Savannah and I had a nice little outing last Saturday afternoon/evening. We made it out to Mahabalipuram, also known as Mamallapuram, because - you know - we can't just have one name I can't pronounce with 12 plus letters in it around here - we need to have multiple unpronounceable names! There are a lot of places with two names, I am learning. Examples: Chennai = Madras. Mumbai = Bombay. Nhava Sheva = Jawaharlal Nehru. I am told the old name was English, from when the British ruled India, and that more recently the Indian government has decided to rename many places to sound more Indian than British. I don't know about you, but these ALL sounded the same amount of Indian to me. Silly Indians. Anyway, our visit wasn't too long, because I didn't bring a lot of cash and the stone temple things we wanted to see didn't take debit cards... but we did walk to the beach part and shopped some of the little vendor stands, drank some tea and Savannah had some fresh pineapple. When I asked how much stuff was, the locals thought it was great fun to take advantage of us. I know it is not really 40 rupees (appx 75 cents) for two slices of pineapple, but whatever. And I know it's not really 75 rupees for two cups of tea (appx $1.50), because really these things are much less expensive here. But I didn't feel like haggling (very unlike me, usually I am down for a price war) so I paid them and they laughed as we walked off like they got something over the foreigners. Silly Indians. When we went to the stone carving temple things to see how much it was and see if they took a debit card (most places here do, really!), we saw it was 20 rupees for Indians and 250 rupees for "all others." Over ten times as much because we fell in that "all others" category. Crazy country, I tell ya. So we will go back one day with our zillions of foreign dollars they must think we have and enjoy it again. It wasn't too far away and we might get in the water this time. But not in bathing suits... there were people in the water there, but they all just wear their clothes. The ladies wore their salwar suits like it was normal. And I guess, for here, it is normal. When I had told someone Friday night that we were going to the beach on Saturday he asked me, very seriously, "please do not wear your American swimwear." I already knew it was a no-no, because we don't even wear shorts here, so a swimsuit would just blow their minds! But it was pretty funny that they felt it necessary to have that conversation. Silly Indians! (have I mentioned that already?)
Monday and Tuesday I woke up with a headache and figured it was because we had some rain and there was a bunch of stuff in the air, but as the night wore on Tuesday, I was feeling worse and worse - congested, sneezing, puffy eyes, pounding head, sore throat, achy back and shoulders, and dizzy when I stood up. By the time I left and came home, I crashed out and did not wake up until my alarm went off after 5 PM. 5 PM is pretty late, considering my daughter should have been home before that, so I freaked out a little and called her cell phone immediately, which was off. I rushed to the front door and she was standing there. For over an hour. Knocking. Ringing the bell. Waiting. I heard nothing... I was out to the world. Her phone was taken at school (returned the next day - which is a good thing because they were going to have one ticked off American mom up there if not) so she couldn't call me. And she doesn't have my number memorized so she couldn't go ask anyone else to call me, either. Lesson learned. She now has my number on a piece of paper in her purse in case she doesn't have her phone for any reason again. Anyway, I was feeling terrible so I texted my co-manager to let him know I was going to "take rest" and I'd be back the next day. Our little lady that stays with Savannah came over as planned, which was good because I was right back in bed. She made Savannah dinner and was so worried about me. She brought me "copy" (coffee) and wanted me to come eat, but that was not happening, so she and Savannah walked down to the store at the apartment complex to see if there was any medicine, but there wasn't. Everything here is at its own store. Groceries at one place, medicine at another, books at another, electronics at another, sweets at another, shoes at another, ladies clothes at another, dog food at another, you get the point - it's maddening. I miss Target. I would even go so far as to say I miss Wal-Mart - a place I NEVER thought I would miss - simply for the convenience of one-stop shopping. Back to the store - when they were in the store, another resident overheard Savannah asking for medicine and offered some info about a nearby drug store and Savannah explained her mom was sick and the driver was gone for the night, so no way to get there. Well, turns out the lady was a doctor (so many doctors and engineers here!!) and she ordered some other stuff, had it delivered, and then walked some up to our apartment for me... after 10 at night. Very kind! I took the first pill and felt GREAT after about an hour... felt pretty darn good until it wore off and then nothing worked quite like that again. I stayed pretty sick until Saturday early afternoon and I slept so much my back was sore from laying down. I guess my body decided I had gone long enough through this big move and emotional crap I was putting it through, and it was shutting down on me, forcing me to rest and recoup. So I did. Until Friday morning when I attempted to go in for a day-side meeting and spiked a fever on the way, so had the driver turn around and take me home... So I went back to bed. But I feel better today. I was going to go out and get pampered with a mani/pedi, but the driver never answered, so I stayed home. Probably better, anyway. However, my child had gone with her friends from school to work on a project and I had no way to get her home since the driver did not answer. So she wound up staying the night over there and when he comes in the morning I will have to send her stuff with him and he will pick her up from her friend's and take them to school. I tell ya, this not having a car at-will is pretty inconvenient. Especially when the drivers do not cooperate. Sigh.
So that is our exciting week. Savannah's been sweet and helped take care of me while I was under the weather, but I think she was glad to head out yesterday and she probably wasn't very sad to not make it home tonight, in all honesty. Sometimes inconvenience for Mom works out in a teenager's favor.
We are still waiting on our household goods... 4 weeks delay - ETA to Chennai is now Oct. 4. We'll see if that happens. I am a little disgusted with that and would rather not talk about it quite yet. Later, I guess I will laugh (this is what everyone keeps telling me), but there is not any laughter about it right now. Not yet. And we are counting down for Mom & Dad's visit. Third week of October can't get here fast enough! We are only about a month away - Yippee!!! And then we will start the countdown for our trip home - tickets booked for December 20 departure and January 1 return. Double Yippeeeeeee!
Well, it's after 4:30 AM and I am pretty hungry (got an appetite back!) so I should probably eat something and try to get some sleep. Please keep us in your prayers... still missing home, friends & family like crazy. Still working to acclimate to our new country. We are taking it one day at a time, and certainly doing better every day, but it's still a little rough sometimes. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers very much and send them back to you all. Here's hoping everyone has a great week and sending big love and hugs!
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| At the beach |
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| Showing off her souvenirs |
Monday and Tuesday I woke up with a headache and figured it was because we had some rain and there was a bunch of stuff in the air, but as the night wore on Tuesday, I was feeling worse and worse - congested, sneezing, puffy eyes, pounding head, sore throat, achy back and shoulders, and dizzy when I stood up. By the time I left and came home, I crashed out and did not wake up until my alarm went off after 5 PM. 5 PM is pretty late, considering my daughter should have been home before that, so I freaked out a little and called her cell phone immediately, which was off. I rushed to the front door and she was standing there. For over an hour. Knocking. Ringing the bell. Waiting. I heard nothing... I was out to the world. Her phone was taken at school (returned the next day - which is a good thing because they were going to have one ticked off American mom up there if not) so she couldn't call me. And she doesn't have my number memorized so she couldn't go ask anyone else to call me, either. Lesson learned. She now has my number on a piece of paper in her purse in case she doesn't have her phone for any reason again. Anyway, I was feeling terrible so I texted my co-manager to let him know I was going to "take rest" and I'd be back the next day. Our little lady that stays with Savannah came over as planned, which was good because I was right back in bed. She made Savannah dinner and was so worried about me. She brought me "copy" (coffee) and wanted me to come eat, but that was not happening, so she and Savannah walked down to the store at the apartment complex to see if there was any medicine, but there wasn't. Everything here is at its own store. Groceries at one place, medicine at another, books at another, electronics at another, sweets at another, shoes at another, ladies clothes at another, dog food at another, you get the point - it's maddening. I miss Target. I would even go so far as to say I miss Wal-Mart - a place I NEVER thought I would miss - simply for the convenience of one-stop shopping. Back to the store - when they were in the store, another resident overheard Savannah asking for medicine and offered some info about a nearby drug store and Savannah explained her mom was sick and the driver was gone for the night, so no way to get there. Well, turns out the lady was a doctor (so many doctors and engineers here!!) and she ordered some other stuff, had it delivered, and then walked some up to our apartment for me... after 10 at night. Very kind! I took the first pill and felt GREAT after about an hour... felt pretty darn good until it wore off and then nothing worked quite like that again. I stayed pretty sick until Saturday early afternoon and I slept so much my back was sore from laying down. I guess my body decided I had gone long enough through this big move and emotional crap I was putting it through, and it was shutting down on me, forcing me to rest and recoup. So I did. Until Friday morning when I attempted to go in for a day-side meeting and spiked a fever on the way, so had the driver turn around and take me home... So I went back to bed. But I feel better today. I was going to go out and get pampered with a mani/pedi, but the driver never answered, so I stayed home. Probably better, anyway. However, my child had gone with her friends from school to work on a project and I had no way to get her home since the driver did not answer. So she wound up staying the night over there and when he comes in the morning I will have to send her stuff with him and he will pick her up from her friend's and take them to school. I tell ya, this not having a car at-will is pretty inconvenient. Especially when the drivers do not cooperate. Sigh.
So that is our exciting week. Savannah's been sweet and helped take care of me while I was under the weather, but I think she was glad to head out yesterday and she probably wasn't very sad to not make it home tonight, in all honesty. Sometimes inconvenience for Mom works out in a teenager's favor.
We are still waiting on our household goods... 4 weeks delay - ETA to Chennai is now Oct. 4. We'll see if that happens. I am a little disgusted with that and would rather not talk about it quite yet. Later, I guess I will laugh (this is what everyone keeps telling me), but there is not any laughter about it right now. Not yet. And we are counting down for Mom & Dad's visit. Third week of October can't get here fast enough! We are only about a month away - Yippee!!! And then we will start the countdown for our trip home - tickets booked for December 20 departure and January 1 return. Double Yippeeeeeee!
Well, it's after 4:30 AM and I am pretty hungry (got an appetite back!) so I should probably eat something and try to get some sleep. Please keep us in your prayers... still missing home, friends & family like crazy. Still working to acclimate to our new country. We are taking it one day at a time, and certainly doing better every day, but it's still a little rough sometimes. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers very much and send them back to you all. Here's hoping everyone has a great week and sending big love and hugs!
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