Joe's Great India Adventure: Karen's India Update #2

Because I can't seem to keep this blog updated enough, I've decided to include my wife's update. She emails this out once in a while. Obviously, more often then I!

Here goes....... I hope you enjoy it.

Dear Friends & Family, I will try not to wait so long til the next Update because this is pretty lengthy. Sorry! You might want to read it in pieces. My friend, Sweet Bonnie, accused me of writing a novel last time! And I could have written much much more this time.

We have been here for more than 2 months now and people here are still asking me if we are "settled in". My reply was that we were settled in after 2 days. It was a very easy transition, even for the kids. I could say that I am proud of them for that but the fact is that since their first visit in 2004, they seem to feel almost as comfortable in India as I do. Their school is great and is very rigorous. I've learned this seems to be true for most of the International Schools all over the world. They have lots of homework and the teachers really pile it on over the weekends. They miss their friends but have lots of new friends here and are even more independent, going out for dinner in groups on their own.

Every morning @ 6:30 we start our day with Krishnamoorthy, our Yoga Master. He is a small man who is in his 40's and has been practicing yoga since he was 5. Needless to say, he is a human pretzel. There is much more to it than that and we all enjoy the Pranayama (breathing) and esp. the chanting. The chanting is all in Sanskrit, a very ancient language from India. Some of my friends reading this already know a lot about yoga. I used to practice a little many years ago and it feels wonderful to start the day this way.

Walker & Joe just came back from Colombo, Sri Lanka (1 hr flight south of here) for a swim meet involving all the international schools in India & Sri Lanka. Joe says it's like India but with much better infrastructure. We hope to go back as a family to visit. It is exceptionally beautiful there. All students stay with a host family so Joe went down just to cheer him on. Sadly, Francesca's volleyball team did not get to go to Bangladesh because several parents (Indian) wouldn't allow their kids to travel. Indian families are very close, usually very strict and often very protective. I hope we get a chance to host some kids from another country for a weekend tournament.

The kids are learning a lot about different cultures and the varying levels of cultural and religious commitment. Hinduism is very strong in South India and it is a more conservative area than many others. There are many many temples here that survived while the invading Muslims centuries ago destroyed many Hindu temples in the northern regions of India. The sarees don't expose much of the midrif here and I think the women look down a little at the northern version of how to wrap a saree. There are several ways to do it. An Indian can look at a person, hear their name and know what area their family is from, their caste, their religion and what kind of job they have. The caste system is changing here but it will take centuries to completely do away with it.

Cesca was telling me about a Muslim girl in her class who was complaining that she must always wear a head scarf except for during P.E. I told her that her friend was lucky not to have to wear a burka covering her entire body. We often pass by a Muslim College for Women and see lots of young women in various levels of coverage. They are always dressed in black but most have beautiful embroidery on them. Some wear only a head scarf while others are completely covered with only their eyes showing. This seems unimaginable to me in this heat. But neither Francesca or I feel comfortable wearing tank tops or shorts anywhere but home or school. At our local swim meet, kids from the local Indian schools, esp. the girls, wore bathing "costumes" that would remind us of those worn by our grandparents in the 20's. Even so, some of those kids whipped us pretty good!

The school is a great community with meeting & hangout places for parents and lots of extra classes offered to parents and students. There are kids from 30 different nations with teachers from the States, India, England, Australia and Russia. Some of the teachers have taught at International Schools all over the world. They have a store on campus and 2 coffee/snack shops so there are parents there all day, every day. I was excited to find frozen hamburger patties and organic coffee at the PTA store. Whoo hoo!

I am taking a Tamil class and also fitness class at school. Tamil is an ancient language, even older than Sanskrit, that this poor brain is really struggling with. It sure was easier to learn when I was younger. By about 3/4 of the way through the class I get a headache and it feels like steam is coming out of my ears. Oh , there is no word in Tamil for "busy".

We're also getting a peek at the lives of Embassy employees. They certainly lead interesting lives with a move to another embassy every 4 years. They "bid" or request certain posts if there is a position open. Some places are considered "hardship" posts. Many I spoke with had lived all over the world. The Embassy kids and the kids at our school are all on their way to becoming Global Citizens. Chennai was considered to be a hardship post but I'm not sure that this is still true.

On Sundays we walk to a cafe where we get lattes and croissants. But we lose power on a daily basis, usually several times a day. Modern India vs. Old India. Our building has a generator but that is certainly not true for the vast majority of locals. While India is blasting into modern technologies, it is still lacking in many, many basics. People are hungry or malnourished and many millions of them live in pitiful homes. The water is filthy, if there is enough of it to go around.

Electrical power is delivered mostly in old, exposed wires that look awfully dangerous. You will see barefoot men in dhotis (the fabric South Indian men wear around their waists) climbing up into the electrical stations to do repairs--IN THE RAIN. There is no Dept of Public Works that makes sure drains are clear, trash is collected etc. There are piles of trash & rubble everywhere. And also such beauty here, it makes my heart ache. After a building is completed there are piles of broken cinderblocks and other construction material left in front with no agency to insist on it's removal or fine the owners for leaving it there--for years. It just becomes part of the landscape. Last night local friends were telling me about the running joke that no pipe repairs are done until just after the road is repaved. They will then come in, dig up the new road and fix whatever. And the holes left are rarely filled in properly. That's the biggest reason to wear seatbelts here--to keep you from bouncing around in your seat too much.

My dream of massaging babies here has come true thanks to an introduction at the orphanage by a British woman who has lived here for decades and is involved daily with many charities. Cesca and I just returned from a visit where she helped me massage the babies. She's a natural at it and needed almost no instruction. Maybe because she had so many massages herself as a baby. The place is clean, organized and the caregivers are cheerful and loving. This Foundling Home has been around since the 60's and right now has 37 babies. Can you imagine feeding 37 babies every 2 hours plus the diaper changing, medication etc.? There is very little time for soothing a crying baby which is where I can help out. 99% are girls as boy babies are much more valued.

The pediatrician who gave me permission to massage all the healthy babies showed me the ant bites on one tiny little girl who was thrown into the street. The families don't want the cost of raising a daughter only to have to pay a marriage dowry and lose her and her possible income when she leaves to join her new husband's family. Sons will bring home such a wife to the family without the family having had to support her before she could a contribute to the family. The few boy babies have something wrong with them--hernias or club feet or cleft palettes. Drs. here donate their time and perform surgeries for free. There is a 3 year old who is very tiny because of an inoperable heart condition. Another that will likely not survive because there is hardly anything Right with his body. Another sweetheart that is mentally retarded who is unlikely to be adopted. But this week 5 children were adopted!

The monsoons have arrived and it's pouring outside. The Indians seem to understand that the rains are life-giving and while some take shelter, many just go about their business, getting soaked while doing so.

Things I saw and wished I 'd had my camera with me:

A funeral procession on the way to the cremation site. The body was carried on their shoulders on a pallet surrounded by flowers. In certain areas there is not enough wood to complete the process.

Female construction workers carrying piles of bricks on their heads after climbing the stairs in a modern building because they are not allowed to use the elevators. We were on the 11th floor!

Here are some snaps I did = get:

Chitra (Mary) using a coconut grinder at lightning speed. She holds it down with her foot. Coconut rice is one of my favorites. Yum.

Cesca & I fell for this Sweetie selling from her family's shop by the beach. What a smile.

A typical home with a single room. Notice the colored chalk marks on the doorway. Prayers and reminders of the Divine are a constant part of most Indians' day.

A beggar who taps on your window with a baby that may or may not be rented. The bloody bandage is fake. Still, the need is real.

A small fish market--.which is why we haven't eaten fish in a long time. They occasionally sprinkle some water on them. The smell...

These are typically seen on houses under construction, used to ward off evil.Remnants of Colonial India, with Moghul influence.

Marina Beach where many of the locals go. The double row of vendor booths leading out to the water must have been 1/2 mile long. Most Indians only wade and women go up to their knees in their sarees.