First Quarter Assessment

It is ridiculous to believe we have completed almost a quarter of this assignment already. I thought this would be a good time to jot down my thoughts so far...

I never, ever felt nervous at all about this trip (don't ask me why!)... thankfully, Pat completely undersold Bangalore itself - partly because with all the trips he had taken here, he had never really ever seen much of the city.

Standing in the immigration line after landing in the Arab Emerite, I really just knew that, at least for the kids, this experience would be priceless!! And it is.

Living in the hotel for 2 solid months was certainly trying for all of us. In hindsight, it was a blessing (never thought I'd say that!) as it allowed us to meet so many people and to really explore the city's terrific restaurants. It really set us up for a more enjoyable year. I also like to say it was 2 months of "family boot camp"... and thankfully we all survived it. I think at one point I did tell Taylor that if they were not careful I would have a nervous breakdown and they would have to go on without me!

Overall first quarter grading...

• WEATHER A+ If I could give an A++++++ infinity, I would. Every single day we wake up to a blue sky, a light cool breeze... every day warms up to a high temp of about 80F. There are no storms, no flooding, no winds, no humidity, no extreme temperatures at all - just perfect weather all year long!




• HEALTH - A+ I must say that those members of the Patnode clan who could afford to shed a few pounds, have (some of us many more than a few!) It is all fresh fruits and veggies, very little meat at all ... virtually no junk food is available here at all... and the portion sizes are, well, normal. Lauren is completely through her fruit roll up rehab program.




• FOOD - C The food grade is closely linked to the health grade, I guess. The fact that we are so healthy stems directly from the lack of familiar food. Nearly all of the prepared food here in India, is, this may shock you... Indian! Let's face it, there are thousands of expats here, but we are living among a BILLION Indians. They humor us with Subway and Pizza Hut, even steak houses and Baskin Robbins.. there are a hundred awesome restaurants here...but the day to day food situation, is, from an Americans view, pretty dismal. Aside from Andrew (who has managed to GAIN weight), none of really enjoy the flavors of India THAT much.




• CULTURE - A+ Just what we had hoped for... Bangalore is in the first decade of a transformation which will likely take 30 years. The kids bus route takes them through rice paddies, villages where children walk by the roadside without pants on, animals roaming the streets, mutton stalls where sheep carcasses hang from rusty hooks. Yet the people are happy. All of them smiling and happy. Happy to be getting fresh water from the water truck. Happy to sit at the roadside with their cart of fresh pineapples, hoping to make a sale. Happy to carry their newborn infant on their hip while they pile bricks high on their heads and walk the path to one of the hundreds of construction sites building a mega mall or luxury apartment complex. Happy to deliver fresh flowers by bicycle door to door. Happy to be the cable guy, the internet guy, the grocery check out guy. Happy to be our maid, or gardener, or driver. Happy, happy, happy! We all interact every day with people from all of these walks of life and they are so eager to share with us a look into their corner of the world.

I asked the kids last night, "So, what do you really think of India?" Without a moment of hesitation, they started sputtering superlatives... "the best ever, awesome, love it!..." We are looking forward to seeing other parts of the world in the coming months... Asia, Australia and Europe. And we are certainly looking forward to returning to the best place on earth... HOME!!

International Peace Day

Indus School celebrated International Peace Day this morning with a terrific presentation by all the PYP (sorry, primary years pupils)... Each grade was assigned a country and they had to perform a dance, song and informational dialogue about their country on the big stage of the crowded outdoor amphitheater. Andrew's class presented Spain. Not hard to pick his LARGE frame out in the back row of the matadors...

Taylor's class presented the good 'ol USA (woo hoo!!). She represented Connecticut and sang the National Anthem along with 10 of her classmates.

The PYP teachers gave a beautiful performance of Indian dance to end the presentations...

Lauren snapped pictures with her new camera the whole time... I think she got some good shots!

I see why Andrew has grown so much since school started. I strolled by him on the way out to the parking lot having his "snack" in the courtyard. His plate piled high with samosas... he'd already eaten all but one by the time I got my camera back out of he case!!

What a nice treat for the parents. The kids and teachers really did a terrific job putting together these performances!

First Sick Visit

We knew it would happen at some point, we hoped it would be later than sooner. We dreaded it. We feared it. It happened.

Lauren fell ill with a bad cold that turned into a fever and an up all night ear ache. For a day prior our maid was all over the situation. She kept saying, "Lauren, you are getting very sick, you need to see a doctor!" Harish, our driver agreed with Sheela's medical opinion and ran upstairs to get some socks on her feet, insisting that the cold marble floors were contributing to her illness. Our landlord stopped over to replace our dryer belt and commented as well, "Lauren does not look well at all!" I even got a disapproving glare from the cable guys for goodness sake!

So this morning it was off to see a pediatrician. The process here is so different from the US. There are no appointments, nobody has a primary care physician, you just get what you get. We arrived at Teleradiology, a 24 hr facility, at 9am, by 9:05 we were in the pediatrician's office. No nurse to act as the liaison. The doctor just said "come on in, Lauren" and that was that... very nice. This doctor works for one hour only each morning! I am certain they must actually be volunteering their time. We sat down, chatted for a few minutes about symptoms, the MD gave Lauren the once over... discovered her ear was infected and that her chest did not sound good at all. She pulled out a piece of stationary from her desk and started writing...

She prescribed a pile of medications, including one for Andrew, who we mentioned had been up with the croup cough for a few nights!! Check out the supply... We walked out of the office to the pharmacy counter in the hall... where we were given a bag full of medication and were sent on to billing.

We have no medical insurance here, so we just pay cash for all services and medications. Prepared for the worst, the receptionist rang us up...

Total for ALL medications (this is the cash price NOT a copay).. $6.95 US

Total for registration fee... $2.18 US

Total for MD consult... $5.46 US

Grand total... $14.59 US

Are you kidding me???

Lauren is resting comfortably, on the road to a full recovery... and our fears about the unknown of Bangalore medical care have been eased ! Horray!

Monkey in the house!

Who doesn't love a monkey?? What's not to love... look at this face??

When you see this face in your living room... it's a bit startling.

Lauren and I were watching television... Sheela had just gone home for the day and I had left the back servants entrance open through the kitchen for the nice breeze. When I saw his face peeking around the corner into the family room it took a moment for my brain to process that there was an animal in my home that I had only ever previously seen at a ZOO!! We stared each other down for a briefly before I jumped at him hoping he would not try to escape upstairs. He had a bit of trouble getting his footing on the marble floors, but did high tail it back outside!!

Welcome to India!!

The Villa

One week in the house now and it has started to feel like home.

Big yards are rare here, so this nice side yard was a big selling point...

Lauren says, "come on in for a tour"

The family room, kitchen and dining room...

Come on upstairs... (the picture hanging in the stairway was actually painted by one of the handymen who painted our villa!)

Andrew's bedroom, bathroom and terrace...
The girls' bedroom and terrace...

So this is our nest for the next few seasons!! Hard to believe we are already into our third month :)

Sitar practice

Taylor's sitar lessons started this week. She is so ridiculously cute playing this beautiful instrument. She says the most important thing is that the pumpkin never touches the ground. See how it balances on her foot?

She is actually already making music! Should be an interesting Christmas concert!

Calling in the carpenters

I have been nesting all week. All of our furniture was finally delivered. Curtains are up. It was time for hanging pictures, clocks and shelves... small problem - these walls are concrete! Time to call in some carpenters. A quick call to Shivaji's "mobile" and we arranged for a 3pm meeting at our villa. At 3:15, still no carpenters, so I phoned him again... he said "I will be there only" which means I'll be there right away. And he was. So you know I had already marked the walls with level lines and circled the exact spots I needed anchors. The carpenters arrived and spread there "tools" on my floor... FYI, the tape measure you see is actually MINE... they asked to borrow it!!


These guys set out about their work... first, they plugged in their drill - check this out - this 220V concrete drill simply has 2 naked wires which Shivaji fiddles with at the wall socket until he gets the electricity flowing! YIKES!

So first he blasts a 1/4 inch hole in the concrete wall, then he takes a hand cut wooden plugs and hammers it into the hole... next he whacks a screw into the wooden plug. PRESTO!!

Even the hammer is hand made!

Can you imagine the look on these guys' faces when I whipped out my laser line level to check these shelves they were hanging for me??

3 shelves, a key rack, 6 pictures, 3 clocks... $8 US - can I take these guys home with me??

Finally in the villa!

We survived two months of hotel living and finally moved into our villa this weekend!! I am not sure why they call houses "villas" here, but they do. Talk about echos!!!! The construction here is all marble, granite and concrete, so WOW, does it ever echo, echo, echo! We are just online with our internet and cable, and, at long last, VONAGE!! We are just a local call away!! Our number is simply our home phone number (although I believe you may need to dial the 518, not sure) We only have one phone, and it is not a cordless, so bear with us, we get to it when we can!! I will post in a day or two with some photos of the house...here's a quick shot from tonight, the kids first home cooked meal in two months!!! OK, it was just Easy Mac, grapes and chocolate milk, but let me tell, you, they thought it was gourmet!

Festival invitation

We ended up with a last minute invitation to celebrate the Ganesh with our friends Gopi and Seema, and their children Prenav and Aditi. It was so amazing to see the celebration and traditions and actually be part of it. They were so gracious in explaining everything and including us. Here is a picture of their Ganesh "setup"...

Taylor finally got the spot on her head that she has been so intrigued by. The gleam in her eye as Seema's colorful finger aproached Taylor's forehead was priceless! You would think that the Jonas Brothers had showed up and kissed her... she said "I am never washing this spot!"

Ganesh Festival

Today is the Ganesh Chaturthi, or Ganesh Festival, here in India. Here is what I have gathered about this special day from talking to locals about it...

Ganesha is one of the many, many Gods worshiped here in India. Legend has it that Ganesh was created by the wife of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva was away at war and his wife had no children and no one to protect her. She created Ganesh from Sandalwood and breathed life into him. He stood guard over her in her husband's absence. One day, when Lord Shiva returned from war and entered his house, Ganesh, not knowing who Shiva was, tried to stop him and was beheaded! His wife was devastated and Shiva sent his men out to bring back the head of the first living thing they found with it's face toward the sun. They came first, across an elephant. The elephant head was placed on Genesh's body and life was again breathed into him. They named him Ganesha and he is thought to provide protection to those who worship him.

For weeks leading up to the holiday, these idols are sold at roadside shops all over the city...

Today, and throughout the celebration period, everyone takes their statues to a local body of water and submerses them!! They leave them floating for days to symbolize their dedication to him. It is thought that this will provide his worshipers with prosperity and protection from calamity. Nearly all public buildings are shut down today and also domestic help are not working. Our driver, Hariesh, is going to take me out tomorrow to photograph the floating statues. And you can be sure one will be on our mantle in Saratoga when we return!

On a side note... this would be one of the days on the calendar here in India that you would have a tough time finding an urgent care center open if, I said if, your son needed to get stitches in his head. Thankfully even in India, hospitals never close! Taylor bopped Andrew over the head with a water shooter in the pool and wham. Poor Pat had just strolled up from his day of golf, not 5 minutes prior. I'll attach a photo as soon as they get back!!

Wall E on Saturday and Back to the Oberoi on Sunday

The movie Wall E opened up here in Bangalore this weekend. I knew that movies were huge here... seriously, Bollywood is more of an obsession here than Hollywood is in the US. More than half of the newspaper coverage is about Bollywood every day!

The movies here are awesome, for many reasons...

• The movie begins on time, not after 20 minutes of previews
• You pre-order your tickets and get to pick your own seats when you purchase
• Tickets are 150 Rupees each ($2.50 USD !!)
• There is an intermission, so you can get snacks and use the bathroom
• Popcorn and a Coke costs 100 Rupees... a bottle of Aquafina water... just 40 cents... and they have individual concession stands outside of each theater!
• The theaters are beautiful! We went to the Inox in the Garuda Mall... here's a shot of the corridor...
  

We spent some time in the mall before the movie. We ate lunch in the food court, where they have at least 30 different eateries. Not feeling adventurous, we had Subway and corn from the American Corn stand...

Lauren dragged Pat to the Roll Over Cafe for her chocolate fix...

After the movie we went out for dinner at a great place in the city called F&B (stands for food and beverage)... it's a terrific restaurant, great food from all around the world and super kid friendly. We called ahead (actually here you simply SMS text ahead for your reservation and they text you right back with your confirmation and directions!!) for a table near the kid zone... check out this picture of the kids play area... can you imagine this at Siro's??

On Sunday we went as a big group of families back to the Oberoi where we had brunch two weeks ago. The kids dressed in traditional garb...

A fun time was had by all!

This is one of my favorite series of pictures... I was just snapping a few pictures of the kids all playing soccer (oops, football!) in the field at brunch and I realized after that I had captured Andrew spotting a frog in the grass, showing his friend and then showing me! You can dress a boy up, but...

Some of us returned to Frederique and Rob's (from Holland) villa for a little after hours party. Julie whipped up some cosmos...

Rob just bought this classic 1970 Italian Vespa, for $400 USD... we took it for a few spins up and down the block. Taylor did not ride it Mom, don't worry, this was just for show!

Another great weekend! The kids washed up quickly in the tub and off to bed...