My Family Moves to India

I didn't used to like to shop. I was not a "mall chick".

Now it's all I can think about. Wha?!

The change has been gradual....first, I had a baby, and all you can do with a new baby in the winter in Central Illinois is go to the mall. Next, I had two toddlers....and all you can do with toddlers in central Illinois in the winter is go to the mall play area. Then, I had cancer....and all I wanted to do during radiation therapy and recovery was go to the mall, get some Chinese food, and watch the kids play.

Now, my horizons have expanded. I not only want to go the mall, I also want to go to TJ Maxx, hardware stores, PetSmart, and every Target that we pass. Even my kids are hooked on Target - in his overly-dramatic 6 yo way, L even kissed the building the other day.

Do I buy exciting stuff, like new electronics or jazzy outfits for me? No. I buy kid's underwear, swimsuits, shoes, and socks. Also on my list are septic tank granules and cat collars. I am nothing if not diversified, but still not terribly glamorous.

The fact that I know that I have just one trip every year to get anything and everything that we need that can't be found in Chennai (or at least can't be found without the effort required to climb Everest) adds fuel to the fire. I am way less picky about price and much more picky about quality, because I only have the one shot at it. No returns, no prisoners, is my motto.

So beware. "Retail Therapy" takes on a new slant when you move to India....

The outside was even more of an adventure than the inside!

Read more...

Yes, there is prom in India!

Read more...

This is me....sleepy...not feeling too well. I apologize for all the e-mails that I owe people, and the lunch dates that I'd like to make but haven't had the energy to do yet. I've been crawling out of the house for just the basics - an hour at a work function of S's, an hour at church giving a talk....I'm not even taking the kids to school; letting Mr. Fixit take care of that. Soon, soon, the antibiotics will kick in and I'll feel better, right?

I've spent the last 4 days half-deaf, with my right ear completely clogged. It feels like there is a nut stuck in it. When I'm not hearing the echos of my footsteps or my chewing in my head, I get to listen to the tinnitus. It's making me more than a little disorientated. I can see the mouths moving, but I can't quite make out what they are saying....or even what language we might be talking.

Speaking of languages, I've been faithfully practising my Tamil on my driver. So far it seems that he and my Tamil instructor don't speak the same dialect. Noteworthy mistakes so far have included me insisting that I am a cat, and also trying to conjugate the Japanese verb "iru" (to be, to exist) instead of the Tamil verb irukku (to be, to wait). Hmmmmm. Methinks I need to study some more.

At least I have not prayed that everyone get their period yet. (Easiest mistake in the book for missionaries in Japan, as the words "Holy Spirit" and "menstruation" are only one teeny tiny letter apart.)

Actually there are quite a few similarities between Japanese and Tamil, including the word order in sentences and the vowel sounds. That's supposed to make it easier for someone who speaks (or spoke, I should say with honesty) Japanese to learn it..... not working yet!

While I wait to feel better, I've been enjoying my awesome internet access (thanks S for getting my wireless to work! ) and catching up on the massive amounts of paperwork that moving abroad creates. After getting a three-month extension on S's work visa - until the renewal can come in - it's time to do the 50+ page tax organizer. Whew. Almost have that one done. I have to hand it to the company; the web resources were cohesive and easy to understand. Much easier, in fact, than the Indian visa process.

My pal at home, kitty, has gotten over her fear of the great outdoors and spends a great deal of time waiting with lashing tail for someone to open the front door. Then she shoots out and inevitably gets chased up a coconut tree by the dog. Both of them need fixed; tops on my list as soon as I can discern what the vet is saying clearly.

Before I lost my hearing, S and I went out on a date and bought some furniture. (One of the nice things about living in India is that there is plenty of solid wood furniture available at reasonable prices. Most of it is solid teak, although we've also seen rosewood, mango, and coconut wood. It's really quite amazing if you like quality furniture.) We went to Tulsi Arteriors in Nungumbakkam and found a nice display cabinet and a coffee table.<sup>1

1</sup>"coffee table" doesn't do it justice - S picked it out (this is self-explanatory for family members ). It is a MASSIVE peice of furniture; actually an antique door that with legs put on it, and a large peice of glass laid on the top, makes an interesting conversation peice. When we are old and grey, I am going to have one room entirely dedicated to furniture that S has picked out; it will be a room for giants. Everything will be large, solid, and HEAVY.

After catching up on rest, we've done plenty of pool time (the resort here has a FANTASTIC pool!), beach time (really not that interesting to me since sand is a daily part of my life - oh well), and elephant time.

Today the kids are out snorkeling with dad, g-pa, g-ma, and K and J. Preliminary reports state so far that the scenery is fantastic, but the kids are way too tired.

That would be because we saw FantaSEA yesterday, the Thai equivalent to Cirque de Soleil. Frankly, Cirque de Soleil has them beat to peices, but, on the other hand, the Thai show has elephants. 18 of them, to our count. Seeing those majestic beasts provoked the same reaction in both S and I: sadness that such obviously intelligent beasts are doing silly circus tricks. Wonder at their strength and their tiny but expressive eyes.

The show ran very late, which is why the kids are so tired.

I really enjoyed the Thai dancing though. It's so interesting to me that they can communicate so much with dance that concentrates on hand and foot movements. It's somewhat similiar to the traditional Indian dance that J was learning. I also enjoyed (not!) the part where J loudly announced to all around us that "This is not very interesting. Is this all?" Luckily the acrobats followed, and it became more energetic.

L was mightily impressed with the magic show and is convinced that they actually made the girl disappear.

And me? Well, I TOUCHED MY FIRST ELEPHANT yesterday. Whooohoo! It was only a baby, but it felt like very tough bristly leather. I have added "learn to train elephants" to my pipe dream list. You never know.

The rest of the day J and I spent shopping at a local indoor mall. I am consistently amazed and disheartened that every country besides India seems to have a wide variety of goods that we either need or desire. Mosquito repellant, for example. I have seen one brand in India, and that rarely. It is an Indian brand and therefore has no identified ingredients, which makes me leery of using it on my kids. (Or myself, for that matter.) I have seen Indians use some very dangerous substances on a daily basis.....at any rate, there I was in a Thai supermarket, buying all of their mosquito repellant. Ridiculous. I feel like some sort of freak bandit.....all the mosquito repellant in the store, laundry supplies, pasteurized whipping cream, iron care supplies, an ironing board cover....the bizarre list goes on and on. At least this time we weren't looking for a ham.....but I nearly cried when I saw they had US Butterball turkeys! It's frustrating to be in a supposedly "third world" country and find that they have so much more available than we do in Chennai. Or maybe Thailand has moved up on the list since I took high school geography and it's now "second world"?

After our girl's day out, we took a break and saw "Enchanted" at the local theater. It was a marvellous theater and an interesting twist on the old Disney princess tale. I have to admit that I thoroughly liked it....maybe it was just because I haven't watched a movie in a theater in over a year.....the nearest theater that I'd bother to go to in Chennai is over an hour away, and you have to make a separate trip to get tickets. Women don't usually go to movies alone, and they seldom show any English-speaking children's movies. Ah well. I hardly watched movies in a theater in the US. That made it a special thing to watch one here, especially since we splurged and bought the recliner seats.

We also showed our cultural respect and stood when they played the Thai national anthem along with a little video clip commemorating their king. (Jessa's comment: "Why are we doing this? We aren't from Thailand!") The Thai people really revere their king. I have to say that I read parts of his last speech on the plane, which consisted 100% of poking fun at what his prime minister was wearing and giving advice about the colors that his people should wear. Not wanting to offend anyone, I will not comment any more on that, except to say that pink is out and the yellow the women wear is apparently too bright.

Actually, you don't even need to read the speech to know what the king wants you to wear. There are all kinds of little stands selling polos in the color of the week.