Settys, Settys, Everywhere

Before we left lots of folks were curious about how big Mysore is and when Marvel told them the population is around 300,000 it was hard to understand that we feel like it is a small city. But tonight I have a story to help you understand just how small this town is and how well we are cared for here.
Star had dance and violin class across town. Marvel took her and Flip and I joined them later at a nearby restaurant. This restaurant is owned by a friend of our cousin. Last time we ate lunch there we got a call from our cousin just checking in with us. Her friend had texted her the moment we walked in. This time, as we ate dinner the girls ran out to play on the little playground. They came in telling us Suresha had come. Suresha is the driver for Marvel's grandfather's house. Suresha has worked for the family in the daytime for 10 plus years. He drives an auto rickshaw nights. But how did he know we were at the restaurant? It turns out Suresha's nephew works in the restaurant. The moment he saw us come in, he texted Suresha to come and take us home.

Travel around Town

We are debating how to get around town. Right now we shuffle here and there in auto rickshaws, which is not very hard as they are usually outside our apartment complex or cruising by on the streets. Many times they see me walking and make a U-turn to drive by very slowly hoping I will want a ride. I am sure I look like I need a ride with Flip on my hip or whining as she plods along because I am forcing her to walk and me loaded down with backpacks or bags of bananas. When we came 3 years back the auto drivers would put on the meter if you pushed them, but now it seems there is a sudden beam of light that has come down and broken all the meters in the area. So we always end up spending a bit more than the meter would show. Or we end up paying a lot more if we are just too tired to bargain or uniformed about the location of our intended destination. My life is pretty small. I walk the girls the 1/4 mile to school and home again with the occasional trip to the shops or to Marvel's grandfather's place. Marvel on the other hand takes an auto across town to the Regional Institute of Education and plans on visiting local gov't schools all over town. So we are considering if it is worth it to put a lump sum into a vehicle or just continue to pay the autos.
I have officially taken myself out of the debate as it doesn't matter to me- I am still insisting on walking the girls to school. Right now Marvel is leaning towards a 2 wheeler but we will see. Stay tuned for the photo of all four of us squeezed onto a 2 wheeler.

I Will Be Brave and Adventurous and Try Everything

This chant is what my mom started saying to us in Germany. Since I have done my best to try everything like she said.
The first time I visited my school I did not like it. It was not the same way like America. I wasn't used to their ways. For instance, the teachers have louder voices than I am used to. My mom and sister came into the room to see how I was doing. I told my mom that didn't like it. My mom told me to be brave, be adventurous and try everything, so I stayed for lunch. Lunch was ok that day but after lunch we had recess. I didn't know this game but it was exactly like freeze tag. They explained it to me as "lock and key", except you say "ice and water". I was thankful I was adventurous because school has turned out to be a fun place. I have made lots and lots of new friends.
I have also tried avalakee. One day I forgot my snack and didn't know what to do. I told my teacher and we went downstairs while the little kids were singing and we got some avalakee. I wasn't quite sure I would like it but I am trying to try everything. I even said the little chant to myself. I didn't know my sister was also having it for snack. To my surprise, I did like it. After school I told my mom that I loved what I had for snack today. I said, "It was yellow rice with peanuts, potatoes, onions and curry leaves." My sister said, "I had it, too." The next day my mom asked our cook to make avalakee but it was not the same as school's but it was good anyways.
Other brave, adventurous things I have done: tried chutney, made new friends at the apartment, learned lots of new games, went to a different group of friends and asked to play with them, and painted a cow with turmeric for Sankranthi. Another adventurous thing I am doing right now is learning Kannada, Hindi and French at school.

Faces on the Way to School

Every morning when we leave our apartment complex, wiggle our way through the auto rickshaws and cross the chaotic street there is an old lady with white hair tied back into a bun, beautiful brown skin, a big smile and large white teeth. She stands inside a simple stand painted blue. It is about the size of a phone booth. On the back shelf there cigarettes and other things I don't recognize. On the front shelf there is a row of jars. I assume they are snacks of some kind. To shut the stand, there is a wooden flap that lifts up from the top shelf and then is propped open, like the hood of a car. On the side of this flap there is a white tattered cloth that hangs from one side and shelters the shop keeper from the afternoon sun. These kinds of stands vary in size and one can find them all around India on corners. I would hardly take notice if it weren't for the lady in the stall. Every morning she offers us a big smile, presses her palms together and says, "Hello!"
It is such a relief to see her, after I have pressed the cook and cleaner to leave, hurried the girls through last minute teeth brushing, hauled Flip onto my back, and headed out for our walk to school. I do my best to offer her my biggest smile back and my loveliest hello as well.
It is great to be here and to feel the rhythm of life settling in.

Happy Sankranthi

This year we were here for Sankranthi which happens every year on January 14th. It is a harvest festival and many farmers color their cows in turmeric and paints the horns. I wish I had a photo of that for you all. Star's class when on a field trip and helped paint some cows. This year folks celebrated on Sunday by visiting friends and family in their homes. There is a traditional sweet, in Karnataka, called "ellu bella". Usually I am not so fond of Indian sweets as they are super sweet to me. But this one is great. It seems to be little roasted dals and seeds along with coconut and jaggery. We were lucky enough to receive an invitation from a family in our building. They had spotted Marvel and Flip in the elevator, so they gave us a call. None of us knew each other. When we arrived at their place we found out they had moved 2 years prior from Novi, MI, just 40 minutes from our home in Michigan. Such a small, small world. We visited for a bit and they sent us home with sugar cane and little bags of ellu bella, and a little feeling of connection.
Monday, on our way to school, we saw this beautiful Sankranthi Rangoli on someone's driveway.

Chocolates for a Mixie

In India, or Mysore rather because that is all I can speak confidently about, it is common practice for a cashier to pass out a chocolate or candy if she doesn't have a 1 rupee coin for change. So for example today at the ice cream shop I only had a 50 rupee note and the ice cream was 24 rupees. There seems to always be a lack of change in this country- I seriously wonder where it all goes. So the first question the woman asks me is if I have change. I don't. But she does, which makes me wonder why she asked me for change in the first place. She gives me a 20 note, a 5 coin and a chocolate.
But today after I received my chocolate candy in change I thought of a new plan. We need a mixie to make Dosa and chutney. How about if I load myself down with say 8 bags of chocolates and when I get to the counter to pay I open the bags and start counting out 2000 or so chocolates?

Whatcha looking at?

It was a rough morning. I tried to sneak in and pull the covers up on the girls and ended up waking up Flip. So she missed out on an extra hour of sleep and I had to get dressed while she tugged and pulled on me. At 8 I woke Star and discovered she had 2 mosquito bites around her eye. She started crying because her eye was swollen and she couldn't see properly. Then she actually saw herself in the mirror and started crying because of how she looked. We manged to get breakfast and out the door. Then for extra oomph Flip decided to throw some muscle behind her refusal to walk to school. So there we were- a white woman with a fake smile greeting the usual faces we pass, a 7 year old with a tear stained face and one eye swollen shut plodding along, and a 3 year old dragging behind me whining the whole way. And I wonder why everyone stares?

We're Here!

We finally got internet and when I logged into my gmail I saw my tasks bar with tasks still on it. Tasks that I, of course, can not check off now that we are here. So I just deleted them all and moved on to the present. It will all wait there until we return. So in the same vain I would love to take you minute by minute through our flight, our 3 day stay in Frankfurt, our 2nd flight complete with the pilot wishing us a Happy New Year 30 minutes outside of Bangalore, our early morning drive to Mysore, and our 2 days in a fancy hotel with all the other foreigners/yoga students stuffing ourselves with breakfast buffets and a series of unfortunate naps as we recovered from jet lag. But I will not. I will take you to the present.
We are in our flat. We have been here for 4 days and it is simply fabulous. I will post pictures and make you either incredibly jealous or highly motivated to book your flight. We are the first ones to live here so we started from scratch- cups, plates, cutlery, towels, pots, pans, trash cans, mops, etc. Lots of shopping and with Flip in tow, you all can imagine how fun that has been. So Marvel and I have been going in shifts and buying a bit here and there. Marvel, as our resident Kannada speaker, has the job of manning the house and all the small fixes it needs. He has spent the past 3 days dealing with burnt out doorbells, hiring cooks and cleaners, fixing broken fans, mounting TVs, connecting internet and everything else you can imagine. Even though it has been rather mindless and tiring, his hard work means that we are up and running. Today, while the girls and I went for a swim the cook prepared our lunch and dinner. Marvel walked the cleaner around instructing her as to just how tidy we like our house. The girls actually ate the Indian food and both fell deep into naps. Marvel managed a dip in the pool and now we both sit relaxing. I think we might make a go of this.
The girls have a school called I Can and they are slowly adjusting. The first day, Star was so excited she got dressed in her fanciest Indian clothes and requested that Flip and I do the same. She marched right in, gave her teachers a big hug as she remembers them from when she was 4, and then headed to her class. Flip preferred to stick with me and we slowly explored the different areas of the school until we got to her class. The school has allotted a space in the entry way for a huge sand pit. There are two small slides, buckets and shovels. The sand is so cool and calming, it makes a great welcome for parents and children alike. It has been 2 days now and Star, after a brief moment of hesitation, continues to head to school everyday with a smile on her face. I have spent the past 2 days with Flip at school. She does her best to stick to my side but her curiosity and joy for life gets the best of her and soon she is joining in. The teachers have been very welcoming and very flexible with us and we think it is going to be a great fit for our life. And we walk home past an ice cream shop everyday. You can't beat that.