Monday 27 August 2012

Junk Mail

You know, it's kinda funny there are a lot of things I would say that India could "improve upon" but one thing I have noticed that the Indians do quite well is what we would refer to as "junk mail."  What do we do when we get junk mail in the US?  Well, we pitch it, of course! (Or maybe throw it into a kindling pile for the wood burning stove!?)   In India, it seems I get invitations from all sorts of vendors on a weekly basis.  It could be fore anything from  jewelry to a beauty shops offering you to "For a limited time.  Avail rupees 100 discount!" (which is sadly all of about $2.00) or a newly opened food mart or maybe it's for a new international school in town.  And I'm telling you, every last piece seems to be of "wedding invitation" calibar.  Some of these invitations are so snazzy I actually find myself wondering if I should throw them away or not!?  Seems kind of sad to chuck something so lovely!? 

My favorite piece of "junk mail" to date was from a medical practice that opened and they were soliciting new patients.  The mail arrived in a triangular shaped box and inside was a scarlet scroll with gold embossed letters.  Silly me - I thought we were actually being invited to a maharajah's wedding or something!?   Hehe!  Nope.  Not quite that exciting.  Just everyday Indian junk mail!  I've got to say that athough we haven't checked out the new doctors office - We HAVEN'T thrown away the junk mail :0)


 I told you it was Fancy Shmancy!
"Rach!  Were you invited to a Royal Ball?!"
"Nope!  Just to get poked & prodded by a new doctor in town."  ;0)
FANTASTIC!!!!

Saturday 18 August 2012

Plumber Needed!

I recently had to call a plumber to come to our house.  When I opened the front door, I was greeted by a man with a friendly, white-toothed smile.  In his hand he was clenching a wrench and his other vital piece of equipment was attached to his vehicle... See Exhibit A.
Exhibit A
Did someone call for a plumber?!

As it turns out, it was an easy fix.  Clogged drain so it didn't require any high tech-fancy-shmancy tools.  His good ole fashioned wrench suited our problem just fine.  In fact, he didn't even have to unleash the power of that plunger attached to the back of his bycicle!  PHEW!  Hahaha!  However, twice this past week my maid has gotten shocked while turning on the water faucet in the kitchen!  YEP!  Called the plumber about that one, as well as, the ELECTRICIAN!  They couldn't find anything wrong with the sink even though I tried to explain to them that if there is an electrical current flowing on, near or IN my sink....THIS IS A PROBLEM!  They determined the problem was that my maid wasn't wearing her "slippers" (flip-flops) and so that is why she got shocked!?  Um.  Okay!?  But not really!  Hopefully, it was just a weird flukie thing and it won't happen again!? 

You see, things just operate a little differently here in India.  In fact, it is not uncommon to have a maintenance man knock on my door and hand me a note that reads, "From 2:00 pm - 7:00 pm  there will be no water as maintenance will be working on the pipes.  Thank you for your understanding."  Mind you, they are handing me this note at 
2:30 pm which means - 2:00 pm has already PASSED and I didn't actually get prior warning about anything, now did I?!  The reality of it all is that my water supply has already been turned off & the note informing me of such is actually a bit "too little - too late"   When I try to point this out to the gentlemen at the door, he politely bobbles his head from side to side.  Ear to shoulder.  Ear to shoulder.  Which means, "Yes.  I understand this but I am supposed to give you this note anyhow."  Fair enough.  It's not his problem.  He's just the messenger.  So, I in turn, bobble my head back at him in agreement and with this, he bows to me, turns on his heel and he's off to pass the word along to the next unsuspecting soul (more than likely....my neighbors!!). 

If we are lucky enough to get warned prior to them turning off the water - Salome & Shashi kick it into high gear and start filling buckets of water from the tap before the supply is cut off.  They giggle back and forth to one another at the ridiculousness of it all and say to me, "Filling buckets Ma'am.  We have to wash the vegetables.  We'll clean the floor, Ma'am!  Too much of dirty!"

Working on fixing the pipes!
Please Pardon Our Appearance.  Work in Progress!

I guess it goes without saying and I don't need a formal written notice that when this is piled onto the sidewalk - You should "Watch Your Step!"  ;0)  Gotta love it!

Monday 13 August 2012

Kabini with Katie

To say that "we are fans" of Orange County Kabini is a huge understatement.  We LOVE going to Kabini so when Katie was here we made sure that we squeezed in a quick trip with her.

Welcome Back, Sir!
Waiting to take a ride

Oh Boy!   Here she comes!

Saddle up!
What a Sweet Gal!

David approached the elephant much like you would a horse, slow and steady and then she let him pat her trunk!
Holy HAIRY tail!

There they go!

Lovin' It!


Mommy & Katie's Turn!  YAY!!
That's one super-sized-sniffer!!
Boys are using their super powered snouts to determine if the size of the terd increases the size of the stench because those are some
MASSIVE meadow muffins ;0)
Elephant Shower

Katie's Turn!!

Coffee Time while the sun goes down.
Serenity!

Getting the drums ready.  It's almost time to DANCE!
The nightly tribal dance

So much fun!
 Up bright & early for the jeep safari!  REALLY hoping to spot a tiger this time around!!
Bright Eyed & Bushy Tailed!
Doesn't she look like she has a bindi on her forehead?
They came out of the woods and then they went running across the path behind our jeep!  SoooOOoooo CooOoooOoL!!
Do you see it?!
Zoomin' in a little closer....we didn't see a tiger BUT we were so excited to see a....
Leopard!!!  Craziness!  In the wild...we saw a LEOPARD!  WOW!

Watch Tower!
Leopards aren't the only ones up in the trees!
 This is what the locals build up in the trees to keep a watchful eye out for predatory animals that might have wondered onto their land and would do harm to their livestock.

He DID see the leopard but the "waking up before the sunrise" thing got the best of him.

See Katie's little treehouse visitor?  Top left corner!? 
He was a true life "Curious George" & Katie couldn't scramble off of that rope net fast enough to get away from him.  I don't blame her.  I am not a fan of those banana eating, fang-toothed, red-rumped, tree-travellers!
 
For the record, Fido is NOT a fan either!
It was actually comical to watch.  The monkies were totally mocking the dog.  They'd jump up and down on the rope net and "Ooh-ooh!  Aah-Ah!" at the him and he'd reply by leaping up at them and giving them his most ferocious, "Arff-Arff!"  If was perfect timing though b/c Fido kept the monkies distracted so Katie could scurry down to a safe distance from the disgusting imps.


I AM a FAN of this Fella :0)


Now it's time for the afternoon boat safari!

Busy Villagers on the Rivers Edge
No matter where you are from there seems to be a common tie between little boys and showing off for a camera!?  They LOVE it!

Our mode of transportation through the river for the boat safari
The locals mode of transportation on the river.
This type of boat is called a coracle.  As you can see it sits very close to the water surface and is shaped like half of a walnut shell.  Haven't ridden in one myself yet but don't you worry!  I'll make sure it happens before I leave India :0)  Gotta try it!
Row, row, row your coracle...
Apparently, the coracle is not only from transporting humans.  No kidding!  They are putting a MOTORCYCLE (called a two-wheeler here in India) into their boat! 
CRIKEY!  Check out the size of that croc, Mate!
I'm just thinking if I was one of those guys riding in a coracle with a motorcyle I might be a little nervous about the boat tipping!?  Shucks!  You flip over that boat and you're swimming with this guy!  YIKES!

Oh, Bother!! (said in my best Winnie the Pooh voice!) 
 Geesh!  So nevermind the people in the coracle!  We've got boat troubles of our own!  I don't know much about boats but when it stops, sputters and doesn't start I think it's safe to say, "We've got a problem here!"  I sinched my lifevest a little tighter but let's face it I didn't want to have to swim anymore than the next guy!  I've just witnessed a super-size, sharp toothed, log rollin, carnivore crunchin... CROC in this river and I'd really like to take just take "swim in the river" off the "To Do List" altogether!!  Oars!  Yes, that's it!!  Do we have oars?!  I'd be happy to man a rowing station!!! 
Dope!  (Said in my best Homer Simpson voice!)
Oh, Yes Sir!  That there be LAND!!!  We may not be on the Titanic & we certainly did not hit an iceberg BUT we've definitely just crashed into the countryside!  What do you think firstmate, Erica?  Should I start to panic!?

Fantastic!  Look!  It's more signs of crocs! 
See those fresh mud skids up there on the bank?  Do you think they sense the nature of our "strandedness"?! 
"Hey Pete!  Got us some fresh meat just down the river a spell!  You hungry?!  Let's go check it out!"

Luckily, it just seems to be part of boat ownership.  If you own a boat you must be prepared for random breakdowns and you must know how to fix them on your own b/c that's exactly what happened.  The ships captain came be-boppin' on to the back of the boat, did a tweak, a turn & a twist and VIOLA!  We were back in business.  No croc swimming for us today!  "See ya suckers!"  ;0)


Aw!  Mommy & Baby
Whoa!  Big Daddy!

Happy Little Turtle!
Three Musketeers!
Here I am! 
Enjoying my last few moments on the safari &
taking in the amazing sunset!
Simply amazing sunset.  Truly God's Handiwork!
Beautiful!
Time to leave Kabini and head back to Bangalore.

What a lovely time we had with Katie.  We were all sad to see her go. 
Come Back Soon!
xo  We LOVE you!   xo