Expats in a state of panic

Expats in a state of panic

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Random

I have had so much to write about lately, and I just can't seem to make myself sit down and get started. I used to really enjoy blogging, and now it seems like a chore. I think it's the perfectionist in me coming out. If I can't transform my thoughts into a cute and catchy story then I don't want to write. I have issues like that.

Life in Asia has been in an uproar lately. Things were quiet here while the terror attacks were happening in Mumbai, but security was definitely stepped up. Following this post is an article from our newspaper. It makes it sound like we were scared to death, but we weren't. We are pretty comfortable over here, and sometimes we need a wake up call to remember where we are and keep our awareness up. This time was even closer to home for us since they said in the news they were asking for Americans and British. We decided from now on we would say "estamos de Espana" I think we can pull that one off.

The biggest stressor for us though was the protests in Thailand. My babies are in Thailand. (They would die if they heard me calling them my babies). Christmas is fast approaching, and I was really getting worried that we would not be able to be together. Since we don't get to see them very much, I was not happy. It seems now that things have worked out, so I am hoping our plans will still come about.

This picture shows travelers stranded in Thailand.

Finally, I think it's just the holidays that have me down. It's always the hardest time of year here. The boys weren't able to come home for Thanksgiving, and their dinner didn't work out too well for them. Christmas is worse. It is really hard to feel "Christmasy" when it's ninety degrees out. I miss being with my family at Christmas. When you are used to sharing Christmas with a large crowd of relatives it's strange to celebrate without at least one family reunion, not to mention various Christmas programs to attend. (I am going to try to remember that next year if they start to get on my nerves:))

Well, now that I have gotten all that whining done, maybe I can come up with a cute and catchy post next time.

Holi

This is a bit of a makeup post. I intended to write it several months ago. These are pictures taken during Holi. We are playing with our neighbors and getting to know them a little bit.










I have to admit they were much better at it than we were.



We all got drenched with water and color.



The colored powder we used was very bright.


We were "colored" for several days.







Kara and the boys joined in with us, and ruined their clothes too.


Actually they ended up with some nice souvenir t-shirts.





Tommy wasn't sure what to think of all this, but he was quick to comfort Isaiah when he got too cold.

Mason is "looking good"!

It was a fun day, and we were able to interact with the people around us some. It's hard to get to know the people in our neighborhood. We plan to keep reaching out to them.

Tagged!

I was tagged over at Sunflower Seeds, so it's my turn to write my seven random or weird facts about myself. I was actually glad to be tagged, because even though I have some things I should write about the creative juices just haven't been flowing, and I am glad to have something that I can write about. 1. I'll go for the obvious first. I live in India. My family and I moved here three and a half years ago. We will stay here until the end of July next year when we will return to the States for about then months. I have always wanted to live and serve in a foreign country, so this assigment was the fulfillment of a long standing calling. Even so, sometimes it is hard, really hard. Living in a different culture can drive you mad sometimes, and I really miss my friends and family.
2. I know how to drive all manner of farm vehicles. I grew up on a farm, and I can drive a tractor, combine, grain truck, swather, baler, you name it. I also learned how to ride a motorcycle. This training has come in quite hand in our new life. In Asia all the automobiles come with a standard transmission, so you have to know how to drive a stick shift. Also it is a lot easier to get around on a scooter or motorbike, so we do that once in while too. God prepared me in so many ways for this life.
3. I have two children in boarding school. I can already hear the gasps resounding from some of you. What manner of mother would ever put her children in boarding school?! Well I would. The schools here simply do not have the means or the inclination to educate my children well. Homeschooling two highschool boys is not within the realm of my mental stability. Teenage boys need strenuous physical activity, there is no way out of it. They need to be challenged physically and learn to work hard at something. They can't do that here. There is now program for them and no place to exercise. They also need a place to pursue their interests, be they art, music, drama, woodworking or some the don't even know yet. I can't give them that here. So, even though it nearly broke my heart and scared me to death, I sent them to boarding school because it was what they needed and what was best for them.
4. My family is the most beautiful rainbow you have ever seen. My family believes in adoption. Both my brother and my sister have adopted, and so have some of my cousins. We have African American, Latin American, Chinese, Russian, and Ukrainian, kids in our family. I love it. I am so proud to be from a family that has opened their hearts and homes to children of different races, and countries. I think when God looks down on our family he smiles because he doesn't see the color of our skin, but the love in our hearts.
5. I have been happily married for nearly two decades, and I plan to stay married to the same man until death parts us.
6. I have only nine and a half fingers. The ring finger of my right hand was sevevered by a combine when I was only two years old. The doctor tried to re-attach it, but in 1973 the technology wasn't all that great. It usually doesn't bother me at all although it makes typing 9,0, and- a challenge. I will also never be a professional pianist. Although, I don't think my finger has anything to do with that.
7. I can remember the words to songs. I know the words to a LOT of songs. I don't know why, but if you set it to music my brain records it. I know the words to all if the hymns we sang growing up in church, and not just the first verse. I know the words to the heavy metal songs we listened to in the eighties, some of which I would like to forget. I know the words to songs my kids listen to now even though I don't even like some of them. If I ever go back to school, I am going to set all of my assigments to song, and have a perfect GPA.

So now comes the challenging part for me. I am supposed to tag seven people. I don't know seven people who have blogs, so I'll just tag the ones I do. Chala Bagundi, Bagunnara,
South Asia Rocks , and Glorify the Lord With Me.

Fitting In

"One of these friends is not like the others, One of these friends just isn't the same. One of these friends is not like the others, now it's time to play our game..."

It's getting more and more difficult to pick him out of the group isn't it?

Fifteen!

We celebrated MC's fifteenth birthday this week.
My house is no longer quiet. The joint is hopping this week.
The house seems like a different place with the boys home.
MC's Dad gave him the huge knives for his birthday. He was thrilled.
He only wishes he could take them to the dorm with him. However, the dorm limits blades to three inches. Just a little different from the U.S. rules about carrying knives to school.

The Monkey Temple

I Love the movie The Jungle Book.It's one of my favorites, and one of my favorites scenes is the one in which Mowgli is carried off to King Louie's lair in the temple ruins. I was pretty excited when I saw the pictures that Norm brought home from one of his latest adventures.This temple looks just like the one in the movie.
This our friend David. I am not sure I would stand under there. Look at the next shot.
On his next trip, he got to see the monkeys. Can't you just picture them at the temple singing "Oobie Doo, I wanna be like you...!"

It's Quiet...Too Quiet

Wow! I'ts quiet around here. Well, as quiet as it gets in an Indian neighborhood. The horns are still honking, and the wild dogs barking, and the vendors plying their wares. An argument will probably break out on the street soon, there is a least one a day. But I digress.

My house has no children in it today. Bee has gone to spend the night with a friend, and the boys are in school in Thailand so our house is empty. Except for Norm and I, of course. It's very strange. I feel like I should be looking for someone or something. After taking care of kids for seventeen years, It's really weird not to have at least one of them around. All of this quiet has made me think. These thoughts are pretty random, but I decided to stick them in this blog anyway. So here you go, the ramblings of a mother face to face with the reality of her kids growing up.

At breakfast this morning I was thinking wow, in just three years our house will always be like this. If Bee decides to go to boarding school like the boys, and she already wants too, she will start in ninth grade. Just three years away. I don't know if your life seems to be moving as fast as mine, but whoa! three years doesn't seem like much time to me.

That thought lead to the next one which really blew my mind. In five or six years I could be a grandmother. Sooner if AJ gets married as young as we did. But, I am hoping he will wait until after college, so I am going to go with at least five years. Only five years! SLOW THIS TRAIN DOWN, I WANT TO GET OFF! I am still a kid at heart, I have no business being a grandparent. I am only 37 years old for heaven's sake. But, we had our children young, and now AJ just turned 17, so in reality it could be soon. Much too soon. Honestly I still think of my sons as little boys, don't all mom's? Every time I see them again, I am shocked. They are both over six feet tall, with broad shoulders. The have big muscles and facial hair. When did all this happen!Frankly they are beginning to make their dad look small, and he is not a small guy.How in the world did this happen?

I am so thankful that for school next year we will all be living together in the States, one last year of family life. Then, AJ will go to college, Mace will be in Thailand and Norm, Bee, and I will be back here in India. When I was a young mom with three kids under five years old, I had some long days. People kept telling me that my kids would be grown up before I knew it, and I really couldn't fathom it. Now, today, sitting in an empty house, I see that they were right. Time flies when your having fun, and we have had a lot of it. The boys are coming home in just a couple of weeks. I am going to make sure to savor the remaining times we have together.

The Case of the Missing Meat

From the files of C. Seeley, Private Eye. (We all know mom's have eyes in the back of their head)

*The picture at the left is not the actual criminal, but only a reasonable facsimile. The actual thief is much larger, meaner looking, and bears the scars from a hard life on the streets of India. Not a cat you'd like to meet in a dark alley, or in your kitchen for that matter.
It was a breezy day in India, and my daughter had a hankering for Hamburger Helper. I'm not partial to it myself, but I try to please my clients. It just so happened I had a supply of ground meat in stock so I slipped a bag out of the freezer and left it on a plate in the kitchen to thaw. Later when I returned to prepare the above culinary delight. I found the meat was gone. Stolen. Purloined. Absconded with. A case of burglary right on my own turf. I identified two primary suspects right away based on their previous record. A three-year old yellow lab, and an obnoxious grey striped tabby. The lab had just finished serving a sentence for a similar offence in which a pot of stew and a plate of biscuits disappeared from the dining room table. However, the case puzzled me for two reasons. First usually when the lab steals things off the counter he knocks down the plate that contained them, and the plate had not been moved. Second, when the tabby strikes he usually chews a hole in *Above is the mug shot of the Lab. the bag and eats it right at the scene of the crime. Some legwork was called for so I searched the crime scene and the surrounding area for evidence. I found nothing. No pawprints, no tell-tale remains, and no empty ziploc bag. I had nothing to go on, and no evidence to make an arrest. I decided to table the case and wait for further developments.

The next day I got a break. Again the juvenile female requested Hamburger Helper. Again I placed a bag of frozen meat on the counter pushing it far to the back where I was sure the lab couldn't reach, and banishing the tabby to the out of doors. However as luck would have it our premises were visited that day by a famiy with two small boys. Small boys who tend to go through doors and leave them open, as most juvenile males do. This day was no exeption. The back door leading to the kitchen was left ajar. Hearing a noise we sent the female juvenile in to investigate. We were surpised when the air was rent by an ear-piercing scream. The girl ran out of the kitchen to report that a large, black and white Tom cat had made it's way in the above door, and ran off with the meat, bag and all. He was last seen making his get away along the top of the wall behin our house with the bag hanging from his mouth. The case was solved. The Lab and the tabby were cleared. It's true what they say: criminals do return to the scene of the crime, especially if they think they might get their second meal in as many days.

Tollywood Dreams

Lights....

Camera....

Action!

Tollywood came to our door recently! Tollywood, for those of you who do not know, is a take off on Bollywood. The nickname of the Hindi film industry. Tollywood is it's Telugu counterpart in Andhra Pradhesh, where they speak Telugu. Tollywood films are full of romance, violence, song, and dance. We took these pictures from our front yard because the movie company chose our neighborhood to film in. They invaded our streets about 7:00am with their vans, trucks and equipment. The extras filed into the courtyard of our next door neighbors, and sat on the ground to do each other's hair and makeup. The stars were treated a little better. They had a trailer parked down the block to wait in. They were also followed around everywhere they went, by little guys holding big, black umbrellas. The pretty lady you see is Trisha the heroine of our film, and her hero, pictured below is Nagarjuna. A big star here in A.P. It was fun to watch the process, and stare at the actors. To hear the director shout ACTION!, and know that when the movie comes out our house might just make it on screen. Nojo thought we shoul leave our laundry hanging out on the terrace just so we could show people our underwear when the movie came out. I vetoed that idea. By the end of the day word had gotten out and our securtiy guard were having a hard time holding the large crowd at bay that had gathered at our colony gate. Everyone around here was pretty star struck, and we can't wait for the release of the movie.

Never, never boring

Life is never, never boring here. I got to experience another first in my life yesterday. On our flight from Bangalore we were in a turbo prop plane. Nam has ridden in them before, but for Bee and I it was our first time. It was definitely much smaller than a jet. While we were at cruising altitude it was pretty smooth, but we had to pass through a cloud layer on the way up and the way down. My stomach didn't appreciate that much. The craziest part, was walking down the little set of steps onto the aiport apron. No skywalk for this plane. Just another chance to say. Yeah, I've done that before.

Tiger Kingdom

Isn't this a great picture? Bee looks a little nervous doesn't she? While we were in Thailand this summer Bee got to go to go to a place called Tiger Kingdom. Yes, they got to play with tigers. She got to pet the babies, and adolescents. This was the biggest one they got to get up close with. Plenty big enough if you ask me. I would have been a little nervous too! I was excited for her, not everyone gets to play with tigers.

One night in Bangkok...

The airport in Bangkok is an anthropologist's dream. There is an amazing number of cultures represented there. If you love to watch people it is the place to be. Last night I sat next to a woman returning to Sydney, Australia. I ate my last cheeseburger at Burger King adjacent to a couple speaking German, and I passed an entire tour group who appeared to be from Korea on the walkway. There are usually Russians, Spaniards, Germans, Brits, Chinese, Korean, Australian, various Scandinavian, and even some American tourists milling about.
Last night there were a large number of Arabs in the terminal looking especially wealthy in their long, stunningly white robes and headgear. The black head bands contrasted startlingly with the cloths on their head. Their wives and daughters were dressed in burquas of rich materials, and sporting fine jewelry, designer handbags and expensive looking shoes. They really did make quite an impression.
However, the image that stuck in my mind was of an older Islamic gentlemen, probably in his sixties or seventies. He was wearing the traditional kurta and pants. A soft grey color instead of white. His most striking feature though was the baseball cap that was perched backwards on his head. I had to do a double take when I saw him. He was strolling in front of me down the concourse with his wife covered from head to toe in her burqua. He looked like an Arab homeboy. It was the most unexpected blending of Eastern and Western culture that I have seen in a while.

Rainy Season

The rainy season has finally descended upon us. It was a little late this year, which caused some concern, but it's been raining off and on for the last few days. The farmers and the government are happy to see the rain. Hopefully, if it keeps it up we can do away with some of the nasty power cuts. I think it's going to be a while before they get all those nifty nuclear plants built.