not the most exciting thing, but definitely unexpected

My friend Mandi loves the random things that happen daily here in South Asia. I agree! Today, a wedding procession marched down our street, and stopped at our house. This isn't the first time this has happened, but it's the first time we had our cameras.

We realized the funny thing about these wedding processions is that they sound exactly like Friday nights during the fall...football games! I mean, the band plays South Asian music, yet it somehow sounds the same as my high school playing Anchors Away. There's not even a twist to it, it literally sounds exactly the same. Then I remembered that once, I heard a high school band play Beyonce's Crazy in Love, and although it was really good, it still sounded like a marching band. I guess there's no real variety of sound when it comes to marching bands, even the world over.

This picture is them at our front step.

big fat south asian wedding

I haven't posted in awhile because Hannah and I went out of town to go to a wedding with Priya and her family. Weddings here are funny because RSVP has no meaning. I didn't meet the bride until she was dining at her reception, and I met the groom two days before. But apparently foreigners being there upped the prestige of the wedding, or at least piqued their curiosity, so we were welcomed.
I should start off by saying that if it weren't for Hannah, I wouldn't have survived the weekend with Priya and her family. As Hannah so eloquently put it, Priya and her family all became bridezillas, and they weren't even brides. But that's all the negativity I'll say, and instead I'll focus on the positives.

First, we got to experience a wedding immersed with a national family, which is something not too many people get to experience. We were there from Thursday, watching the female relatives smear a colored paste on the groom's skin to make it glow, until Sunday at 5am watching the bride sob as she threw rice over her shoulder at her family. But in between those two spectrums was the most fun part - the big dance party! It's like a bachelor/ette party, but it's a family affair. First, we sat around as waiters served us delicious snacks, then the closer women to the groom sat on the dancefloor, equipped with a drum and a mic, and sang and clapped. Of course, Hannah and I being the major curiosity of the weekend, several people told us to join the women. The fact that we didn't know the songs nor the language didn't deter them, so we sat and clapped while 100+ people stared at us. Some point during the clapping, Hannah and I realized why we weren't embarrassed - we had left our dignity behind sometime around ordering black shoe pizzas. After the singing, the sheet was rolled off the dancefloor, and the music and dancing started! For the next couple of hours, I never sat down again. It was so much fun learning their dances!

Saturday night, the wedding started with a blessing of the groom (still no bride in sight) around 6pm. Then the groom sat atop a white horse and we all rode to the wedding site and waited for the groom to ride up on his horse. His family and friends would be part of the procession with him, dancing to the accompanying marching band. It sounded just like a football game. I felt a bit sorry for the groom, missing out on all the fun and dancing. Priya pulled Hannah and I into the procession, which was fun. That was the most excited part of the wedding, which included food, blessings, and tons of waiting around, and lasted until 5am. I'm still recovering from the lack of sleep, especially since we packed up and left immediately to come back home. Let's just say it's good to be back in the land of beds and toilet paper.

the bride and groom

Not that this is related, but husband and I were given a can of Dr. Pepper from a friend in February (thanks, LR!) and we split it last night as a treat. That was 6 ounces of goodness!

a quick trip out of the country

So today, husband, me, Anna, and our friend S, hopped in a cab and took a 20 minute drive to London. What? That's impossible? Then....where were we? I mean, we were at a former palace built in the 1800's. There were green lawns, gardens (that will be blooming soon), street lamps, winding paths, ivy vines, and all that. We were slightly disappointed that the tour of the palace was only 4 rooms, and we weren't allowed to take pictures. We laughed at that because the rooms were nothing spectacular: an entrance room, a conference room, some room with a famous table, and then a room that had poster boards of famous moments in history. The palace has been turned into a institute where Ph.D holders can come for more studies, so unfortunately most of the building has been privatized. Even the ballroom and dining hall have been turned into a library, a decision I'm torn about, although I think I'm leaning towards Team Ballroom. This place is incredible, not only because it really is a beautiful structure, but because this is in South Asia. Seriously, South Asia.

come on, play along :)

I'm sick. I caught it from husband, some cold thing. Back in the states, I used to love getting sick. It meant I could call in sick and not have to go to work. Yeah, I'll be the first to admit that when it came to my old job, I was never that good at following Col. 3:23. But now that I am doing something that I love, I hate being sick. And today husband and I had made plans to go to some villages to find the MahPah's, and of course, I got sick. Fortunately husband is out there now, and praise the boss, has already met a MahPah who is taking him to his home tonight. So my wonderful P husband (that's for anybody who has taken the Meyers-Briggs) is just hanging out in a village somewhere in the Mah Valley. Once again, praise the boss!

So after spending all afternoon sneezing, laying under covers, and watching an entire season of Friends (season 2...not my fave, but it's been awhile), I'm bored. Bored as all get-out is the actual term for it. So Nosila, I am finally responding to your tag thing. And I'm definitely tagging my friends who I know read this.

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Budget Analyst
2. Accounting Assistant
3. Librarian Assistant
4. Hostess at Steak and Ale

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. The American President
2. Serendipity
3. Mona Lisa Smile
4. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Four places you have lived:
1. South Asia
2. Paris, France (yes, 2 months counts, you naysayers)
3. Home of the Lumberjacks (although I consider myself more of a Ladyjack)
4. In a nasty efficiency apartment the first half of my soph year in college

Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. Friends
2. The Amazing Race
3. Lost
4. CSIs

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Amsterdam
2. Thailand
3. Hawaii
4. Yellowstone National Park

Four websites I visit daily:
1. Hotmail
2. Eonline
3. All my friends' blogs
4. MSN.com

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Steak
2. Anything southern
3. Stuffed crabs (Pappadeaux's)
4. Steak

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. With my family
2. With the Fam
3. In the village with husband
4. Paris

Four books you could read more than once:
1. Don't
2. Read
3. Books
4. Twice

Friends I am tagging (put as a comment or on your own blog, on which you can feel free to give me a shoutout because, you know, it'll make me feel special)
1. Husband
2. Newssender
3. Kahuna
4. Domino
5. Ashley Sneds
6. South Asia Rocks
7. Mandi
8. Dadto3
9. Alittlewater
10. Kimmysun
11. Momsfriend
12. You!

nova backwards spells...

AVON! Can you believe that in a small corner of this town there is an actual Avon shop here? Priya took Hannah and me there today, and on the way, we discussed how we didn't know what to expect. It turned out to be pretty nice! And, contrary to normal South Asia experiences, they had almost everything listed! I mean, out of all the things that I wanted from the brochure, there were only 2 things not in stock. See everything I got? I don't want to tell you what I paid because it would make you sick at how cheap it is. Let's just say, all of this cost about the same amount as a couple of lipsticks in the states would cost. And it's real Avon!

Also, today it started raining bloody murder. Is that a correct usage of that phrase? Well it should be. By the time I got home, I was drenched and freezing from being pelted with rain and hail. And the electricity had been out in our concrete house for over 2 hours, according to poor husband, who was still sick and barely visible wrapped under a blanket, sitting in front of the not-working electric heater. So this is a picture of me, about 30 minutes after I arrived home. You do what you gotta do to stay warm in these parts.

Super Bowl Sunday

Sadly, many of you have probably noticed how husband has fallen off the wagon. For awhile there, he showed promising signs of recovery. But then his rehabilitation would slow then stop. Every time it happened, I would beg of him, "Please, husband, you're doing so good!" and he would try; being the great guy he is, he would really try hard. But ever since December 9th, he just hasn't been able to pull himself together. Until now. Fortunately, he has found something that really helps him to keep going, and I think he may have pulled himself together, this time for good.

Of course, I am talking about blogging. He's back, baby! (this is all just a way of notifying those who read his as well :)

And for more celebrating, today is Super Bowl Sunday! Thanks, Mom, who sent us the DVD of the big game. Anna, Hannah, husband and I will be watching the kickoff at 4pm. Or I should say Hannah and husband will probably be watching the game. Anna and I will be waiting on the edge of our seats for the commercials. We're not as football-minded as the other two are. I mean, today I'm wearing my hometown's baseball tee shirt because it's the only sports-related item of clothing I own. (opening day is less than a month away!) But as always, I'll be enjoying the great eats of Super Bowl Sunday...husband and I are in charge of the snack type food, and I think Anna and Hannah are sacrificing some of their chocolate chips and all that to bring the goodies-type food. Poor husband came down with a cold yesterday, so Super Bowl Sunday could have treated him a little better.

Yea for an American Sport!

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!)

who's the boss?

So much has gone on lately that I really don't know how to begin. I've been putting off blogging because I knew it was going to be incredibly long. So, let me try to hit the high lights and avoid the usual useless chatter: A day and a half after returning from the ladies retreat, husband and I accompanied Anna and Hannah to the town they'll be moving to in April. It was a 10 hour road trip. I think after living in South Asia, we'll be driving all over the States when we get back, because nothing will sound too far. Anyway, their to-be town is gorgeous. Everywhere we looked, we were surrounded by snowy mountains. We were even able to play in snow, and keeping with our love affair of strange animals, we sat on a yak for $.50. The locals really know how to make do with what they have.

Upon returning, our favorite little creatures greeted us by pulling my clothes off the line, dragging them in water and dirt, and leaving them strewn across the terrace, along with little presents for us to enjoy cleaning up later. Why, of course I mean the monkeys. I was at the market when this happened, and husband called me and said, "Pick up some bb's. It's time to teach them who's boss." They must have had some sort of plan that day to terrorize the homo sapiens, because on my way back from the market, a man came running up with a monkey screeching and chasing him. There were about 5 or so women walking around me, and I've never seen a group of strangers simultaneously do an about-face and start speed walking the other way. But we managed to do so, and in sync so amazing, it was nothing short of dance-like. In ballet, there's something called Step of the Cat. Well this coordinated group move I think I'm renaming as Step of the Monkey. Finally one brave woman picked up a couple of rocks and began throwing them at the monkeys, from which the evil ones turned and ran. Then as calm as ever, we all turned around and began walking in the right direction again. The Step of the Monkey, for that day at least, was over.

But believe me, the war has just begun.

funny signs

I see strange signs all the time, so I realized the other day I should be taking pictures of these. Here are just a small percentage of the crazy signs I've seen in the past 6 months:































Sometimes I can totally relate.






























Written by the flowers? Or is the English just funny?




































I'm still at a loss for what exactly a fancy cracker is.
















This one requires a small explanation. This was posted at every escalator in the big western mall we went to. Apparently us Americans take for granted growing up using escalators from a small age. I saw one woman being led by the elbow very awkwardly on the steps, and she froze on the way down, frightened, much like on the movie Elf...remember that? Hopefully that image put a smile on your face.

(thanks to KimmySun, Beki, and Anna, who I 'borrowed' 3 of these from...I felt justified since I've been to each of these places they were taken :)

girls just wanna have fun!

This past weekend our company somehow knew us women would love a ladies retreat. It was great - some of the women in the capital city organized it, and I think there were about 20+ of us there. One thing we did was go to an honest-to-goodness western mall. This place had fancy shops, a kiddie play area, escalators, and not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4 stories! I think all 20 of us white women stopped in our tracks when we walked into the mall with our mouths gaping open. This kind of place is just unheard of in our parts of south asia.

P.S. I have to thank the choir and dadto3 at our home office. I listened to my iPod as I took the bus (by myself!) down the mountain, and the first track of their most recent CD came on. Or at least I think it's the most recent...? Anyway, as I stared out the window, seeing the poverty, the hundreds of thousands who would probably die without knowing the Truth, and passing too many temples to count on the way, I could hear them singing, "There's no Boss like Jeh..." over and over again. Living in a land of 300 million bosses, those words have never seemed more true. Your version of that song is my favorite!

happy president's day!

Some of you may have gone all day without realizing it, but Monday was an American holiday. Yep, President's Day. So, in honor of our great country and its leaders, we celebrated. It all started out as a joke, because really, outside of your 1st grade class, who celebrates that? Somehow, though, it became a reality, and we even had a couple of friends from out of town make it! To celebrate, we had tons of food. It was like the dessert table at Thanksgiving...cherry cobbler, apple crisp, brownies, cookies, pumpkin bread; and then also we had pizza pockets, and Anna sacrificed her velveeta and rotel. (and made some awesome tortilla chips!) We were so full after it all, and still have tons left over. Leftover dessert? Always a good thing!

Also, we played a mix of American music. Now, of course I mean the America the Beautiful and songs like that, but basically any song with anything American in the title was fair game: American Woman, Surfin' USA, All My Exes Live in Texas, etc, and we also paid a tribute to the leader himself and played Hail to the Chief. It was nice to be completely, unashamedly, obnoxiously American for the day.

am i on candid camera?

Rarely does a week go by when I don't feel as if I'm the main character of a comedy. You know, the character that gets stuck in crazy situations, laughed at, or is perplexed at the actions around her.

I'll give a few For Instances: on Wednesday, husband and I were invited to go to lunch by one of the students in the storying class we are doing. This was our first time to go to her house and meet her family. Despite her several phone calls and constant text messages, we barely knew her ourselves. But we went anyway because that's what we're here for, right? Turns out, she's the only one who speaks any English at all, and hers is quite limited. No problem...we can hold shallow conversations in the language by now so we pushed through. We sat mainly with her dad the whole time while the women prepared the lunch. We found out that day that her dad is the South Asian version of the dad on My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It was South Asia this, South Asia that, our culture is better than Western culture, our music is the best, etc. All he was missing was a bottle of Windex. It was hard to keep a straight face after awhile, especially when he remarked to husband that "everybody in the US listens to our music." Husband said, "No, not really," and he looked at husband as if he had sprouted two heads and nodded, as if to say, "You fool. What do you know about America?"

Another example: Just now, a man who sells gas cylinders came to the house. When I opened the door, there happened to be 3 women on the road in front of our house, one whom was so curious about me, that she walked right up to the door along with the salesman, and started to speak to me. And even though I was clearly conversing with the salesman, she began to translate anyway. To save her some time, I finally told her that I speak the language, to which she acted completely shocked, as if I hadn't been speaking it for a few minutes already right in front of her. At least this is a very friendly culture that they are ready and willing to translate when we need help!

And this one is my favorite. Yesterday, I was at the vegetable seller's shop. A friend walks up, greets me, and then asks, "What are you doing?" I thought it was pretty obvious, but I said, "Buying vegetables." "Ohh!" she said, like a mystery was solved. Then, immediately after I asked the salesman for a kilo of potatoes, she asked, "What are you making?" Again, it was Captain Obvious to the rescue..."Potatoes," I answered slowly. Once again, she looked completely taken aback at my answer, and giggled delightedly with surprise.

All of this has happened in the past 48 hours. I wonder what comedic relief is in store for the next 2 days?

wait a sec, this is south asia...?

A big happy late valentine's day to everyone! This time last year, husband and I sat, eating a fancy steak dinner, wondering how our Feb 14, 2006 would be. I pictured us running around a desert town looking for some place semi-nice to eat at. Sadly, I already knew there would be no steak house to be found. (although we do frequent a restaurant with a decent, if not incredibly spicy, vegetable steak...but that's another story)

But fortunately, we found a nice place for a romantic date. Actually, a very nice place. Although maybe our stateside friends should let us know if 6 months of South Asia has clouded our view of nice. I take that back - please don't. I'd rather impress myself with stories of this magnificent old hotel on the edge of town with beautiful wood paneling, chandeliers, a cozy lounge, and the charm of another century. It was beyond my expectations! We forgot for a few hours that we were even in this country. And as we cruised home on the scooter, I looked around at the lights of this city on the side of a hill, the narrow streets, and the stars, I realized that as much I pine after Paris sometimes, our town can be pretty charming too. I just may have to squint a little harder to see it.

it's our anniversary!

Well, not that kind of anniversary...but today does mark 6 months of us being in South Asia. Can you believe it's already been half a year? I sure can't.

And in unrelated news, we woke up this morning to an interesting picture in the paper. Let me backtrack. Yesterday, we took all the visitors to the touristy areas of our town and took tons of pics. This morning, husband went to the vegetable guy who smiled hugely when he saw husband, and said, "Hey!" and grabbed today's local paper and showed him a picture of us on the front page! Oh man, it was quite a shock when husband brought it to us, but now it's kind of a joke because everyone is telling us how they saw us today. So, to commemorate our 6th month of being in South Asia, they put us in the paper. Not really...the caption on the picture talks about how many tourists come to our town. But it sure it fun to think that highly of ourselves.

the guests are coming

Husband and I love having guests. It's the main reason we wanted a place with two bedrooms. Anytime people come stay with us, we see that as an excuse to make extra snacks. Husband always makes his famous salsa, and I usually make spinach and cheese dip with some sort of dessert. Well today, for our guests coming this afternoon, I decided in honor of Valentine's Day coming up that I'd try out some very chocolatey candies - Mocha Brownie Sweethearts (the sweetheart comes from them being cut into heart shapes) and French Truffles. Well, once again, I must have thought I was magical in the kitchen, because I do not have a small heart shaped cookie cutter. The Mocha Brownie Sweethearts are now Mocha Brownie Sweetsquares. And the French Truffles...the recipe is so easy, and as a side note, I think this is a dessert my sister-in-law can eat.

However, after cooling, the truffle chocolate becomes hard. The recipe (another side note: thanks to momsfriend who gave me the awesome cookbook, Extending the Table, with all these cool international recipes in it) says that once you use your fingers to shape the chocolate, it will soften. The recipe failed to mention not only does it soften, but it will turn your hands into a big chocolate mess.

The guests are here, so gotta go now...

Today husband and I had a great opportunity thrown in our laps. Deepak teaches a group of students some career courses, and when he heard our stories about the boss, he said his students should hear as well. They specifically asked how the world was created. So today we went over there and husband told the story right before creation...you know, about how the humans' protectors were created, and how a third of them rebelled, and about the leader of the rebellion, the father of all lies. He told it twice, then the students had a turn at telling the story, in their language, and their homework tonight is to tell 2 people the story they heard.

Already, they are asking how they can overcome the separation between perfection and imperfection. Since they want us to come for an hour three times a week, we should get to the story of the one who cleanses us of our imperfections pretty soon. It's pretty exciting.

And Betsy is doing better after her...operation. We took her down to the class today, and since I was wearing traditional clothes, I had to ride sidesaddle. I felt so very South Asian.

cruising day

"I get 70 miles to the gallon on this hog."

Today husband and I took Betsy for a spin. Betsy is what husband calls the scooter (or really, pretty much anything…guitars, stray dogs, nothing is safe from the nickname). We cruised for a couple of hours, checking out nearby villages and the beautiful scenery.

Can you see the snow-capped mtns in the back?
Check out our way serious helmets

A couple times, Betsy needed to rest because, well, the girl’s old. At one of the rests, we decided to head back, and fortunately the road back was downhill, because Betsy wouldn’t start. We coasted and hoped for the best. Right when the road was too flat to go on, there was a mechanic, so we left her with him, told him we’d be back tomorrow to pick her up, and hopped on a bus to get back home.

Halfway through the bus ride, husband remembered that our house key was still with the mechanic, so we got off at our stop, and got on another bus back to the mechanic. We arrived, after quite a hike and a bus switch, and the mechanic, whose name means ‘Carpenter’ in this language, thrust some tea at us and walked away. Of course, we had to drink it, so we did so as fast as we could, and then had to track down where Carpenter had run off with our keys. The owner of the shop started pointing us where to go, but since we had already been down several shops to ask where Carpenter had gone, we didn’t want to go alone again, so we told the owner to show us. Well in this society, menial tasks such as this get handed off to the guy with the lowest status. So these 5 workers began arguing for several minutes about who had to show us where to go, and finally, the youngest was chosen, and then he walked us the mere 200 yards or so to where Carpenter was. Carpenter was in a hurry at this point, and handed our keys to us and told us to follow him back to the shop to negotiate price. Turns out the head gasket is messed up, or the piston, I’m not sure if they ever decided which one needed work, and our town probably doesn’t have the part, and hey, did you two crazy white folks realize this scooter is too weak to be cruising through the mountains anyway? We finally made it back to our house, over 2 hours after we dropped the scooter off at the mechanic’s. I think today may have been my first and last ride on ol’ Betsy. She belongs on safer and flatter pasture.



Poor Betsy

Coffee Day!

Unfortunately, husband wasn't able to go to the village. As things often change here in South Asia, the "ceremony" was cancelled. That was the reason he couldn't go, and I'm still not sure if he even knew there was a ceremony in the first place. He was pretty bummed about it, but we know there will be more opportunities later.

Today, Hannah and I took a road trip to get some coffee! Who would've thought that I would ever consider a two hour car ride as a day-and-back trip. And technically, it should be, seeing as the town we went to is only about 50 km away (that's about 30 miles for the metric system challenged). That's windy mountain roads for you. Not to mention windy South Asian mountain roads.

So there are two main chain coffee shops here in South Asia, and we have one of them in our town, which is a miracle in itself, considering how small our town is. But the other chain is located on a road in the middle of nowhere 50 km south of us. Hannah and I have been throwing around the idea of going there for a day to study just for a change of pace. It was great, and enjoying the scenery on the way is always refreshing.

Hazelnut Latte and a Chocolate Pie - doesn't get much better than that! The driver stopped at a temple to send money on the way, but in true South Asian style, his cell phone rang and he answered it. Temple time over. And the last pic is a town we passed.

a day of unknowns

Husband was just asked about 15 minutes ago to go with Epaenatus to a village that we've never heard of before. He looked at me, I said of course!, and he became a blurred figure from that point on. He came running in with his backpack about 2 minutes later, stuffed with what he thought he'd need, grabbed some snacks and clean water, and was out the door. You know it would have taken me at least 20 minutes to pack a backpack if I didn't know where I was staying. (oh yeah, I forgot to mention, he doesn't even know if he'll have a bed. That would've been my first question: "Will I have a mattress, sheets, pillow, and comforter? Because otherwise, I'll need extra time to pack my sleeping bag and a pillow.") I mean, this whole situation if full of What Ifs...what if the place is cold and he'll need longjohns? What if it's really warm and he'll need short sleeves? What if there's no food available? What if he has to sleep with 3 men in a twin sized bed? The questions are endless!

But also, there's the What if he has a chance to meet more of our people group, the MahPah's? What if he has the opportunity to share about the boss? What if someone is ready to accept? What if he meets a person of peace and we are able to go back to that village? Even as detail-oriented as I tend to be sometimes, these are the questions that are plaguing my mind right now.

Of course, I'm not the one on my way to 24 hours of who knows what. In a way, he's kind of like Jack Bauer...

Our trip to get our scooter was interesting. For one thing, the scooter is not in the best shape, and only starts when husband gives the kickstart a big whack. We actually had to walk it over to the nearest mechanic to get fixed. The workers started taking apart our scooter on the sidewalk in front of the shop, along with several other scooters and motorcycles already being worked on. In a small area, there were probably 10-15 guys working on all these parts. They sat husband and I on a bench to watch them work. All of a sudden, a huge truck rolled up and honked loudly. In a flash, the work area was empty. We're talking tumbleweeds could have rolled by. It literally took about 5-10 seconds for these workers to grab all the pieces and run them into the shop. Thoughts of everything from attacks to arrests to drive-bys popped in our heads, and so we followed suit and hopped out of the way. Turns out, the shop is not allowed to work on the sidewalk, and the police will come around and confiscate anything they are working on outside. After the police man left, the workers came back out, along with the scooters, and started back up again. These are the before and after shots.

We also walked through the big Wednesday (aw, Big Wednesday reminds me of my dad!) vegetable and fruit market, which was so impressive. And we saw a few parks as well. But the main thing is that not only did we end up with a scooter, we also were passed down a gas heater, and got a mixer (finally!) and a skillet.

Anna and I at the rose garden.