Not much exciting this week, unless you count lice. Thomas was sent home and had to be check. Jake had them too - go figure. Not bad cases, and in Thomas - he's easy to check. Jake - love the hair, but so do the bugs, so we are still combing through him regularly.
The rains started here this week. BIG thunderstorms in the evening. Kills traffic - the traffic lights go out, the traffic cops go home - gridlock. At the flat, we have this wonderful enclosed back porch, but this is the first year the owners have put it in - guess what - it leaks. We had to pull in all the PC equipment, move the furniture away and block the kitchen door so it didn't come in that way. I say "we", but it is really Vani and Jake doing all this - I only sympathize and call the landlord.
We had a scare from Vani last weekend - she took off on Friday night and DIDN'T COME BACK!!!!! I was okay for Saturday and Sunday, and even Monday, but I really need help here and she was it! Turns out she was behaving like a teenager, chasing some fun. The agency rep knows her father and she came back on Tuesday. I was so mad, but she seems to have that out of her system and we are back to normal. She does get time off during the week - I'm not a slave driver - but I do need her to show up on time.
Other than that - rain, lice, Vani, the week was normal. Working hard, but planning the trip to see northern India and to come home. Tentative dates for Texas are 7/18 - 7/30.
Also, if you can, install Skype. If you link up to someone you can talk long distance, even international for FREE! Our account is 'jakethom' and we should show as available whenever someone here is online, so you can just see if we are on and give us a call! I tested it out with Jamie last week and it worked great!
Boys are fine - they had their Arts week last week. They had a musical program - Thomas's class had to sing "Hey Jude" and Jake's sang "Layla". I missed the "Layla" performance - at Jake's request. but what kind of music teacher asks 13 year olds to sing Eric Clapton songs - I don't know!
Don't forget Jake turns 13 next month -OOHHHH - he promised to be the perfect teenager - and that is NOT a good thing :-))
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Pictures from the trip to the coffee plantation. I don't think you have to log on to access these, but send me a note if you are having any problems
Coffee Estate trip
Coffee Estate trip
Monday, May 14, 2007
Belated Mother's Day Shout Outs!
To all the 4th grade Kolter mom's - hope the San Antonio trip went well. and I hope the baseball is still good - not too many rainouts or too many late games
To my friends who *hopefully* went to the Art Car Parade for me - don't forget the Accordian Kings are coming up.
To my friend who had elective surgery in April - hope it was successful and the recuperation was pleasant.
To anyone who is planning a visit - I have 3 people interested so far - I read about a flight from Chicago to Bangalore - don't know which airline yet, but check it out.
To my Bangalore friends - so many more places to visit - send me your favorites
To everyone in the US - I forget what the weather is like and the seasons, so send me a reminder - is it hot yet?
To anyone who is in transition (and there a couple of us!), remember that it's a journey and if you weren't on one, you'd be sitting still.
So to one and all - remember to breathe, and again, deep breath and smile :-)
To my friends who *hopefully* went to the Art Car Parade for me - don't forget the Accordian Kings are coming up.
To my friend who had elective surgery in April - hope it was successful and the recuperation was pleasant.
To anyone who is planning a visit - I have 3 people interested so far - I read about a flight from Chicago to Bangalore - don't know which airline yet, but check it out.
To my Bangalore friends - so many more places to visit - send me your favorites
To everyone in the US - I forget what the weather is like and the seasons, so send me a reminder - is it hot yet?
To anyone who is in transition (and there a couple of us!), remember that it's a journey and if you weren't on one, you'd be sitting still.
So to one and all - remember to breathe, and again, deep breath and smile :-)
Coffee estate and Mother's day
Alert!! More pictures coming in a link to another picture blog - we had a great trip to the coffee estate. The trip there was the best part - went to 2 temples and words can't express the awesomeness of these places. the first was a Jain temple. The Jain's are cool - they believe in the complete sanctity of life, to the point that some have been know to starve to death to prevent the killing of any life. Shravanabelagola is a massive stone carved man, that takes 265 steps to reach. They don't tell you that when they encourage to go there, but it was a fun climb. One woman was carried up on one of those platforms carried by 4 men, running! up the stairs with her reclining back. They were sweaty guys when we caught up to them.
Our second stop was in Belur, which has an wonderfully carved temple - all out of stone. I hope the pictures do it justice. At these places you can hire private tour guides and we had a very nice one - he pointed out things like the fashions the women were wearing (Shorts!) and their hairstyles and jewelry - there was that much detail. Really nice place. But that was just the start of the day (4 hours into it).
We moved on to the coffee estate. Okay - I am good with backroads, and B&Bs, but this place was awfully remote. The roads. were bad and long . . . . . . and hour up the switchbacks and potholes - but we made it just before the rain - which came over the mountain and cooled everything wonderfully. Now this place was a guest house - which means a group living room, one tv, not much furniture, but a working coffee estate. I call it 'estate' because when I called it a plantation, the boys pictured a typical southern plantation, which it's NOT! The long distance scenery is wonderful, but up close - it's weedy piedmont trees and underbrush. Some of the underbrush is coffee and pepper plants, but, nothing you want to oohh and ahhh at. Summary - glad we went - wouldn't go back. But it's the journey, not the destination and that was priceless, so there you go. (anybody who has travelled on Indian roads will understand that sentence even more)
So the week goes on . . . I have some meaningful work now - which means I take it all too seriously and intensely and I am working too hard. But I promised myself that I would find some balance in my life here - and I will miss the boys so much when they go back to Texas, I want to watch out for that.
Happy Mother's Day A friend brought me a box of Keebler cookies and a bottle of wine - they are both costly and rare here! I cooked fajitas on a tandoori oven and smoked out the house. Tried to make margaritas from local limes, but it wasn't the same.
I still want to write more about the shopping and cooking and eating and generally the things in my daily life, so stay tuned and thanks for all the great emails and comments.
Our second stop was in Belur, which has an wonderfully carved temple - all out of stone. I hope the pictures do it justice. At these places you can hire private tour guides and we had a very nice one - he pointed out things like the fashions the women were wearing (Shorts!) and their hairstyles and jewelry - there was that much detail. Really nice place. But that was just the start of the day (4 hours into it).
We moved on to the coffee estate. Okay - I am good with backroads, and B&Bs, but this place was awfully remote. The roads. were bad and long . . . . . . and hour up the switchbacks and potholes - but we made it just before the rain - which came over the mountain and cooled everything wonderfully. Now this place was a guest house - which means a group living room, one tv, not much furniture, but a working coffee estate. I call it 'estate' because when I called it a plantation, the boys pictured a typical southern plantation, which it's NOT! The long distance scenery is wonderful, but up close - it's weedy piedmont trees and underbrush. Some of the underbrush is coffee and pepper plants, but, nothing you want to oohh and ahhh at. Summary - glad we went - wouldn't go back. But it's the journey, not the destination and that was priceless, so there you go. (anybody who has travelled on Indian roads will understand that sentence even more)
So the week goes on . . . I have some meaningful work now - which means I take it all too seriously and intensely and I am working too hard. But I promised myself that I would find some balance in my life here - and I will miss the boys so much when they go back to Texas, I want to watch out for that.
Happy Mother's Day A friend brought me a box of Keebler cookies and a bottle of wine - they are both costly and rare here! I cooked fajitas on a tandoori oven and smoked out the house. Tried to make margaritas from local limes, but it wasn't the same.
I still want to write more about the shopping and cooking and eating and generally the things in my daily life, so stay tuned and thanks for all the great emails and comments.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Morning Walks in Bangalore
Hi everybody - thanks for all the nice notes~ We are having a good time, in a lot of ways it is incredibly western here, so we don't have too many problems with missing things, so thanks for all the offers of care packages - but if we can't find it here, we probably don't need it (I will load up on a couple of things when I come home in June, but that's for my vanity, not necessity!)
Here are a couple of observations about life here from my morning walks
Walking on the sidewalks is for wimps. You are meant to walk in the street, next to the side walk. It's only moderately more dangerous, since the sidewalks are often missing blocks and the sidewalks are just stone blocks covering ditches for drainage. (and I won't mention the other uses for sidewalks, like sleeping and ablutions)
The dogs are the most peaceful things in all of Bangalore. They are flopped on the sidewalks, street. Or they are walking around, like lords of the street. I actually feel calmer when I see one (or a couple). There have been some issues with dog bites and I hear a bunch barking occasionally in the evening, but they are the best stray dogs.
Saris and Salwar Kameeze are the outfits that the women wear and they are as varied as the world itself. I cannot get over how different each on is, with the different fabrics and styles. The style difference on the Salwar Kameeze is in the neckline and length, but mostly the fabric. And I have never seen an Indian woman's bare leg. Seriously. The legs are completely covered at all times. Even my below the knee shorts seem odd. And I won't dare wear real shorts - I think I would start a riot! But the men can where the dhotis or lungis (like this picture, but they tuck the fabric up, so that the garment is short) and show a lot of leg - but not the women!
Nothing opens before 10:30 - not for food or newspapers or anything! I take the boys to their bus stop by autorick at 7am, then walk back to the flat. A direct walk would take about 10 minutes, but I use this time to explore Bangalore. It's nice not to have the traffic and it's cooler, but I can't find a coffeeshop or a newspaper stand or anything. There is a corner with 2 guys who have a bag of buns and thermos of coffee that they bring on their bicycle. Not for me, but someone can use it. ** Tuesday May 1 was a holiday here (Labor Day for all the non-communists reading this) I did my same walk, but with the shops open. It was a blast! I had my first paan, which is a bunch of stuff, just stuff, wrapped in a betel leaf and chewed . I ate with a couple upper class indians who had stopped at this one which is apparently very well know, by Koshy's (old Indian diner, behind St. Mark's Cathedral). The got me one and then you chew and chew and chew. And this helps your digestion. Not bad, but I think it tastes a little like soap. I'd do it again. But Thomas and I walked the route and saw how different it was when the businesses were open. Nice.
Got to go. Today is Friday, which usually is a long day. So much happens in the US and UK, as everyone there is trying to meet their end of week commitments, so I wind up working kind of late. I will compensate this weekend, because we are going to a coffee plantation, about 5 hours drive, and won't come back until Monday morning. I'll let you know how that goes.
love love love to you all and please use the comments section, it's fun to let everyone read what everyone else has to say!
Here are a couple of observations about life here from my morning walks
Walking on the sidewalks is for wimps. You are meant to walk in the street, next to the side walk. It's only moderately more dangerous, since the sidewalks are often missing blocks and the sidewalks are just stone blocks covering ditches for drainage. (and I won't mention the other uses for sidewalks, like sleeping and ablutions)
The dogs are the most peaceful things in all of Bangalore. They are flopped on the sidewalks, street. Or they are walking around, like lords of the street. I actually feel calmer when I see one (or a couple). There have been some issues with dog bites and I hear a bunch barking occasionally in the evening, but they are the best stray dogs.
Saris and Salwar Kameeze are the outfits that the women wear and they are as varied as the world itself. I cannot get over how different each on is, with the different fabrics and styles. The style difference on the Salwar Kameeze is in the neckline and length, but mostly the fabric. And I have never seen an Indian woman's bare leg. Seriously. The legs are completely covered at all times. Even my below the knee shorts seem odd. And I won't dare wear real shorts - I think I would start a riot! But the men can where the dhotis or lungis (like this picture, but they tuck the fabric up, so that the garment is short) and show a lot of leg - but not the women!
Nothing opens before 10:30 - not for food or newspapers or anything! I take the boys to their bus stop by autorick at 7am, then walk back to the flat. A direct walk would take about 10 minutes, but I use this time to explore Bangalore. It's nice not to have the traffic and it's cooler, but I can't find a coffeeshop or a newspaper stand or anything. There is a corner with 2 guys who have a bag of buns and thermos of coffee that they bring on their bicycle. Not for me, but someone can use it. ** Tuesday May 1 was a holiday here (Labor Day for all the non-communists reading this) I did my same walk, but with the shops open. It was a blast! I had my first paan, which is a bunch of stuff, just stuff, wrapped in a betel leaf and chewed . I ate with a couple upper class indians who had stopped at this one which is apparently very well know, by Koshy's (old Indian diner, behind St. Mark's Cathedral). The got me one and then you chew and chew and chew. And this helps your digestion. Not bad, but I think it tastes a little like soap. I'd do it again. But Thomas and I walked the route and saw how different it was when the businesses were open. Nice.
Got to go. Today is Friday, which usually is a long day. So much happens in the US and UK, as everyone there is trying to meet their end of week commitments, so I wind up working kind of late. I will compensate this weekend, because we are going to a coffee plantation, about 5 hours drive, and won't come back until Monday morning. I'll let you know how that goes.
love love love to you all and please use the comments section, it's fun to let everyone read what everyone else has to say!
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Where the Indians are Cowboys
This was from the first days here - read the restaurant review - it's hilarious!
Last weekend, I went to a local ex-pat butcher and got good ground beef and we had hamburgers - that hit the spot.
Millers 46 Deccan Herald Link
Last night we went to a 'steakhouse'. Mistake. Not that it was that bad, but we had our hopes up and we so tired that we couldn't laugh at the results. Jake about lost it, but hung in there. This place was called Miller 46 and billed it's self as based on the legend some guys named Miller. The waiters, these scrawny India (and some Asian types) dressed in these funky western shirts. They had some tequila drinks that would kill you. But they had steak and baked potatoes, so Jake asks for a bacon burger and baked potato. The chef comes out to consult and tells him that the bacon burger is *just* bacon on a roll. So we rethink and out comes this huge hamburger. But you would never know how engineered the US hamburger buns are, because they just don't have it here and this bun just fell apart. The potato was about 2 1/2 inches around and the fully loaded, was some butter and runny sour cream. Then we ordered apple pie.
Oh my. . .
But the steak Thomas and I ordered was decent and Jake got a second potato and we went home and crashed. We (they) are learning that what the menu says here may not translate to our expectations and to always have a fallback meal in mind (did I tell you I paid $5 for a jar of American PB - that's our fallback sometimes - and I have more coming in our shipment, so we'll be fine)
Today we went to church in the morning and came home and made spagetti for lunch - the boys appreciated a home cooked meal even if the spagetti sauce was to spicy - this was a jar of 'pizza' sauce that we thought would work, but it didn't. Yesterday we went to a bakery that was recommended and they also had some jars of Ragu spagetti sauce. Might have to go back there. Then we took a nap and then we went to the biggest local temple today and then to the mall. Seeing all sides of things, I guess.
I will tell you that it is exhausting getting around here. It took about an hour to get to the temple because the driver got lost. From there to the mall, then to another shopping district. We were only out for about 4 hours and we were all wiped when we came back. Some of it may be the heat, but it's hard being a passenger, with the way the cars stop, start, slow down, swerve, honk, flash headlights. It could be the bombardment of images. It could be because it's hard being stared at, even when you are in the car (but I can't complain, because we are staring back).
Oh, and there is a donkey cart station about a block from this new service apartment. About 4 carts all parked and the donkeys tied to stone blocks with feedbags. That explains the donkey stampede my friend saw when he was staying here. I also walked up the local market street and saw the mutton shop (with carcasses hanging) and the chicken shop (live chickens - pick your own), among other specialties. There was a cart that I think was either selling pots and pans or collecting them, not sure.
And in one of the shopping areas we found the Bangalore Ham shop and bought some bacon. We are still looking for eggs that I think would be safe to eat. Of the 2 grocery stores I've been to, one didn't carry them and the other kept them out by the cash register that wasn't going to work for me. (note - we are eating eggs now - the taste richer than the eggs in the US)
Last weekend, I went to a local ex-pat butcher and got good ground beef and we had hamburgers - that hit the spot.
Millers 46 Deccan Herald Link
Last night we went to a 'steakhouse'. Mistake. Not that it was that bad, but we had our hopes up and we so tired that we couldn't laugh at the results. Jake about lost it, but hung in there. This place was called Miller 46 and billed it's self as based on the legend some guys named Miller. The waiters, these scrawny India (and some Asian types) dressed in these funky western shirts. They had some tequila drinks that would kill you. But they had steak and baked potatoes, so Jake asks for a bacon burger and baked potato. The chef comes out to consult and tells him that the bacon burger is *just* bacon on a roll. So we rethink and out comes this huge hamburger. But you would never know how engineered the US hamburger buns are, because they just don't have it here and this bun just fell apart. The potato was about 2 1/2 inches around and the fully loaded, was some butter and runny sour cream. Then we ordered apple pie.
Oh my. . .
But the steak Thomas and I ordered was decent and Jake got a second potato and we went home and crashed. We (they) are learning that what the menu says here may not translate to our expectations and to always have a fallback meal in mind (did I tell you I paid $5 for a jar of American PB - that's our fallback sometimes - and I have more coming in our shipment, so we'll be fine)
Today we went to church in the morning and came home and made spagetti for lunch - the boys appreciated a home cooked meal even if the spagetti sauce was to spicy - this was a jar of 'pizza' sauce that we thought would work, but it didn't. Yesterday we went to a bakery that was recommended and they also had some jars of Ragu spagetti sauce. Might have to go back there. Then we took a nap and then we went to the biggest local temple today and then to the mall. Seeing all sides of things, I guess.
I will tell you that it is exhausting getting around here. It took about an hour to get to the temple because the driver got lost. From there to the mall, then to another shopping district. We were only out for about 4 hours and we were all wiped when we came back. Some of it may be the heat, but it's hard being a passenger, with the way the cars stop, start, slow down, swerve, honk, flash headlights. It could be the bombardment of images. It could be because it's hard being stared at, even when you are in the car (but I can't complain, because we are staring back).
Oh, and there is a donkey cart station about a block from this new service apartment. About 4 carts all parked and the donkeys tied to stone blocks with feedbags. That explains the donkey stampede my friend saw when he was staying here. I also walked up the local market street and saw the mutton shop (with carcasses hanging) and the chicken shop (live chickens - pick your own), among other specialties. There was a cart that I think was either selling pots and pans or collecting them, not sure.
And in one of the shopping areas we found the Bangalore Ham shop and bought some bacon. We are still looking for eggs that I think would be safe to eat. Of the 2 grocery stores I've been to, one didn't carry them and the other kept them out by the cash register that wasn't going to work for me. (note - we are eating eggs now - the taste richer than the eggs in the US)
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