what i'll miss

I have grown to love many things about this culture that I'm living in, and I am really going to miss a lot of it when we leave in just a couple weeks. Obviously, the relationships we have made I will miss the most, and not only with the nationals we've met. When you pick up and move to the other side of the world, you form an incredible bond with other like-minded people who have also left their 'home' country as well. You become family. So now our hearts are divided in that are hard to explain, but certainly easy to feel.

Like I said, I'm going to miss so much, so I thought a top 10 was in order. Like the one I did about what I'm looking forward to, I'm not putting the obvious one of family and friends. That's already a given!

Top 10 Things I'll Miss the Most About South Asia:

10. The mangoes! Oh you wouldn't believe how good the mangoes are here in season. And not just the fresh ones (which are incredible), but you can also always find mango juice, mango popsicles, mango ice cream...I don't even know if you can get such fresh mangoes in the US. I sure hope so!

9. Cheap Indian Food! I know in the US you can get Indian food, and it can even be good quality and authentic. However, I've heard it's usually super expensive. The Indian restaurant here I will miss the most has a dish called Veg Thali - it comes with enough food to feed you for at least two meals, if not 3, it's oh so delicious, and it's only $2.50. Oh, and they deliver. Naturally. Which takes me to the next one...

8. Deliveries! I've posted about it before - I love how everyone delivers here. I'm going to really miss that!

7. Creativity and contentment! I'll admit, sometimes it's a pain, but because lots of conveniences aren't available here, you have to get creative. This includes with recipes, recreation, decorating, daily life, you name it. You always feel a sense of accomplishment when you've cooked something that you had to substitute 5 items in. And when you have less options, it's easier to feel contentment.

6. Easily accessible health care! Can you imagine a world where you walk into a modern hospital, with no appointment, stroll to the receptionist and pay (with no insurance card) $12 to see a doctor, wait for 5 minutes, and the well-educated doctor calls you into his/her office? Then if you need any medicine, you go to your local pharmacist, spend pennies on your meds without even needing a prescription? And if you have any later questions, you just call your doctor up on their mobile phone? This is the exact nature of medical care in the Capital. I'm sooooo gonna miss this.

5. The wallahs! Remember my mom blogged about the wallahs - the men and women who provide services or sell things for a very small price. The press wallah who irons your clothes, the fruit wallah who walks by your house and sells you fresh fruit, etc. What is husband going to do without his press wallah? His wife sure doesn't iron like that!

4. The hospitality! South Asians are notoriously hospitable. I couldn't even begin to tell you the number of times a woman and I have exchanged just a few words of small talk and she invites me into her home. They take pride in treating their guests like royalty - offering chai, sweets, food, and comfort. You always feel like you have made their week by visiting their home.

3. Bollywood! I love getting into a taxi or auto rickshaw and the driver turns on the radio to popular Bollywood music. Or sitting in a coffee shop that plays Bollywood music videos, or going to the gym and watch Bollywood movies while working out. Bollywood is so unique and so fun, and I'm going to miss how everywhere it is here!

2. Interesting life! It's hard to find a title to sum up the interesting day-to-day things you see here in the Capital. Opening your front door and seeing cows sitting at your gate is always fun. Or when they walk by mooing. That's cool too. Or driving down the road and you see an elephant plodding along beside you, or camels. The park we walk in has wild peacocks that cross our path. I like to chuckle at signs that are so funny (usually unintentionally), and the crazy way people drive or sell. Like the balloon wallah who rides his bike on busy streets, loaded down with dozens of balloons. And I'll definitely miss seeing all sorts of history on a daily basis. An old fort built centuries ago, or a bridge, or a tomb. It's fascinating.

1. The bargains! This is a no-brainer. The markets are a fun experience in themselves, what with the sights, sounds, and smells. (not all bad, mind you :) But then getting a great deal on something like jewelry, clothes, shoes, or home decorations...man! I am definitely going to miss the bargains.

top 10 mundane things i'm looking forward to

We should be stepping foot on American soil in one month. This list probably changes daily, but I'm doing a Top 10 of the things I'm most looking forward to. Now obviously, I'm mostly just excited to be around my family and friends again. So, that's not on the list. Neither are travel-related things (like going to the lake) or food related things (like eating steak and baked potatoes at husband's family's house) just because those aren't exactly mundane, and also because they are pretty much a list of their own. Wow, only I could take something so simple and over-analyze it until it's complicated and categorized. So here is my list of mundane, I-always-took-this-for-granted type stuff that I'm extremely excited about:

10. A dishwasher
9. Not standing out
8. Cooking with meat
7. No 120 degree weather
6. Being fluent in the language
5. Year round variety of fruits and veggies
4. Wearing skirts and shorts
3. Comfortable furniture
*2.5. Safe tap water
2. Constant electricity
1. Mailboxes

*How could I forget that one?!

2007 in pictures

My friend Kelley had a great idea of looking back on 2007 with her favorite photos. I decided to steal her idea. :) I've narrowed them down to my Top 10 favorite pictures of 2007, 5 anonymous for this blog, and the other 5 on the family blog.


5. This picture was taken in a J temple. It's in my top 5 because it sums up perfectly why we are here in South Asia.


4. This was taken on a beach in Thailand, and I like it because it makes me laugh. It seems auto rickshaws really are every where. :)


3. Jaya lighting candles around her home for the festival of lights. I love all the colors in this photo. It's hard for me to believe I only met her last year. She was definitely my most meaningful friendship in 2007.


2. It was hard to choose my favorite picture from Venice, because the city is picturesque from all angles. This is from the Grand Canal. Our European trip was our big vacation of 2007 (and probably our life!) so of course Venice had to have a special mention.


1. Paris is possibly my favorite city on the planet, so not only did it deserve to be on this list, it deserved the top slot. It was even harder to narrow down my favorite Parisian shot. I realized I can't go wrong with a classic, so I decided on this one, taken beautifully by my husband.

anniversary

Today is exactly 2 years since we arrived in South Asia. Has it really been 2 years already?

The boss has brought us through so many trials and triumphs, joys and fears, frustrations and achievements, grief and lessons learned, and good and bad situations. He is always faithful, and we know he will be with us through our remaining 10 months with this term, and the many trials and triumphs, etc, that will inevitably come.

I think today calls for a Top 10, don't you? Favorite South Asian Times of the Last 2 Years:

10. Finally getting a bb gun to arm ourselves against the monkeys.
9. October in the Himalayas.
8. Learning to converse, however badly, in another language. Better yet, learning to read and write in another script.
7. Mango season!
6. Watching Chini get all mad over the monkeys.
5. Dancing at the sangeet at the first wedding I attended here.
4. Discovering things that make life a little easier here in the Capital, like all the deliveries.
3. Visiting the grand palaces, historic monuments, forts, and ruins located all around this country.
2. Beginning my love affair with all things Bollywood.
1. Seeing lives that have been changed - both mine and nationals.

Top 10 of Paris and Venice

It is so hard to figure out how to summarize an incredible 12 night vacation into a few words and pics. That's why it has taken me forever to blog about our vacation. I figured out I could do a top 10. Anytime I don't have a good picture of the listed item, I'll put one of our many shots of the Eiffel Tower, because they are just too beautiful to pass up. These are in no particular order:

10. Ste. Chappelle Cathedral - the best new thing I saw this trip. There are over 1100 stories from the Book depicted in the huge stained-glass windows, and we just sat and stared and tried to pick out stories we recognized.

9. The Eiffel Tower - the most visited place this trip. I went twice, husband went four times! It was just as beautiful as I remembered. Husband and I had one night to ourselves before my family arrived, and he chose the Eiffel Tower as the place to go. We sat there at sunset and watched the twinkling lights come on, then as it grew dark, the full lights came on, making it look golden. We vowed the next time to bring a blanket, some bread and cheese, but of course forgot. Something to go back for, right?

8. Alex and Maribel - best guides in Venice. They owned the B&B where we stayed, and helped us "conquer Venezia" in only 60 hours. Alex had the best Italian accent ever, spoke wildly with his hands, tried to convince me that I could drink wine while pregnant, and everything he recommended was perfect. He sat husband down every morning after breakfast and would go over our itinerary for the day. He pointed us to the places the Venetians ate, and used the best expressions. One place, for instance, had the best fried calamari. "The owner he fries everything even his mustache."

7. San Marco Piazza - best free entertainment. According to Alex, we shouldn't do St. Mark's Square during the day, so we checked it out first at night. We had already eaten dinner (at the aforementioned mustache man's place) so we just strolled around the square, enjoying the atmosphere. Live string quartets played at several outside restaurants, and we could stand and listen to them. Many people around us would break out in dancing, and then when the song was over, we'd walk around and listen to the next quartet. Husband wanted to find where Indiana Jones came out of a manhole, but unfortunately, we couldn't see it.

6. My family - best family ever! It was so good to see them, laugh with them, talk with them, and explore Paris with them. And I think they even went away liking Paris, so I was happy. We didn't eat nearly enough pastries, nor did we make it to all the sights, finish Khabhi Khushi Khabhie Gham (oh yes I most certainly did), or play any games, but we enjoyed just being together again. The twins gave us lots of entertainment, especially with how excited they got for the choo-choo train (the subway and also the train that drove around Montmartre) and how they would say, "Bonjour!" when prompted. They were very good travelers, especially when Mimi or their strollers were in sight.

5. The Lido - best island in Venice. We stayed off the main area of Venice on the island of Lido, where they actually had cars instead of boats, and streets instead of canals. But somehow, they still managed to have that great Venice feel, with sidewalk cafes, and smaller canals, and colorful buildings. Husband remarked that towns in the US are paying big money to achieve what the Lido had.

4. The Louvre - best comeback. I am not an art museum person at all. So I only went to the Louvre because husband and my family wanted to go. I wasn't expecting much, so I was very surprised to enjoy the museum more this time around, especially seeing the architecture. And also the Royal Apartments were beautiful, too. This was husband's favorite thing he did in Paris. You can't take pics inside the Louvre (much, anyway) so here is an outside shot of the former largest palace in the world, now most famous museum.

3. Bike Riding - best way to see a city or an island. Husband, my dad and brother went on a bike tour of Paris one day. They said it was a lot of fun, and husband got a peek at sights that he went back and saw further, like Musee d'Orsay or the Rodin House. In Venice, our B&B had free bikes, so one morning/afternoon we cruised around the Lido, checking out the Mediterranean Sea. We found my favorite place that we ate at (those Italians really know how to do lasagna! :) and we took a break on the beach and walked in the Mediterranean.

2. Relaxing in Venice - best place to go after the action of Paris. There's not a lot to do in Venice except stare at the surrounding beauty, eat gelato, and relax. And so that's what we did. Since the first trimester has been demanding sleep of me, one afternoon we just went to San Elena island, spread out a blanket, and took a nap in the park. We weren't alone; there were many locals napping around us as well. We spent most of our time just wandering the streets and alleys, and unwinding after a fun-packed week in Paris.

1. Being in the West - best moments for reverse culture shock. Husband and I could hold hands in public. We also did the unthinkable - we drank from the faucet and ate fruits and veggies without poisoning them first. Let me tell you how wrong that felt. Speaking of fruits and veggies, have tomatoes, oranges, and bananas always been that big? Oh, the yogurt selection! And the cheese and meat! And pre-made foods and sauces, along with cartoned milk, lots of cereal, Haagen-Dazs ice cream, kolaches, and breads galore! Cars didn't honk, there were lines with no cutting allowed, and we blended in. We really didn't know what to think of all of it.

lessons learned early in 2007

I've mentioned before how life in South Asia is starting to seem quite normal to me. I used to blog all the time about the big and small differences I noticed between South Asia and America, but the longer I live over here, the more normal everything seems. Just yesterday, as husband and I sat at a red light and saw at least 20 bicycle riders at this major freeway-like intersection with us and other cars, trucks, mopeds, and rickshaws, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It wasn't until a horse galloped by, with no rider, that we noticed how weird it was that we represented several centuries worth of transportation all at one intersection.

But I am still experiencing new things here and there that make me remember that this place is a lot different than the country I am from. So with that, I'm doing a new top 10. In no particular order, Top 10 things I have learned in the past 6 weeks:

1. Bubble baths take ingenuity, but nothing 2 geysers, a bucket, a tub, and water boiling on the stove can't handle.
2. Even if your electrical box is sparking like an invisible man is welding it, you will not die.
3. As sad as it is, beggars will apply fake blood to different appendages to gain mercy-money.
4. Super Bowl game day takes a lot less effort when it comes on live at 4:30am.
5. Mail comes a lot slower when you didn't tip the mailman at Christmas.
6. Even florists in South Asia don't miss an opportunity to mark up roses 150% on Valentine's Day.
7. The FCC looks like Howard Stern compared to this government's communications watchdog. They completely shut down an entire TV channel because of an afterhours raunchy show, World's Sexiest Commercials, which happens to be the channel that the Amazing Race comes on.
8. Ordering groceries over the phone just isn't worth it when you have to spell out every item. C for cricket, H for Himalayas, E for England...
9. Playing a tuba and riding a camel can be done at the same time.
10. Explaining why I have freckles is hard to do in another language.

another top ten

Okay as much as I am truly beginning to love it here - and maybe I'm even beginning to get over the hump of culture shock - there are still some things that I never even realized how much I loved until they were gone. So besides the obvious of family, friends, and beef, here are...

Top 10 Things I Won't Take For Granted Again in the States

10. The Eisenhower Interstate System
9. Central heating and Housing insulation
8. Clothes Dryers
7. Clean water from a tap
6. Privacy, Personal Space, and People who call ahead
5. Not having to poison the fruits and veggies
4. Being able to hold husband's hand in public
3. A variety of fruits and veggies in and out of season, all year round
2. Understanding the national sport
1. Toilet paper that doesn't involve tape nor tearing up half of the roll before being able to open it

(I bet you never realized you should be thankful for the #1!)

top 14 things i love...

...about this city and country. (I couldn't narrow it down to 10) I'd love to see a post or comment of your list! (this goes for my overseas and stateside friends)

14. Morning chai, afternoon chai, and evening chai
13. Even if all I say is "thank you" or "hello", the locals freak out and begin complimenting on how well I speak the language.
12. Hearing a cow moo right outside the window. I'm not sure that will ever fail to make me laugh
11. The stunning views every way you look.
10. The guys at the coffee shop know me by name (what's that you say about coffee addiction?)
9. Being able to have talks about the boss without people immediately jumping on the defense wagon, spouting off about being PC and tolerance
8. When monkeys take your clothes off the line (alright, so that belongs on the hate list)
7. Learning the odd regulations, such as having to sew white cloth around international parcels
6. The shop keepers know what I mean when I ask for stuff like "yellow flour" (translation: cornmeal)
5. A bus ride to just about anywhere costs about a nickel (that's assuming you also love the buses)
4. The locals make a valiant attempt to cater to my "low spice tolerance"; the food goes from chemical burn level to merely lip-numbing
3. Without exception, each movie involves hours of drama, laughter, tears, singing, and best of all, dancing
2. The joy of sharing about the boss to someone who has never heard about him
1. If the shopkeeper has no change, it's not a problem. He just pays me back in gum.