Good-bye India...for now

We were originally supposed to stay until December 21st, but since Rene has to be back in Germany tomorrow for a meeting, we decided to move our ticket earlier as well.  This will give us a chance to experience more of the Christmas Spirit in Germany...and adjust to the time change before heading to Austria for our ski vacation on Dec. 25.

I have mixed feelings about leaving.  I've enjoyed the visit and getting a taste of our part-time country.  I am excited about coming back in February to experience more. 

Benjamin and I have had a wonderful time with our new friends: Isabel and her 3 year old son Andres.  We've played and shopped with them.  Isabel has been great about showing me around to the stores she knows in the area.  She was the one that gave me the very helpful grocery store tour.  They are finishing up their assignment in India and will not be here when we get back.  That is the hard part about the Expat lifestyle...people come in and out of your lives faster than when you stay in one place.  I've exchanged contact information with several other people, so even though Isabel & Andres can't be replaced, we will have other people to play with.

It has been fun blogging during this adventure - I hope you all have enjoyed it.  There is so much more to tell my blog audience, so I will try to post a few more blog entries between now and our next trip.  At this point, Benjamin and I have a Tourist Visa and must wait 2 months between visits, so that means we will be back in India sometime after Feb. 15.

Sights to see on the way to Papa's Work

This very large Ganesha sits on top of a mountain in the Sahyadri Mountains between our hotel and Rene's work.  Rene passes it everyday, but hasn't had the chance to stop and visit it.  Benjamin, Dominique and I visited it on Saturday on the way to pick Rene up from work.  Benjamin loves elephants right now, so Ganesha is a big hit with him. 

The number 9 is an important number in Hinduism.  Here are some interesting figures.  This Ganesha statue is 72 feet tall (7+2=9).  It sits on a platform that is 18 feet high (1+8=9) and 54 feet wide (5+4=9).  This statue is relatively new.  It was completed on January 17, 2009 after 2 years of work.

Just to give you an idea another feeling of how important Ganesha is to the Hindus.  There is even a fancy Ganesha under a roof on the property of Rene's plant.  Even the one at Rene's work was decorated with fresh flowers.

Benjamin & Dominique

Next, we visited a temple that worships the God, Sai Baba.  One thing that is special about this God, is that he died less than 100 years ago, in 1918.  His belief was: "I look on all with an Equal Eye."  An outstanding aspect of Sai Baba is that He is beyond distinctions of religion, caste or creed. He embodied all religions and preached the Universal religion of Love.

Inside the temple there was a statue of the God.  People would walk up to him and pray and give him flowers.  There was a man at the front that acted as somewhat of an assistant to the god.  There was a rug in front of the God Statue.  The assistant seemed to be moving the rug around...possibly to gather the flowers.  I didn't get a close enough look to see if the worshippers went up onto the rug.  Outside the temple there were balconies dressed in fresh flowers.

Worshippers walking towards the front of temple to worship Sai Baba

Statue of Sai Baba

This building, which I'm not sure if it was part of the temple, was on the same property of the temple that we went in above.  Maybe it is also a temple.  This building didn't open until later in the evening, but we did admire the detailed architecture.

 

 

Benjamin admiring what he called "Peacocks"



Dominique

Now it is time to introduce Dominique, our Driver.  We feel so fortunate to have him as our Indian Companion.

Technically, Dominique’s job is to be available to drive us around 6 days a week.  But, that is hardly the description I would give him.  Certainly, he is our driver, but he is also our Concierge, Tourguide, Bodyguard, and Our Friend.    

Dominique lives between Rene’s work and our hotel.  Dominique’s day starts early.  He drives his motorcycle 30 minutes to our hotel, which is where our car is parked overnight.  He switches to the car and drives Rene to work (1.5 hours).  Then: (a) If Benjamin and I don’t need him or are not here, he spends his day outside of Rene’s plant hanging out with the other drivers.  (b) If Benjamin and I would like to go somewhere, he drives all the way back (1.5 hours) to drive us around…and then returns to pick Rene up from work.  Keep in mind, that after he drops Rene off at the hotel, he then parks the car and still has to drive his motorcycle home (30 minutes).  Rene has been working some VERY long hours, so that translates to very long hours for Dominique. 

What does Dominique do while he is waiting outside Rene’s work?  He talks with the other drivers, he talks on his cell phone (which rings ALL the time), he sleeps, he eats in Rene’s plant…and I learned this weekend that sometimes he draws.  I hope to see some of his drawings soon. 

Rene and Dominique have developed quite a friendship.  If you spend 3 hours a day in the car with someone, I think that is very natural.  They joke together, sing, and have a good time.  Since we have been here, I can see how easy this is.  Dominique is great.  He has lived in the Pune area his whole life, so if I ask, ‘Do you know someone that can make some clothing alterations for me?’  He say ‘Yes, Ma’am.’  Oh…by the way, all the Indian workers call us Sir and Ma’am. 

Rene was tied up at work on Saturday, so Dominique took Benjamin and I to a couple tourist sites.  It was great.  He gave us a little history, shielded Benjamin from too much attention, and even helped with carrying Benjamin.  Benjamin likes Dominique.  This is great, because he has grown a little tired of all the attention he gets for the hotel employees, but still likes to see Dominique. 

Yesterday, Dominique brought his wife, Neeta, to our area of town to meet us.  She was excited to meet us and we were naturally excited to meet her.  She was a bit shy, but I think the next time we meet will be more comfortable. 

Dominique has 2 children.  His daughter, Aville, is 6 years old and his son, Kevin, is 5 years old.  They live in a 2 room apartment (not sure if it is 2 rooms or 2 bedrooms), that they share with Dominique's mom and I think his sister (need to check on that).  He said his son sleeps in the room with Dominique and his wife and that his daughter likes to sleep in Grandma's room. 

Join us on a Rickshaw Journey

We took our first rickshaw journey on Sunday.  I hope the video gives you a taste of being on the roads in India.  Pay attention to the chaos as half way through the video.  We are trying to go straight through the intersection, but have to fight to get past all the vehicles turning left in front of us.  we basically have to go into the oncoming traffic to go straight.  You may also get a taste of driving on the opposite side of the road.  Also notice that people are walking on the streets, not on the sidewalks.  And, you can get a taste of the noises of India.  Enjoy!

Benjamin loved the ride with the wind in his face/hair.  He has even added Rickshaw to his list of favorite words to say.  I thought it was fun too, but after filming the video, I did put my sunglasses on to prevent anymore dust from flying in my eyes. 

Trying New Things

I saw this pre-sliced vegetable in the grocery store.  The green bumpy texture made me think that it was part of the brocolli family.  I like brocolli.  What I learned is...I do not like this absolutely HORRIBLE tasting vegetable.  It has such an awful and strong taste, that I couldn't find anything in the kitchen to wash the taste out of my mouth.  I thought perhaps I had a bad piece, but I wasn't brave enough to taste it again to find out.  So, I left it in the fridge.  Sure enough, without me knowing, Rene came home, opened the fridge, saw this brocolli looking vegetable and took a bite.  Here is how that went:

Rene: UGGGHH!  NASTY!! GROSS!!  What is that?

Leigh: It is gross, isn't it?

Rene: Well, then why did you keep it?

Leigh: I wasn't sure if I had a bad piece.

Rene: So, you wanted me to try it!?!?!

Leigh:  =)

Actually, my internet research has shown that this is referred to as ...bitter melon or bitter gourd - the name that was on the package started with a K...package is long gone in the garbage.  See below to see the lesson learned. 

If you see this...



OR, if you see this...

 

This is the ONLY thing you should do with it.

Dancing to the Red Hot Chili Peppers

We ate dinner last night at Rene's favorite restaurant - Malaka Spice.  Eating meals out with Benjamin can be tricky for several reasons.  Last night it was very hard to get this tired 20-month old to sit still.  Oh...and then he insisted on feeding himself the rice.  The rice that had Chili Peppers that Mommy was trying to pull out.  Well, Benjamin got one onto his spoon and into his mouth.  Let me show you a little math that is probably obvious to most people, but we are able to confirm its accuracy.

Toddler + Red Hot Chili Pepper = major crying

Towards the end of our meal, we heard a very loud band close by.  We wandered out to the street to see.  It was a wedding party.  The wedding had already taken place and they basically were parading through the streets to the reception destination. 

First in the parade were the wedding party guests, who were dancing and having a grand time.  They were followed by a band, which included this jeep with large speakers on the front and 2 men in the back playing the keyboard and another techno-drum style instrument.  Behind the jeep was a car decorate with flowers and such...like what we would see in the US.

There were people lining the streets to watch this parade.  I had my pocket camera with me, so I snapped a few photos & videos.  We (the white folks) definitely got the attention of the wedding party and their photographer.  Our faces will appear quite a bit in their wedding photo album...especially since they invited us into the parade to dance with them.  Rene was smart to have Benjamin up on his shoulders to avoid all the touching.  (Note: I will do another blog entry on all the attention Benjamin gets here).  We dance for a couple minutes with them, thanked them, and said good night. 

We were all smiles and couldn't help dancing!!  Benjamin's eyes were so wide.  He loved the music and dancing.  In fact, when we were back in the car, he continued to dance in his carseat.  Rene told Dominique to not tell anyone that he was dancing...I said don't worry...pictures will probably show up in the newspaper.

  

Religion in India

From what I can find, the major relgions in India breakdown like this:
80.5% Hinduism
13.5% Islam
2.5% Christianity
2% Sikhism

Believe it or not, our Dominique (our driver) is Christian.
Our western hotel has been decorated quite thoroughly for Christmas this week, but the big holiday was last month.
Diwali is the Hindu's big holiday.  Also refered to as the Festival of Lights.  Instead of Christmas Bonuses, Indian's get Diwali bonuses.  Lots of Indian business' start a new fiscal year on Diwali.  I hope to be here in early November of next year to enjoy this holiday season and be able to tell you more first hand. 

The Golden Gate

In India, we live behind the golden gate.  In other words, when you are inside the property of our apartment hotel, you don't know you are in India.  This hotel is the home to many westerners.  Some for stays of just a few days, others for a month or two, and a few like us...long-term.  There are several nice things about this place:
- Playground.  Benjamin loves it and there is almost always someone to play with. 
- Breakfast is included - that is one meal a day that I don't have to prepare!
- Reliable - I've already heard enough horror stories about apartments.  Ones that get wet when it rains or apartments that are constantly out of power.
- Away from the beep-beep-beep of the rickshaws
- The super friendly staff that LOVES Benjamin
- Expat Moms - so easy to get connected to other expat moms staying here.  Only negative is they tend to be here for shorter assignments. 
In fact, another expat mom offered to take me with her to the grocery to show me what there is to buy, things that she buys or avoids, and what she looks for in the packaging, etc.  We did that on Wednesday...that was so helpful!!!  Unfortunately, I think this new friend will be leaving in January.

The negatives:
- Rene's work is 1hr and 15-30 minutes from here.  That can be 3 hours a day lost in the car...that is in addition to LONG hours at the plant.  I've asked...there is nothing like this closer and even the guest that have previously stayed at 5-star hotels in Pune, call this Paradise. 
- I think there is some kind of celebration facility near here, that has weddings or something almost every night.  We often hear loud music (like now) and hear-see fireworks (like at 7:45 last night when Benjamin was trying to go to sleep).
- Can't just walk out of the hotel to the shopping-restaurant area.  Need to take a car or rickshaw.  We are hoping to experience the rickshaw in the next few days.

Positive or Negative (?):  Still speaking German.  Most of the Expats are German families.

Elephants – no zoo ticket needed!

The roads are shared by everyone & everything.  I’ve tried to list in the order of popularity what you see on the roads: motorcycles, rickshaws, people, cars, trucks, buses, dogs, herds of cows, and the occasional elephant.  Oh, I forgot, people pulling or pushing carts full of vegetables-fruits or goods to sell…and more motorcycles.

What do you hear on the streets? Beep, beep.  Beep, beep.  The interesting thing about the horn honking is the people are not aggressive about it.  It is purely used as a warning or a way of kindly asking ‘would you please move a little over, so I can scoot by? Thank you.’  No yelling, ugly faces or hand gestures – it is a very noisy, but friendly travel system. 

Also, a chaotic one!  In India, they drive on the left side of the road - that makes me dizzy!  I never know what my driver is doing.  I am used to a right turn being a relatively calm turn – in India, you are turning into traffic that looks like it is going to hit you head on. 

Most roads, do not have lanes and the vehicles are not in anything that resembles a straight line.  From what I can tell, it follows a ‘slow vehicles towards the left side of the road’ pattern – but this seems to be a mere suggestion – no rules. 

In fact, the only large traffic style signs that I have seen, say things like: ‘Please keep the city clean’ or ‘Please stay off your cell phone while driving’ – again, I think these are just suggestions.  I have only seen a few signs that indicate to make a right turn to go to Mumbai.

Intersections.  Sure there are a few intersections that have traffic lights, but most of them are just a push your way through it or across the on-coming traffic.  This includes the pedestrians…just fight your way across.  Don’t expect people to stop a couple of feet before you…just walk in front of them and they will stop within a few inches of you.

We have seen a couple of herds of cows cross the streets.  These holy animals get the right away, but like pedestrians, the drivers give the animals only the necessary amount of space to cross.

There appears to be one elephant that is frequently on the streets in this area.  Our driver always gets up next to the elephant, so Benjamin can see it.  And naturally, Benjamin’s eyes get big and he gives us a “Wow!”  I have been too occupied with making sure that Benjamin sees the elephant, that I haven’t paid attention to what the person on top of the elephant is transporting.  Rene says he believes this elephant is blind.

Benjamin has a drawing toy in the car.  Normally, when I ask him what he is drawing, he says “tractor.”  After seeing the elephant yesterday, his answer has changed to “Taaa-rolll” (which, in case you didn’t recognize it, is the sound an elephant makes).

Sidewalks – what sidewalks?  What I consider the area on the side of the road that would most likely be referred to as a sidewalk, is basically torn up dirt – to bumpy to walk on.  Plus, this is where people set up to sell things or set up their place to sit for the day or where the sleeping dogs lie. Therefore, people are walking in the streets with the million modes of transportation used here.

City street where the people & vehicles mix on the street.

See the man carrying a bag of goods on his head.  This is very common here.  I've seen women with huge bags on their balanced on their heads and not using their hands at all.  One woman was carrying long branches (wood) wrapped in a cloth on her head.  

Lined up at a traffic light.

Ganesha Temple

On Sunday, we went to see a Ganesha temple in Pune.  We decided not to go inside, because of the long line, and because it is required that you take off your shoes outside the temple.  The area was a bit too dirty for me and I decided that I am not yet comfortable enough to walk barefoot in filth.

The temple is not closed in, so you can sneak a peek from outside.  It was tricky to see the gold Ganesha over the heads of all the worshippers that were crowded in there doing chanting to Ganesha.

Ganesha is one of the most worshipped deities by Hindus.  Ganesha is the elephant-like figure pictured on the left-side of my blog.  He is also known as the Lord of Beginnings and Remover of Obstacles.

The area surrounding the temple was full of stands selling fresh flowers and cocunuts to give to Ganesha.  Apparently, the coconut is used in several Hindu traditions.  A cocunut is often broken open as part of prayer activity.

Here is a link to the temple we visited, so you can get a better view of Ganesha.  Apparently the police were trying to get my attention to tell me to stop taking photos...Oops!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagadusheth_Halwai_Ganapati_temple

Ganesha is everywhere - even on the dashboard of this car:

Incredible India - my first thoughts

You may have heard the phrase ‘Incredible India’ used in advertising to promote business and tourism to the country. Well, I can’t think of a better word to describe India.

Webster's Dictionary defines incredible as: too extraordinary and improbable to be believed

Note: incredible is not necessarily a positive or negative word

Prior to my trip, I talked to people that had lived in India and others that had travelled to India. Some of the things they told me to be prepared for were the noise, the crowds, the chaos, the begging and the amount of extremely poor people. I tried to imagine these things, so I could mentally be prepared to accept them.

I guess I was prepared for the worst, because there is nothing yet that has scared or shocked me. It certainly is a different world than I am used to, but it still functions and I find it all extremely interesting. To put it simply…I like it here.

I do believe that my experience of previously moving to a foreign country has helped me. I've had the experience of learning a new culture, not knowing where to go to buy things, etc.  It gives me the courage to ask questions and explore the unfamiliar. I am not afraid of looking like I don’t know what I am doing. I am not afraid of what people think of me. I am certain that part of this is due to the incredible (there is that word again) friendly Indian people. They appear not to judge and their smile makes you comfortable.

The use of the English language in India helps…and so does Dominique, our driver. Dominique is somewhat of a concierge/tour guide for us. Yesterday, I hopped in the car and told him I need to buy a pair of shoes for Benjamin…and off we went to a baby store. Grant it, he tends to take me to the western influenced (aka expensive) shops, but that is fine for getting us started here. I believe this would be a whole other experience if we didn’t have Dominique.

So far, the biggest India challenge seems to be the food. Benjamin is not too fond of the milk here. While most items in the grocery store have their English name on them - it is nonetheless stuff I have never heard of. I am trying to find some non-spicy options for Benjamin (and me), as well as trying to figure out what I can cook at home.  I have never seen such a large selection of the equivalent to Ramen Noodles in my life – is this a college town?!?!

Please be patient when it comes to pictures. I know understand what Rene was saying about it being hard to capture India on film. I will do my best. It is certainly easier when someone is with me that can make sure that Benjamin doesn’t run out in front of an elephant while I am busy snapping photos.