Mr. Copy Catter blog entry guy...

A Few weeks ago, Jules and I were awandering around north india... Apparently after so many hours winding around the hills in a taxi with no leg room and blaring hindi music you tend to "lose it" a little. Anyways, we think Bud Light's Real Men of Genius commercials are hilarious.
My favorite is the Mr. Way too Proud of Texas Guy...what can i say??
Anywho, so on one leg of our jouney we had the most brilliant idea to come up with a Real Men of Genius list, India style.
Jules has already posted our list, but if you haven't read it - here ya go!

1. Mr. Pink Sparkly Sweater Wearer Guy


2. Mr. Knock You Off Your Feet Cologne Wearer Guy


3. Mr. Crazy Dance Up In Your Face Punjabi Guy


4. Mr. Matching Polo and Turban Golf Guy


5. Mr. Grab Your Leg Without Asking Cooley Guy


6. Mr. Pimped Out Auto Rickshaw Driver Guy


7. Mr. Your Wall Is My Toilet Guy


8. Mr. Yell At You From a Taxi Full of My Friends Guy


9. Mr. Roadside Water Pump Bather Guy


10. Mr. Hey I'm Hot but Then I Blew a Snot Rocket in Front of You Guy


11. Mr. Randomly Hock a Loogey and Spit Near Your Feet Guy


12. Mr. Britney Spears T-Shirt Wearer Guy


13. Mr. Over-Zealous Text Messenger Guy


14. Mr. I Will Change My Mobile Plan if You Call Me One More Time Guy


15. Mr. Titantic Theme Song Mobile Ring Guy


16. Mr. Stinky Sleep in the Taxi Guy


17. Mr. My Wife's Brother's Uncle's Son's Friend Lives in America Guy


18. Mr. Pastels Are So Hot Right Now Guy


19. Mr. Honk at You 12 Times As I Pass You On the Cliff Tata Truck Guy


20. Mr. Keeps Trying to Arrange Your Marriage With His Son Guy


21. Mr. My Motorbike is my mini van Guy

The Four Seasons, a Turban, and the Eiffel Tower...

Here's Beki and I hanging out at the Raj Mahal before we began our venture to the City Beautiful....

DAY 1 -

first step - grab the paper and start circling in the classifieds...

next step- call every number known to man

and ask in multiple languages if we can view their house.......

And we're off! houses here we come! We decided to arrive in style -

by bicycle rickshaw of course!

After seeing each house, we nicknamed them to keep them straight.

One we named the "Four Seasons" because it was so nice....

But the price was too much so we kept on looking.

we decided to stop in a Cafe' Coffee Day to take a break and call up a few more ads...

My roomie looks so professional, eh? yup that's me!! At a real coffee shop....yay for air conditioning! and for coffee!

(sorry Nescafe - i will always remember you)

6 houses down.... a lot more to go...

-DAY 2-

We decided to call a property dealer so they could take us to places not listed in the paper.... (We really think he just got his "list" from the same paper we did!)

It was a long and frustrating day since he kept trying to take us to places we'd seen the day before, or he would take us to places out of our price range and just wouldn't listen to what we wanted... arggggh!

We ended our day early just so we could get rid of them.... or before Beki karate chopped his face off.... either way it was for the best. So at this point we have seen 12 houses all together. None of which were available for the price we wanted and be livable.

A lot of them were pretty sketchy....or bug infested....or absolutely beautiful but waaay too much.... it was a vicious cycle.

DAY 3

It began as a normal day - we were quite determined not to have as frustrating of a day as the day before... so we just took off to "wander" around different sectors and look for "to let" signs. Somehow we wandered into a property dealer's office just to ask if there were any houses available nearby. The angels in heaven must have been singing when we walked in because this was the best experience we had had - the property dealer actually LISTENED to what we wanted and actually SHOWED us places accordingly. It was amazing. ANd he took us in his own car so we wouldn't have to waste money on a taxi...AND his uncle lived in Texas for like 30 years but has moved back so i chatted on the phone with his uncle about texas! crazy!

After some lunch and a few phone calls to ask for advice on what to do... We finally called back one of the beautiful places we had seen and asked if they would come down on their price because if they did then could afford it....

Apparently they liked us after they figured out that we weren't part of the opium trade that is so popular in our state.... they came down on the price and we said yes and came straight over to discuss paperwork formalities.

Here are a few pics of the Four Seasons..... we may not come home - just to warn you.

one of the 3 bathrooms - attached (whoohoo!) WITH a shower
Living area...
The Kitchen -with etching on the glass!!
One of the 3 bedrooms -
they are all painted blue with decorative ceilings!Brando'n came by to check out the "four seasons" to see if it was really as great as we said... It was....
He also found a turban lying around our house - our landlords are Sikhs so the men wear turbans. Google it if you want to know more...So i think the following picture will suffice as our DAY 4 pic....

On day 4, We went by and gave our new landlord all appropriate documents and such, security deposit, etc., etc., etc.

So in celebration of finding a house, we went to see Spidey at a real movie theatre. We also ventured to the sculpture gardens - and what should appear before our eyes?? but India's very own Eiffel tower.... only here my friends, only here...

(we're the dots at the bottom...)

The end... We returned to Nimda*, very excited gals.

Cooking with Mamta....

This is Mamta - my best friend in India. She is amazing and speaks good english, she is quite a blessing to me. I bought some भिंडी "bhindi" or Okra as we say in the south, and she came over to teach me how to cook it "indian style" (so of course i told her how to make it southern style...aka just fry it) ANyways she taught us how to make 2 dishes. One - is essentially stuffed okra and the other is just "subsee bhindi" or vegetable bhindi.

we enjoyed our creations and it turned out quite good. The stuffed okra was really just an appetizer while the regular bindi (okra) was to be eaten with chipati (similar to a tortilla).

Mamta also has taught me before how to make chipatis so i whipped some up really quickly to show her (like a proud student showing her teacher) She was quite impressed that i did all on my own... i kinda was too to be honest..haha.

Tadaaaa - the finished product.... It was quite delectable if i do say so myself... =)

Simple joy wednesday

So we took this picture last week at the Raj Mahal. It is at the Nimda* Palace where the "Rani" (Queen) still actually lives, though obviously she has no powers, but its still pretty cool.

anyways i just thought i would throw in an interactive blog entry for you - are you excited??

so one of my favorite phrases is to ask what people's simple joy is for that day.

This usually refers to the small things that you are thankful for that happened today. Like you were driving to work and you got all green lights, or you got an email from your aunts' cousins' brother's daughter or whatever little something made you smile today.
My simple joy today is that we didn't have to turn our fans on... cuz it rained and it was quite a pleasant and cool day.

SO, what is your simple joy for today???

(please use the comment button below) =)

A "Dhaam" Party

"Dhaam" - pronunciation : Dh (aspirated) then Om

An intro into Nimda* culture and those of the hilly areas of the Himalayas...

This is just a few of our closest neighbors. I went with them to a retirement party at the temple in our village. Poor Beki was not feeling well so she missed out on having to eat massive amounts of food. (the key is to fast all day then come for the food, go home and pass out) kind of like thanksgiving in the States...only without football... or meat...

Anyways, so we went to the temple (above) (which is quite the hotspot for special occasions like birthdays, weddings, retirement parties, etc) And so i was taking a pic of Madoo Auntie and her girls when this man with the cane started yelling at me - "Hey England - come take a snap!" i was able to correct him before i took the pic for him. For some reason, it is a common misconception that the US and the UK are in fact the same place and London is located in America...

Uncle ji was there to help host, because it was his friend who was retiring. It wasn't our turn to go inside and eat so we sat around. People kept asking Auntie ji who i was... its kind of funny since i know what they are asking her and what she is telling them. But sometimes i was thinking -"ahh! stop answering all the easy questions for me! i know these in hindi!!" But its funny to let her answer for me (cultural thing here to do- not directly ask the person even though they are standing right there) anyways the best is the look on the persons face when we do interject and answer a question in hindi... cuz then they look amazed and kind of shy that i understood what they were saying. But sadly they get carried away and speak too fast and i get lost. And they figure out real quick that my hindi is not perfect or great or well all that good.. But its ok bec we are white chics from america living in their neighborhood and we are trying - good enough... ok sorry, back to Dhaam - This is my new friend that i met - she lives 2 houses over. Hopefully i can get this snap printed for her then go see her next week. Well we were finally called up to the main area when the other group finished eating. First you come in and sit down on a mat or cloth that is laid out.

So everyone is lined up on each side facing each other like this... Then little server guys come by and give you a leaf then a metal cup then they come by and dump massive amounts of rice on your leaf.... First, when they dump the rice pile on your leaf, you section a bit off for the first "course" aka a ladle of one dish will be poured on top of the sectioned off part... The first course is always a sweet dish... Commonly served is hot gulab jamen - so you will mix it with your rice and eat it with your fingers of your right hand. And when you have eaten it, section off another part of rice for the next dish..Next is usually a local dish called "sapu burdee"

( i have no words to describe how they make it but it is gooooood) So then section off some more rice for the kadoo dish (pumpin dish)

Not my favorite... sometimes its ok. Then comes Mutter Paneer - yay!

(Mutter is hindi for peas and Paneer is a type of cheese that has the same consistency as tofu.) Then comes the Kurai dish - sour dish। Sometimes it is chickpeas but today it was dal (beans) but with a sour/ tart sauce. This is my least favorite dish. Its hard to eat sometimes. Then they served Rajma (pinto beans) - always good. Then the last dish is always dal (small beans)- usually black dal. Usually people will wait for the "Khuta" which is a yellow and very sour tasting watery sauce thing that most people like mixed with the dal. I do not like it so i always get them to put it on the side. yuck. When you are finished you fold your leaf in half and get up and go to the sinks with the rest of the herd of people. You have to scrub pretty hard because of the haldi (i forget the english word) turns your fingers a bright yellow / orange color.

After you wash your hands you herd out the door and you go back home to "take rest"

I went back and sat on the roof with Auntie ji and mamta and just relaxed.

I am going to miss my indian family so much.