happy trails to me

We leave for a 9 day vacation! Except we don't really leave because we are staying in Curry land. Some friends are coming and we are going to tour some cities we have yet to see. We just got back from traveling for work purposes and I have only had 2 days to unpack and repack...something is going to be forgotten what will it be a) deodorant, b) underpants, c) cell phone charger...hmmm I wonder...

The Sunday paper

Today I read a portion of the Sunday paper that I normally discard...'the matrimonials'. Basically they are ads placed by families of eligible young men and women. My observation is that you need some sort of special decoder ring found in a cereal box to decipher these ads. Here are some of my faves...

• GOOD Looking Medical doctor girl in Bangalore 32/162 seeks Doctor groom. ( I am typing them just how they read...I have no idea what 32/162 means)
• 30/160 Wheatish Ph. D lecturer seeks PG Profnl groom caste no bar. ( What does 'wheatish' mean?)
• Alliance invited from parents of good looking lyer girls, Graduates or Post Graduates, prefereably working for a Mumbai based handsome lyer Vadama boy - Swathi, fair 30/188. B. Com., MBA financing working with an MNC Bank, Subsect no bar. (The word 'lyer' made me chuckle)

Like I said there is probably some sort of decoder ring that all the eligible young men and women possess so they can translate the secret codes embedded in the ads. Anyways reading these ads made me think back to how Z and I met...What if we met through matrimonial ads...this is what my ad would say:

• Fair, beautiful village girl seeks highly educated Super Model groom, must love to travel.

~ a day off ~

My lazy Saturday consisted of...

• Instead of reading the newspaper I went straight to the sudoku puzzle.
• R is off for a week so I had to clean the house, but because it was 'my lazy Saturday' I just did the bare minimum.
• Bonded with Z by making a video for some friends.
• Played phase 10 with Z.
• Read one chapter of a book I am trying to get into...as of yet I am not pulled into the story.
• Skyped good natured folks in America (friends and family) and harassed them on their day off :)

Ash Wednesday

I had a lot of spiritual things to ponder yesterday.

• First, My cooking teaching brought me food and prayed for me while I was sick. She is a Muslim so I did not understand what she was praying and she kept blowing on my head. In my broken Urdu I tried to ask what was the reason for blowing on me. I did not get the answer to my question until Wednesday evening.
• We went to an Ash Wednesday service. In the beginning of the service Z and I fumbled through the hymnal trying to figure it out...When the pastor got up to preach we were relieved to not have to deal with the hymnal anymore. Then we tried very hard to listen to an hour long sermon the language here. At the end of the service something very interesting happened that had us scratching our heads...after the offering was taken up the pastor turned and faced the big brass cross behind him, held up the offering plates to the cross and began to pray.
• My cooking teacher came back with her son and daughter to check on my condition. She saw that I was doing much better and was pleased that her prayers worked...I then got down to the bottom of why she was blowing on me. She believed that I was sick because of the evil eye...thus she had to blow the evil eye away.

What I really need to be pondering is what I am going to fast from for Lent. I am thinking about fasting from Chai...mainly because I am absolutely addicted to the stuff. Poor Z I don't know if he will be able to handle me on Chai withdrawals.

Ooh la la!

For Valentines day I made heart shaped cut out cookies for friends. Not a lot of people celebrate this holiday here, but they always welcome cookies! Z surprised me with the 2 dozen roses on the table...what a sweetie!

My Favorite people in the whole wide WORLD!

Z and Grandma P!
My Friday was way busier than expected...and a lot of things came my way that brightened up my day. 1) My tailor delivered my brand new saree...its beautiful, 2) Z took me out to eat...one less meal I had to cook, 3) Spent time with our adopted family here, 4) We were invited to our milk guy's house and met his family...
But the best part of my Friday was when I called Grandma P. We talked about Tiger her cat, who unfortunately has arthritis. We talked about how Tiger and Newman (Dabby's dog) get along so well...Newman is a big love able golden retriever mix and moves about the speed of a large bear, I miss that dog. We talked about my day to day life here, she was tickled pink when I told her that our milk is delivered fresh from the animal to our door every morning. She was raised on a share crop farm in Tennessee and that is how she grew up getting milk. I told her how I make her meatloaf and beef stew for people here...and then she gave me cooking pointers. It was just like sitting down with her in her living room across the ocean and having a conversation. I talked to her until midnight (It was one in the afternoon her time)...I did not want to let her go but Z had already fallen asleep in the chair next to me, so for the sake of my other favorite person I said my goodbyes and we went to bed.

Loved this!

I read this book in 2 days...absolutely could not put it down. It is a historical fiction piece that depicts the lives of families during and after the Pak - India Partition.

Some days I still suffer from brain clog...

another one bites the dust

I have accomplished breaking 2 hairdryers with in the past 30 days. That should be some sort of record.
Hairdryer #1 - I bought it in Thailand and it worked beautifully...then I broke the plastic switch to turn it on...It is currently in the process of being reassembled with electrical tape and super glue.
Hairdryer #2 - This was my back up hairdryer I used for traveling and for overnight guests to use. Since hairdryer #1 has been out of commission I have been using #2...this morning it sparked and then caught on fire while I was using it. I am very fortunate I was not injured by the combustible hairdryer...I had mousse in my hair, I am pretty sure mousse is flammable.

'urgh...blah...geeze...huh...'

...Yes those were the sounds I made while recording my language assessment test yesterday. It was very frustrating, when the right words did not come to mind I would get really flustered. Luckily it is not a pass or fail test but simply an measuring instrument to see what one needs to work on (AKA: what one needs to work on to not bomb anymore tests).
After I finished my test I relaxed the rest of evening...mainly because I was sulking. So I watched an Urdu movie for more language practice. The movie made me even more depressed...the actors spoke such beautiful Urdu...what ever I speak is not that pretty. Also I only understood every 3 to 4 words. Today I am still wallowing in my language depression.

~ pizza party ~

A family has adopted us here, even though they speak another language and adhere to a different religion they really do treat us like family. We share laughs, tears, and even secret family recipes...the mother gives me cooking classes and her food is AMAZING!
One day they admitted that they had never eaten pizza or had any desire to eat pizza. I told them that since they now have American children (us) that they had to at least try it. Last night I made them homemade pizza...I made four pizzas to be exact, I went a little over board with the dough. They actually liked it. I have redeemed American food for my new family.

I went Saree shopping!

Some dear friends are coming to visit in a couple of weeks. I AM SOOO EXCITED! Although I am possibly being a little too type A by planning their stay here...I even have planned what my friend will wear here - is that a little over board?

I bought us Saree's to wear! So S please know that my planning comes from the bottom of my heart because you are going to look great in one of these beauties!