COMMENTS ANYONE?

I'm assuming (and you know what assuming does) that none of you have been leaving comments on my blog simply because your not sure how to do so and not because you don't want to! So I am going to give you instructions on how to leave a comment and no, you don't have to have a Google account to leave a comment.

1) Click on the word "comment" at the bottom of the post you would like to leave a comment for.
2) Write your message in the comment box that pops up and then click the "Other" or "Anonymous" options and then Click on Publish Comment.

Its that simple! All the other boxes of information are optional and you don't need to worry about them!

So now that you know how simple it is please give me a little feedback on my posts...PLEASE!
Be sure to include your name if you want me to know who you are.

Attention All Brothers

A couple days ago we experienced the Indian festival of Raksha Bandhan.

Raksha Bandhan or Rakhi (pronounced Rocky) is a festival that kindles the deepest emotions of love and affection among siblings. Raksha = protection & Bandhan = tie. The Rakhi is a bracelet that symbolizes the sisters sacred love and devotion for her brother/brothers.

The sister ties the Rakhi on the brother's wrist and offers sweets to her brothers. Both pray for each others well being. By accepting the Rakhi the brother accepts responsibility of protecting and caring for his sister. The brother usually gives the sister a gift as well.
Rakhi is considered stronger than iron chains as it binds brothers and sisters in an inseparable bond of love and trust.

We did our own Rakhi ceremony at home where Morgann and MaKaela tied bracelets around Taylors wrist (Tyson was asleep) and he pledged to protect and take care of them. I LOVE this holiday.

When I learned about this festival I was very touched by its meaning and symbolism. I instantly thought of my own brothers and the love I have for each of them and wished I could share this sweet ceremony with them. But since we live half way around the globe from one another it is impossible for me to do it physically. But in the spirit of Rakhi my dear brothers, please accept the bracelet (I will send in the mail) and know how much I miss and love you. (I'm tearing up just writing this) I'm somewhat overcome with emotion and I'm having a hard time putting my feelings into words. This bracelet is a symbol and tangible evidence of the sacred feelings I hold in my heart. I hope you all know how much I love you! Happy Raksha Bandhan!! I love you!

P.S. You don't actually have to wear the bracelet, I just wanted to send one in the spirit of the holiday and so you could see what I was talking about.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT?

Any guesses where we went??? You guessed it, the Taj Mahal, one of the 7 wonders of the modern world. In spite of being a little smaller than I had imagined, (apparently I have a big imagination), it was BEAUTIFUL! The Taj is a pretty amazing piece of architecture. For those of you who don't know its history I'll give you a brief low-down.

The Taj Mahal (translated: crown palace) was built as a memorial by Shah Jahan for his favorite wife Mumtez Mahal. She died very young (39 I believe) and asked him to make her two promises before her death; 1) Not to ever marry another and 2) build her a beautiful memorial of their love. My kind of girl!

Anyway, we left at about 5:15am with our partners in crime (the McIllece family; Dave, Angela, Zach, Becca, Alyson, & Daniel) who have been here in Delhi about 1 month longer than us. So the 12 of us loaded up and headed out. It wasn't too long of a drive on the way there and there were plenty of packed rickshaws, camel convoys, water buffalo, dancing monkeys and elephants to keep us entertained. One of the most interesting sights was of several over-stuffed tractors or trucks hauling what looked like hay or straw. The canvas holding in the straw looked as if it were a petite size nylon holding in a queen size butt.

Once we arrived we rode on a camel cart up to the Taj entrance while being accosted on all sides by vendors and dealers of everything imaginable; toy snakes, marble boxes, necklaces, bracelets, postcards, you name it they were trying their hardest to sell it to us for at least 5 times its value. The only useful item they were selling was umbrellas, which we paid 200rs for, about $5. We were told they were new but when we got them we laughed at the obvious distress they showed, but they were a useful sun block for our hours of fun in the sun. Our friend Dave speaks Hindi and was able to alleviate a little of the vendors harassment by telling them "ENOUGH!", in Hindi of course, and although it didn't get rid of it completely, it helped.

When we arrived at the Taj entrance we paid our 20rs to get in, which is about 50 cents thanks to our diplomatic IDs. Normal tourist have to pay 750 rs (about $20). We then had to stand in separate lines, one for women and one for men. This is after all, a Muslim monument. The men's line, like the bathrooms, were faster than the women's line. The heat and humidity was relentless but we forged ahead. Dave arranged for a tour guide who was pretty good in spite of what seemed to be a bit of an aggressive nature. He would get a bit irritated with us if we asked questions too soon or didn't stay together...easy big fella! :)

Taking pictures was great and I loved the ones of the kids touching the spire of the Taj(above). We trudges around for several hours, a couple of which were bare foot on very warm marble, it was definitely worth seeing (just not in August). The construction of the entire compound is perfectly symmetrical which is absolutely amazing given it was finished in 1653 (22 yrs after its groundbreaking). It is truly a site to behold. I learned today that Indians categorize people by those who have seen the Taj Mahal and those who have not. I'm not sure what that means exactly, but I am now a part of the latter group so....its all good.

After we left the Taj we were toast! Ding, ding were done! We stopped off at a restaurant for what turned out to be an amazing meal of naan bread, butter chicken (my favorite), rice, shiz-ka-bobb, vegetables and chicken tikka. The food was great and they had a trio of singers and dancers to entertain us. One little boy was especially cute and could put a few of Micheal Jacksons moves to shame. I wonder where he learned the pelvic thrust? He tried to convince many of us to join him but the only one brave enough was Becca.

After lunch we visited one more monument (left), of which I would love to tell you all kinds of fascinating history, but I don't know any. We piled out one more time in the sweltering heat and walked like pioneers up and back. This tomb had a huge garden that seemed to be home to a pack of playful monkeys and a lazy herd of antelope. Made for some good photo opps.

Once again we piled back into the vehicles and headed for home. The drive home took us approx. twice the amount of time as our arrival trip. Luckily our a/c was working perfectly which was more than could be said for the McIllece vehicle, who's a/c petered out an hour or so before arriving home. I would have killed myself I think, but they all fared well, including Tyson and MaKaela who were riding with them.

It was a great trip and I can't wait to do it again but during a much more weather friendly time of year. Despite the heat it was still crowded so I'm happy to report we weren't the only nut jobs out there! :)

PS I have a lot of pictures to upload and it may take me a couple days to get them all up so keep checking back for more pictures of our amazing trip to the Taj! Don't forget to leave me a comment. I'd love to hear from you!

Kelly and the Cockroach

Once upon a time...

There lived a fair maiden in the Kingdom of Delhi. Now the Kingdom of Delhi had many things that the fair maiden liked and enjoyed, but there were also dark and sinster things in the Kingdom of Delhi that the maiden did not like or enjoy.
One evening when the fair maiden was very tired and sweaty she entered her bathroom to get ready for bed. As she sat down upon her throne she saw something lurking out of the corner of her eye. As she turned to look she was shocked, there in the corner of the bathroom was a nasty, evil cockroach. Before she could do anything it scurried towards her, she noticed that it was approximately the size of a small mouse, at that moment the fair maiden flew from her throne screaming for her life.
Within moments her knight in shinning armor appeared. Although somewhat gobsmacked at the site of his fair maiden with knickers at her knees, he bravely lunged at the beast with a wad of toilet paper. But the sly cockroach would have nothing of it. He zigged and zagged every which way to avoid Sir Richard, causing the fair maiden to squeal with terror. But alas, the brave knight overpowered the evil cockroach and crushed him in his mighty hands. As the fair maiden regained her composure she thanked her brave knight and once again resumed her place on the throne!

The End

Independence Day

August 15th is Indian's Independence day. As you would assume it is a national holiday and everyone was off work, including us Americans (Yippe). We went to the church house that morning at 9:00am where they were holding a district Independence day activity. At first everyone gathered around the flag and they sang the Indian national anthem afterwards they chanted the same word three times, which I later found out was the word victory. Then they cheered and we all dispersed and went into the building where we stayed for a 3 hour talent show. They sang, they danced, gave talks and told jokes. It was long but genuinely interesting. They sang many patriotic songs, all of which were in Hindi or other native languages, so we couldn't understand them but we could feel them. Everyone says that love is a universal language but I would add patriotism to the list as well. Their level of pride and patriotism for their country was nothing less than inspiring. We also participated with the small group of Americans that were present by singing, My Country tis of Thee, for them and for India. As I sang this song, a song that I had only ever associated up to that day with my own great country of America, I was surprised how the words I sang seemed to apply as much to them as they ever had to me. There I was singing "let freedom ring" for a country who, like us, fought their own battle for independence from the British and I was moved by that sense of commonality.

One interesting fact I learned that day was that India has only had their independence for the last 60 years due to the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. We visited Mahatma Gandhi's tomb and also his place of assassination several weeks ago. We also watched the movie as well and as we were participating in this independence day celebration it was more meaningful to me since I somewhat understood the process in which they obtained it. We read many of Gandhi's quotes and messages to his people. He was a amazing man. His teachings were ahead of his time and his understanding of the human race and diety was nothing short of inspiring. It is my belief that without Mahatma Gandhi's inspired leadership, India's independence would have come at a much higher price, if at all. Gandhi and his teachings are still very highly revered by the Indian people. Something else I recently learned was that Mahatma was actually a title and not his name. The title of Mahatma means "Great Soul". If you get a chance I encourage you to watch it if you haven't seen it or watch it again if its been a while!

They ended by again singing their national anthem which again was very touching and gave me goose-bumps. After that they had food and we went home. It was a long day but worth it. Tyson couldn't even make it the whole time, he finally fell asleep on Morgann's lap. I really enjoyed myself and am glad we made the effort to go.

Nice guys in a taxi! (Richard & Dave)

Crazy tourist wrapping herself with a cobra! India Gate
Gandhi's Tomb The place of Gandhi's Assasination

In The Begining

I'm sure that most of you are wondering "what's India like?" and for those of you who visited us while living in Cairo I can say it feels like living in Cairo all over again but with a few exceptions. First, the driving, although chaotic it is not as bad as it was in Cairo. For the most part they stop for the traffic lights end there are the same 2ft high curbs alternately painted with black and yellow to keep people from driving on the sidewalks. Since this was a British colony once we drive on the left hand side of the road with lots and lots of round-a-bouts. Also, there are huge Brahma bulls and cows that wander the city doing pretty much anything they want. I was aware that cows would be loitering the city, but when I actually saw them I was amazed to see huge Brahma bulls instead of the ordinary dairy cows I had pictured in my mind. That was a bit of a shock. They seem friendly enough but I don't intend on getting close enough to find out. Richard, Idaho farm boy that he is, wants to ride on one while getting his picture taken. Once a cowboy, always a cowboy!

One other difference is that the donkey carts of Cairo have been replaced with auto-rickshaws. I'm not sure how to explain what they look like so hopefully I will have a picture of one posted for you to see. The picture to the right is of a beautiful little Indian girl (she was so adorable, wish you could see her better) riding with her parents on a motorcycle. I've seen up to five so far and I saw a family of 4 on a bicycle the other day. We have had the pleasure (and I use that word facetiously) of riding in the auto rick shaws on several occasions. One time being on the way home from church. One rickshaw will only hold 3 people, although we have friends who once fit their family of 6 in one, we decided our best chance for survival was to split up. It would be similar to riding in a golf cart, no doors to close you in for any sense of safety...but as we were driving home Tyson reached out and grabbed a hold of the bar in front of us (sounds like a ride at Disneyland doesn't it) then he yelled out "Mom, you better hold on to the bar, the road is moving!" I burst out into laughter as I checked the road for movement (just to make sure, this is India) and I saw the source of his concern. I could see the white lines rushing beside and under us. It did look like the road was moving; so no matter how hard I tried to explain to him that the road wasn't actually moving he wouldn't believe me.

The kids have done an absolute wonderful job of adjusting, especially now that school has started. I expected to have mutiny on my hands after our arrival especially from our 12 year old daughter Morgann but to my surprise, Taylor our 15 yr old son, seemed to have the most difficult time that first day or two. I think none of it really hit him until he was here in the middle of India and then it hit him like a brick. But luckily it only lasted a day or two. He now has a cell phone and has started school, that has made all the difference. I can tell they all miss their friends from Virginia, so do I, but technology has this incredible ability of making us all feel a lot closer!

Morgann was selected for a class call Odyssey of the Mind. They will work on a project all year and then in April they will travel to Hungary to compete with all the other Odyssey of the Mind classes. She is really excited. Her and Taylor also have what they call Week Without Walls. This October they will get to go somewhere in India to camp, rock climb, river raft and many other exciting things. I can't believe what a great opportunities they will be getting while attending AES (American Embassy School).

We received our first and smallest shipment of household goods. Three LARGE boxes were delivered the other night and as we unpacked we realized we didn't plan very well. We have an x-box and DVD player but no TV to use them with. We have back up power supplies but no computer to plug them into. I'm not sure what we were thinking but I've since started a list of items that have to go in the "quick" shipment for next time. Believe it or not, garbage cans are at the top of my list, along with laundry hampers, a phone and hangers. Just take a minute and think about living without those few items for 6-8 weeks. They provide us with a welcome kit that has dishes, pots and pans, bedding and towels but that is about it. Its not a lot to live with for an extended period of time.

Anyway, more about India. The weather is hot and humid with a little bit more of hot and humid, followed by, you guessed it, more hot and humid. I've literally sweat in places I didn't even know I had. It is currently the monsoon season which started the end of July and which I have no idea as to when it ends. The temperatures actually are cooler now that they were a month ago (so I have been told). But cooler weather is in store and the winter time is supposed to be fantastic.

One of the hardest aspects of India for me has been the poverty. Although I saw a lot of poverty in Cairo for some reason this is more intense. It is so hard to watch these sweet little babies and children living in such horrible conditions. It is hard not to want to cry every time a mother comes begging with her baby in her arms or a small child with torn and filthy clothes begs for food. It rips out your heart. I have since learned that the majority of the beggars that approach you on the main traffic corners and at tourist sites do not beg for themselves. They have a beggar master or pimp they give all their earnings to. He keeps the majority while they get very little if anything at all. This is why it is against the law to give the beggars anything. This I'm sure is the only way to solve the exploitation of these children but it does not make refusing them any easier. One alternate option we have discovered is to bring items of clothing or small food items that won't be taken by their masters. After contemplating upon the conditions around me I understand how important it was to us to come to this earth, no matter the conditions. I feel very, very fortunate to have been born in a country that is free and to a family who loved and cared for me.

I am truly blessed.