My Family Moves to India

We have one last shipment to unpack - the storage unit we maintained while in India. We left a sentimentally valuable piece of antique furniture in it, lots of blankets, lawn equipment, and tons of smaller crap.

The only thing we've wanted back is the lawn equipment and the piece of furniture. Everything else is forgotten and not of much interest anymore. If we did it again, I wouldn't store anything except the furniture. We lucked out and got the mower running again, but four years is a long time for machinery to remain idle, even if it is in a climate-controlled area and properly prepared.

So that's my advice. Unless you know you'll be gone for only a year or two, don't bother.

May was much better. The spring flowers came out in full force, and we were able to enjoy them for an extended period of time because the weather stayed cold and very rainy. (48 degree F high the last week of May!) We discovered lots of lovely landscaping in our yard. Shawn got the mower out of the storage shed, worked on it for nearly a week, and got it running! My hero.

Jessa recovered and made it to the last few weeks of school. Thank heavens she went to a small private school for the last semester because they didn't give us crap about her missing so much school due to illness. The last week of school we toured both the public elementary and jr high that the kids might go to next year, and she decided to give the public jr high a try. I'm very pleased as this will allow her to make more friends. Her illnesses and the tiny class size at the public school (8 children from grades 2-8) really didn't give her much opportunity to do so.

We are still undecided about Levi's academic place of rest next year, but we did tour and meet the staff at the nearby elementary. I must admit that the idea of not driving them to school every day is very enticing! Once again, I sing the praises of Mr. Fixit. It is possible that I will never fully recover from having a good maid and driver.

(Notice I said "good". Less than reliable, thieving servants can totally ruin your life! I thank God, literally, that He answered my prayers and sent me reliable, safe, and at least semi-trustworthy staff.)

We are down to two smelly boxes left, both in the garage (thank heavens!) My apologies to anyone who entered our home whilst the rank stench of ???? filled it.

Our homesickness for India is slowly fading, although we still miss (and keep in touch with) Raeshma and other staff members. Thank goodness for Skype, which makes it affordable to call. Jessa is doing the best at moving on (besides Shawn) - she told me the other day that it was time to stop talking so much about India and move on. I still feel out of place, but I do enjoy the conveniences of America.

We survived our first power outage (a whole 20 minutes - laughable!) and our first tornado warning. I couldn't get excited about the tornado warning because we have so many blessings here - a nicely finished basement with a full bath and TV to shelter in (oh! the days I had two toddlers crammed into the dark closet under the stairway!); emergency crews if someone SHOULD get hurt; and actual experts to repair broken power lines, cut up trees, etc. Given the choice, I'd count it a blessing to have a natural disaster in a first world country vs. third! At least someone will eventually pull your body out of the rubble.

Levi still says that he is half Kazak, half Indian, and half American. Jessa still wears her AISC T-shirts nearly every day. But we are committed to making more friends and adjusting, and that is what it takes to accomplish re-entry.

For those of you who have known me a while, you know that I do not keep up with popular music.

That is actually a very strong understatement. Having been raised with minimal technology in the house (we had no television and at one point, no heat except for a wood stove for several years while living in Ohio), I was quite content with my clock radio and my books. I have no concept of pop music, and never idolized ABBA, Rush, Alice in Chains, or even Donnie Osmond. You do not need to comment. I have had many years of marriage to be reminded of the error of my ways.

My father enjoys music and clung to an 8-track player with tapes from his Navy days - Peter, Paul, and Mary, old show tunes, and John Denver. He also had Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" and a woman who sang about seagulls and sounded strangely like Enya. She may have been her mother; or perhaps Enya is immortal.

To this day I can sing nearly all of "Camelot" that is within my vocal range.

Thanks to my dad and a casual boyfriend who would only listen to classical music, I grew to enjoy it. I still can't identify most of it, though, except possibly for Pachelbel's "Canon", which basically if you can't figure that one out you should probably watch more movies with weddings in them.

Recently while flipping through the local airwaves I came across a song which I really enjoyed, but the announcer didn't tell the name of the song or the artist (naturally assuming that everyone knew who was singing and what the title was.) So I posted what I though the lyrics of the chorus were on Facebook, confident that one of my many pop-guru friends would know what it was called.

As it turned out, I had the lyrics wrong. They were not "I used to be king", but rather "I used to rule the world". I have spent/wasted a great deal of time tonight googling lyrics and finally found the song. It is: (insert drum roll).......

Coldplay: "Viva la Vida"



(I'm only inserting this for my sisters. I know their background....)

OK. I admit even I have heard of Coldplay. From a friend on Facebook. A long time ago.

Now, before you pee your pants laughing, I have a few pop culture questions for you:

1. What is the main theme song of the British-produced movie about life in India which won 8 Oscars in 2009?

There are at least two versions I am aware of - one for India and one for the western world.

2. Who sings the western version?
3. What language is the Indian version sung in? (hint: it's the national language of India, mixed with some Spanish)
4. What does the title mean?

Bonus Question: Who is the most famous and powerful living man in India? And his last name is NOT, I repeat NOT, Gandhi.

I promised a few friends back in India that I would continue blogging about the re-entry process. The problem is, it's so overwhelming that it's hard to know where to start. It is also amazingly dull after living abroad. Overwhelmingly dull; that's a good summary.

Mostly, we (the kids and I) are seriously homesick for the people of India.

To date, we have had ongoing nightmares from Levi (India blows up and he can't visit it again); tears from Jessa (some of her friends were unable/unwilling to keep in touch); and tears and anger from me (missing my staff during this long, drawn-out move.) To us, the scales are balanced between the staff and freedoms of India and the convenience and cleanliness of America. The emotions seems to crop up out of the blue and take one by surprise.

So, to Mr. Fixit and Kamela, I miss you dearly, if for no other reason than you were always willing to help. And, to AISC, we miss it dearly also, simply because we understood the system there, and the campus was so nice, and no-one was attempting to lure children into their car with the promise of new shoes, and the school was actually financially stable, not broke like the state of Illinois. Ah well. Those were the good old days, when all we had to worry about was heat exhaustion from outdoor recess, terrorism threats, and the chief minister driving by and stopping traffic for a week.

On a more positive note, we managed to purchase a home and our container arrived a couple of weeks ago. (FYI, that would be 2.5 months after it left Chennai.) There was no significant damage to any articles, although everything did need tuning up and cleaning. Mostly cleaning. Something(s) died in certain sealed boxes of Jessa's clothing, and we simply cannot get the odor out. Fittingly, Levi's boxes of clothing were apparently stored next to the engine exhaust, so his reek of diesel. The wonderful new WONDERFUL new (did I mention WONDERFUL?) new washer and dryer that I got are working night and day. They have yet to conquer the odor of dead lizard but I am optimistic as we enter round two, armed this time with Febreze-infused Tide. Long live the washer.

Also, allergy testing revealed that Levi is frighteningly allergic to mold and dust mites, and me to mangos - including the ever-present (in Chennai) mango pollen - so the cleaning is necessary for that purpose. I have to get rid of the pollens and mold spores so that Levi and I can survive without continuous sinus problems. This all translates into washing every. single. thing. that can be washed, including my gigantic fabric stash.

C'mon, you know this is my way of saying goodbye to India. I am veritably shaking the dust off of my belongings.

Along the way we have caught every cold and flu available, because naturally our immune systems are attuned to the nasties of another continent. Even Levi has been sick. It's a natural reaction when you move somewhere so far away, not unexpected but something to factor into the equation.

I am thankful for the better (yet vastly more expensive) healthcare - chiropractic adjustments have once again restored my back to a semblance of normality, and I am mostly pain-free. I'm also trying allergy shots for my allergies, and will start physical therapy to further my back's improvement, once I get through a bit more unpacking (and the kid's spring break).

We do find it hard to socialize with people. We seem to have nothing to say that does not relate to India. Literally, we can't think of anything to say. Shawn has begun to watch March Madness just to have something to chat about.

I have ignored that problem and buried myself in the house, desperately attempting to wrest it back from the evil genies who packed such things as electrical cords, empty soap bottles, full and leaking soap bottles, mildewed toothbrushes, and a collection of cutlery together. They also used their superpowers to clearly label boxes, in English, with such titles as "long table legs", which is apparently code for "children's games". Another enchanting tactic they used was to put some small, insignificant (or perhaps priceless) item in a box which was already packed (by me) and taped together (by me), thereby ensuring that EVERY box would have to be opened; no cheating and putting the tub marked "Easter decorations" away untouched, because as it happens, they put my scriptures in it. Along with some socks, and the cat food.

See, it's really a giant treasure hunt. The only question is: where are the clues?

To be fair we had to improvise a great deal in India, so that many items were stored in a closet in a room where they would not normally be put. Ergo, the entire medicine chest was in the master bedroom, and Jessa's clothes were in three different rooms due to lack of hanging space. Because we chose to experiment and use the unpacking feature that our corporate move offered

see below

, we now have stuff scattered from hell to breakfast (as my Grandmother would say) and are keeping the children busy running up and down the stairs so that the towels are actually in the bathroom and not the living room.

Just when it got to the point where we could see the living room and kitchen floors, we moved our things out of our temporary apartment, so we are back to square one.

unpacking

= a service that is offered in some moving contracts whereby the moving men actually take articles out of each box, unwrap them, and then set them randomly around the house, all the while keeping some sort of tally mark log which they then forget to take with them. It sounded like a good, back-saving idea to have the kitchen items unpacked by these men, but since the boxes were all marked higgly-piggly, it quickly spiraled into a stunning mountain of goods spread over every flat surface, most of which we didn't need right away. Which is how the souvenirs and china cabinet items got put away first, because it was apparent that if they did not leave the mountain quickly, they would get broken. Two weeks later, the needed kitchen items are still popping up in unexpected quarters, like inside Levi's toy box.

I would add photos but seriously, just use your imagination, and the knowledge of entropy that you gained in high school.

PS It's freezing here, but I'm very grateful to be out of the heat of Chennai. Give me cold feet anyday....

Baxter is better. Busy watching squirrels outside and whining to be held. Just the way we love him.

Jasper, our newest cat, is recovering quite well from ringworm. Add ringworm to my list of parasites that I've had the pleasure of dealing with....

pictures of Jasper soon,

Teresa