Saturday, February 04, 2006
February 2006 Update from Bangalore
February 2006 Update from Bangalore
The big news is that we're extending for another 12-18 months. Badri's looking forward to this new position within the same company, and the kids are all set for enrollment at the same school for the coming academic year, which starts in June. Maybe I'll search for another hindi teacher and give it another go. I'm looking forward to the continuing adventure.
February 1, 2006
Kept Maya home from school today because she still looked a little "dull", as they say here in India, to mean--not quite one's normal, bright self. By the end of the day it was clear from her mood and level of energy that she'd be quite well for school tomorrow.
I must say, one of my pet peeves is parents who send their kids to school sick and then pollute the student body. And this only months after there was a meeting at the school to talk about when and why you should keep your kid home. I have enough cross-pollution of kids just with my three at home--don't need them picking it up from 60 other kids at school, too.
Feb. 3, 2006
Went to a Jethro Tull concert tonight at the Indian Institute of Management. He put on quite a show, jumping around stage like someone half his age. The lead singer and flautist, Ian Anderson, is 59 year old, and he and his band played some great oldies, like "Thick as a Brick" and "Aqualung". Something I'm sure my brother Ski would have really enjoyed.
Feb. 4
Tried to call my Mom on her birthday today. I especially miss her on these special days.
Leaving the house to go for a ride with the kids, we heard what sounded like sleigh bells. Much to our surprise along came two very tall camels, right past our house. Badri went on with Molly and I with Maya for a neighborhood ride. Boy, that hump is uncomfortable (I had to sit in the hump so I could hold Maya). Brought back memories of an equally painful camel ride in the Rajasthan desert in 1998.
Molly had another asthma attack today, meaning non-stop coughing. You can just imagine her throat closing as she struggles for air. Using the asthalin inhaler for times like this (a couple puffs every four hours) as well as the daily flohale twice a day.
Both Molly and Charlie sick with fever.
February 5
Badri and I were up with Molly last night. Her breathing is starting to get labored again--seems to be another asthma bout with long coughing jags. We pulled out the inhaler last night and we were relieved that she used it this time (which she didn't when we first got it months ago). We're reading how not using the inhaler can compromise lung capacity. When she's coughing, you can just imagine her throat passage closing up and she's trying to get more air.
Feb. 6
Kept Molly home from school today, with fever and cough. Charlie has the same symptoms. Brought him to the ENT to make sure his ears were okay (he'd had ear tubes--or grommets--put in last year).
Friday, Feb. 10
Amma and Appa came from Chennai to see the girls' performance tomorrow.
Saturday, Feb. 11
Went to Neev, the girls' school, for their "Jatre" performance. Jatre has many meanings, but in this case it means musical journey. It is also a form of popular theatre which is presented in prose and poetry. Maya was in the chorus so sang all of the songs, then she really shone as the itsy bitsy spider, crawling up the tallest teacher's legs and trunk on cue.
Tuesday, Feb. 14
Badri and I went to Taika for Valentine's Day. In keeping with most of Bangalore's restaurants and night spots, the acoustics start out bad and just get worse--after 8pm, it seems the music volume gets cranked higher every quarter hour until it's at volume 10 and you have to leave because you can't bear it any longer. We had planned on talking about a lot of things, but it was just too frustrating. I guess the fact that we're getting older and our hearing isn't any keener doesn't make it any better, either.
Friday, Feb. 17
Took Maya horseback riding at the Army Base on Airport Road. Our friends, Kavita and her son Dhruv, are members there (Kavita's the one who started up Maya and Molly's school, Neev) and we met up with them there. It is so much closer and more convenient than the Embassy Riding School up past Yelahanka (10 minutes drive versus an hour plus), but you do need to have a membership at the Army outfit. Maya had a great time and made another friend on the trail.
Saturday, Feb. 18
Went to Phil and Marion's for their son, Benedict's, 3rd birthday party. It's days like this that make me and Badri feel that maybe we can take that long vacation trip to the U.S. after all. The three kids behaved nicely. Great setting: Phil and Marion have a penthouse (top floor, with rooftop garden) at Embassy Woods on Cunningham Road. Nice grass to roll around on. Birthday presents opened on the spot and all the kids played with them.
Lots of people there I knew. That's how Bangalore is. You see a lot of the same person time and time again, wherever you go, and once in a while you meet new people. Jessica, a very nice person from Sweden, with her son, who I had seen only that week at Dr. Chinnappa's (pediatrician) office. Alison, someone I run into every couple months, whose husband works at IBM.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
From the archives of "It's a Small World" stories: a teacher from my high school in Maine was coming to Bangalore where her daughter, Laura, is marrying Narayan (they'd met and fallen in love in Kenya, Africa). The English teacher, Elaine Burnham, was telling her colleague and recently retired French teacher, Jim Farr, about her plans to travel to India. Lo and behold, Jim said, one of my former students is living in Bangalore at the moment (that would be me) and he told her my name. Elaine started teaching at Marshwood High the year before I graduated, and Jim had been my French teacher who I'd kept in touch with over the years. She taught my sister Patty for one year, but I didn't have her as a teacher.
Before traveling to India, Elaine was volunteering at the voting polls in York, Maine, and who was she processing through the line but a Stan Zajechowski. She thinks to herself, "Now how many Zajechowski's can there be in the Seacoast area?" and she asks Ski (my brother Stan's nickname) if he knows my contact information in India.
Elaine then contacted me via email to let me know she was coming. She was nice enough to ask me whether there was anything I needed from the U.S. My standard response: "Just Cheerios and wet wipes, please" (the former are nowhere to be found in India, the latter--very thin and expensive versions of what you get in the U.S.).
When Elaine arrived in town she called and we planned to get together. On Tuesday we had her, her daughter, Laura, and son-in-law to be, Narayan, over for dinner. We had a great time talking about Maine, Africa, India. The minute I told Badri where Laura and Narayan were living, he was looking forward to having them to dinner. His dream is to travel to Africa, and he loves stories of people who actually live and work there.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Went to the mehendi ceremony the day before Laura and Narayan's wedding. It was held on the second floor above, coincidentally, our dentist's office on Lavelle Road. The bridal party stayed at a hotel/service apartment on Lavelle Road called Melange. Met all the people who had traveled from Africa to attend Laura and Narayan's wedding, as well as Narayan's friends and family from the area. Great gathering. Fun time. Children were welcome, so brought Molly and Maya, while Rita came later after Charlie woke from his nap.
There were cushions laid out the length of the room for women to sit on, and three mehendi artists painting tattoos on the women and girls' hands. The bride also had mehendi done on her feet and further up her arms, featuring an elaborately detailed peacock as well as a bride and groom. A good dark mehendi design is supposed to bode well for the couple. Mehendi is a small tropical shrub whose leaves when dried and ground into a paste give out a rusty red pigment just right for making intricate designs on the hands and feet.
Refreshments were served, music played, and the room opened out to an open air patio so the room was filled with light. Flowers were scattered over the cushions to make it a very festive scene. Maya became best buddies with Alex, the son of Laura's best friend, Jana. They had the best time arranging the pillows and cushions into forts and cars. I met one guy from Maine, friend of the bride and groom, who used to work at Chewonki Foundation with Charlie Gordy, who I worked with at The Wilderness Society.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Laura and Narayan were married in a beautiful traditional Hindu ceremony on the lawns of the Royal Orchid Hotel, not too far from where we live (that's actually where we went with the kids on Christmas Eve to run around their lovely grounds and have a bite to eat). It was a beautiful, sunny day. Molly and Charlie couldn't take the wait, so went home early with Rita, Badri left for work, and Maya and I stayed on for a few hours.
I've included some photos of the wedding. In one photo you'll see Narayan facing the camera, and Laura's hair filled with jasmine flowers. Narayan has the Naamam on his forehead. This is a symbol of the Iyengar sect of the Tamil Brahmins (Badri's family is in the same sect). Naamam signifies that the wearer is a follower of Vishnu, the preserver, one of the three main Hindu gods (Brahma is the creator and Shiva, the destroyer).
Friday, February 24, 2006
Took the Shetabdi Express to Mysore, leaving Bangalore at 11 am and arriving in Mysore around 1. It's faster to take the train than it is to drive.
Hit the ground running. Went to the Mysore Palace and had a great time. It was the kids' first visit to a palace, so they had fun running around this grand place. Took a ride up to Chamundi Hills and reached the top just as the sun was setting a brilliant crimson. The temple there was closed, but we saw a priest blessing a motorcycle and its owner, then shortly after he (the priest) nearly got butted by a sharp-horned cow.
Had dinner at our hotel, the Green Hotel. Lots of charm, this place, but pretty noisy at night since our room was about 50 yards from the national highway.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Molly barely slept last night. Stomach upset I think. And Charlie slept from about 10pm to maybe 5am. Tough getting adjusted to a new place, I suppose. Went to the Mysore Zoo and Badri and I went in with Maya and Molly while Charlie slept in the car. Good thing we asked our driver, Melvin, to meet us in Mysore with the car. Molly slept in the car yesterday for a couple hours while the rest of us were having a late lunch, then Charlie slept for an hour in the car while we were at the zoo.
In the afternoon went to the Brindavan Gardens, where Charlie again slept in the car. Saw the fountains light up at 7pm. Quite beautiful, and a real fun experience for the girls. Thousands of people there for the daily event. The fountains are lit for an hour, but we made our way out half way through so we wouldn't get caught in the rush.
Sat out in the garden under the stars for dinner. More idyllic than it sounds, really, because Charlie melted soon after dinner was delivered (of course, by then it was nearly 9pm).
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Went up towards Chamundi Hills again, but this time stopped part way up at the Nandi Bull temple. Big beautiful black stone specimen of Nandi--the bull who is Lord Shiva's vehicle. From there went to the Lalitha Palace, which used to be the summer residence of the maharaja. Very impressive. Looks like a capitol building from afar. They were filming at the hotel when we got there, and the actress was in a beautiful silk sari dripping with gold jewelry, with tons of jasmine flowers in her hair. She came up to us and started talking to Badri in tamil, asking if he was Tamilian. Later he told me she was so excited to observe that Maya looked exactly like Badri and Molly exactly like me (I think she's the first person who's ever thought we look remotely alike, let alone exactly). Where was Charlie in all this? Sleeping in the car, again.
Stopped by Pizza Corner to grab a bite and let the kids have a jump in the balls before catching the train back to Bangalore. I was very happy to get back on the train. My energy level was at quite a low this weekend and it didn't give me much hope for being able to cope with a 24+ hour trip home in May to visit.
By the time we got on the train I was in better spirits and the kids played beautifully. So sweet to see Maya and Molly sitting together, Maya doing her little activity books that my sister Mary had sent, and Molly busily coloring alongside her. Then when Maya was reading her book (Hungry Harry), Molly was "reading" her hardcover animal book. Meanwhile, Badri and I were quite busy keeping Charlie entertained.
It was so nice to get home. I especially liked that no one was there. No cook. No nanny. I had the kitchen to myself to boil milk and re-heat dinner (Patricia, the cook, had come in the day before to make a couple things in anticipation of our arrival), then unpacked while Maya and Molly were acting out and singing to the two CDs "Four Hugs a Day" and "Toddlers Sing". Charlie happily lounged around on the couches, hopping back and forth between the two, being entertained by the girls.
Monday, February 28, 2006
Back to yoga today. Very relaxing class. Good stretching. Good to see Nancy and Nandita, two of the other regulars. They asked where I'd been on Friday and I gave them an abridged version of our trip.
Sent Rita and Patricia (nanny and cook) home both a few hours early. They asked me why and I just told them I wanted the kids and house to myself. Rita is especially perplexed when I want to do that.
Had a great afternoon and evening, spending easily a couple hours in the girls room while I finished unpacking and the three just played around, coloring, playing with a few toys I'd hid in the closet for a few months and they'd forgotten about.
Our driver, Melvin, went home sick, and a day or two later Charlie became sick also. I'm convinced that the kids get sick more often because of the number of people they come into daily contact with at home. I've asked Rita to hand Charlie off minimally to Melvin and Cha cha (the watchman/gardener) to at least reduce by two the number of people he can be infected by with these stomach bugs/viruses/whatever they are.
Molly suddenly came out with "SMS me" today. SMS stands for short messaging service, and it's a very standard form of communication using cell (mobile) phones. You just type in a message and send it. I think more "talking" is done this way than by people actually dialing up and talking to someone.
Camel ride in Indiranagar
Elaine, mother of the bride
Maya and Alex
Maya and the bride, Laura (see mehendi tattoo on Laura's hands)
Priest with Narayan
Narayan (with Naamam on forehead--see Feb. 23) and Laura
Now if we could only get all three to look at the camera at the same time (New England Patriots shirt compliments of Nannie)
All dressed up in grassless garden (please note the lovely wrists)
Tea time in the Mysore train station
Mysore Palace
Playing football (soccer) with elephant droppings (she didn't really kick it--or at least I don't think she did)
Elephant ride at Mysore Palace
Badri's nice shot of two cozy giraffes at Mysore Zoo
Tiger at Mysore Zoo
Mysore Zoo bus ride after Charlie woke from nap
Kelly with Hanuman (monkey god) imitators, Mysore
Nandi Bull, on way up Chamundi Hills
Cozying up to the bar at Pizza Corner in Mysore, before train ride
The big news is that we're extending for another 12-18 months. Badri's looking forward to this new position within the same company, and the kids are all set for enrollment at the same school for the coming academic year, which starts in June. Maybe I'll search for another hindi teacher and give it another go. I'm looking forward to the continuing adventure.
February 1, 2006
Kept Maya home from school today because she still looked a little "dull", as they say here in India, to mean--not quite one's normal, bright self. By the end of the day it was clear from her mood and level of energy that she'd be quite well for school tomorrow.
I must say, one of my pet peeves is parents who send their kids to school sick and then pollute the student body. And this only months after there was a meeting at the school to talk about when and why you should keep your kid home. I have enough cross-pollution of kids just with my three at home--don't need them picking it up from 60 other kids at school, too.
Feb. 3, 2006
Went to a Jethro Tull concert tonight at the Indian Institute of Management. He put on quite a show, jumping around stage like someone half his age. The lead singer and flautist, Ian Anderson, is 59 year old, and he and his band played some great oldies, like "Thick as a Brick" and "Aqualung". Something I'm sure my brother Ski would have really enjoyed.
Feb. 4
Tried to call my Mom on her birthday today. I especially miss her on these special days.
Leaving the house to go for a ride with the kids, we heard what sounded like sleigh bells. Much to our surprise along came two very tall camels, right past our house. Badri went on with Molly and I with Maya for a neighborhood ride. Boy, that hump is uncomfortable (I had to sit in the hump so I could hold Maya). Brought back memories of an equally painful camel ride in the Rajasthan desert in 1998.
Molly had another asthma attack today, meaning non-stop coughing. You can just imagine her throat closing as she struggles for air. Using the asthalin inhaler for times like this (a couple puffs every four hours) as well as the daily flohale twice a day.
Both Molly and Charlie sick with fever.
February 5
Badri and I were up with Molly last night. Her breathing is starting to get labored again--seems to be another asthma bout with long coughing jags. We pulled out the inhaler last night and we were relieved that she used it this time (which she didn't when we first got it months ago). We're reading how not using the inhaler can compromise lung capacity. When she's coughing, you can just imagine her throat passage closing up and she's trying to get more air.
Feb. 6
Kept Molly home from school today, with fever and cough. Charlie has the same symptoms. Brought him to the ENT to make sure his ears were okay (he'd had ear tubes--or grommets--put in last year).
Friday, Feb. 10
Amma and Appa came from Chennai to see the girls' performance tomorrow.
Saturday, Feb. 11
Went to Neev, the girls' school, for their "Jatre" performance. Jatre has many meanings, but in this case it means musical journey. It is also a form of popular theatre which is presented in prose and poetry. Maya was in the chorus so sang all of the songs, then she really shone as the itsy bitsy spider, crawling up the tallest teacher's legs and trunk on cue.
Tuesday, Feb. 14
Badri and I went to Taika for Valentine's Day. In keeping with most of Bangalore's restaurants and night spots, the acoustics start out bad and just get worse--after 8pm, it seems the music volume gets cranked higher every quarter hour until it's at volume 10 and you have to leave because you can't bear it any longer. We had planned on talking about a lot of things, but it was just too frustrating. I guess the fact that we're getting older and our hearing isn't any keener doesn't make it any better, either.
Friday, Feb. 17
Took Maya horseback riding at the Army Base on Airport Road. Our friends, Kavita and her son Dhruv, are members there (Kavita's the one who started up Maya and Molly's school, Neev) and we met up with them there. It is so much closer and more convenient than the Embassy Riding School up past Yelahanka (10 minutes drive versus an hour plus), but you do need to have a membership at the Army outfit. Maya had a great time and made another friend on the trail.
Saturday, Feb. 18
Went to Phil and Marion's for their son, Benedict's, 3rd birthday party. It's days like this that make me and Badri feel that maybe we can take that long vacation trip to the U.S. after all. The three kids behaved nicely. Great setting: Phil and Marion have a penthouse (top floor, with rooftop garden) at Embassy Woods on Cunningham Road. Nice grass to roll around on. Birthday presents opened on the spot and all the kids played with them.
Lots of people there I knew. That's how Bangalore is. You see a lot of the same person time and time again, wherever you go, and once in a while you meet new people. Jessica, a very nice person from Sweden, with her son, who I had seen only that week at Dr. Chinnappa's (pediatrician) office. Alison, someone I run into every couple months, whose husband works at IBM.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
From the archives of "It's a Small World" stories: a teacher from my high school in Maine was coming to Bangalore where her daughter, Laura, is marrying Narayan (they'd met and fallen in love in Kenya, Africa). The English teacher, Elaine Burnham, was telling her colleague and recently retired French teacher, Jim Farr, about her plans to travel to India. Lo and behold, Jim said, one of my former students is living in Bangalore at the moment (that would be me) and he told her my name. Elaine started teaching at Marshwood High the year before I graduated, and Jim had been my French teacher who I'd kept in touch with over the years. She taught my sister Patty for one year, but I didn't have her as a teacher.
Before traveling to India, Elaine was volunteering at the voting polls in York, Maine, and who was she processing through the line but a Stan Zajechowski. She thinks to herself, "Now how many Zajechowski's can there be in the Seacoast area?" and she asks Ski (my brother Stan's nickname) if he knows my contact information in India.
Elaine then contacted me via email to let me know she was coming. She was nice enough to ask me whether there was anything I needed from the U.S. My standard response: "Just Cheerios and wet wipes, please" (the former are nowhere to be found in India, the latter--very thin and expensive versions of what you get in the U.S.).
When Elaine arrived in town she called and we planned to get together. On Tuesday we had her, her daughter, Laura, and son-in-law to be, Narayan, over for dinner. We had a great time talking about Maine, Africa, India. The minute I told Badri where Laura and Narayan were living, he was looking forward to having them to dinner. His dream is to travel to Africa, and he loves stories of people who actually live and work there.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Went to the mehendi ceremony the day before Laura and Narayan's wedding. It was held on the second floor above, coincidentally, our dentist's office on Lavelle Road. The bridal party stayed at a hotel/service apartment on Lavelle Road called Melange. Met all the people who had traveled from Africa to attend Laura and Narayan's wedding, as well as Narayan's friends and family from the area. Great gathering. Fun time. Children were welcome, so brought Molly and Maya, while Rita came later after Charlie woke from his nap.
There were cushions laid out the length of the room for women to sit on, and three mehendi artists painting tattoos on the women and girls' hands. The bride also had mehendi done on her feet and further up her arms, featuring an elaborately detailed peacock as well as a bride and groom. A good dark mehendi design is supposed to bode well for the couple. Mehendi is a small tropical shrub whose leaves when dried and ground into a paste give out a rusty red pigment just right for making intricate designs on the hands and feet.
Refreshments were served, music played, and the room opened out to an open air patio so the room was filled with light. Flowers were scattered over the cushions to make it a very festive scene. Maya became best buddies with Alex, the son of Laura's best friend, Jana. They had the best time arranging the pillows and cushions into forts and cars. I met one guy from Maine, friend of the bride and groom, who used to work at Chewonki Foundation with Charlie Gordy, who I worked with at The Wilderness Society.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Laura and Narayan were married in a beautiful traditional Hindu ceremony on the lawns of the Royal Orchid Hotel, not too far from where we live (that's actually where we went with the kids on Christmas Eve to run around their lovely grounds and have a bite to eat). It was a beautiful, sunny day. Molly and Charlie couldn't take the wait, so went home early with Rita, Badri left for work, and Maya and I stayed on for a few hours.
I've included some photos of the wedding. In one photo you'll see Narayan facing the camera, and Laura's hair filled with jasmine flowers. Narayan has the Naamam on his forehead. This is a symbol of the Iyengar sect of the Tamil Brahmins (Badri's family is in the same sect). Naamam signifies that the wearer is a follower of Vishnu, the preserver, one of the three main Hindu gods (Brahma is the creator and Shiva, the destroyer).
Friday, February 24, 2006
Took the Shetabdi Express to Mysore, leaving Bangalore at 11 am and arriving in Mysore around 1. It's faster to take the train than it is to drive.
Hit the ground running. Went to the Mysore Palace and had a great time. It was the kids' first visit to a palace, so they had fun running around this grand place. Took a ride up to Chamundi Hills and reached the top just as the sun was setting a brilliant crimson. The temple there was closed, but we saw a priest blessing a motorcycle and its owner, then shortly after he (the priest) nearly got butted by a sharp-horned cow.
Had dinner at our hotel, the Green Hotel. Lots of charm, this place, but pretty noisy at night since our room was about 50 yards from the national highway.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Molly barely slept last night. Stomach upset I think. And Charlie slept from about 10pm to maybe 5am. Tough getting adjusted to a new place, I suppose. Went to the Mysore Zoo and Badri and I went in with Maya and Molly while Charlie slept in the car. Good thing we asked our driver, Melvin, to meet us in Mysore with the car. Molly slept in the car yesterday for a couple hours while the rest of us were having a late lunch, then Charlie slept for an hour in the car while we were at the zoo.
In the afternoon went to the Brindavan Gardens, where Charlie again slept in the car. Saw the fountains light up at 7pm. Quite beautiful, and a real fun experience for the girls. Thousands of people there for the daily event. The fountains are lit for an hour, but we made our way out half way through so we wouldn't get caught in the rush.
Sat out in the garden under the stars for dinner. More idyllic than it sounds, really, because Charlie melted soon after dinner was delivered (of course, by then it was nearly 9pm).
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Went up towards Chamundi Hills again, but this time stopped part way up at the Nandi Bull temple. Big beautiful black stone specimen of Nandi--the bull who is Lord Shiva's vehicle. From there went to the Lalitha Palace, which used to be the summer residence of the maharaja. Very impressive. Looks like a capitol building from afar. They were filming at the hotel when we got there, and the actress was in a beautiful silk sari dripping with gold jewelry, with tons of jasmine flowers in her hair. She came up to us and started talking to Badri in tamil, asking if he was Tamilian. Later he told me she was so excited to observe that Maya looked exactly like Badri and Molly exactly like me (I think she's the first person who's ever thought we look remotely alike, let alone exactly). Where was Charlie in all this? Sleeping in the car, again.
Stopped by Pizza Corner to grab a bite and let the kids have a jump in the balls before catching the train back to Bangalore. I was very happy to get back on the train. My energy level was at quite a low this weekend and it didn't give me much hope for being able to cope with a 24+ hour trip home in May to visit.
By the time we got on the train I was in better spirits and the kids played beautifully. So sweet to see Maya and Molly sitting together, Maya doing her little activity books that my sister Mary had sent, and Molly busily coloring alongside her. Then when Maya was reading her book (Hungry Harry), Molly was "reading" her hardcover animal book. Meanwhile, Badri and I were quite busy keeping Charlie entertained.
It was so nice to get home. I especially liked that no one was there. No cook. No nanny. I had the kitchen to myself to boil milk and re-heat dinner (Patricia, the cook, had come in the day before to make a couple things in anticipation of our arrival), then unpacked while Maya and Molly were acting out and singing to the two CDs "Four Hugs a Day" and "Toddlers Sing". Charlie happily lounged around on the couches, hopping back and forth between the two, being entertained by the girls.
Monday, February 28, 2006
Back to yoga today. Very relaxing class. Good stretching. Good to see Nancy and Nandita, two of the other regulars. They asked where I'd been on Friday and I gave them an abridged version of our trip.
Sent Rita and Patricia (nanny and cook) home both a few hours early. They asked me why and I just told them I wanted the kids and house to myself. Rita is especially perplexed when I want to do that.
Had a great afternoon and evening, spending easily a couple hours in the girls room while I finished unpacking and the three just played around, coloring, playing with a few toys I'd hid in the closet for a few months and they'd forgotten about.
Our driver, Melvin, went home sick, and a day or two later Charlie became sick also. I'm convinced that the kids get sick more often because of the number of people they come into daily contact with at home. I've asked Rita to hand Charlie off minimally to Melvin and Cha cha (the watchman/gardener) to at least reduce by two the number of people he can be infected by with these stomach bugs/viruses/whatever they are.
Molly suddenly came out with "SMS me" today. SMS stands for short messaging service, and it's a very standard form of communication using cell (mobile) phones. You just type in a message and send it. I think more "talking" is done this way than by people actually dialing up and talking to someone.
Camel ride in Indiranagar
Elaine, mother of the bride
Maya and Alex
Maya and the bride, Laura (see mehendi tattoo on Laura's hands)
Priest with Narayan
Narayan (with Naamam on forehead--see Feb. 23) and Laura
Now if we could only get all three to look at the camera at the same time (New England Patriots shirt compliments of Nannie)
All dressed up in grassless garden (please note the lovely wrists)
Tea time in the Mysore train station
Mysore Palace
Playing football (soccer) with elephant droppings (she didn't really kick it--or at least I don't think she did)
Elephant ride at Mysore Palace
Badri's nice shot of two cozy giraffes at Mysore Zoo
Tiger at Mysore Zoo
Mysore Zoo bus ride after Charlie woke from nap
Kelly with Hanuman (monkey god) imitators, Mysore
Nandi Bull, on way up Chamundi Hills
Cozying up to the bar at Pizza Corner in Mysore, before train ride
