Tuesday 19 February 2013

Happy Diwali

It is always fun to go out with friends and have a night on the town.  Sometimes when we go out with friends, the occasion calls for dressing up in traditional Indian dress.  We've gotten to do this a lot more this year than last year!  I love the vibrant colors of Indian dress and it's so fun to "pretend" to be Indian....if only for a little while.

 Friends from Germany, USA, & South Africa celebrating the
Indian holiday, Diwali.
(Diwali quite simply means Festival of Lights!)
Some young boys doing a Bollywood demo!
(They did amazing!)
Even the kids had a fun time dressing up in Indian attire.
Time for traditional Indian dinner!
It was so spicy but really yummy!
Martion & Marion!  Great people and GREAT friends!
Good-Night from the Weimann's and Happy Diwali 2012!

Thursday 14 February 2013

Save the Girl Child!

Oh man!  I'll just warn you - I am emotional wreck today.  I don't know if I'm caught up in the emotions of Valentine's Day or if I'm over tired but all morning I've been teetering on the brink of tears.  Over little things, like some sweet secretive soul leaving a Valentine on our front door step for Erica last night so that first thing this morning she would find a little package wrapped in a grocery bag with a little tag attached to it that simply said, "Erica" and a heart shaped pillow inside with the embroidered words, "My Heart Belongs to You" on it. COME ON!  How sweet is that!?!?!  That is one thoughtful Valentine.  I have a feeling who it is from but isn't that part of the fun is not knowing and then secretly "hoping" it's from that special someone that your heart beats a little faster for?!   So, anyhow, this serves as fair warning - If you aren't in the mood for a sad read - Click on one of my other blog posts like:  We will Never Be the Same" that will give you a good laugh.  This post unfortunately will not. 

Sometimes you see some pretty crazy stuff here in India.  Unfortunately, sometimes you start to get used to it.  One of the terrible realities of India (that I will NEVER get used to) is the plight of many unborn girl babies in India.  It is a well known fact - You see it on billboards and in the news - Families kill girl babies when they are born simply because they are GIRLS!  The families view them as a burden.  As the daughter reaches marrying age (which here could be as young as 13!) the family will be required to have a dowry in order to make their daughter's value more appealing to a young man's family.  The dowry is a great stress on many families and they simply don't see any other way but to "get rid of" the girl when she is a baby

I have seen a horrible and eye-opening documentary about how they kill these girls.  I will spare you the gory details but the women that were interviewed in the documentary spoke with no remorse about the multiple baby girls that had been buried in their backyards.  It wasn't an option to keep those girl children.  Only a boy life would have value.  No emotion in their voices or in their faces.  Just sharing the facts.

With this in mind, I just read the saddest Facebook status update from one of my friends here in India.  It reads, "I learned another crazy sad thing today....a friend's driver is expecting his 4th child any day and is hoping for a girl. I had always been perplexed by this wish as so many baby girls are killed here, but today I really learned why. His brother and wife have been unable to have a child and if he has a boy... he will give it to his brother after 6 months of nursing/raising it. And what is more amazing is they will never tell the child of this switch...never! I was at a loss of words other than to commend him for a true gift of love, but I am still thinking this is a CRAZY tradition."

Oh man!  I can't stop crying!  That is the saddest, sweetest, awful, terrible, wonderful and confusing thing I've ever read.  How sweet is this man?  He wants a girl knowing that if it is a girl that his brother wouldn't want the girl so he will get to keep his baby.  If it is a boy - He will sacrificially give his son away.  Arghhhhh!  Be still my heart.  What an unfathomable gift he is willing to give his brother.  Blows my mind and then!  I start to think about how much Jesus loved me....That he gave His ONLY son....not his FOURTH child but His ONLY son to die on a cross for me.   For my sins.  For all the ugliness I've ever done in my life....He loved ME....SO MUCH that He gave away His ONLY son!  Bahahaha!  I CAN'T STOP BAWLING!!!  Amazing, humbling and undeserved...LOVE!!!

It's such a familiar verse in the Bible but John 3:16 reads, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but will have everlasting life."  Wow! WOW!  W O W!  I mean, seriously!?  Does it get any better than that?!  What a gift from my Heavenly Father!   And what a gift this sweet and unselfish Indian man is willing to give his brother!

I don't know if India will ever change her thoughts on the "Girl Child" but certainly those of us that have been blessed with children know that a boy or a girl....Man, those little suckers are a Gift from Above and I wouldn't swap my girls for boys or vice versa....Amazing Gift to be a Mom and I think that's what I'm going to dwell on this Valentine's Day....all the love in my heart for my children!  Blessed.  xo  Happy Valentine's Day  xo

Thursday 7 February 2013

Motorcycle Mamma

One of my favorite things here in India is riding on our motorcycle!  Who knew!?  I think I'd only been on a motorcycle one other time before moving to India and it ended with me getting too close to the tail pipe and melting a nice hunk of skin off the back of my leg!  But, now that we are in India, we ride on the motorcycle A LOT!  I LOVE it.  I don't know how to do all the fancy shifting involved in driving the motorcycle BUT I do drive a scooter! :0)  It's so fun and relatively simple.  Break.  Gas.  GOOOO!  You will frequently see me puttering around the neighborhood, picking up the kids from play dates, picking up little grocery items from the shop, Oh shucks.  Maybe even stopping for an ice cream at Baskin Robbins!  It's just a great little form of "freedom" for me & I truly LOVE it!


                Hold on Tight!!!
As of late, Matt and I have started going to tennis lessons at 6:30 am.  YIPES!  Too early for my liking but I'll tell you what makes me get my bum outta the bed.....The thought of riding on the motorcycle!  :0)  Right now our mornings are a little bit chilly so I put on my long sleeve shirt (which I also love and don't get to wear very often bc it's not usually "long sleeve" weather here), I strap on my helmet, swing my leg behind Matt and we are off!  I love the "being together" part.  You know, just the two of us?!  Kinda makes me feel like the young "dating" Matt and Jen.  The other thing that I love is the SOUND of our motorcycle.  It's so loud!  Hehehehe!  I love the wind on my face and if I'm being really WILD - I love no helmet and the wind in my hair! (Shhh!  Don't tell my Mother!)   I also love the smells. Agriculture.  Incense.  Fire.  Cooking.  It's a sensory overload and I am in LOVE with it all.

Since Matt and I love the motorcycle and the adventure it brings we always offer to bring our guests that are visiting us in India to go on a motorcycle ride.  It's truly an adventure.  Some people love it.  Others not so much.  Some won't even try it!  Our most adventurous guest experience to date on the motorcycle was when our friends, Jeramie and Jennifer came to visit.  They didn't RIDE the motorcycle NOPE - they actually BOTH drove their own scooters!  You may not be able to fully appreciate what a WILD and CRAZY act this was!  Traffic here is INSANE!  First of all, they drive on the opposite side of the road from what we do in the US - So right there - You've got to really be paying attention but then you add to it all the other elements of Indian driving.  ANYTHING GOES!  Slow driving.  Fast driving.  Lane Switching.  Cow dodging.  Rickshaws.  Vegetable carts.  It's a jungle out there, Baby!!!

I am often struck by the irony of driving in the US versus driving in India.  It cracks me up that in the US everyone is sitting orderly in their lane and as everyone sits in bumper to bumper traffic...on the outside - It appears to be very disciplined, orderly & safe.  The reality is that MOST of those people are teetering on the brink of "LOSIN' IT!" as everyone is completely annoyed with everyone else's driving.  One false move from "the other guy" and people are ready to SNAP! 

Road rage is not common in Indian traffic.  In fact, I've seen people bump into other cars and the guilty party simply waves his or her hand in acknowledgement that they've just knocked into your car.  Or if you don't get a friendly "wave" you definitely will witness the epic Indian "head bobble."  In this case, a head bobble would simply mean, "Oops!  My mistake!"   No one gets out of their cars.  People just go about their business.  No big deal!  SOOOOOO!  All that to say - That although the streets appear to be complete insanity (and they are) the people driving on them are actually in a very healthy and calm state of mind.  Lots of beeping and honking but not because you are ticked at the person in front of you - It's simply a way of saying...."Beep Beep!  I'm on your right!" 

For now, I am content to keep on riding my scooter but don't be surprised if I eventually learn how to drive Matt's motorcycle....I LOVE IT!  And, as a sidenote, I'm loving tennis!  YAY!

Does this helmet make me look fat?!
Jeramie & Jennifer practing driving in the scooters in our neighborhood.

No longer in "The Neighborhood" they are riding out on the real Indian roads of Bangalore!
WoooOOo-HooOOoo!

I don't think you'll see a water truck or a rickshaw
 in Boston traffic!?
 
You never know what you will see crossing the streets!
Popsicles, Anyone?!
You see people transporting all sorts of stuff on
 their two-wheelers.

Who wants chicken for dinner?
Jeramie LOVED driving by the "TranZIT Chicken Centre"

Hahahah!  What an experience!!!

 I think Jennifer's expression best summarizes our morning!  ACKKKKKK!!

India Suits Them Well!
Great Food!
Great Friends!
Great Adventures!
Great Memories!
Anytime you guys want to come back - We're ready to roll!  Let's do it all.... AGAIN!  :0)

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Let's get ready to R U M B L E!!!

With football season coming to an end and sadly without our New England Patriots in the Super Bowl this year - Well, quite frankly, I couldn't have cared less whether the Ravens or the 49ers won.  What can I say?!  We are pretty much a Pats only family.  Well, unless the Vikings are in the running I do still love my Minnesota teams and I still have deep seeded hatred for the Packers. 

Throughout the season when we want to watch the NFL we either have had to DVR it at home and then use our Slingbox® to be able to view it in India.  Matt recently suscribed to the NFL network and now we can watch the games with much better picture quality etc.  It's been fun inviting both friends from the US and Indian friends over to watch some of the games. 

Some of the questions our Indian friends asked were great like, "How much does the ball weigh?"  "How long does the match last?"  You see, American football is all very different for them.  They watch futbol (soccer) or cricket in India.  It's all good though, once you invite a bunch of friends over and serve food and turn on a football game well, we almost feel like we are back home in New England.  It's just a lot warmer here and sometimes we lose the game momentarily due to a power cut in the electricity!  :0)

Our most recent viewing of a football game with some of Matt's Indian collegues invited us sharing "Buffalo Wing" chicken with them (as they had never tried it before) and with them making one of Matt's favorite dishes, Rasam.  (It's a spicy soup and he swears it is the cure for his cronic sinus headaches!)  He eats Rasam nearly everyday at work and he hardly ever gets his migraines anymore!  YAY RASAM!  ;0)

Some of our Massachusetts friends that live here in Bangalore with us came over to help us root for the Pats!
Pizza, Pals & The Patriots 
 (Does it get any better?!)
Making the Rasam!
Matt & Harsha
Rasam Expert!
Too many cooks in the kitchen!?  They didn't think so! :0)
Well, and since we don't have anymore football games to watch I reckon we will have to come up with some sort of other reason for people to come over to hang out & eat!!


Monday 4 February 2013

Family Day at the Office

We enjoyed "Family Day" at Matt's office.  Complete with carnival-type games,drawing contest,  popcorn, face painting, and "Minute to Win-It" games! 



 Everyone Busily Working on their Drawings
(Mommy helping David)
Rachel working on a drawing of a lion.
Erica working hard on her masterpiece
David LOVED his fire-breathing dragon!
Michael's Turn
Michael chose a dragon too!
We never found out who won the drawing contest but we definitely all had a fun afternoon together.