Evelyn Joy - One year old!

Today, we had Evelyn's first birthday party.  It's hard to believe she is one year old already, but then there were times I thought this year would never end.  We are very thankful for our little Evelyn joy, who has brought a lot of joy (and a lot of sleepless nights) to our lives this year.  Planning a party at home can be a little stressful.  Planning a party in a new culture can be just scary, at least for me.  You think you are figuring things out, then something happens to totally bewilder you.  For example, Indians eat everything with their hands.  Hot food, cold food, dry food, saucy food, even sticky food  ... or so we thought.  Then the other night we ordered pizza, sat down with an Indian friend to eat it and he said, "Can I get a fork and knife?"  What?  Yes, they don't eat pizza with their hands.  Anyway, the party went... and here are some pictures:

Cora's present to Evie.  Pointing is one of Evie's favorite things to do.

 

"You got me a stool!  I love it."



Evie's first motorcycle, a gift from a local friend.

 

"I like driving."



We used to call Hareesh our friend-driver-language tutor-general helper-rip-off consultant.  But actually, he's our friend-driver-language tutor-general helper-rip-off consultant-party decorator.

I guess I'll claim them as mine.

We had a confetti bomb.  Fun, but hard to clean up, especially without a vacuum cleaner.

We had a tea time party (4:00) and served samosas, Shawarma, and of course Chai.



Some boys from our flat enjoying the cake.



Jay is usually the biggest one around here, but not when Jayaraj is present.

"It's all about me."

 





Evie was surprisingly neat with the first piece of cake in her life.



Bangaluru

We took a trip to the big city last week to join some American friends for Thanksgiving.  It was really nice to share an american meal with them, do some shopping we don't have here, and get a hamburger at Hard Rock Cafe.  Cora enjoyed playing with some american friends and a little girl near where we were staying.

Golden Times

It is Hindu tradition here to have a celebration when a baby turns one month old.  We were honored to be invited to such a celebration for Hareesh's nephew a few weeks ago.  I will try to explain the event, although we really don't understand it.  We arrived in time for breakfast, which consisted of rice noodles with curry sauce and, of course, Chai.  After breakfast, the crowd (about 40 family members) gathered outside around the mother and naked baby.  There was some sort of food offering laid out in front an oil lamp and a fire with a pot of rice atop.  The mother sprinkled a liquid onto the offering with a branch.  Then she sat and held the baby while, one-by-one, all the women of the family came and placed gold jewelry on him.  Gold bracelets, gold anklets, gold necklaces, gold waste chains, gold rings, gold, gold, gold.  As you can imagine, the baby was not too fond of this.  It is my understanding that this is done regardless of a family's economic status.  When the last item had been bestowed, those gathered let out a loud whooping sound (think Native American war cry).  We returned to the house and gifts were given to Mommy and Baby.  Before leaving for home, we had a traditional Kerala Sadya for lunch, which is rice and various vegetarian sides served on a banana leaf.  Yummy!  You will notice in the pictures below that the baby has large, black smudges on his face.  They believe that it jinxes a child to call him/her beautiful, so they try to marr the appearance.  We had a wonderful time with Hareesh's family and are thankful for the experience.



We took this photo on a walk around Hareesh's village. 
Coconuts, bananas, and tapioca plants can all be seen here, staples of everyday meals.



Leela Beach

On weekends, we try to get out of the city for a little while.  This is the nearest nice beach, which is about 7 miles away, a 40 minute drive.  The local women generally don't swim and never wear swim suits at the beach, but since this is a tourist area, we pull the ignorant tourist card and wear ours anyway.  The men, on the other hand, just strip down to their skivies if they want to get wet.  Sorry, no photos of that for you.

Not In Kansas Anymore

Sometimes we can feel so at home here that we almost forget we are in India.  But the feeling doesn't last long before something brings us back to reality.  This weekend, it was a Hindu festival.  I'm not sure of all the details, but this is it in a nutshell.  Friday and Saturday were the designated days for students to put their school books before the Hindu goddess of wisdom and do a special puja asking the goddess to bless their studies, offering sacrifices to the idol.  Because none of the Hindu students have their books, the schools and universities all shut down, even the catholic ones.  It is also this weekend that factories shut down to do a puja for the machines, offering sacrifices and marking the machines (and weapons and other things) with sandalwood paste, the same stuff that goes on their foreheads.  Incense could be smelled all over the city and loud music was played from the temples, as well as indidual people's homes.  Last night, the music was so loud that we had trouble hearing each other in our flat with the windows shut.  It went on till 10:30pm and started up again at 4:15 this morning.  Yep!  Life in India, our new normal.

Down to the Junction

We shop daily at the junction just down the hill from our flat.  There you can find all your basic day-to-day needs.  We have 3 bakeries, a grocery store, a produce store, several little stands of various items, some ironing guys (no electricity - coals inside), a chai guy,a fish lady from time-to-time on the sidewalk, a pharmacy ($1.50 antibiotics, no prescription necessary), a refridgeratorless butcher with live poultry, some cloth shops, some taylors, a temple, a templesk Catholic church, another church...you get it.  This is all pressed into a 100 yard stretch.  Here's some pictures of our walk down and back:

Nod (sideways of coarse) to the guard on your way out, if he's awake.



This is the pharmacy where you can also load some rupees into your phone.  It is only 20 meters from our gate.  A lot is packed in there. 

A nicer house in our neighborhood. 

Almost there.

 School's out!

"Sheshi" happened to be down at the junction, too.  He's our building's caretaker.

Iniqui oodoo kilo parum vanum. = I would like one kilo of bananas.

U-mart...if you're looking for it, it's hiding in there somewhere.

We buy most of our produce here at Spring Mart.

This bakery also has a great lunch for about $1, but wife and kids can't hang with the spice.  They have yummy biryani served in a clay pot that you keep.  The intention is to just throw it away when done, but we keep ours.  Who knows what we'll do with them.

The Chai Guy

The Junction

Heading back up the hill...

Home Sweet Home

Day Trip to Neyyar Dam


On Friday, we took a break from city life and went to a dam and park at the foot of the Western Ghats mountains.  Afterwards, we visited the home of our friend / driver / language tutor / scam prevention consultant, Harrish.  It was nice to get almost alone in India. 


We went on a lion safari on one of the islands in the lake. 
"Get your bus off my road," growled this unhappy fella.



Look, no people!



Little Big Kid



Harrish and Evelyn



Harrish's family fed us a wonderful meal of Chicken Masala, tapioca, rice cakes (kind of like pancakes), and Kerala rice.
This is how people typically dress here.