My Family Moves to India

That about sums it up. Here's a funny tidbit though.

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is sometimes too much for me. Take these last two weeks:

Generator down again, which means that we had no power after dark for two days in a row. My back-up lantern failed (battery had burst), and then my back-up batteries failed (nothing in them. Cardboard and foil - of course, I bought them here in India.) Then I burst. Generator man had to get a replacement coil from Bangalore. Once again, the generator is fixed - for a while.

Hot water heater pipe busted open - same pipe that they fixed just two weeks ago. They used a cheap soft plastic tube, which melted when the hot water came through it. So no hot showers for a while.

Illness - I've been in bed for two days with a cough and fever; visiting parents-in-law have had Delhi Belly. Kids seem fine, though.

By far the worst part, though, has been the near-constant traffic accidents that we have experienced. Four in two weeks - evenly divided amongst the drivers, or I would be firing one of them for suspected substance abuse. Thankfully, by God's grace, no one has been injured. Two involved motorcyclists - one of which the motorcycle was caught in our bumper and dragged along until we could safely stop - it was a miracle that the rider was able to jump off in time and wasn't drug along also. One involved a pedestrian, and in the latest episode, just today, the car's brake failed and it rolled down a hill and into a lorry.

Saddest of all, K and B, my parents-in-law, who are only here for 5 days, have been involved in two of the accidents. I'm afraid that is all they will remember from India!

Ah well. Enough griping. I feel better today; fever is gone. It's Valentine's Day and S bought me a lovely necklace. I'm not normally a jewelry person but this is a really tasteful (meaning: Westernized and not too gargantuan) peice of Indian artmanship. I'm enjoying gardening, although the weather is heating up, so soon I won't be able to do much.

Best of all, I'm planning our next rest and relaxation trip, in April. I'm plumping for Vienna, although S has yet to hear of it. Waltzes, great food, musuems, architecture, castles, gardens, Lippizzaner stallions....the birthplace of classical music.....ah, I can't wait! Not to mention the hallmarks of civilization for me - hot water and reliable electric!

I'm also working on our summer trip to the US. We will be visiting Chicago; Niagara Falls; Columbus, Ohio; and Decatur, Illinois. The Decatur bit got added on the end as a business trip for Shawn, which works well since I've discovered that it's really a lot of work to convince doctors and dentists in the US to take on a new patient who lives abroad and is only available a week or two a year.

Explanation: we didn't keep our house in the US, and had no intention of spending the time or money to return to Decatur (no offense, we just don't have family there). Instead, I had intended on doing annual dental and physical check-ups in Columbus, Ohio, where a couple of my siblings live. But, last year, that proved quite a chore. I very nearly didn't get my highly important annual mammogram (remember, I'm a breast cancer survivor, and would like to keep it that way!) because of the complicated procedures required just to get an appointment. (Referrals...out of state doctors.....insurance complications....oh my gosh. The system rivals the beaurocracy here in India.) It will be MUCH MUCH easier (I'm hoping) to get appointments with our hometown Decatur doctors. So we can get everything taken care of in one shot. I hope.

Do we use doctors here in Chennai? Yes. And they are good. They are especially expert in the local parasites and diseases that are not prevalent in the US - when we leave India, I intend to have everyone go for a final parasite check-up, just as a precaution. But the facilities - the hospitals - are not always good. And, it's just comforting to have an annual check-up in your home country. Mindsets differ.

As well as planning vacations, we are also preparing for our beloved nanny cum cook, Crystallyne, to leave us. Hopefully it will not be permanent, but we don't know. Truly reminescent of Mary Poppins, Crystallyne blew in with the wind and has been invaluable in helping with L and J. She has the rare gift of being able to get along (and direct) both of them - something which is quite tricky, since they are polar opposites. Usually if you get along well with L you are too high-energy and violent for J; and if you click with J, you have no interest in constant motion and soldier uniforms. She is also wonderfully positive, which is good for our family. Crystallyne returns to the US in early March and is going to spend the summer with her family in Idaho; what happens next is anyone's guess, but we would certainly love to have her back.

E is also preparing to move on, but when and where, no one knows. Because of her unusual academic background, she does not yet have three years of high school grades to show the colleges that she has applied to. Therefore they are deferring their acceptance decisions until she finishes this last year of school - which will give her the required three year's of grades on her transcript. So we wait. It certainly will be dull around here without her sparkling personality and highly entertaining love life. (I hope I am safe saying that - I don't think that any of her boyfriends read this blog. If they do, well, sorry, you've got competition.....loads of it.....)

And one of my favorite family members, kitty? She is doing well. She and Ginger, the dog, are finally done with their shots (whew. No more worries about rabies or feline distemper!) Next month they go in to be spayed. We will then be bona fide responsible pet owners.

Guess that about covers it. Stay tuned.....rumor has it that we may soon have high-speed internet - there is actually a cable for it draped through my shrubbery. We only lack the modem....should only be a couple more weeks to get that - making it a full year to get internet out here!!!

That's my new goal. I'd like to be able to do a family bike trip (several days or a couple of weeks) around Denmark when I turn 40. Shawn says that Denmark has bike roads with stop lights and everything, so it would be very safe and nice to see the country slowly.

With this in mind, I started Jazzercise on Wednesday. WHOOOOPPEEEEEE! I am doing Jazzercise again! I was a regular 9 years ago, exercising 5 hours a week there, but when I got pregnant with J, I had to quit. (Thanks Cris for introducing me to Jazzercise! Then we moved to a smaller city and there was no Jazzercise. I pined for it for about 5 years, until I got sick, when just fixing dinner became exercise. Amazingly, Chennai has the only Jazzercise in India - and it's held right in the gym at the kid's school!

Sometimes, I just can't believe how lucky I am! Although it is kind of funny that I had to move halfway around the world to find a Jazzercise class.

Meanwhile, the week has been good but very busy and eventful. The kids are doing well at school - J likes her new teacher alot, and goes fairly cheerfully even when she has an upset digestive tract. I took her into the doctor on Wednesday because it had been 10 days of on again/off again diarrhea, nausea, and headaches. She got lots of prescriptions - all were for OTC drugs in America - and we have been doing intensive tummy therapy since then. (This involves taking all the medicine on time, striving to keep her hydrated, and getting the lactobacillus capsules into her, so she can build up the good bacteria again.) She is energetic enough and hasn't had a fever for over a week, so the doctor said that she could go to school. J likes her teacher so much, and has made so many new friends, that she was pleased at that.

We will be enrolling her in yoga and art after school, with her best little friend M. That should make school even more fun. So far, she hasn't had any homework other than reading, so I think that a couple of extra curricular activities will not overwhelm her. The birthday parties and playdates have already started - I can see her social calendar is going to be very busy.

L also continues to do well in school. He has not had ANY hitting or kicking incidents at school at all. I can't hardly believe it. His teacher said that he is doing so well that she may not need an aid for him. We are going to keep him at half days for the first semester (40 days) and then gradually build him up to full days. That way, he will be ready for full-day kindergarten here next year. He has entirely stopped napping, so I think that the afternoon session will be good for him; but his teacher, who is an absolute genius, doesn't want to put too much pressure on him. After talking with her I think she is correct. She is very exacting in her behavioural standards, which he needs, but it is a lot of pressure for him to handle. We are continuing to pursue getting his auditory processing evaluated.

S is working, working, working....at the plant all week this week. When he goes to the plant he has a 4-hour roundtrip commute, which doesn't bother him. (Yikes! I would be crazy.) He says he gets tons done - studies his scriptures, e-mails, phone conferences - he even changes in his car. It's too funny, but so like him; he's the only man I know here that doesn't protest about the awful commute. This month he is going back to Russia for a week; I'm not looking forward to that.

And me? Well, I'm just so happy to be back at Jazzercise. I am making lots of new friends at school, volunteering at J's class, doing the primary music, and running the household. As long as I stay rested, I can handle the daily crisises of the "marble manor". Today was a typical day: the stove wouldn't light when I went to fix breakfast, one of the maids burned her arm badly at home and can't come into work, and the milk bill needs paid.

Dealt with the stove: I checked and we were out of gas (it comes in cylinders), again. We shouldn't be, so I had the driver check the connection....and it seems we have a leak. Apparently the night guards smelled gas. Ergo, we need the gas connection repairman to come out. I call the landlord, sic "sir" (hubby) onto the landlord also, and then have Mr. Fixit take a look at the connections. (Note how I am triple-attacking the problem with no less than three options for a solution; this is an important household management skill here.) Then I concoct a back-up plan: meet S for dinner in the city.

The maid: send driver (the one who is not her friend) out to check on her and see if she actually has a burned arm. (Since her toddler also fell and took out his front teeth, and her other child had a bad ear infection, all in the same week, I'm more than a little suspicious.) I hope she doesn't have a bad burn, but if she doesn't, then she is out of a job.

Milk: count out exact change and send driver to pay bill.

So all of this is becoming second nature. We got some more curtains, which comforts me. About half the house now has curtains. Maybe I will just give up on the other half. No, more likely, I will sew them myself and cut out the trips to the city to look at fabric, the long waits, and the bills. I also need some more lights and bookshelves, but all things in good time.

Well, time to check on the gas issue and decide what to do about dinner.

Yeah, I'm feeling whiney today. S is sick with the stomach flu so we had to cancel our playdate, the curtain people didn't come (they were supposed to hang the curtains in Jessa's room so she can move into it), and I've unpacked files all day long. Filing - one of those thankless tasks that keeps the world organized and running, but that nobody really wants to do. My hands are covered with paper cuts and my floor is covered with piles of papers. To top it off, my sister didn't get the new job that she deserved. Very discouraging.

At least I found the kid's school physical forms and the list of paperwork required to open an Indian bank account. Both matters are becoming more pressing as time slips by.

Maybe tomorrow will be better. Maybe some curtains will come.....maybe S will feel better....maybe my new salwar outfits will be done.....maybe.

Not a very original title, but accurate.

School is over as of today. No one is happier than me. I managed to be civil to J's former teacher when I picked her things up, but it was hard.

J & L are running around like wild Indians. J has a distinctive Tamil accent that she uses when she speaks to the Tamil people. It's pretty hilarious.

S took a couple of hours off today and hooked up his plasma TV. That leaves the entertainment room as the single last bastion of complete disaster. sigh. I tried to begin unpacking it today, but I'm so tired.....the kids and I have had sinus infections and colds. Some virus.

My curtain rods are coming next week. Yippee! Maybe by the time we leave for the US I'll have curtains up. ha ha.

I went light shopping the other day. This involves walking up and down the littered, potholed sidewalks (when there is a sidewalk) from dirty shop to dirty shop, and then fighting off the salesmen who cluster around you like flies to honey. Of course you are supposed to haggle, but I'm usually too tired and in too much of a hurry to put my heart into it. I wound up buying 4 lights, and only got cheated on one of them. The cheating was quite creative - they sold me the light but when we went to pick it up, they wanted me to pay extra for the bulbs. Ha. Good one, guys.

The reason that I had to go light shopping is because I was misinformed about my US lamps working over here. I thought that they worked with only a plug adaptor. Nope. Four thrown breakers and burnt-out bulbs later, I figured out that there must be a bigger problem than I realized. Turns out you have to have them re-wired for 220 volts. Luckily, this is cheaper than buying all new lamps. I found a shop that rewired them for about $10 each - probably another rip off, but like I said, I was in a hurry - and so now I have American lamps with Indian wires.

The nice thing is that I had them re-wire them for a minimum of 100 watts, so at least they give out more light than they used to do.

So, eventually, I won't feel like I live in a dim cave after dark. The lights that came with the house are mounted about 2' from the ceiling - which is about 14' up - and point up, so they don't do much to dispel the gloom. I'm happy to have some better lighting.

The generator and the city electric both went out at the same time today - haven't had no electric at all in a while - and I learned that generators have batteries. Not only that, our generator has an old battery that has to be charged once in a while. Live and learn. Thank goodness for Mr. Fixit.

I visited a good friend here, E, and it was wonderful to compare stories and feelings. So nice to know I'm not the only one!

Tomorrow we are heading out on a road trip. Yep, we're crazy. We are driving to Bangalore, about 3 or 5 or 7 hours away, depending on which driver you ask. It's India's district conference, so we have church meetings, plus I really want to visit our friends there. I'm very excited, although since I haven't been out in rural India yet, I'm expecting a very different experience.

Should be a good blog entry.