Don't mess with julia

We went to visit some friends and bring back a load of kitchen stuff for our house. We went shopping (I got some Punjabi Jutais) and ate at a REAL subway and a REAL baskin robbins that was next door. I’ve missed preservatives… Then we ventured into some grocery shops that were air conditioned and had things like pancake mix and toilet paper…we were in awe. Too bad we live like 4 or 5 hours away!!
Side story: we were riding on a bicycle rickshaw back to the house we were staying at and some boys on a motorbike came up beside us and wouldn’t leave trying to talk to us. So when they didn’t get the hint when we ignored them, we told them to keep going and not bother us (in Hindi). But they only became more curious since we talked to them in their own language - so our friend Julia picked up her shoe and threw it at them. The boy on the bike says “Oh no don’t do that!!” as she was doing it because feet and shoes are considered unclean here. It was a cultural way to shame them for being disrespectful to us. We were minus a flip flop but they left us alone…

A Birthday Dham: a Himachal tradition

This was new…. We were invited to a one year old’s birthday party by our neighbors. So we show up and sit in chairs for a bit. Not much action going on. Just chatting.
Then all at once everyone gets up and stampedes up these little stairs to the next floor. We take off our shoes and go sit in rows on the floor.
First they pass out cups and fill them up with water. Then they pass out 2 lily pad looking leafs to each person. (We just did what everyone else did because what do you make of a big leaf sitting in front of you?) So we poured some of the water onto the top leaf and then shook off the water onto the second leaf. This is for “cleaning our plate”.
Then the Race began… The little server guy came by and put a mountain of rice on my leaf and then a ladle full of an Indian dish. So you mix this all up with only a small portion of your rice and eat it really fast with your fingers before the next “course” or huge ladle comes by. One of our neighbors (Honey) was sitting by me to help me out; so about 3 “courses” into the thing I’m stuggling to keep up. Even in America I am a slow eater, it’s true. Well she makes fun of me and keeps telling me “Jeldi! Jeldi!” hurry! Hurry! The perfect way to describe the eating method would be called the shovel.
So Honey came prepared and handed me a spoon she brought in her purse to help me out. Well whatever I can do to bring a smile to their faces… So like 8 huge ladles of different dishes and a truckload of rice later the last one is dished out. I thought I was going to explode!! Then as if on cue the whole room of people get up and stampede to one side of the room and wash their hands…Then like cattle they corral around the other side of the room to put their shoes back on and head back down the stairs to leave as fast as they can.
Side note: So we were given the impression that it was rude not to finish everything on our leaf…when we were done our neighbor’s son tells me that this is not so because all you need to do is fold your leaf in half so they know that you are done.
They didn’t tell us this on purpose….

PS I never saw the kid whose birthday it was… in fact I’m not sure which family even threw this shindig… but i guess that wasn't the point

Along came a spider, and sat down beside her…

(and scared the poor girls out of their minds)

We were finally home after a LONG day…So as I am about to head to bed I hear a shriek from the living room followed by Beki saying… ”April, I can’t go in there…you need to come look at this” But she wouldn’t tell me what it was!! So when I opened the door to our “hallway” now known as the hall of terror – this is what I saw….pic
This seriously was the biggest spider (or Night Enemy as our landlord called it) I had ever seen!…including the legs it was bigger than our hand… Someone asked us later… “Well, did you kill it?”
HA! How do you kill something that is bigger than your flyswatter?
So Instead… we threw orange peels at it; I hit it and it scurried off into the darkness of our hallway…it was still too close for comfort for us to get to our room - so Beki threw water at it to wash it down the cement passageway.
I took one for the team and ran into the hallway, unlocked our door, slammed it shut and went to unlock the other door to our room that leads to our porch so Beki could come in that way.
However...Mrs. Gargantuan Spider in the hallway evidently has kids because as I was walking towards our door, I see Another huge spider hanging out on our wall and another one about the same size comes scurrying towards me from out from under our bed!! So of course in true girl fashion I freak out, and run and stand on the bed…so when Beki comes to the door, she sees me on the bed and the ginormous spider about a foot away from her and freaks out…but don’t worry we pulled ourselves together and armed ourselves with flip flops and a Squeegy…whereby we successfully removed them from our room. My dad would be so proud!
The next day we find out that our neighbors had heard a noise and looked out their window ….and watched the whole spider episode from their house. They thought we were hysterical and we were the topic of conversation for several days.

Ode to food experiments...

<----Aloo gobi (potatoes and cauliflower) with Roti
Fruit art... so my job was to cut up the fruit but i got a little carried away....hehehe ---------------->






World's smallest sandwich or World's biggest crouton - we haven't decided ...









So we made smores.... care packages are the best!

Our first meal in our house - cucumbers and peanut butter sandwiches

What? It came with the free lipstick…

Culture lesson: so in the states, when you buy in bulk you generally get a discount on what you buy… which is not the case here. You get something free…
• So with our big jar of jam…we got free markers (that was exciting)
• With our big bag of detergent…we got a free bucket
• And with our box of tea to make chai…we got a free tea cup
Is this place great or what?…its just fun to see what we’ll get free with purchase…

Brown Sugar

One sad thing about this country is that you can’t get chocolate chips anywhere!…so we both brought some so we could make cookies and give them to national friends who can eat eggs. Well in order to make them we need flour, sugar, brown sugar, butter, etc, etc, etc.
Well we found all the ingredients except one: Brown Sugar…
So the past week we have gone into a dozen grocery shops looking for and asking for brown sugar. Each time the reaction was a funny look or laughing followed by a no…but they all seemed to at least know what we were talking about.
Well we were telling a friend about our brown sugar dilemma when he first shushed us, then he started laughing, and told us not to say those words. We were quite confused and of course asked why. He then nodded at a police officer who happened to be in his shop and quietly told us that when you say “brown sugar”, people think you are asking for drugs…Heroine we figured out…Apparently our state has the reputation for good narcotics – marijuana grows free everywhere here and that is why a lot of foreigners visit…
So we have spent the past week asking for drugs…Oi!we kinda feel like we need to go back to all the shops and give them an explanation using pictures…

If at first you don’t succeed, they’ll make you do it again…

So ya know how we have been knitting… well the first one I tried, our knitting club ladies all laughed hysterically at me and made fun of my poor measley little scarf in hindi...now I’ll give it to them that it was not the best - well in fact probably the worst scarf ever…so they (without asking I might add) pulled the whole thing apart in under 30 seconds … So I was forced to start over but I had a little more help this time. I was quite pleased with my project in progress the next time I went up to the roof where our club meets and I was all happy because it looked pretty good (if I do say so myself ). They inspected it, discussed it among themselves - then in broken english said… "this is bad” and unstringed it again!…maybe by winter I’ll have knitted a scarf - ok so maybe a little one…

Work in Progress...

Here is the work in progress of our soon to be new home!! yay!
Here are the Before pictures of our house about 4 or 5 days before we are supposed to move in...
the kitchen...

the dining room...

the living room...

The paint guys taking a Chai break...


And here is our porch...

Washers

We went to the market today and bought a washer…. Strangest thing happened… We were done in 30 minutes flat and the washer was out the door on the way to our house before we were. The little guy carried our washer on his back up the mountain…We were impressed. I think it was bigger than he was. A little confused that it didn’t take longer but they will be at our house at 9 am to give us a demonstration on how to use it… think about it – because you know that whole push the start button is really difficult.

Oi

So we started off the day well, hung out at our usual internet café and shared a bit about our DAD to our internet friend. Then we grabbed an auto back up to our house to give paint instructions to our landlord again. Afterwards we discovered an Auntie in town had made us lunch and was waiting for us so we had to leave as quickly as you can in this country and start our trek BACK to town. We were a bit stressed at this point when on our way it starts pouring rain! Dad has a great sense of humor …we couldn’t help but start hysterically laughing.
We went and ate some of the best Indian food we have had yet! So now we know who to take cooking lessons from! We met a SISTER at our aunties who runs an orphanage here in town and asked us to come visit – which we jumped at the chance. So we will go next week after we move in. Then we headed BACK up to our house to meet up with our landlord and check up on the paint progress… The phrase “crazy American girls” seems to come up a lot… I just don’t think they appreciate our artistic touch.
We kept trying to help but they said no!no! you supervise! So we sat out on our balcony knitting and chatting with our neighbors while we “supervised”.
We have the greatest view of the stars – reminds me of texas skies. They always have Beki sing because she has the greatest voice…however in this culture I’ve figured out that that means that I should be able to sing too. HAHA poor people. So this evening I was given the choice to sing or dance for them… humorous I know. So what did I do??? We taught the girls to do the Electric slide…OH YES.
We had a great view of a wedding down in the valley – looked something like Rockefeller Center at Christmas with fireworks… I think everyone should have fireworks at their wedding. It was pretty sweet. Plus a crazy band – it sounded like a bunch of elephants playing and quite a bit off tune. So as we’re having a grand ole time, we realize that they have been painting some columns the wrong color so we correct them and they fix it… and a bit later we realize that we liked the first color better and got them to redo it… They laughed at us but I think secretly they were not thinking nice things.

The Adventures of April and May...

*My name is April and Beki’s middle name is May…
the people here get a kick out of that one……..
So in America we say we need to run a few errands and we run out the door with our list of 20 things and can get most if not all of them done. Funny thing about some cultures… if we get 2 things off our list done in one day we feel as productive as if we’d accomplished all 20.
So we began our day with the usual 30 minute walk from our village to town after we met with our landlord who kindly introduced us to his tailor friend. She was wonderful… the plan was to go with her to the material shop and pickout curtains for our house. Afterwards we would go pick a few paint colors and tada! We should be done… We are so silly sometimes…. Well we made it to the tailor, said hello, after which it starts pouring rain outside. So one cup of chai and 3 hours later the rain stops and we head over to the material shop.
*Culture lesson: We have learned that in this culture you pick out one color of paint and one kind of curtain. So expressing in part Hindi part English that we wanted 4 different color curtains was a difficult thing for them to grasp. We have also learned that if you ask a nationals opinion about a color and they don’t like it – probably anyone from the western world would love it. So one hour, our second cup of chai, and 500 rolls of material later… we pick our curtains and hand them over to the tailor.
Then begins the search for suit material in of which the electricity goes out… Now I don’t know about you but I have never gone clothes shopping in the dark but evidently it doesn’t phase the people here. So I’m not Really sure what color my suit is exactly or what it will look like but it will be fun to find out when I get it back.
It’s about 5pm when we start on errand number two… we meet up with our landlord who goes with us to the (HA) “Sherwin Williams” of Nimda so we don’t get ripped off…pesky white tax as we call it. (the lighter your skin the higher the price). Ya know how its fashionable to pick a bold or bright color and paint like one or 2 walls of a room? (called accent walls) HAHa yeah try explaining that to 5 nationals who are looking at you like you are crazy… then explain it to the painters about not painting the entire room the same color. So if you have ever heard of Brian Regan the comedian… it sounded something like his doughnut routine… “ALRIGHT… I want a doughnut...with icing ALL over it and I want sprinkles but NOT all over it…”
So as we are walking back finally to our house we are stopped and given yet a 3rd cup of chai and chat with a family we have become friends with. So half an hour later we escape to make it back up the hill to meet our landlord and tell him which colors we want where so he can tell the painters…SO tired!

Birthdays..

We celebrated my 23rd birthday on Apri13th by spending it at the beauty parlor!! So we had facials and got our legs waxed…So first of all the Facial…….. imagine lying there with someone behind you slathering oily goo after oily goo all over your face and slapping it around. (You have to clench your teeth real hard to survive it)Then afterwards they clean it all off and wipe mustard orange stuff all over which when it dries it’s hard as a rock -so don’t even think about smiling or your face will shatter into pieces.
Now for the commentary on waxing and a culture lesson I will never forget. So…this was the first time to get my legs waxed and the thought of not having to shave for a while was pretty exciting especially since we are only taking bucket baths. By the time it’s my turn for waxing a lot of people have stopped by and come in to stare at us – women only by the way but its still really awkward since your face is mustard orange and you are sitting in nothing but a big towel. And of course they find nothing wrong with standing there and watching (about 4 kids, 5 nationals and Beki) all crowded in this little room as If I were the entertainer for the day. I talked to DAD a lot during this especially as the REALLY hot wax was burning through my skin and felt as though my soul was being ripped from my body through the pores on my leg. So I have decided shaving is the way for me and next time I’m just going to get a pedicure.
Then we headed to the Raj Mahal – a hotel/restaurant in town – to eat lunch. It was great! They actually had American food on their menu that sounded like it would actually come out as a familiar dish. It was a neat place since this was where the ruling British in the early 1900’s would come during the summers for a cooler climate. It had wonderful history and unique architecture.

Mutton ain't nuttin to be excited about...

We were so excited to meet a Brahman family who eats meat…well until they served us dinner.
It was a delicious broth soup but with goat legs (including the hooves) floating in it. Evidently it’s supposed to help your joints…but I don’t think it did much for the poor goat. In case you are ever served goat leg soup…you are supposed to eat the gelatinous goop that once were hard hooves with the tendons and ligaments still attached. Oh and then suck the bone marrow out of the bones … its not too tasty, actually it’s really disgusting and sticky (hence where you get glue from). But we smiled, swallowed quickly and kept it down. That alone would deem the evening pretty successful. Hi, my name is April and I am forevermore a vegetarian.

I heart Chai...

5 cups of chai before 4 o’clock in the afternoon – must be some kind of record.

Meet with some friends… drink chai…
meet up with another friend to take us to the apt...drink chai….
go check out the first apt… after we look, drink chai with our potential landlords…
go to the second house.. get out quick before they offer chai…
make a new friend…decline chai….
go to third apt.. of course have chai…
go back to friends house.. Have chai…
good thing we like chai (well for now anyhow)

The people here are so amazing… like Tuesday we were sitting in the HA “kinkos” of Nimda and we weren’t there 5 minutes before 2 different customers at 2 different times walked in and asked us to dinner. So much hospitality here…more so than other parts of this country I think…We felt loved.

Went for a Walk About...

So we walked outside our hotel and picked a direction and just started walking to see what we would find...We found 3 different villages nearby – which was so exciting. It was such an interesting walk because we are walking on these dirt roads with a valley below, green mountains with pine trees all around, while passing streams, cacti, cows, autos, bamboo trees, parakeets and sparrows…such an odd combination. Here’s my cacti pic.
We were walking along and got invited for chai at this little house along the road and they were so helpful and kind… (and they had roses – so beautiful!) They were really great – I hope we can drop in again soon. As the sun climbed higher we realized we should have brought water so we cut our walk a bit short and headed back.

First day in Nimda*

These are prayer flags






So our first day in Nimda* we took a side trip up to a nearby lake... it has Hindu temples, a sikh gurdwara, and Buddhist monastery all surrounding this one body of water.



These are considered "Holy Fish" so pilgrims come and feed them to receive blessings

Ahhh Munish....our home away from home

This was our dwelling place for 23 wonderful funfilled days while we looked and waited for completion our home about 2 minutes away...
This is our view from our hotel...
This was a sign posted on our bathroom door... And here is our shower..

Lalalalaa

there's nothing better than walking in the market during the afternoon to the sweet sound of Indian karoke...

our week at a glance

so we headed up north for a week of language camp. I can now say My name is April. I am from America. I study hindi. I am not married... and i can count to ten. Very exciting.

So we found out that white people in this town is pretty rare. So we were quite the spectacle...especially after we met two UK girls up there who showed us around. Beki and I have figured out what all the staring is about... obviously they think we are famous American actresses. I don't know if its good for them to know that we are so famous because we caused a wreck - this should teach them to keep their eyes on the road.

We went to visit Asharam Prem Nager. We walked around the pristine building but outside its gates there is nothing but poverty. In one room there are portraits of each religious figure for each religion to attest the idea that all roads lead to the same place. This is a very popular pilgrimage spot since the Ganges winds its way through this small city. But its Asharam does boast of one thing.. the world's largest toilet.
<---this whole building is one giant toilet. (We decided since it already smelled of roses from where we stood.. we didn't really want to get any closer than we already were.) Afterwards we headed up the mountain on a gondala. The view was incredible.. there was a garden full of flowers behind you and the surrounding mountains and cityscape in front of you. At the top of the mountain was a hindu temple. It was pretty crowded and chaotic inside. We made a friend with one of the women in front of us who explained to us each step within the temple. Personal space was highly overrated there.

P.S. Monkeys are definitely not cute... maybe the little squirrel monkeys back home at the zoo.. but word to the wise if you meet a monkey who lives at a temple, something is not right in their heads - just run away!

So on the way back down the mountain i saw this sign and it made me laugh...

We went down to the Ganges and watched RT which was a fire ceremony to the fire gods. There were many people bathing in the Ganges and paying for blessings near the water. The actual cermony didn't last very long but there were sooo many people there. Lots of drums and some chanting. It was very dark.

Reason #6,825 why i love this place

yeah so it only took 4 days but look what i found! And the best part is that it is in a store called Daily Needs...

Dr. Pepper on a rickshaw, could life be better??