Owner: Earth To Danie! URL:http://earthtodanie.blogspot.com Join Date: Fri, 06 Jul 2007 06:59:15 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Canadian, Mom, Expat, Trailing Spouse, Traveler, Chocoholic, Blogger...Earth to Danie! Site statistics:Click here
Back To Reality 2007-07-02 01:33:00 As we sink back into reality, and hey, I'm not complaining because it's a decent reality to sink into, I can't help but long for a vacation. It's raining Green Tree Pit Vypers and Cobras out there. The worst of it in the Maldives were geckos and the Fruit Bat. John had his shoes on for about 10 minutes before a baby Gecko began wiggling around in the toe of the shoe. I'd had freaked out and screamed like a girl. Well, that's pretty much what he did too and I can't blame him for it! The Fruit Bats are also known as Flying Foxes...they are massive. In fact, when you watch a scary movie with the creepy, massive bats...these are it. They're of no threat to humans and they're not nocturnal but when you see one of those babies flying above your head, you can't help but get creeped out. Creepy, I admit. But neither were dangerous, so not so bad, right?I have a gazillion email to get caught up on and I hate the question, "What's for dinner?" I hated it in the US and I hate even more
Home Sweet Home 2007-06-30 20:44:00 Happy Canada Day! We'll be spending Canada Day unpacking and running a few errands to get ready for the week. How about you?We got home last night. As the boat pulled away from Kurumba, I was so sad! I was anticipating some re-entry culture shock and I was just so sad to leave paradise. All in all, our flights went smoothly considering the flooding in Mumbai and the number of flights being rerouted. We had a few canceled, rescheduled, delayed flights but it was all handled very efficiently until we arrived in Trivandrum. They gave our seats away and weren't going to let us board. Luckily, we had an entourage on our return journey as well and that helped to get us on the flight. Actually, they held the flight while they discussed and redicussed what they would do. We got on the flight, although none of our seats were together. Arriving in Chennai, the jetway was installed at the door on the left side of the plane. We were disembarked on the right side of the plane and stood out on the Read more:Sweet
, Home Sweet Home
Thanks Everyone! 2007-06-26 21:14:00 Thank you for all the lovely birthday wishes, e-cards, emails, IM's, comments and Facebook messages. I'm looking forward to responding to each message when we return to India. Our private dinner on the beach last night was a bust. When John made the arrangments, the lure of having our dinner on the beach near the restaurant meant we could choose a la carte, as opposed to a set menu if we dined on the beach in front of our room. We were looking forward to steak and lobster all day! We sat down, ordered wine and waited for our menus only to be told we would be eating from the Japanese buffet. We had eaten Japanese the night before and would've opted to dine in front our villa had that been the case. At this point it was too late to eat anywhere else, we hadn't made a reservation for any of the other dining rooms. It was a bummer.John explained the mix-up when the manager came to our table and he arranged for us to have dinner at the Italian restaurant (which was booked solid). It wa Read more:Thanks
Diving Into Vacation 2007-06-24 12:03:00 We went on a snorkeling excursion yesterday. I was so amazed! We've been on snorkeling excursions in many places but this was our first one in the Indian Ocean. I took lots of photos with an underwater disposable camera, I hope some turn out nicely. We saw a Manta Ray. John and Connor saw a Sea Turtle. There was coral that still had color and colorful fish like I've never seen. Whenever we do something like this, I'm always in awe of God's creativity and His generosity to us. He created a wonder like that for us to enjoy. Truly inspiring.Another thing we've been diving into...food! The quality of the food is is very good. We had Italian the first night. I couldn't believe the mature dish Connor was eating. No other 10 year old would eat that kind of food. He's gotten quite adventurous. Last night was Connor's first time at a Teppenyaki. I'll probably have to lock up all the knives when we get back home. He thought of it as Ninja Cooking. His eyes were far too w Read more:Diving
, Vacation
Service With a Smile 2007-06-22 22:52:00 I've never in my life experienced such easy travel (and probably never will again so I just have to share). We were met at the airport this morning by Sam (The Man) and the travel agent at 5:15 AM. If you've been reading along, Sam is the man who just appears out of no where and gets stuff done. There had been a problem with the corporate travel agent, they booked connecting flights for us that weren't actually going to connect. In comes Sam. He noticed the mistake and took care of changing our flights. We went to dinner the other night and when we walked into the hotel lobby, there was Sam with papers to sign and new tickets/intinerary. We never expect see him, he just shows up. The man is a wonder and has taken care of every aspect of our trip.So, Sam and travel agent guy escorted us to the lounge while they checked us in and took care of our bags. After all the bag-schlepping I did during our move from house to hotel to hotel to hotel to Chicago to hotel to Chennai, I ne Read more:Service
, Smile
Back to School 2007-06-20 20:44:00 Summer is over and school is back in session...for Indian kids. Caterpillar built a school on the factory property in the early 90's but not much has been done there since. Apparently no MD has ever gone to visit the school so they were taken back when John paid them a visit. As he toured the school, each classroom stood up to greet him. They were asked to provide a list of what they need. Among the list, more water faucets in the bathroom (there's one bathroom with one water faucet for the whole school), some classrooms don't have desks and the children sit on the floor, more classrooms are needed, and they need a bus so they can provide transportation to students (ensuring they get an education). Additional items needed are playground equipment, computers and science equipment.Science Lab Computer Lab - the equipment is limited, old and barely functioning Playground - playground equipment is old, rusty and unsafeBefore John toured the school, we had discussed ways of volunteerin Read more:School
Miss Communication 2007-06-20 04:09:00 I thought I exhibited extraordinary patience with no phone service for 5 days, but when the internet service had been cut yesterday, I nearly went out of my mind! By this morning, I had the sweats and the shakes. No news, no stock updates, no email, no shopping, no recipes and no Facebook.You can't stick a girl in India with no way of communicating with the outside world. Not unless there's a huge amount of dessert or drugs available. Forget I said that, I'd take the internet over dessert any day of the week.People have been moving to and living in other countries all around the world for many years. How on earth did they survive before the internet? Communicating with family took weeks, if not months, by letter. Communicating by phone would have been very expensive and inconsistent, it certainly wouldn't have involved live cameras. Researching the relocation destination came from what little outdated information that would be written in an encyclopedia. There would be no
Facebook 2007-06-17 21:42:00 A friend sent me a link to www.facebook.com. The rest is history. I was falling asleep at the keyboard and still on this website. I went to bed and got up again to do one more search, even more slumped over the keyboard. Facebook
is better than classmates.com. I've been catching up with people I have seen in nearly 20 years. Gasp! I'm old enough to not have seen people in 20 years! Despite that depressing thought, Facebook has been a blast.You've been warned. Go there at your own risk. But go anyway.
Adoption, Still Not an Option 2007-06-16 20:17:00 Happy Father's Day to all dads and stepdads out there!As personal as this is, I'm putting it right out there with the hope that somebody somewhere will read this and tell me how wrong I am.We've been trying to adopt a child for four years and have continually had doors close on us. This is something we knew we wanted to do since we were 19 years old. It was always part of our plan to have a child on our own and then fill the house with adopted children. Just when we meet a British lady in the Bahamas who tells us it can be done (she did it), we get our hopes only to be told no again. Just when we decide we're not going to take no for an answer and will hire as many attorneys as necessary, we get moved to India. Upon moving to India, a country that has 12.4 million orphans, we thought this was God's way of opening a door for us. Instead, it's been one more disappointing door closed to adopting.We are Canadian citizens. Surely, we are not the first and only Canadian citizens livi Read more:Adoption
When it Rains, it Pours 2007-06-15 04:48:00 It is chucking it down right now! It's the first time I've seen rain since we've lived here. Thunder, lightening and beaucoup water falling from the sky.It's a beautiful thing!
The Boss 2007-06-14 21:32:00 There's been a buzz in Chennai all week about a movie that hits theaters today. Four days ago, I was told that Sivaji-The Boss is completely sold out in Chennai for the first 20 days that it will be showing."The Boss" actor, Rajinikanth, is from Bangalore but is adored by southern Indian movie-lovers. There are huge billboards all over the city promoting this movie and the products that he endorses. In newspapers, next to pictures of "Brangelina" you'll find The Boss...he's that big here.Let's take a look at what the hype is all about:Sivaji - The Boss Movie TrailerThe ActorIn the news: Hindustan TimesIndian ExpressThe Times of IndiaThere's another Boss in the news today, India may get their first female President: Pratibha Patil. I wonder if the US will follow suit.
What Do Expats Miss? 2007-06-14 01:21:00 Family, Friends and Food (and depending on the day, not necessarily in that order).I have been surfing Top Secret Recipes www.topsecretrecipes.com all morning. A couple of our favorite restaurants are listed and many of my lunch time meet-the-girls hot spots have recipes available for printing.I'm hungry.
My Soap Opera 2007-06-13 10:19:00 When we went out to dinner tonight, I skipped to the loo on my way into the restaurant. Before coming back out again, I stopped to wash my hands. I put my hand bag on the counter and looked to the left for the soap machine, nope that's the paper towel dispenser. I hear a whir-whir-whir-whir sound and when I turn my head to see where the sound is coming from I notice my open handbag has set off the automatic soap dispenser. Sweet-smelling slimy soap was automatically squirting into my bag over and over again. It dripped down the handle and was smeared all over my notebook, wallet and, well, everything.Good times.
Money, Money, Money, Monaaay 2007-06-12 20:20:00 Money. We currently don't have any and everyone wants some. Let me explain...I'm missing my favorite solitaire diamond earrings. It's not unlike me to take my earrings off and put them somewhere to not be found for a long period of time. I asked the housekeeper (Mani) is she had noticed them laying around anywhere. She said no and I asked her if she would keep an eye out for them. (The rest of this story comes later in the day.)As I was leaving the house, Mani asked us to pay her son's school tuition and take a little out of her pay each month. You want to borrow money? No, noooo madame. You give me 5000 rupees and you take 1000 or 2000 each pay. Like that. A loan. No, nooo madame...for son's school. (It's still a loan, by the way).Apparently it is common practice to lend money for tuition, some people even pay it on behalf of their staff. At the end of the day 5000 rupees is about $121 US dollars. We've lent more than that topeople never to see it be repaid. The thing is, Mani Read more:Money
The Weekend Lawn Caper 2007-06-11 20:00:00 The lawn mower was delivered on Sunday by a toy-like little truck. Both the mower and the delivery truck look like fisher-price toys. That's insulting to fisher-price because they make good quality toys and the lawn mower looks like it could fall apart at any time. It has the look of more like a dollar-store find, except it was more expensive than a decent lawn mower would be in the US. It took four men about two hours to get it working properly (somewhat). While they tried to figure it out, blades were changed, a mechanic was called in and the lawn was massacred.I explained that the container on the back was a must, otherwise Kramer would be bringing grass into the house. The gardener has decided that the grass collecting container creates too much work to empty it every so many passes. Instead, it's been taken off and wads of grass are being swept off the lawn with brooms into large containers and emptied out at the trash bin outside the gate. The sweeper is helping him but I don' Read more:Weekend
, Caper
Mayajaal 2007-06-08 09:54:00 John took the afternoon off work to come out and play. After hair cuts for both of them, we ventured to Mayajaal http://www.mayajaal.com/ to see a movie. This is the place that Connor was supposed to go with his class on a field trip. We decided on Pirates of the Caribbean and frankly, it was no naff that we left during the "intermission". That was an hour and half into it and I was so relieved! When we paid for the tickets, we were given assigned seats. There were about 10 people in the theater and they were all assigned seats side-by-side in the back row. We broke out and sat in the middle of the room...big rebels.Before the movie, the guys went on the go-karts. John is so competitive. Apparently the three Indian guys that he raced against were too (and they were all wearing various shades of pink shirts), but they were no match for John. As the race ended, one guy scooted into the parking bay before John. This guy was so pleased with himself, he said, "Did you see? I overc
Good Things Do Happen in India 2007-06-07 06:18:00 Here are the good things that have happened today...- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! Technically, tomorrow is the last day of school but with the report card in hand we're blowing that pop stand!- Report card day and considering the rough couple of months that Connor had, his grades were very acceptable, all A's and B's. The comment section didn't contain anything unexpected either, which was great. Negativity was curbed, that's a good thing.- I went to the tailor to pick up a few of my Salwar Kameez sets. I tried them all on and I feel silly wearing them...especially the dupatta (scarf). It will take a little getting used to. The were made to exactly my measurements...a good thing!- Our new housekeeper/cook, Mani, is (so far) a dreeeeeeeam. She cooks, she cleans, she irons, she shops. I visit, I lunch, I shop, I socialize, I play. Mani was pleased that I was wearing India
n style earrings today and was going to have Indian clothing. Apparently that meant I wasn't too much of a los
What in The World... 2007-06-06 08:38:00 ...has happened to my taste buds?At lunch today, I had a Tomato Caliente Quesadilla. It has tabasco sauce in it. It tasted a bit flat so I piled the pico de gallo on top of it.Tonight, we ordered veggie pizza which was laden with jalepeno peppers. I ate them and they didn't seem hot to me. I remember the first time I tried a jalepeno, tears ran down my face from the burning.My tastebuds have adjusted to India before the rest of me. What's up with that? Read more:World
Kramer's First Vet Appt. 2007-06-05 05:23:00 I went to the vet the other day with a friend who was bringing her kitties in to have them fixed. I wanted to scope out the vet clinic and meet the vet. I explained to the vet that Kramer
has inhalant allergies. He's been treated for this in the past by Dr. Taylor in Peoria. Our new vet, Dr. Mohamed didn't bat an eye about the allergies but insisted that Kramer didn't need heartworm meds in India. That night, I called Dr. Taylor who said he would feel better if we kept Kramer on heartworm and flea meds for his entire stay in India.The vet's office has a waiting area where there are displays of pet food (check the expiration date before you buy). Off the waiting area there is a sliding door that leads to one small dimly lit room containing reception/billing/examination/surgery. Let me break that down for you. The operation table is in the middle of the room with a computer desk to the left. In the desk is a drawer for all the monetary transactions. The vet handled every aspect of ou Read more:First
Rant and Roll 2007-06-04 02:10:00 More boxes. More broken furniture. Six missing boxes. More marked up walls. More pissed off.The language barrier got the best of me combined with an utter lack of respect for our property and belongings. Watch out...she's gonna blow!I had my rant about furniture specifically marked with arrows that point which end is up and broken crown mouldings when said furniture is upside down. I was met with blank stares. I came upstairs and told the king (who was directing and keeping an eye on our office electronics) to have them bring everything into the living room and please leave.The king came back upstairs to inform me that the gas grill was too large to bring into the living room. Would it be ok if they put it in the garage? *sigh* And I was so hoping to grill something in the living room tonight.Ready for the best part? After I ranted, the supervisor A) asked me for a tip. I ranted again. B) didn't want to sign the paper that stated 6 boxes were missing, as well as the item
Last Week of May 2007-06-03 22:41:00 Last Friday was the Book Character day at school. As I had mentioned in a previous post, Connor's costume was going to have to be something fairly easy to make with what we had on hand, or rather, what we had already unpacked. He was the wardrobe from The Lion, the Witch an the Wardrobe. The wardrobe is a character? Maybe not, technically. But it's what I could manage. His teacher had previously "suggested" that he have a different costume. I asked Connor if his teacher said anything about his costume when he got to school. No, she just rolled her eyes at me. The character parade in the gym was very cute, although I think the books were chosen to go with whatever halloween costumes people had on hand. The parade set off the mystery of the missing library book that Connor was supposed to hold up during the parade.I almost forgot to mention, Connor received his band assignment for middle school. He'll be playing the drums. He's rather thrilled to be following in the footsteps of h
Hi from CAT, Part Deux 2007-06-01 11:33:00 Yes, there's more! I'm back at home now after an hour and a half drive back to the city. And it was a crazy one.We went on our tour of the factory (sans bling), sporting hard hats, goggles and ear plugs. Good thing I did remove my bedazzles because security scoped out my hands and wrists for security infractions, right down to making sure I was wearing close-toed shoes. Good job boys!We walked into the first bay where huge mining trucks were being built. The fingers began to point and the tongues began to wag. I don't think it was because I look cute wearing safety glasses and a hard hat in 105 degree heat. All I could think of was how I was going to con my way into one of those trucks. Yu have to climb a couple of ladders to get into them. John has launched a hearts and minds campaign to encourage the use PPE (personal protective equipment) and blah blah blah it wouldn't be safe to climb into the truck. Time to go. There's a 21 KM stretch of road from the "highway" (an
Hello from CAT! 2007-06-01 06:53:00 Hello Peeps! I'm sitting at the MD's desk, using his pc. I have plenty to tell you about our week, but that can wait for now. Connor was sitting here a few minutes ago pretending he was Donald Trump and firing everyone in the board room. I think it went to his head when the staff here was calling him Master.It's our first time coming out to the factory and it took us an hour to get here. Traffic was light. We saw plenty of Indian fauna along the way: cows, water buffalo, goats, dogs, chickens, roosters and, yes, even one lowly pig. We passed many rice fields (is it field? Or bog? I'm not sure), along with mango (are they orchards? groves?) and saw many people working very hard.There was a protest in the middle of the road on the way here. I thought perhaps I had missed a warden message from the US Consulate to stay off the roads and became concerned. "No worry, Madame, it is a protest. It is law to wear a helmet on motorbike today." Here's what's funny about that...nob Read more:Hello
Indian Videos 2007-05-25 19:50:00 Recently, there was a post on an India Forums asking people to post their favorite You Tube videos. Here are some of theirs that I liked too:US State Capitals (this boy is speaking English with a Tamil accent) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIH1I1doUI4 (Impressive, most Canadians can't even do this...)Andy Blitz ... Visit to Indian Call center http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8d_OpneZAQIndian Music Videos:Thrillerhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSPvvVfcoAwPournami -- "Bharata Vedamuga" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOLXXU3YKhwTravel Videos:Where the Hell is Matt? (I wish I'd thought of it and I wish to go to as many places) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNF_P281Uu4 The Road to Shamballa music by Three Dog Night http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDpVS7D9AJs Driving in Chennai (Madras) India http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdD90k7mtZw&mode=related&search BANJARA, The gypsies of Rajasthan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjNNK-KUKg0 India Traffic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg9f93gpf
Pranks and Geckos 2007-07-08 23:10:00 Don't come here to read this blog if you're expecting deep insights on culture, politics or religion in India. Oh no. I'm far too shallow and lack the intelligence necessary for that. I'm not an expert about anything. I'm just here for a good time and amusing myself about it online to stay sane.So, with that said, let me start this story by telling you about my cheeky son. At the risk of beating a dead horse, this story is acually about another gecko but it starts with Mr. Cheeky...Over the past week, while I was in my post-vacation cranky stupor, Connor was moving things around the house. I have no idea where he got the notion to start this prank but it was driving me nuts. Half way through the week, I was complaining to my husband at the dinner table about our housekeeper. She does a great job dusting but doesn't put anything back in it's rightful place. All week long I was going behind her moving things back to where they belong. Books laying in front of the bookends, table c
Salwar Kameez 2007-07-06 20:32:00 I had my first corporate wife gig last night. It was dinner with an out-of-town business associate in which Connor and I were both expected to attend. He did great! It started at 8:30pm so it ended quite late.We had reservations at a very traditional Indian restaurant. Silver cups, small silver bowls and banana leaf lined silver trays. I liked it. I may go silver shopping! If you come to dinner when we move back to the US, don't expect the banana leaf lining, that's a southern India thing :) We ate with our fingers but occasionally I did have to cut or scoop something with a spoon. We just went with whatever our hostess ordered for us so I was a little nervous. Everything tasted wonderful, not too spicy and it was a nice variety.This is the first time that I've worn a full-on Salwar Kameez. Let me just say, these are not the most flattering outfits. They're meant to be comfortable and to hide all your womanly features. Tents, basically. My goal here was to be respectful without bei
Ruined Pants, Ruined Shoes. 2007-07-12 06:56:00 There are days when India is very frustrating. Today was such a day.I was really excited when I went to the tailor several weeks ago to pick up my new Salwar Kameez sets. My favorite set was one that had white pants with pretty blue embroidery pleats down the sides of both pant legs. I was very disappointed when I put on the pants and they didn't fit. All the other pieces fit perfectly.It's not like popping into a store to return or exchange an item of clothing. This process is much more involved. I went back to the tailor with pants in hand and explained they didn't fit at all. He remeasured me and remeasured the pants, and looked at me like it was my fault, not his. If it were my fault, I would've brought back ALL the pairs of pants. He said he could fix them by using a different white material for the part around the hips but it wouldn't necessarily match. I figured that would be fine because it would be covered by the kameez anyhow.He told me the date the pants would Read more:Pants
Other People's Blog Posts 2007-07-10 06:38:00 There are several blogs that I read on a regular basis. I'm sending you to two of them today to read their most recent posts. They're both US expatriates living in Chennai.Remember I posted a couple of weeks ago about The Boss? I'm not about to sit through a three hour long movie in a language I don't understand to bring you a review of Sivaji -The Boss, but lucky for you, another expat did just that. Even luckier, she blogged about it. India Ink: What They're Watching In Chennai. Style!My friend, Michele, is on home leave in Virginia. While I've never lived in Virginia, I'd like you read her most recent post. The first and last paragraphs are a great nugget of insight on life for an expat in Chennai and on home leave. GlobeHoppers: Ah, Virginia. I nearly cried with longing.
The Honeymoon Is Over 2007-07-15 21:45:00 In the life of every expat, a little angst must fall.What I'm going through right now is very normal and even expected. I've hit the 4 to 6 month period where the honeymoon is over and everything is making me angry. Thankfully, I know this is just a phase but it does take some time to get through it. Overall, I'm still quite happy and I don't regret our decision to move here. But the frustrating moments are more frequent and more intensified. This too shall pass...this too shall pass...this too shall pass...It is necessary for us to adjust to life in India, however odd it may be to us at times, or however offensive even. It is not for India to adjust to us...that's what I keep telling Connor. At the age of ten, it's all about what's fair. We encounter situations on a daily basis where the values and manners we are teaching him are contradicted by the way we're treated. It offends his sense of fairness. And well, it just offends me from head to toe.Yesterday, on our wa Read more:Honeymoon
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