Thanksgiving Recap and Christmas Prep!

So much to be thankful for, including my lovely daughter.

Last week I told you we were thankful for so much, and at the same time, hopeful that our Thanksgiving dinner would turn out well. I am pleased to advise we had a terrific dinner, complete with turkey, dressing, stuffing, and almost all the appetizers and sides we might have back in the US.  We went to the Taj Connemara hotel and I cannot say enough great things about it.  The service was fabulous, the spread was a mile long, and the food was - dare I say it? - good!  Now, it wasn't real stuffing or dressing - maybe next year I'll send them a recipe before we go (Mom, gonna need your dressing recipe!  LP, I know you can send for the stuffing!) - but the turkey was roasted, the gravy was decent, there were mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, finger foods, desserts... even pumpkin pie (OK, not Mom's by any stretch of the imagination, but it looked pretty!)  My colleague and our friend, Tom, joined us and we had the buffet with cocktails while Savannah drank some fresh iced tea, which is quite uncommon around here.  Tom enjoyed some Kingfishers and I enjoyed some Australian Chardonnay.  We actually enjoyed quite a lot of each, and Savannah's iced tea wasn't strong enough to endure our laughter and bubbly humor.  Oh, well!  We had a driver and that is certainly one benefit to being in India on Thanksgiving - you can drink and don't have to worry about who's driving!  If you're interested, you can find all the photos from our night out here, sans Tom.  He was not nearly as camera happy as my daughter and me, trying to capture the essence of an Indian Thanksgiving.
Friday I woke up and, after downing some Tylenol and lots of water, got ready for some Black Friday shopping, Indian-style.  Well, really, Gideon was taking me to a couple boarding options for our little Dynamo, since our trip is quickly approaching.  The first place was on the other side of Chennai and after a couple cups of coffee I was ready for it.  Until we got out of the car and I saw it.  It was awful.  Just heart-breaking.  First, it was filthy, but that is pretty standard around these parts.  But, second, there were two dogs in the entry that were on beds and had recently had some sort of surgery or procedure, one of which was seemingly only a few shallow breaths away from meeting his doggy-maker.  In typical Nikki fashion, I started crying.  My heart was just so sad for these pups, and the sweet vet that wanted to take good care of them, but so clearly failing with the facility.  I am pretty sure Gideon is used to me crying by now, and he saw it start and told the help thanks for his time and rushed me to the car. "Don't worry, Nikki.  We will find somewhere for Dynamo."  Gideon's so sweet.  But he didn't understand that, OK, yes, I was worried about finding a place for Dy, but also just so sad for those dogs there and how sub-standard the care is and the whole overwhelming experience.  Plus I might have had a little wine left in my system and the tears were pushing it out.  When we left that place, Gideon had one errand to run and there was a mall nearby, so I had him drop me so I could grab a bite to eat and look around - just can 't get Black Friday shopping out of my blood, I guess!  I had my first McDonald's meal here - not that I ever ate it at home - but it was cute.  Chicken burger, fries and a coke.  Yummy.  (Keep in mind, everything's relative in India.)  After browsing a bit, Gideon was back and it was time for doggy stop number two.  This place was better.  Not great.  But better.  Livable and Dy might actually have a playmate.  But the playmate thing scared me, wondering about disease and all that good stuff, so I didn't WANT to leave him there, but if I had to, it was OK.  Gideon felt my apprehension and told me we would keep looking for options and not to stress over it.  "Dynamo will be fine, Nikki.  We'll take care of him."  A few hours after I was home, Gideon called and told me he had good news for "Dynamo's holiday" - Lakshmi (the lady that stays with Savannah overnights) would take him home with her while we are gone.  For the entire three weeks!  This was a big relief, because Dy loves her.  (Pretty sure she feeds him no-no foods...)  And she is very sweet with him, always greeting him, petting him, and making sure his food and water bowls are full.  Problem solved, as usual, thanks to Gideon!
Savannah's plate has been full with projects... lots and lots of projects.  She has never had so many projects in her entire K-9 years of school in the US as she's already had here in 4.5 months.  OK, maybe that's an exaggeration, but it sure feels that way.  EVERY TIME we turn around, there's another project due.  My GOD!  Anyway, the past few weekends she has been working on them and the most recent weekend was no exception.  We had planned to do some shopping on Saturday but were inhibited by her projects... But we did have the opportunity to meet up with some new friends, Courtney and Neil.  Neil works for a  company that helps expats - called Global Adjustments - settle to India.  Maersk uses this service so that is how I knew about the organization.  I read their magazine and have learned lots of good, helpful info through this team.  We went to their home for an "American" evening of hanging out, eating pizza (Domino's!), baking (yes, she has an OVEN!!) and decorating Christmas cookies.  Well, she baked, and we all decorated together.  Savannah's and Courtney's were really cute.  Mine looked like my niece Kameryn had done them.  I proved, once again, that have no artistic or crafty abilities at all, regardless of which continent I live on.

Here is a plate of the finished products.  Don't look too closely or you might find my pitiful attempts.

 

 

 We had a lovely time with our new friends and made plans to run around and do some shopping this coming Saturday with Courtney.  This will give her the chance to show us some "must know" places and get us comfortable with some things she said will help us acclimate and feel better.  Super nice couple.  I am very thankful for them!  They also have a one year old son, who Savannah is dying to meet and already offered to babysit (I think she's missing her nieces!) He was sleeping when we arrived, so he'll be a surprise for next time.  They have been in Chennai for three years and came from Indiana.  Correct.  She had a baby here!  And said she would do it again!  It's good for Savannah and me to meet people who have moved here and are thriving.  Helps us know it CAN be done - and looking forward to the day when we can help a newbie get more comfortable in a very foreign and not so comfortable environment. 
I did not go to work tonight... unfortunately, Lakshmi is sick with a fever so she stayed home, which meant I did, too.  We took the opportunity to run to the store (this is always an event) and get more stuff for - what else - another project for Savannah.  When we arrived to the store, we saw them putting out Christmas trees.  CHRISTMAS TREES!  How exciting! We couldn't get out of the car fast enough to go check them out... and the shop owner was pretty excited to see us, too, telling us to go see the first floor, where they just got all their shipment in.  Ornaments, decorations, baby Christmas trees, tinsel and lots of other Christmas stuff that I would normally snub my nose at.  But!  Everything's relative in India, so I bought a bunch and set up a tree tonight!  Savannah got a little tree, maybe six inches and some tiny decorations for it.  The one I picked for our entryway is about two and a half feet tall, I guess, and topped with a Texas flag.   Feels like home.  Well, kind of, anyway.  Close enough for two weeks :) We also bought some lights and decorated our balcony.  It's fun and getting us into the spirit for our trip home.  If you can't tell, we are little excited... so two weeks from now we will be a few hours into our first flight, heading to Frankfurt.  Then a couple hour layover and heading to H-town.  Three weeks with our friends and family - lots to celebrate, catch up on, and nieces to spoil!!  CAN NOT WAIT!  On that note, I'll sign off.  Lots more to talk about sometime soon.   Things to think about - Love marriages and arranged marriages, wedding celebrations and traditions, and some expectations of Indian wives.  More another time.  
Hoping everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and will write more later. For now, sending lots of love and hugs from our Christmas'd up home in Chennai.

Merry Christmas, Texas style!

We are THANKFUL!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends and colleagues!

It’s officially Thursday here in India, and although you guys are not quite there yet, I am in the spirit.  I am generally a thankful person by nature, which is why I love November, because so many others are consciously thankful as well.  I believe we all have as much as we need as long as we focus on the haves as opposed to the have-nots.  This is relative to every part of our life – personal, material, professional, etc.  If we are intent to see what is missing, it will always be missing.  If we are intent to have a grateful heart and attitude, our bounty will be plentiful. Savannah and I are very blessed and thankful this Thanksgiving. I knew coming around the corner to the holiday season would lend the opportunity to be a little pitiful and with my first few months here being pouty, I had to take action and make a plan to keep myself busy and not focus on what I /we are missing, but on what we have.  We have our health.  We have technology that keeps us in touch with you all.  We have my job and her school to keep us busy and entertained. We have each other to laugh with, count on, get annoyed with, and lean on. We have met lots of new and interesting people and made new friends.  We are blessed, indeed.  

Although we are not at home with my parents, brother and his wife, their girls and whoever else in the family might decide to drop by, we are very thankful to have each other and will continue our American tradition right here in Chennai.  We invited my American colleague, Tom (his wife is still stateside so I figured he needed a good meal as well!), to join us for dinner at a local hotel’s dining room that is offering “ a deliciously crafted spread from our chef highlighting the true spirit of thanksgiving. Savour the traditional turkey to the sumptuous roasts.”  So we will give this a whirl and either wind up with a really great meal or a whole lot of laughs… maybe both if we are lucky.  It was already amusing just trying to plan and coordinate.  As I've said, I need to have help communicating with our driver if we are going somewhere out of the normal Grant girl pattern.  And Thanksgiving dinner falls into that category.  So I enlisted the help of Super Saint Gideon (as usual) to get our driver onboard.  But first we had to have the plan.  So after two e mails (one might or might not have been the length of a small novel), and a half an hour IM conversation between Gideon and me and, in tandem, Tom and me, we wrapped it up with:

Grant, Nikki [9:33 PM]:

ok sounds like a done deal

whew i am exhausted from all the planning!

haha

Gideon [9:33 PM]:

u r good at that

after coming to india i guess

Grant, Nikki [9:33 PM]:

lol  i need a plan for sure

Gideon [9:33 PM]:

:)

India is too uncertain correct

Grant, Nikki [9:34 PM]:

i think I require too much information up front.  i am working on that :)

Gideon [9:35 PM]:

yes but in one year u'll guide me and other expats into india

Grant, Nikki [9:35 PM]:

HAHAHAHA  don't think i am not making notes every step of the way

This made me laugh, because Shreevidya (Shree) from the HR team told me she's never received so many IM's or e mails from an expat until she met me.  I do not think I realized I was such a planner until my Indian counterparts started pointing it out.  And I really think I was not this much of a planner back in the US, but at home I had a car and could "go and do" as I needed or wanted.  Here it's different.  I wonder if this new planning mode will stick once my assignment here is over?  Something to think about... 

Speaking of plans, we have ours in place to be back in the US on December 13 and, while we are feeling much more settled here these days, it cannot come soon enough – mostly because we miss you guys so much.  And a little because we miss Mexican food so much.  :)  We have used some of the special deliveries that my parents brought, but sparingly (Savannah does not appreciate my rationing now, but she will when we are not out for a while…), including southwest spices and Velveeta.  We have used this “delicacy” (did you EVER thing someone would refer to a processed cheese as a delicacy??) to make such terrific things as grilled cheese sandwiches with HAM (yes, a friend and coworker was nice enough to take me to a butcher his family has been using for years where we bought ham, bacon, pork loin and beef tips!), and queso with homemade salsa (I impressed the heck out of myself last weekend between dinner and salsa – just call me Betty Crocker! Haha!) to go along with a somewhat Tex-Mex dinner.  Yum! – Savannah joked with her friends at school here that they will not recognize her when she comes back because she won’t be the “white girl,” but she will be the “fat white girl” because she is looking so forward to eating for three weeks.  LOL  Like mother, like daughter.  We will just have to hit the gym a little extra in January to lose those extra holiday pounds we put on.  We’ve been going together in the afternoons when she gets home from school for a few weeks, which has been a nice way to shed some stress and get our blood pumping. 

We took our first auto ride two Sundays ago.  Quite an experience, for sure.  Dad wanted to do this while they were here, but by the time we made time for it the weather was uncooperative.  Savannah and I decided we will be pros by the time they come back.  We went a few kilometers away to the local movie theatre to see the James Bond Skyfall flick.  I don’t know if we were feeling especially happy, proud and confident to have handled an outing completely on our own, or if it was really that good, but we enjoyed it.  And I really enjoyed the fact that we both got to see it, enjoy popcorn, soda and a bottle of water for 500 rupees.  About 10 bucks! Because in the US that would have been triple the cost!  And then we enjoyed a nice dinner at the restaurant near our complex.  We didn’t even get the FST/WGS (Fair Skin Tax/White Girl Surcharge) from any of the auto drivers we used.  Excellent day, all the way around.  I think as we continue to explore a little and get more confident in our abilities to safely get ourselves around and get things done you guys will get to read more exciting stories.  I am seriously considering a long weekend trip after we return in January, which will surely lead to some adventures and laughs.  Stay tuned, the Nikki & Savannah show, coming soon to a town near Chennai.

If you are not American and, therefore, not celebrating Thanksgiving, I urge you to think of all you have been blessed with – family, friends, a home, technology of some sort to read this crazy blog on, health, food, music, love, - surely the list could go on – and be thankful.  

First ride in an auto!

First Diwali celebration

Pork loin and veggies cooked by Nikki Crocker

Our fresh salsa and queso via the delicacy known as Velveeta.

Visitors... Continued

When I left off, Mom was being a pretty good passenger, given the circumstances, and we were listening to the rhythmic honking of the autos, motorcycles, busses and cars around us.  Thursday afternoon, we had some mommy/daughter time at the salon where I covered up my highlights (there’s not a lot of locations around here that do blonde-streaking and I know I would just wind up pissed off if my hair was fried - it's already falling out as it is!) and Mom got a pedi and a head spa treatment.  Nice and relaxing. 

Friday morning we woke up, lazed around a little, and enjoyed a yummy lunch of masala prawns prepared by Lakshmi.  We got ready and started on our first outing together.  Savannah, Mom, Dad and I went down to T. Nagar. I have never thought about taking a video of the world around me, but someone put this on YouTube and I found it when I was searching for T. Nagar. It’s 6 minutes long, but 30 seconds in will give you a pretty good idea of what this trip included… people, honking, cars, motorcycles, more people and more honking.  Looking back, this probably wasn’t the best idea for Mom & Dad’s first outing in India, but it was similar to some methods of learning how to swim:  go to the deepest part of the pool, no matter how cold the water is, and let your uncle throw you in. (Didn’t we all have that uncle or grandpa or dad who thought this was the best way!?) In any event, we were there.  Right in the big middle of Diwali festival season shopping time, which is similar to US shopping time before Christmas.  This shopping district is crowded, even by Indian standards, on a normal weekend as people from all over the state come here, but a couple weeks before the Diwali holiday only exaggerated the massive amounts of people everywhere. We went to a few dress shops, as Savannah wanted to buy a selwar suit and got a couple tops for me, one for Savannah and some scarves for Mom & Dad to give as souvenirs back home.  We also got Kameryn and Kate some colorful Indian-style dresses.  To nobody's surprise, Dad took a seat on a bench and made friends.  He talked to some locals who had either been to visit or lived in San Francisco, so he was entertained for a while.  After browsing a few stores, we made our way to the street vendors and came across some toys for the girls, some bangles for Sav and Kam, lots of fresh veggies and fruits, teas and coffees, and even some fresh cut hair... It was pretty hot out, Mom & Dad were getting tired, but they were troopers.  We had reservations for dinner at Barbeque Nation for 7 PM, and I know they were ready to go home before that, but they hung in.  We went around the corner to a furniture store (nice and AC filled) because I was searching for a nightstand and lamp.  I wound up with a wall clock, a nightstand, a new skillet, a decorative vase and plate, and I am sure some other stuff I can’t think of anymore… We still had a little bit of time to kill before dinner, so we filled the gap getting mehndi on our hands by some of the local guys.  Before we went, a friend from the office told me don’t pay over 200 rupees (appx $4) each, so I had this in the back of my mind. Savannah got both arms, front and back, done.  Mom and I got both sides of our left arm done.  I paid the guys for Mom’s and mine and walked down back to Savannah (she was a few buckets over…) and Dad.  When her guy was done he stood up and told me 800 rupees. Me – No, 800 is too high.  Him – 800.  Me – No.  200.  Him – 200 per side, per arm.  Me – No, you’re trying to take advantage of me because I am white. Him – No, 200 per side, per arm, that is the going rate.  Me – Here’s 500, because you did a good job, but I know it’s too much. Meanwhile, Dad is on the sidelines just chomping at the bit, not sure if he should step in as I know he was getting worried about me standing my ground. Mehndi guy – No, 800.  Me – I am not paying any more than 500.  That’s it.  I live here and I know better.  Him – Fine.  I give him the 500 and start to leave.  He hands me his card.  REALLY?  You’re going to blatantly take advantage of me and then ask me for more business?  No, thank you.  Grrrr!  After that little adventure and moment of tension, we made our way over to the restaurant, Mom, Savannah and me all holding our arms out a little so the dye could dry. I would like to take a moment here to say what a TERRIBLE mehndi canvas my daughter is, because she got her stuff ALL OVER my jeans, my arm, her jeans, the car, and my mother, while she impatiently waited on it to dry.  Finally, after feeling like the frogs in Frogger trying to cross the ridiculously crowded streets, we made it to dinner and had a terrific time.  Dad enjoyed a couple Kingfisher beers and I had a frozen something-or-other made with rum (which is exciting because most restaurants do not have alcohol and only offer "mocktails" which can be really frustrating when you move to a new country and need a drink!) and we all enjoyed the grilled chicken, shrimp, veggies on skewers.  Then we had a little bit of stuff off the buffet, but the skewers were our favorites. After the big day, we were all exhausted.  We all went to bed almost as soon as we made it back to the flat.

Saturday we woke up and got ready for another Indian adventure, with a historical and cultural visit to Dakshinachitra, where we looked at art, handicrafts, history and architecture of southern India.  It was a really neat experience and I even found a lamp for my bedroom in the gift shop, score!  After Dakshinachtra, we continued down the ECR and made our way to Mahabalipuram.  ECR, or East Coast Road, runs parallel with the Bay of Bengal, so it’s a scenic drive that Mom and Dad enjoyed.  Well, they enjoyed looking out the window to the left to the water, not the road ahead, where cows and cars were zooming toward and around us. We arrived and, just like last time when Sav and I went, there was a goat eating flowers off a bus in the parking lot.  We made our way through the vendors and went to visit the shore temples. It was pretty cool – we didn’t get to do that last time because I didn’t have enough cash, so I was glad to do it this time.  After walking around and exploring for a little bit, we made our way to the gift shop (I spend entirely too much money when my mother is around, if you haven’t figure this out yet). We saw lots of beautiful handicrafts, decorative pieces, knives and jewelry, but Mom and I both fell in love with the room full of rugs and wall hangings.  The rugs were silk and gorgeous.  Most of the wall art was made from old sarees, which is kind of neat (and probably a big selling point they tell the gullible white folks).  We probably could have been leaving with rugs, and wall art, too, but I sent a text to my Indian friend to check the prices and he said we were being quoted the FST – Fair Skin Tax – and we should leave without buying anything… Mom and I decided we both “needed” the wall art, so likely overpaid, but got it. They’re very nice and I only have a little tinge of regret about paying too much.  Of course, when I go to the store where everyone told me to go next time (no FST applied, as it’s a government-run location) I might be kicking myself.   Oh, well.  Once I figure out how to hang them up successfully, I know it'll be fine :)

After our shopping venture we made our way to the beach, where Mom and Dad got to experience, first hand, the feeling of celebrity-ness that Savannah and I have grown accustomed to.  Lots of stares, which are not unusual and they already noticed on Friday, but this time a guy walked around us and stared and smiled for a long time.  Awkward-long.  That’s enough, dude, long.  Take a picture; it’ll last longer-long.  Actually, he decided that was exactly what he wanted.  His friend asked if he could take a picture WITH US.  Mom and Dad were not quite sure how to react, so Savannah and I laughed and said, “sure, why not?”  So we all smiled and he got right in the middle of us, grinning ear to ear.  I kept laughing for a long time, off and on, because this was the first time anyone has had enough courage to ask us to be in a picture with us.  Usually they think they are super sly and stealth with the camera phones, but we always wind up catching them.  I’ll smile and wave while Savannah is mortified and tells me I am so embarrassing.  Whatever.  It’s funny and I am easily entertained.

After our beach time and shopping at the local vendors (of course we did, I was with Judy!) it was about dinner time.  We went over to the restaurant we had planned to enjoy and had a terrific dinner on the beach.  Dad had the catch of the day and Kingfisher, Mom and Savannah had fettuccini alfredo with chicken and I had a wonderfully seasoned grilled chicken dish with a vodka/cranberry to wash it down. (Remember?  The restaurants with booze are rare... gotta take advantage!)  There was a nice breeze, a full moon over the water, no honking, and no crowd.  If we weren’t careful, we might have forgotten we were in India for a little while.

It seems 11 days with the ‘rents is quite a bit to tell about, huh?  Well, coming from the girl who can’t tell a short story, anyway.  So I’ll end it here and bring you the exciting conclusion later.  I know you are just anxious with anticipation – as you should be – since it involves our first Indian dinner guests to our home and a Tex-Mex fiesta, Hurricane Sandy, Cyclone Neelam, and so much more.

Much love to you all and continued thanks for the prayers and thoughts for Dynamo, Savannah and me.

Our sales lady loved my "goggles" and was excited to take a picture wearing them...

Regardless what continent she's on, Savannah loves to shop.

Anyone need some hair?  Anyone, anyone?

My beautiful mom getting mehndi.

Our grilled skewers of yumminess at BBQ Nation.

Our First Visitors!

It’s been a hectic few weeks and I never got to recap Mom & Dad’s visit from last month.  I’ll take the time to do that now, starting with I AM SO THANKFUL THEY CAME TO SEE US!  It really was the greatest time I’ve had since Savannah and I arrived, for many reasons.  It was actually sprinkled with some hard times, though, as I said in my last post.  I know God’s timing is perfect and He knew I would need their support most at that particular point in time, so I shouldn’t be surprised, I guess. Anyway, onto the stories.  Mom & Dad left around noon Houston time on Saturday, flew through Newark to Mumbai and arrived Sunday night, Indian time.  Then they had to wait until Monday morning for a domestic flight to get them from Mumbai to Chennai.  Mom recently retired from United Airlines (Continental, if you ask her) so they are fortunate enough to be able to use passes, but the down side of that is they are stand by/space available so if there are no empty seats then they just don’t fly.  So it’s risky, especially when it comes to international travel.  But they were SO lucky and made all the flights without issue, even got pampered on each of the long (15-ish) hour flights by sitting in first class both ways.  Yay for them!  They arrived Monday morning and I intended to send Savannah to school and pick them up alone, but weather had another idea and her school was canceled due to heavy rains on Sunday, so we headed to get them around 9 AM. We got out of the car and went to the fence outside (there’s no inside waiting for arriving guests) and got the text that they were picking up the luggage.  YAY!  They walked around the corner, we made eye contact and out came the tears!  It was so good to see them that we just wanted to hop the fence and run down and give them big hugs, but since that might invite some unwanted attention from the guys carrying the automatic weapons, we resisted the urge and waved vigorously until they made it all the way over to us.  We hugged each other tightly across the chest-high fence and walked quickly to the end where the truck was waiting for us.  We climbed in and headed to our home.  Lots of smiles, a few more tears and some laughs along the way.  As I mentioned, we had some heavy rains over the past few days so traffic was extra bad, with lots of flooded areas.  On the way, Dad started pointing and calling out all the cows he saw.  I laughed and told him he would get an arm cramp if he pointed to every cow he saw on the trip because they are everywhere.  After a few more, he decided he would not say it out loud but still point. I think the driver thought that was pretty funny because he said something that translated to, “If you think you see a lot now, wait until you get to your daughter’s home!” and he began pointing to them before Dad could even get his hand up.  Pretty funny stuff.  Mom and Savannah were non-stop chatting in the back with me, catching up on school for Sav, Kate and Kam for Mom.  When we made it home I sent Savannah up to get Dynamo and bring him downstairs to potty because I knew he would be SO excited to see my dad that there is no telling what his bladder would do... When Dynamo walked out of the elevator and saw my parents he jumped and jumped and ran around in circles until Savannah convinced him it was time to go to the grass.  Very sweet.  He was so happy to see his Nana and PawPaw!  The next 11 days included a lot of Dynamo and PawPaw time in the recliner. 
Mom and Dad were pretty tired and I needed to get some sleep because I was working the first few nights that week, so we all took a nap.  When I woke up, Savannah and Mom were chatting away while Dad napped in the chair with Dynamo.  I went to work and got a text from Mom around 2 am and she said they were wide awake.  The time change and adjustment to being nearly 12 hours on the opposite side of the clock is rough. Plus the beds here are hard.  I am not kidding.  Get down on your floor and lay down. Now try to get comfortable enough to sleep.  Yeah.  Welcome to India.  Mom figured that out real quick and decided the couch was her bed, although it’s not much more comfortable, but I guess it worked well enough for her.  Tuesday and Wednesday included a lot of laying around.  Lots of naps for them and work at night and sleep during the day for me.  Savannah wound up having holidays on Tuesday and Wednesday (again, welcome to India.  Last minute days off for holidays that are on the calendar every year…) so she got a lot of hanging out time with her grandparents.  They cooked some, making lots of yummy American-type foods that she’d been missing.  This was all possible because they brought a huge suitcase full of food and snacks for us.  AND WINE FOR ME!  We were a couple happy, happy girls with the delivery from two of our very favorite people, I tell ya!  One of those days, Mom decided she didn’t like all the food just sitting on the counter so she and Savannah organized the shelves and moved stuff around while I was sleeping.  It’s nice to have a Mom around J Our Lakshmi came over a couple of those days and cooked lunch or dinner for Mom & Dad.  They really enjoyed her cooking.  She makes it less spicy for us because Savannah is a spice wimp. They had some yummy chicken masala and one day we picked up prawns (shrimp) so they had that cooked with masala as well.  And lots of rice.  All the meals here are served with rice, basically.  I am so my mother's daughter, because she was just as addicited to the fresh tomato and cucumber salads we eat daily within her first few days.  She and Savannah spent a lot of time going to the vegetable stand downstairs to refill our bowls!

Tuesday night at work I got some terrible news about a friend from the Woodlands office, which I wrote about in my last blog.  Jose, who I had just chatted with the previous Friday, had passed away over the weekend.  Shock, sadness and a heavy heart stayed with me and it was hard to focus at work.  My co-manager told me go home, enjoy my family and don’t worry about work. I still worked for a few hours, but as the night went on I realized how unproductive I was, so around 3 I decided it was time to head out (I usually leave at 5).  Mom and Dad were awake again (dang time change) so I texted Mom about Jose and told her I was heading home.  It was nice that they were there to greet me at the door when I got home.  There are times when Savannah and I feel very alone over here, and I imagine when a friend or loved one is lost, that feeling will be exaggerated.  Of course we have each other, but sometimes we need someone else to share our thoughts and feelings with.  I am thankful for God’s timing that my parents were here for this sad time.  I miss my friend, Jose.  I miss our silly chats on the IM at work about our kids, movies (he was a movie buff and was trying to talk me into sending him a hard drive so he could download a bunch for me), how I have a special talent for breaking things on the computer, and his always-so-flattering compliments that could make a girl smile even on a cranky day.  I hope he’s resting in peace and pray for his sweet son and family to find comfort.  Yeah… it was good to have Mom & Dad here.
I think Lakshmi liked my parents, too.  She described my mom on several occasions as “super” – I tend to agree – but that is a common word around this area and funny to hear it used as frequently as they do.  Lakshmi made them “copy” – coffee – and served it in bowls.  They were confused about why they were drinking copy from bowls, but, as Savannah and I have learned, sometimes you just do whatever seems to make sense at the moment here in India. So they drank it out of bowls.  The back story to this is that when Savannah and I first got into the flat we had no dishes, so I bought a couple cheap bowls, plates, and flatware, but I forgot a mug.  So I had coffee in one of these bowls until I bought a mug, so I think she probably decided this is how crazy Americans drink coffee.  Language barriers can be entertaining.
The drivers like my parents, too.  Dad thought he would have full conversations with them and got a lot of head wobbling in response.  Questions were not answered but smiles were returned. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of enjoying a trip to Asia, let me do my best to describe it for you.  Close your eyes.  Oh, I guess you can’t since you are reading this.  OK so imagine yourself in the backseat of a little car… like a Ford Fiesta or a Yaris hatchback thing.  Just a little bigger than a Smart Car.  And the car is on the left side of the road.  And you are not driving, thankfully, but the driver is on the right side of the car.  And everyone around you, including your driver, are honking.  Because that’s what they do.  The back of some trucks even say “Sound Horn” – like anyone would forget?? OK back to the road.  There is room for about 3 American lanes on your side of the road, but there are cars packed about 6 across and only a couple inches inbetween the one directly to your left and right.  And in between any space bigger than that, there are motorcycles.  Lots of them.  Many of which have more than 3 people on them.  Maybe a family of 5, or three adults, or two men and a huge box... Or all the previously described all around you.  And on the other side of the lane is a big ox pulling a cart with an old man and the cart is carrying some vegetables and a couple kids.  Yep, it's good times out here on the roads.  With all this commotion all the time in the car, I have learned to be a pretty darn good passenger.  Judy, on the other hand, has never been and will never be a good passenger.  She did, however, appreciate our driver's ability to zoom in and out of cars without turning his head and decided he has several sets of eyes that allow him to do so.  Mom said she thinks our driver is the best one in India. LOL 

Wow, this is already really long and I haven't even gotten to the fun stuff, huh?  OK maybe this will be chapter one and I'll write more later.  Enjoy the pictures for now and hoping everyone has a great weekend!

My daddy and me

Sav & Nana

Happy PawPaw & Dynamo

American FOOOOOOOOOOD & wine!

Reality

As many of you know, I am a big Kenny Chensey fan.  All night I've had the chorus of his song, Reality, in my head: Reality, yeah.  Sometimes life ain't all it's cracked up to be.  So let's take a chance and live this fantasy. 'Cause everybody needs to break free from reality. Lots of examples of REALITY in my life lately - some wonderful, some not. Before I came to Chennai for my week in late February, a girl in another department told me, "I hope you don't think you are going over to Disney's Aladdin over there.  It's not all princesses and magic lamps."  Mind you, I didn't expect Princess Jasmine and her pet tiger, Rajah, to come greet me at the airport, but I suppose I did think I might see a couple monkeys running around the market and some big-eyed kids sweetly asking for some money... She was right.  It's not a Disney movie and the kids aren't sweet; they are distressing and heart-breaking.  And numerous.  Reality.
After I announced that I accepted this position, I lost count of how many times I told people, "It's only for two years.  That time will fly by..." and fill in the end of that sentence with what would NOT happen during the time. Example, "Brett, it's just two years.  Kameryn won't even have started Kindergarten by the time we are back."  It sounded very convincing when I said those things out loud.  To me, anyway.  Last weekend my Kameryn turned four years old.  I missed my niece's fourth birthday party.  And I will miss her fifth as well. Reality.
I read a little bit online about long-distance relationships and talked to a couple people who made them work before I came over to Chennai.  I thought as long as there was frequent and open communication, along with the already established trust and love, it would work. I figure the stress of a new life for me, coupled with the stress of the unknown for him, worked against us.  I still miss him terribly, but have to make the best of my time here on this assignment and adventure.  Reality.
When contemplating this role, I was convinced that India was a predominantly English-speaking country and a possible language-barrier never factored into my decision.  After all, it was ruled by the British for how many years?  And everyone in the office spoke English when I was here.  And the hotel.  And every time I called AT&T or anyone else who has call centers over here.  When Savannah and I arrived in July and made our way out of the hotel for flat-hunting, driver searching and overnight-help hiring, many of the conversations were conducted in Tamil.  When I asked Gideon (you remember Gideon the Saint, right?) if we could be sure to have English-speaking help, his "We'll try," response was less than convincing.  Even more so when Savannah read in our Culturama magazine (a gift from a global adjustment expat relo assistance firm) that it is very common of Indians to agree to things they know are not realistic solely to appease the other party in the conversation.  Our driver does not speak much English.  Neither does the lady who stays with Savannah in the evenings.  I often have to piece together conversations in the office because they are conducted in Tamil.  Reality.
 Savannah has been very strong and easy during this topsy-turvy time in our lives moving across the world from our friends, family and comfort zone.  In the beginning, I fell apart often.  Tears when I thought (sometimes still think...) of my nieces, parents, friends, boyfriend, church and home.  Weekends in bed getting used to the night shift, but probably a touch of depression as well. She made friends easily at school and kept in touch with Spring via Facebook, Twitter and her iPod.  Recently, I've decided she did not adjust as easily as I thought.  We are working on that together now, but I am feeling pretty crummy and realize I depended on her to take on this new world without much support from me.  Hindsight.  Reality.
My parents came in October (yes, I owe a post on their visit, will get to that soon.  Promise.) and were here for a week and a half.  It was the best 11 days I've had since we arrived.  It was wonderful to see them again.  Hug them.  Just be around them.  Catch up with my dad, who I do not regularly talk to.  Mom and I e mail or text often, so I have to make an effort with my electronically-challenged Daddy.  They intended on only staying a week and a day, but Hurricane Sandy had other plans.  I was secretly not so sad about them having to stay a little longer. And then after Sandy left you guys on the east coast of the US, we had Cyclone Neelam here on the southeast Indian coast.  Just some strong winds and rain, but threatening enough to shut the city down for a day or two (but not the office - LOL). Thursday arrived and flights were opening back up.  I knew they were needing to get home to Kameryn's birthday party and another mini-trip they had planned, but I was not ready to accept it.  I told Mom the flights would be too full and they might as well stay through the weekend.  She checked online and decided it was worth a shot.  I was going to be strong and not cry.  I cried like a baby as soon as we hit the ground floor of the elevator.  And I didn't stop for a few hours.  Reality.
The timing of my parents' trip could not have been better.  God knows what and when we need certain things, people, opportunities, etc.  He knew I would need my parents when they came.  Savannah was one big reason.  Another was that I received news that a friend of mine, Jose, the "IT guy" at our office known for his big smile, friendly, helpful demeanor and good-natured personality, passed away the second day they were in town.  I have lots of great things to say about my friend, but I'll sum it up in what happened tonight.  I had nearly five hours of down-time because my laptop's WiFi driver has gone out and has to be replaced.  Well, I am in India, the help-desk capital of the world, so you would think this wouldn't be a huge issue.  Wrong.  Everything is an issue and everything takes longer than it should.  In the past, I would bother Jose on our office IM and he'd fix me up and we'd have a nice chat while he was working on whatever happened to be broken.  He always asked about Savannah and how things were going over here.  I knew I was pretty special when he told me he made an exception for me and started following my blog, because we had talked a few times about Facebook and he told me repeatedly how he would never be on any social-networking sites and that they were all terrible.  Anyway, tonight while I was thinking how much I missed him (not for the IT part, but for the chit chat that came along with the IT part), and I had to call the help desk again, my Outlook Inbox lost all the mails.  All of them.  Talk about freak out mode.  So, the nice little guy from the help desk was trying to get me fixed and, magically, two IM conversations that had never sent from some time back, just popped in my Inbox like they were new mails.  One was with Jose.  And I knew at that moment, he was telling me it's all OK.  Even though he couldn't help me and catch up on life, kids and love, he was OK.   I was sitting at a new desk tonight with new neighbors because we are in the process of shifting our area.  I am pretty sure my "usual" neighbors are used to me getting a little misty-eyed periodically and just chalk it up to me being a crazy American, but I don't think these new guys were ready for it tonight. I read that IM four or five times, jaw on the floor.  All the while, tears falling silently down my cheeks while I thanked him in my head for dropping by.  I've thought how hard it will be walk past his desk in December when I go back into the office many times.  Losing a friend sucks.  Big time.  And losing a friend when you're too far away to pay your respects to his family and let them know what a positive impact he made on your life sucks pretty bad, too. Reality.
I absolutely LOVE my job here.  I LOVE working with these guys.  I LOVE the eagerness and motivation they have to do a job well.  I LOVE the team work and sense of camaraderie within each of the groups.  I LOVE the feedback from my colleagues in NAM when they are appreciating the team for their help.  We step in often for last-minute fixes, such as with Hurricane Sandy recently.  It's been great to read IM's and e mails and hear on the phone calls how much our team has helped relieve some stress from our front office colleagues.  I accepted this role into the unknown and it's been terrific.  I know great things are yet to come. Reality.   
So I guess this was a little bit of a sad post, but I am OK, really.  Just had some stuff on my mind and hadn't written in a while.  It was time.  Your continued prayers for Savannah and me are appreciated.  Your notes and thoughts of encouragement are treasured and called upon often when I am having a rough day.  It's good to know we have a great cheering section.  Reality.