon.  A bunch of fly like bugs hatched out.  They had big wings, and they were everywhere at 7pm.  We went for a walk, and there were toads everywhere eating the flies.  By 9pm, the flies were gone, and so were the toads.
 
Dad and mom had to go to Chennai to the US Consulate to get some papers signed.  I stayed with some friends so that I wouldn't miss any school.  During the mid-winter holidays we are going to Kerala [Southern state on the Arabian sea].  We're going to a tea plantation, and to stay on a house boat in the backwaters.  Then we're going to the beach.  The beach is what I like the most.

November 27, 2008

We are ok

We've gotten several inquiries asking if we are ok following yesterday's incident in Mumbai.  We very much appreciate the concern and we are fine. Mumbai is about 600 miles from Bangalore.

November 25, 2008

View from hotel room in Chennai

 

Deja Vu! What's New Hope doing in India?

It was a head turner when I saw the name of our Minnesota town in India…  Surreal…

Another U.S. Postal experience

We've received another packet from the U.S.  It was a photo mailer and cost $1 to send to India.  It arrived fine and fairly quickly.  Our next experiment will be an order from Amazon.

Can someone explain the center ad to me?

 

November 24, 2008

Stereotyped?

I think I've been stereotyped.  Twice now I have been in lounges in India and suddenly I was listening to Willie Nelson.  I figure I'm being stereotyped as liking Country Western music because I'm from Montana.  But I can't figure out how people know.  Is my Montana accent really that strong?  I have to say I was relieved when Willie Nelson's voice was replaced by Glenn Cambell (and that is not saying much at all).  And at least neither place played "There's a Teer in My Beer".  That would have been just too much.  For the record: I dislike country western music unless it is Alabama.  And I really, really, really dislike Willie Nelson and hope no one in India ever again is gracious enough to put Willie's songs on because the only two people in the lounge "look" like they would like it.   Thanks for the thought though.

November 22, 2008

Cat 2, Alarm clock 0, Gecko 0

Jac was chuffed and in pursuit during a fast and furrrius stalk; known prey were in his sights. The clock was collateral damage when the shock and awe of one chuffed kitty left the area of the bedroom - able to leap beds in a single bound kind of stuff. Cleared the bed and night stand, but it was long jump and tail was flat for aerodynamics; clock was clipped by tail chuffed tabby. Both clock and cat landed in computer room, where tabby quickly assumed the "it wasn't me" repose in the middle of the floor - assuming he was too cute for trouble to stick. I think his super-tabby cape should be "teflon tabby". As for the clock, it took a lick'n and kept on tick'n.

Tig was reposing on the scratch stand, and during all the commotion the best he could muster was a sleepy eyed "wasssup".

A ruckus in the night followed. One tailess, motionless, hearbeatless gecko was found on the site of the attack.

November 10, 2008

A question answered...

I've had multiple inquires regarding what Larrie does during the day...  I think he provided me with the answer when I got this email earlier!  (Jac is one of the cats.)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Larrie Thorne <thorneinindia@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 3:02 PM

Jac had the rips, so I chased him around the front room; hid from him in the DR and when he came by I  jumped out at him.  He scampered into the BR, and I pursued in chase.  Under the bed; redirected into the bathroom - up into the sink assuming the "Jac in the Sink" position.  Water gets turned on.  Sink fills up - I guess he did not realize the sink was filling up.  Result: one wet cat racing to front door and lots of grooming.
 
I think they're boored and need toys.  I don't seem to cut it any more.

November 9, 2008

U.S. Mail to India

We've been very curious about how long it would take for mail to get to us in Bangalore and how much it would cost, so an experiment was conducted.  Allison's parents sent a manilla envelope from Butte, MT with about a dozen pieces of paper in it.  It cost $3.50, took 9 days, and made it right to the mail box at our house.  Some mail from Montana to Minnesota has taken almost that long!  Now we just need to figure out how to send mail in the other direction.

November 6, 2008

Ants Happen

One of the more interesting observations of the circle of life in India is to realize how each life form in the circle is dependent upon those around it, which is less evident at home. I suspect this is a case of conscious awareness vs. unconscious awareness; however, none the less, it is a case for pondering.

Waste is managed here by a trickle down process. The resident humans generate waste due to consumption of stuff, and the residue trickles down to other persons of need or other levels of life, the dogs, cats, cows, crows, and the like. Once this layer has completed its consumption of the stuff, the residue trickles down to the next level and so on. Sooner or later you get to the ants; although, there are those species of ants who assume their rightful place at the top of the process and attempt to be primary consumers of stuff.

Ants are everywhere here, and there are multiple species, each with its purpose - nothing new there. What is new is that the living quarters for us humans in this tropical environment are not nearly as protected environment as at home. As such, you wind up living with a bunch of ants, and you begin to wonder about who is really in charge – what your purpose is. Am I just a conduit of nutrition to the ants? If I leave something at rest too long - it attracts a crowd regardless of where I am in my environment.

Historically, I have been rather an antagonist towards ants, and that bent has followed me to India. One of my first acquisitions upon residency in our home was to procure a can of ant bomb, which I have used to eradicate my space of ants. After a month of that behavior, I have come to the futile realization of my actions, as I have not modified the behavior of the ants a single iota. You spray, they migrate to a cleaner spot to do their business for a few days, the chemicals wear off, and they move back to the more efficient and historical path.
Another example of attempted behavioral modification was the ant "hole" that appeared under the cycad in the front of the house. The hole wast about 3 cm across, and its depth was too dark to see bottom. This particular type of ant is a nasty little beasty, and it is not aware that it should not attack a much larger agressor. My first volley was to stuff an immature coconut into the hole as hard as I could. That seemed to stop visible growth of the hole until the grounds keepers could not rationalize why the coconut was stuffed into the hole, and they removed the plug. Within a few hours, the squatters had reclaimed lost territory. Me 0, ants 1. My next move was to drop a few 2 cm pieces of granite into the hole, and then using the output of their work as backfill, I filled in the remaining holes with soil. Using my foot, I tramped the soil quite firmly. Within two days, three small holes have appeared - they are having to work around the stones; however, I fear they have adapted. Me 0, ants 2. Match to the ants.

The buildings (and houses) here are framed by a concrete post and lintel system with blank spaces filled in by solid concrete blocks. The fascia surface is a couple of layers of cement stucco and a layer of paint. So, essentially, I live in a pile of sand held together by cement, which is a perfect habitat for the ants. One can observe many minor defects in the skin of the house that has a stream of ants coming and going from it, and then you realize the porosity of the walls due to the block construction and gaps in the mortar binding the blocks together, you realize that essentially, the ants are holding the house up.
Maybe I'll be a little nicer to the ants as a survival technique - If I let them live, they might not pull out the key piece of sand that the entire house is structurally dependent upon.


Many have commented on the antiquity of ants, and that they will survive the humans when human dominance disappears from the earth, and I accept that. However, here in India at least, without the humans, the ant diet will be greatly impacted. The ants would have to resort to an ancient diet of fiber, which is probably better for them anyway, and they would need to go back to building their own domiciles. I wonder if they have retained the necessary skills to build a decent ant hill from scratch?

October 30, 2008

Tabbies finally in Karnataka!

After 35 days of us missing them, the Tabbies, Jac and Ti, have joined us in Bangalore, Karnataka. Today ranks right up there with the day we were married and the day Jessi was born in terms of happiness, excitement, planning, and cost.
Shortly before we left Minneapolis, rules about importing cats into Bangalore changed because of the new international airport. Pets could no longer be imported directly. They had to go to Mumbai, Chennai, or Dehli first; then airline vaccination rules changed; then airlines able to carry pets changed. Finally, it was the holiday season here and offices were closed.
Jac and Ti began their journey about 8am Tuesday morning, Minneapolis time. They finally got to our house about 5:30 pm Thursday evening, India time (nearly 48 hours later). The boys have spent the evening drinking lots of water and checking out the new place. We wondered how well they would still remember us, but they are already purring and coming to their names when called.



October 29, 2008

An Indian Summer Day's Rambling

It’s Nov 1 already! The Thornes have been in India for over a month. I had originally intended to update KarnatakaTabbies more frequently, but as I have discovered, not working does not equate to not busy and time slips by. (BTW: Karnataka is not pronounced Karn-a-taka, it is more like Kaar-naaugh-tikkaa, where the a’s are kind of a double a nasally sound). The really good news of this date is that the tabbies are here, our sea shipment is here, and the local bank finally chose to grant us a bank account. So, Allison’s passport is in Delhi as Delhi is the port of entry for the tabbies. As-soon-as-is-possible, the passport needs to come back to Bengaluru for the customs process for the sea shipment and the bank. It seems that when ever someone says they want a copy of the passport, they really mean they need the passport itself.

Our first week was spent getting residency established. If you live here more than 180 days in a year, you must establish residency at the FRO (foreign residency office; the Indians seem to be profuse TLA users). This is a formal process, and all of us (Allison, Jessica, and Larrie) had to appear with passports and a pile of other paper to prove who we were, why we were here, and who was paying the bills. Luckily, our process was facilitated by some very capable young men, and we mostly stood around waiting for when we actually had to match face to passport. The FRO is an old British style colonial building on Infantry Road. Lit by sometimes working florescent lights, and cooled by even less than sometimes working fans, one gets the feeling that upon entry you are transported back in time at least a century and to anywhere in the British equatorial empire., which is a rather interesting awareness to get lost in. There is quite a cross section of the worlds population at the FRO as India, and especially Bengaluru, is a very happening place, and everyone wants to be here. Outside in a marvelous old tree of unknown species was a fruit bat colony, which added to the sensory drama of the place.

FRO papers are very important as no other aspect of a normal life can proceed without them. Once obtained, we were able to partake of a similar process to get our air shipment released for delivery. The process required Allison and myself to go to the new airport (a 90 minute drive one way) for a 5 minute face showing / match to passport. Once that was accomplished, we returned to Palm Meadows (another 90 minutes), and the facilitator spent five hours with the customs folks getting our shipment released for delivery. Once released, it was repacked, loaded onto a lorry for delivery, which arrived at Palm Meadows after the hour that the guards allow lorries on property. So, we reloaded all the stuff into the van and brought it to the house in 2-3 trips. Adaptability is the major skill required to exist here. You cannot allow yourself to get frustrated by what is – you adapt and move on. We save frustration for when we have to deal with events in the US.

A day after we left US, the final payment check from our insurance company was delivered to New Hope. Our friend Crystal retrieved it for us, and I spent the next two weeks trying to get our bank in US to allow it to be deposited into our bank account. It required real signatures; so, at a cost of $120, we had the check shipped to India, where we signed it, and returned it to the US. As of today, the bank is still not accepting the deposit of the check without a bunch more documentation, and I have attempted to escalate our situation to the level where someone at the bank will stop the madness. If I were Charlie Brown, I would look at the sky and shake my fist and shout, “Damn you Homeland Security” as I suspect this is all a result of the tightening of laws post 9/11, and it is a real problem to work through. By the time we get that check deposited, the value of it will have decreased so much due to the economic collapse that it’ll barely cover the cost of getting it deposited. And then there is the sale of the house, for which I am going to save for another days story.

All and all, life here is good. India is a surprising place. I am still searching for the right combination of words to describe what I see and experience. The people we deal with directly are very friendly and accepting of us, and we are adapting to an Indian way of living so as to not intrude into their reality too deeply; although, I do think we amuse them greatly with our strange behaviors.

October 28, 2008

Diwali

I've avoided better/worse comparisons between India and the U.S. until now. They really aren't that helpful and we are here because we wanted to experience the differences, not judge them. However, I have to say fireworks are way more fun here! Crackers are going off for hours for at least 4 nights running. I suspect they will continue tomorrow night.

Rather than have a central location to go watch the fireworks, you are surrounded with brilliant bursts of light all over. You can buy fireworks for very little to shoot off yourself. They would only be available to professionals and surrounded by firemen in the U.S. Just now sparks coming off my roof caught my eye. It's a good thing all the roofs are tile and the walls are cement.

The fireworks are so dangerous that Larrie spilled his beer trying to jump out of the way of an errant fountain turned rocket. Allison took to hiding behind palm trees to have a safety shield after a bottle rocket came her way. And Jessi was in her element as you can see from the picture.

For more about Diwali check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali

October 26, 2008

Another Jessi update

They don't have halloween in India.  But there are enough people from countries that do in our village.  So, we are dressing up and going to a couple of parties.  My bedroom color is light blue, and it has two sets of windows and a ceiling fan.  I use the fan at night to keep cool.  I only have a sheet on my bed.  Today is Saturday, and India is getting ready to celebrate Diwali.  That's a five day festival, and it's kind of like Christmas and July 4th all in one.  The Hindu people celebrate it.  There are lots of lights like Christmas lights everywhere.  And I hear that there will be lots of fireworks.  You can get some really awesome fireworks here since we're next to China.  India does not have the laws that Minnesota has limiting the types of fireworks.  My dad got some that will shoot way high in the sky.
 
School is going ok.  I have a Spanish class, and we're starting multiplication.  After school on Wed and Fri I have soccer. This week we didn't have soccer because of the rains.  The monsoon season is starting.  I've almost got all of school uniform stuff. 
 
Our house has these geckos living around it, and they come out at night.  Every night we go out to count how many we have.  We usually see four or five.  I tried to catch one the other day, and it's tail came off.  The tail kept wiggling, and the gecko escaped.  We named him Stubby.  We check for him everyday now to see how quickly the tail grows back on.
 
The banannas are still green.

October 25, 2008

Jessi experience

Jessi discovered what happens when you try to catch a gecko by the back end.  It simply leaves its tail behind.  And the tail twitches and moves all by itself to distract the predator (Jessi).  We now have a gecko named Stubby living on the front of the house.  We are waiting to see how long it takes for a tail to grow back.  He's been back on the wall both nights following the incident.

October 19, 2008

Indian Giant Squirrels and Minnesota Golden Gophers

This weekend we went to Bannerghatta National Park http://www.bangalorebest.com/discoverbangalore/sightseeing/bannerghatta.asp. We learned there is a squirrel that is already the right colors to be the mascot for the University of Minnesota. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Giant_Squirrel  It truly is maroon and gold!  They should ditch the gopher.  The squirrel and Jessi seemed to have more in common than just their attire.

October 17, 2008

Jessi's school and Mysore

 

Jessie News

I started school this week.  I have been very busy adjusting to all the new people and stuff.  I get on the bus at 7:30 in the morning.  The bus drops me off at 4:00 in the afternoon.  I'm sending some pictures of my school.  The teachers are called ma'am, and the speak English with an Indian accent.  I don't always understand them.  So, I have to ask several times to understand what they are telling me.  I am starting soccer too.  I am excited about that.  I have math class and I start Spanish class.  My room number is 2-B.  2 for 2nd grade, and B for the second room of second grade.  There are three teachers in the room.  When I go to Spanish class, I go to a different room.  There are only windows in the classrooms.  The hallways are open to the outside.  The school does not have outer doors, either.  We have a lot of guards around the school. [Note: the school is about 15 km from where we live.  It is "out in the country" on about 20 acres of ground.  They have a big soccer field and a playground.  There are three interconnected buildings one for each grade grouping: primary, middle, high school.  The kindergarten is in a separate building.  There are about 350 students at the moment. The whole property is surrounded by a 6 foot high wall, and there is a gate on the inbound road with guards.  It is not an easy place to get into.  I think the wall is more to keep things out, than to keep things in.  Things that are not necessarily healthy for kids, like big snakes or wild dogs.]

My school has uniforms.  Our colors are orange and blue.  I am in the nurturers house, and it's color is green.  The houses are just like in Harry Potter – we get points for being good, and lose points for not being so good. On Monday I wear a blue polo shirt with a skort ('cause of being a girl), and on Tuesday, I wear a tee shirt with my house color.  Wed – Fri I wear an orange shirt with blue shorts because we spend a lot of time outside.  We have special socks and shoes, too!

Last weekend we went to Mysore http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysore to see some old palaces and stuff.  We went to this place that had monkeys roaming around.  They were fun to watch.  It was a really long day (18 hours).  I was glad to get home, and I was very tired.  The crowds were very big – lots and lots of people.  I am still getting used to that.  Some people tried to touch my skin.  Maybe to see if it felt the same as theirs.  I didn't like that.

The bananas on our tree are still green.  It must take awhile to ripen.  The name of my school is Inventure Academy (http://www.inventureacademy.com)  I have made many new friends at school.  The first couple of days I was the new kid, and everybody wanted to be with me.  I didn't like that too much as I needed some space for me.  But now I'm just one of the kids.  India only feels like home because this is where mom and dad are.  When we get back to Minnesota, that'll feel like home for the same reason.  There are a couple of kids that I know from my neighborhood that go to my school.  It's nice to have some familiar faces.  It's still pretty warm here.  And we're getting ready for the fall monsoon.  Dad says that is when the clouds come back from the Himalayas to the ocean.

Pictures

 

Humbling experience

After living in the same place for more than a decade it is a humbling experience to move to a new place and a really good reminder to help new people whether at work or in the neighborhood feel comfortable and welcome.  We've been so lucky to have neighbors and co-workers reach out over and over again to see if we have questions or need anything.  We are very grateful to all the people who have done so and we plan to "pay it forward". 
 
We also appreciate all the people back in Minneapolis who helped us make this transition.  I'd like to say a special thank you to Crystal Gillis for being our "family" in Minnesota.  Without Crystal continuing to help us we would have so many more concerns and trouble.  THANK YOU, CRYSTAL!!!
 
I'm still trying to learn to walk consistently on the left side of the hall, stairs, and sidewalk.  I keep confusing people coming the other way.  Just like in London, traffic drives on the other side of the street than in the U.S. and that carries over to sidewalks.  Probably the most important thing to remember is to change the sequence of looking in both directions before crossing the steet to avoid getting smushed.  At least in the hallway people just look at you funny until you remember to move to the proper side.  I've decided the adage "Do something 17 times in 21 days and it will become a habit" is not true when trying to change something you've done your whole life.
 
Other things that have been learning experiences are:
  • Phones... I've had to learn a whole new set of strategies about how to make calls.  Calling varies whether calling land line to land line, cell to cell, cell to land line, and land line to cell.  I'm not sure I'm ever going to be able to memorize a phone number here because they are so much longer.  Thank goodness for the Contacts function of cell phones. 
  • In additon, I'm having to learn to understand what different sounds mean when I call someone.  It's not the typical ring, ring.  There can be buzzes, beeps, music, dead silence, or clicks.  I haven't figured out what they all mean yet.
  • Palm Trees have to be trimmed.  It is an interesting process to see a whole frond pulled off.  I'm hoping to get a picture sometime.
  • Coconuts are cut open and sold like soft drinks.  Vendors are all over.  I'm anxious to try one.  We are trying to figure what happens to all the coconut husks every night.  By the end of the day there a huge piles of them next to the vendors.  They are gone by the next day.  Our theory is that perhaps they are picked up to be made into charcoal.  We seen charcoal here that is made from them. 
  • Monkeys like coconuts. 
  • Gecko's come out at night.  And we have lots of them on the outside of our house.  We've only seen two in our house so far.  They eat bugs so they are welcome.
  • Spiders seem to be rare in Bangalore.  Allison likes that!
  • Water buffalo seem to have an inate sense of time.  Every day you can see them going in one directio nat 9:20 am.  They return at 5:30.  How do they know???  It's not like any human with a watch is leading them along.  They are unaccompanied.
Ta ta for now!

October 13, 2008

Jessi's update

We moved into our house on Monday, Oct 6.    Drinking the bottled water is not a big deal.  Dad filters it twice and puts into the bottles.  The bottles get stored in the fridge to keep it cool.  Tom and Jerry is on every morning.  I watch a little of it when I eat breakfast.  I start my new school on Monday.  I have not seen it yet.  There is a small park at the end of the block from our house where the school bus will pick me up.
 
We have a bananna tree with bannanas on it.  I can't wait to eat one.  My friend Jimmy has a papaya tree.  They don't like papayas so they're going to give them to us.  I can't wait because papaya is one of my favorite fruits.  The milk here is in boxes and when you buy it, it is warm.  Dad puts it in the fridge to cool it to drink.  Same with the fruit juice.  I really like the guava juice.

Here are pictures of our house.