Don't move to India if you get motion sickness.
I just ate a wonderful meal and my stomach was happily full. Then I got into the back seat of our car, and happily full turns into angrily full. What with sitting in the back seat, manual transmission, and the quick stopping and starting of Indian traffic-honking cars, rickshaws, motorcycles, pedestrians, dogs, and cows, the once happily digesting food begins sloshing around until it's ready to come up again. So take this warning, do not move to India if you get motion sickness. You will love the food, you will want to indulge yourself in the many wonderful restaurants, but on your drive home, all the wonders of your previous meal will be forgotten.
Feel free to stare.
Upon first moving to Hyderabad, we noticed immediately the staring of the locals. It seems that our white skin is quite the novelty here. In the beginning it was very disconcerting. Remember this post from October?
Secondly, as white people, we get stared at, a lot. In fact, we were told before we came that people would even want to take our pictures, and would sometimes even try to do it sneakily without you knowing. Well, it’s one thing to be warned, and another to experience it for yourself!
Then we began to get used to it.
Then we began to stare ourselves. "Ryan, look! There's a white guy!" has become a phrase I have found myself muttering more than once. If I see a white person in a restaurant, I watch them enter, sit down, wonder where they are from, if they live here, what they are doing here. All this while I stare at them, open-mouthed before suddenly realizing I should look away. But spotting a non-Indian residents is really quite rare! Granted, there is a sizable ex-pat community, but you have to really know where to look. There are very few white people just walking down the street. Hence, I have to stare.
If I were on Twitter...
This is what the past couple days' twitterings would be:
- 11am Monday: Just got The Sims 3! I think I'll play for a couple minutes just to see what it's like!
- 12pm Monday: Still playing The Sims 3. It's fun!
- 3 pm Monday: Still playing.
- 11pm Monday: Still playing. Must get some sleep.
- 11am Tuesday: Good morning! I think I'm going to get some work done today! I played too much Sims 3 yesterday, so today will be a productive day.
- 11:05am Tuesday: Decided it couldn't hurt to play for an hour or two.
- 11pm Tuesday: WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?
- 11am Wednesday: Will definitely get work done today.
- 12pm Wednesday: Just did some dishes, now I can reward myself...
- 3pm Wednesday: Must. stop. playing. Will go do chores.
- 3:30pm Wednesday: Laundry in machine! Now I can say I was productive today! Off to play some Sims!
- 1am Thursday: Ryan is telling me to stop playing Sims and go to bed. But since when do I obey him?
Well, I think you get the picture, so I won't continue. It's really just more of the same. But today is a new day! Admittedly, it's already 4pm and I've been playing the Sims for the past 3 hours, but no more! Today I will make up for a wasted week!
- 7pm Friday: I guess I should go "make up for a wasted week" now...
Movie Review: Star Trek
I am not a Trekkie. But I am probably one of the few people in the world that wishes I was. That is because I just saw the new Star Trek movie and really loved it! It stirred in me a desire to go and watch all the old shows and maybe, just maybe, learn a little Klingon. Yes, I said it, and I'm not ashamed. Those of you who know me already know of my love for fantasy fiction, including Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. And those of you who really, really know me, know my love of games like World of Warcraft. This show, while perhaps on the border between all-out fantasy and science fiction, seems like it would be just my cup of tea. I don't feel I am in a position to critique the movie, because I am not a Trekkie and therefore don't know if it followed all the rules set forth in the old show. But I do think I can recommend the movie to others out there who are not Trekkies and are as unfamiliar with the show as I am. It is an action-filled movie, good casting (ie. I thought the characters all had great chemistry), and highly entertaining. Go with a date (there are some cuties in it), go with your family (it was family friendly), and enjoy!
I am now off to abandon my study of Elfish and learn some Klingon.
Culture Shock, episode 4
I am still not used to the power outages here. In the beginning, they were few and far between and only lasted several seconds to a minute. But as the weather has gotten hotter and hotter, the power has been going out more and more. For a while it was predictable; it went out at 12pm and would come back around 1:15 or so. Then it started going out at 11am and lasting until around 12:30pm. These times were quite inconvenient as it was right when I would be making lunch for Ryan and I before he headed out to work. However, at least they were predictable, as I said. Now the power has stopped going out around lunch time, but it goes off for several hours interspersed throughout the day. This is more difficult because you never know when it is coming. Several of the newer apartment buildings will have full back-up power, but ours does not. We knew that going in, but if you will recall, I fell in love with this place the moment I saw it and would not be dissuaded. The power seems to be connected with the heat and lessening of the water supply. We moved here right in the middle of monsoon season (July through September), and apparently that was the reason the power outages were so few at that point. I do not have any source to back up this claim, however. It's more of my own observation.
I am currently writing this post in the midst of a power outage (we have a UPS-Unlimited Power Supply, basically a battery-for my computer) because I was at a loss as to what else to do. I had been working through my Google Reader, but without power, we also lose internet. So I worked on the dishes, straightened up the place, read a little, and began to feel frustrated and hot (no a/c!). Hence the post.
Charminar
The Charminar is the thing to see when visiting Hyderabad. We've taken all our guests so far and enjoyed it for many reasons. Not only is it an interesting building, but it offers a great view of the city and some fun shopping! Since the majority of you are not visiting us (anyone's welcome! OK, not you strangers, but friends are totally welcome), here are a few videos that will give you a virtual tour of the area, instead.
[vimeo 4114627] This video is taken from inside our car as we approach the Charminar. It's long and a little bumpy, but it gives you an idea of what this area of the city is like. And it's in HD (sorry for the long load times, or maybe that's just here, with the slowest internet ever)!
[vimeo 4115427] This is looking down from the top of Charminar (you can climb some very high and uneven stairs, located in the minarets to get to the top, where there are no rails to keep you from going over!).
[vimeo 4115615] Another view from the top. This one includes a picture of me and Mecca Masjid when the camera spans right.
[vimeo 4115742] And finally, yet another view from the top, but this one is of Laad Bazaar, where you can find bangles, cheap (but very nice) fabrics, bangles, pearls, and more bangles.
Still working out the kinks...
But the latest video is now up and running... Hugo on a Plane
Hugo on a Plane
If any of you are curious as to how we transport our Yorkshire Terrier, Hugo, back and forth around the world, here's a short video clip. [vimeo 3711791]
He's gotten so he loves that little carrier, so we leave it out all the time now. We think he feels secure in there. He's an excellent traveler; we never hear a peep out of him. And except for pooping in the Frankfurt airport (he's done this twice now), he's a pleasure to travel with!
Conversation at Charminar
We've been to the Charminar several times now (video postings to come), and every time people ask if they can take pictures with us, or we see them sneaking pictures. I've gotten used to it, but I still get a bit nervous every time we go. I'm mostly just uncomfortable with the constant begging (they will put their hands on you and tug on your clothes) and people following us around trying to sell their wares. One visit, however, while we were waiting for our car, I had a little chat with a couple of boys trying to sell sunglasses. Their English was amazingly good, especially for that part of the city, and they were very curious about my face. Boys: Are you from America? Me: yes. [still trying to ignore them] Boys: Do you speak English? Me: yes. [finally stopped to wait for our car; there was no where for me to go] Boys: Do you speak French? Me: no. Boys: Italian? Me: no. Boys: German? Me: no, only English [by this time, I'm laughing] Boys: Why is your face red? Me [pointing to the sun]: It's very hot here for me! Boys: But your face is so red! Me: I'm just very hot! Woman passing on street looks at me curiously. I see the boys pointing to the sun and at my face, apparently explaining to her why I'm so red. This of course, makes me blush, and subsequently, I get redder. Our car arrives, so we begin climbing in. Boys: You are very pretty. Me: Thank you. We wave goodbye to them from the car.
On our next trip to the Charminar, I met up with one of the same boys again, and he remembered me! This was quite amazing to me, because there are thousands upon thousands of people at this little junction in the city. It just goes to show how few Americans they see there. He offered to sell me sunglasses again, but seeing I was already wearing them, tried to sell them to Ryan instead. We should have just bought a pair from him. After all, he did say I was pretty.
Book Review: The Last Sin Eater
The sin eater was a person who was paid a fee or given food to take upon himself the moral trespasses of the deceased and their consequences in the afterlife. Sin eaters were common in the early nineteenth century in England, the Lowlands of Scotland, and the Welsh border district. This custom was carried over by immigrants to the Amercias and practiced in remote areas of the Appalachian Mountains. This is a purely fictional story of one such person.
Enjoy!
Bangles!
And here's a here's an even better hint at the extent of the bangles:
[vimeo 3712930]
This is just one little alley off of the main road, a road which is filled with alleys like this and more stores like this, all full of bangles. (I told Ryan he should have talked to that kid more; he seemed so excited to be on camera!)
Book Review: The Wind in the Willows
Culture Shock, episode 3
Perhaps the following isn't really a "shock" per se, but it certainly shows some cultural differences. Ryan has been interviewing potential employees for a position in his team, and brought the resumes home to review. And I, being the interested (I prefer not to use the term "nosy", although I know others have used it to describe me) woman that I am, decided to browse through at my leisure. Some of the hobbies listed surprised me, like "partying" for example. But my absolute favorite needed further explanation.
When Ryan decided to ask an Indian co-worker to tell him what it meant, the answer was simply that the candidate had a lot of pets. When the co-worker asked about the inquiry, Ryan explained that it meant something very different in the States and it's not something you'd put on a resume!
Hobbies: heavy petting
Sankranti
Today is also a holiday in India, the national festival of Sankranti. You can read about it more here. What we found fun about the day, however, (besides Ryan getting the day off) were the kites that could be seen flying high all around the city (Sankranti is also celebrated as Kite Flying Day). They were up so high that at first I wasn't sure if they were kites or birds. I spent some time watching a man on the rooftop across from us while he was flying his kite. He seemed very skilled at it. Here are a couple pics. They aren't the best, but like I said, the kites were so high, it was hard to capture them on the camera!
Happy Birthday to Me!
Today is my birthday and because of that, I want to copy a letter that was written to me 27 years ago, on the night that I was born. It's just so sweet and is more of a testament to my amazing family than anything. It is dated and postmarked January 14, 1982.
Dearest Amy Elizabeth,
How we love you and we haven't even met you yet! Your dad's call of one half hour ago made us very happy - so happy I couldn't sleep so decided to write you your first letter. But I should introduce the "we" I spoke about. I'm your grandfather and have been itching for your coming for months - even years. Your grandmother with whom I live was also excited. While your dad described in some detail ofyour arrival, grandma went to the bathroom, went back to bed and started to burp - you will do this to... but after you eat - not in the middle of the night as grandma does. Gross, eh? But before you judge her to harshly, I should tell you what she was doing while you were coming. She was praying for you and your mother. I wish I had been praying, but instead I was reading my Shopsmith magazine at 12:05 AM. Thanks for coming!
I know you haven't had time to look around much, so let me tell you about a few people you will get to know. The most important person in your life - at least for now - is your mother. She's the one who will hold you close and talk the tenderest to you even though you caused great pain when you were born. When you are able ot focus your eyes you will discover she is a beautiful mama. But all babies think their mothers are beautiful. Even though new mothers don't always have their hair fixed and don't have make-up they are beautiful in their own special way. But your mother is especially beautiful. Lots of people think she is beautiful. But more important - she is a beautiful person - probably due to her heritage. Which leads me to another great lady, your maternal grandmother (your mother's mother). She talks a lot, but she won't tell you what makes her great. I'll tell you one thing and you can ask your mother to fill you in on dozens of reasons why she is a real standout. She is so unselfish! For years, she gave up her home one night a week to people who needed help of a friendly family.... You will also get to know another grandfather, your mother's father. you will get to know him through the stories your mother and dad will tell you. He was more than a husband to your grandmother, he was a real partner in his selflessness and leadership in that family that gave your mother such an outstanding heritage. Grandma Dorothy will help your mother when you come home from the hospital. She will hold you, sing to you, walk with you, clean, cook, and she will think she's having fun -- just because of you. I can't explain it, but I know it's true. It's something like the relationship I had with your dad, Uncle Checker and Aunt Laurie. They were in my way a lot, but somehow I loved it. Some time when I'm holding you, I'll tell you about some of those times. I only exaggerate slightly - it's called artists' license. You have a lot more aunts and uncles who you'll want to know about, but I never write a letter this long because of arthritis in my hand. But I just had to tell you about heritage. Your dad is a special guy, too. He's so ambitious, you will have to keep your feminine "wiles" working to extract some of this time - but do it and don't let him postpone that time you spend together. I did some, but now I wish I had done much more. That's part of getting your proper heritage, but "wiles" comes in the genes - and having a mother like yours, you will have an extraordinary supply of feminitiy and "wiles"!
You will hear a wide variety of descriptions as to the kind of world you are coming into. Some will describe the world and their own families as utter chaos and devastation and I could fill this page with philosophy on looking on the bright side of things, but all that can be summarized in a book written for all those who want the best life and death has to offer. Here are a few excerpts:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (Get to know him.)
"But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst." Jesus also said, "He that cometh to me shall never hunger..."
And when you hear bad things, know that He is in control. He said, "Let not your heart be troubled..."
He said that came so that we could have an abundant life. If I remember correctly, He didn't say except in the last days when things are tough. It's hard to believe that you, Amy, will be tempted, but you will be. Listen to this then: "God is faithful who whill not suffer you to be tempted alove that ye are able." Isn't that good!
God says a lot about Peace which you will want to learn especially in the tough times (to be peaceful).
Grandma and I thank God for you!!
Love,
Grandpa
Hot Blog Posts of 2008!
As has become my tradition at the end of the year, it is time for some shameless self-promotion! So here is my list of my favorite blog posts of 2008:
I’m an adult and can do as I want! (Not really) - yay for a home leave this February so I can pick up some of these babies!
Worry Wart - ahhh... sweet childhood memories
Why post? - this is still a good reminder for me when I ask myself why I bother.
My life in India? - it's funny to see how this is playing out and how my goals have changed. I'm still working on most of these things (or still plan to!), but I've added a few as well: studying for the GRE, learning Hindi, and relearning Spanish.
And my favorite posts on actually being in India: The Sum of all Impressions, Culture Shock, episode 1, and Fear and Safety.
Merry Christmas!
Because Ryan and I are away from our families this Christmas, I've been doing my best to make it extra-special. This has been a bit of a challenge as Christmas does not seem to be nearly as big a holiday in India as in the US. So here are some of the ideas we've had for making it feel like Christmas, as well as what we'll be doing to celebrate.
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This is our Christmas Ficus!
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Some of the lights we bought were actually called "Diwali Lights", but they still work well! It definitely helped make the place feel more festive.
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I've been doing some baking to make sure we get the traditional sugar rush over the holidays. This is our Christmas trifle. Unfortunately, I don't have my trifle dish, so it looks a little sad in the Tupperware. Plus, I have not seen any berries anywhere, so it's just made with jam.
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I'm also baking some Christmas cupcakes, which Ryan and I will decorate together tonight. (I couldn't find thee necessary ingredients for cookies, so cupcakes it is!) The candies there are like M&Ms, and I just picked out the Christmasy colors (and ate the rest!).
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And finally, here's our festive living room. We even have a fruit cake! (Ryan thought he was buying a chocolate cake, and was apologetic when he found out the truth. I think it's OK though because when I think of fruit cake, I think of Christmas!)
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So, for Ryan's sake, since he let me plan our festivities and has not yet seen what we'll be up to, here is our schedule for the next several days:
Christmas Eve
Decorate Christmas cupcakes
Watch Christmas movie(s)*
Christmas Day
Read Luke 2
Open gifts
Make snowflakes and Santas
Talk to families online
Read a Christmas story
Watch Christmas movie(s)
Friday
Dinner at our favorite restaurant!
Read a Christmas story
Watch Christmas movie(s)
Sunday
Church
Make resolutions
Read a Christmas story
Watch Christmas movie(s)
*Choices of Christmas movies: Elf Love Actually Four Christmases White Christmas The Muppet Christmas Carol Miracle on 34th Street It's a Wonderful Life A Christmas Story A Charlie Brown Christmas