Mail, Glorious, Mail

More big thank yous to our friends, the Austerberrys, and to our fabulous, Avva, who send has sent packages, cards and iTunes cards galore! With all this love we don't feel so far away.

Our First Visitors

Our twin family from Michigan came to visit and it was a blast. I just love stepping out the van and watching folks reactions. There we are 2 Indian men, 2 white women, 2 light skinned children and 2 dark skinned children. Locals see us and try to sort it all out. Sometimes they ask us. Sometimes they ask one another. Sometimes they just stare.
When Star was 3 she was very interested in meeting new folks and one day at the YMCA she asked to meet a man playing basketball. Marvel obliged and while they were playing together they discovered they both spoke Kannada and both had biological daughters around the same age. They made plans for dinner. Heather overdressed her salad. I over salted the soup. We should have known then. When we met both families were in the process of adopting from India and in the end both of our second children are from the same orphanage in India.
Heather, Aditya, Divya and Jai come to India every year to visit Adiya's folks in Banagalore. This time, because we were here and had a place of our own it worked out for them to come to Mysore and stay. We had a fun filled weekend- visiting Chamundi Temple and Nandi, picnicking by the Cauvery River and seeing the Mysore Place all lit up (again, because it never gets old). Divya visited school with Star. Flip boycotted school to stay home with Jai. And us old folks stayed up til midnight every evening just chatting, chasing mosquitos and laughing. My heart feels a bit like a Yin Yang- so sad to see them go, but so happy to have had such a great time.

About Judy Moody

We don't have a library here like we do at home, but we do have a library called Just Books. We have to pay to join and then pay a monthly fee. We get 2 books out at a time, as many times as we want. Lately I have been reading Judy Moody. Judy Moody is the main character of the books. She is 8 years old and lives in Virginia. I am on the 7th book and the title is Judy Moody Around the World in 8 1/2 Days. In this book, she joins a new club called "My Name is Poem". She is in Class 3T (Mr. Todd's class) and she gets to know about the club from a girl in Class 3V (Ms. Valentine's class). The girl's name is Amy Namey. This is a club for people whose names rhyme like Larry Darry Berry, Yankee Pankee, Herman Sherman Burman, and Roos Van Goos. But I haven't read enough to know what the club does.
Another of Judy Moody is Judy Moody Declares Indpendence. Judy Moody learns about America's independence. She goes on a trip to Boston with her family and goes on the Freedom Trail. She meets a girl named Tori from England. Judy Moody's little brother, Stink, makes fun of her name as Tori the Tory. They ask their parents for a sleep over at the hotel or a play date. The parents say no because it is too early and they just met. But the parents say they can be pen pals and write to each other. Tori gave Judy her London address and Judy gave Tori her Virigina address.

Peanut Butter- Miso Paste- Jaggery Confusion

I remember my very first trip to the grocery store when I lived in Japan. It was Sunday so I walked there and casually walked around the store checking everything out. I was so excited when I thought I came upon peanut butter, only to find out it was miso paste. Today at the grocery store I came upon what I thought was miso paste, only to find out it was jaggery.

More Mail

Many of you have told me mail is coming so I check the box each day with anticipation. I don't take the kids along, but if I find mail I drag them down with me. They adore the love from you all! Thank you so much! Now let's see how much they adore writing back. :-)

First Mail

This morning Rohit and I were doing some merrands (married errands) so I checked the mailbox before we got in the car. The girls have quit asking to check the mailbox a while ago. I think the disappointment was too much. And surprise! There was a letter in the box from our church friends, Grace and Larry! I left the envelope in the box. After a long walk home I suggested we go down and check the box. Shalini refused saying there was never any mail in it. I finally convinced them and I wish I had an image of her sparkling eyes when she saw that envelope. It was promptly followed by, "Who is Lawerence?" We opened it up in the basement. Grace and her dad cut out paper hearts and wrote sweet messages on them. Both Gayatri and Shalini received a kitty cat valentine and the family received a letter from Larry. They decided they wanted to display the hearts in their room so they can see them everyday. Thank you so much, Grace and Larry! You have made our hearts so happy today. And thank you in advance to all the others who have requested our mailing address, who have put cards in the mail, who are writing cards right now and who have "write the Settys a letter" on their to do list.

We made it into the Indian Census

The Census collectors came to the door tonight. The girls and I were downstairs at the play area, so Marvel answered for us.
They asked the usual questions- names, genders, and education background. Then they asked what was our religion.
"None."
"What? None? Hindu?"
"No."
"Muslim?"
"No."
"Christian?"
"No. None."
"Ok, Ok We will just put something down for you."

A Little Perspective

Our doorbell rang at 6.30 am this morning. When Marvel returned to bed I asked him who it was.
"Srinivas."
"What time is it?"
"6.30 am"
"Why in the world is he here waking us up so early?"
"Really? Do you want to know? Lakshmi (his sister who cleans for us) had to go wait in line at 6 am for kerosene. He is here early so he can cook and clean for us. He got up at 4 am to be here in time."

Pasta-reffic

I am not a great cook. I do my best to cook from scratch with an occasional broccoli casserole (who can resist that mayo and Cream of mushroom combo?). I cook from recipes and sometimes I find one that works with my skill set and ingredients. I will then make that same recipe every week until Marvel informs me he is not able to eat another bite. Sometimes I will attempt to make changes to a successful recipe and most of the time it turns out to be a flop. You see I don't understand the chemistry of cooking nor do I have the attention to detail to notice exactly when my recipe went from ok to bad.
Up until now we have been eating whatever Srinivas cooked for us. We rationed the rice to make it last for lunch and dinner because most of you know my history with cooking rice (thank you again to Bob for calling 911 just in time). But lately the kids come home from school hungry and my offerings of fruit and nuts isn't satisfying them. I don't know if it is the different composition of foods we are eating (again with my lack of kitchen science knowledge) but I find myself eating more and always hungry. We also want to start having folks over for dinner. There are so many fabulous neighbors and many family members we would love to catch up with. I could of course have Srinivas make something but I am assuming Indians don't want to come to my house and eat Indian food some other Indian has prepared. So tonight I had my first go at cooking "American" food for our aunt.
We don't have an oven which poses a problem for me. So I decided to make pasta. Last week I went shopping, bought the ingredients and tried it out. It turned out pretty good I thought, with the one problem that I put the moz cheese in too soon and it melted only to harden up again so seconds were not so yummy. So I thought I was good to go. I prepared the tomato sauce prior, blended it and kept it in the fridge. Today I planned reheat it and add more chopped tomatoes and basil, then cube the moz cheese before serving. And here is where it all fell apart. One problem with having a cook in your kitchen is he uses your ingredients. Surprise, no tomatoes. They were in that yummy dal I ate Friday. So we will just go with a smooth sauce. Then I opened the cheese. Turns out pizza cheese is not the same as moz cheese. Pizza cheese is a white processed cheese, so I decided to make a cheese sauce. Except I added too much milk. So then what to do? Add flour or cornstarch, right? Except the only flour in my kitchen is rice flour and atta flour. I tried to mix a bit in a cup but neither turned out to work so instead I added the cheese sauce to the tomato sauce. Creamy tomato, right? Then the pasta just went gooey on me. It somehow went from hard, sped past al dente and straight onto gummy mess without increasing in size at all. Two choices- mix in the pasta sauce and have something that resembles pasta pie in the bottom of the pan or leave the pasta in the strainer and dump it out like a jello mold later.
Auntie was fabulous. Beyond asking for chili sauce or salt and pepper (need to buy both of those) she ate it with a smile, although she did not ask for seconds. I think I will try to dig up a different recipe and try that out on our second Indian guests.

Learning Little Lessons Everyday

So we bought a car. It is a dinky little box-like car with hand crank windows and doors you have to manually unlock. But it gets us around- sometimes. Twice I have gone down to the basement in a hurry and the car was broken. The first time it was the tires- one completely flat in the front. And then yesterday the engine wouldn't start- almost like a dead battery. Luckily for us, we have Suresha. Suresha, as I told you in a previous post is Marvel's grandfather's driver. He has been with the family for as long as I have been around and he is one of the nicest people I have ever met. Suresha helped us find and purchase this car and he has been amazing in helping us to get it running time and time again.
So yesterday, I was in a hurry to get the girls to school on time. Star's grade runs every morning with the rest of the upper school and so she needs to be there by 9.30 am. Flip is finally able to stay in school by herself, so I was counting on a quick drop off and then off for some shopping to try and finish up the house. We all piled in the car, heard the silence as I turned the key. I started the Suresha-chain of help by calling Marvel and then rushed the girls to the front gate. Usually there is a bunch of auto rickshaws waiting and there is one guy, who bless his heart, has lived in Mysore his whole 21 years (I know because I asked him) but doesn't seem to know where a dang thing is located. BUT he will always turn on his meter and has a big smile for us. So as I rushed the girls to the gates I was hoping Manjanath would be there in his auto with his buddies listening to his music. But it wasn't to be. There was just one random driver, so we went over and hopped in. Star, of course, encouraged me to discuss the price but I for some reason was hoping once this man saw that we were going less than 1/4 of a mile would charge me the minimum. We got there just in time for Star to join her group and then I addressed the auto driver. 20 rupees was his price, but I argued that minimum was 15. He began explanations that I fully didn't understand but I have heard before- petrol prices, have to drive back to get another passenger, and that the minimum had been raised to 17. "Fine," I said, "17. Do you have any change?" Before I ever write it, you all know he did not have change and I paid the man 20 rupees, keeping in mind it is 50 cents. He took the money and touched it to his eyes. I have seen folks do this before and I know it is some kind of a blessing but didn't know what it truly meant. I assumed it meant, "Thank you, God, for letting me find this white woman with no change and in desperate need of an auto."
Unfortunately, Mysore is not immune to big box stores. There is one shop downtown, Loyal World, where one can buy groceries, make up, home goods, toys, etc. There is another store, Easy Day, which resembles Wal-Mart. Shopping at these places are of course easy. The prices are fixed. The goods are easy to find. There is lots of variety, like fresh basil which made me super happy. But in keeping with the Buy Local or Bye Local way of life I attempt to seek out the little shops. Across from the girls' school there is a shop that sells fruit and veggies, so I stop there at least 3x a week. The shop keeper is super nice and occasionally I run a tab if he doesn't have correct change. And then there are other sellers that walk around pushing a cart selling veggies, fruits, plastic buckets, etc. If I have money, enough hands to carry the goods home, and they are offering what I want I do my best to purchase from these kind of sellers. I had been waiting for a plastic bucket seller for a while now. So yesterday when I passed one in my car I quickly made a U-turn to track him down. The buckets are for the sandbox. Up til now, we have been carrying down old yogurt cups and plastic spoons from ice creams. They break and litter the sandbox. I bought 4 buckets and then watched the seller touch the money to his eyes. Again I thought, "Man, he must have just ripped me off completely." But really I am fine to give my money to people who work and need it.
Later that day, I filled the two juice jugs with water and carried the buckets down to the sandbox. The girls started playing and I starting chatting with the other moms. I told them the story of the buckets and the auto driver and how they touched the money to their eyes, retelling my joke of how they were thinking, "Thank God I found this white woman today." At first they laughed with me because of my joke and then they laughed at me because of my not knowing. When someone makes their first sale for the day, they touch the money to their eyes. Those two, the auto driver and the bucket seller, were not deliberately trying to show me they had ripped me off, but were doing there best to let me know it was their first sale of the day and they were grateful.

Would you prefer ketchup or chutney with your serving of guilt?

The only thing our mailbox is collecting these days is dust. Just saying. No pressure, but the girls insist on checking it at least every other day. Flip can't see into the box so she I lift her up so she can confirm there is no mail. Star, our little optimist, keeps thinking Valentine's Day is going to be the day for some mail. Email me or FB message me for our address.