A Weekend of Firsts

Last weekend was a weekend of "firsts" for me.
On Saturday night we attended our first Marine Ball in India. The ball is held every year all over the world to commemorate the birthday of the Marine Corp. It is one of the biggest events each year within the Embassy community. It was held at the Taj Palace hotel, a very beautiful 5 star hotel here in town. The real story though is how I found my dress, it is truly a miracle (not kidding).

I decided I wasn't going because the two formal dresses I own do not fit me at this precise moment in time for reasons that I can't disclose (NO, I'm not pregnant, just fat). But Richard received a lot of (kind hearted) pressure to go and we really wanted to support the Marines so we bought our tickets and I prayed!

Shopping here is nothing like shopping in the states. There are no neatly hung racks of clothes with each size separated by little, colored, plastic tabs, and Larger sizes are very hard to come by, if not impossible.

My favorite experience shopping for a dress was walking into a shop and asking if they had any "fancy" dress items. The rather large woman at the desk looked up at me and said "Not in your size", ouch, that one hurt! I should have said, "Well where do you buy your clothes then?" But unfortunately, I am not so quick whitted.

If you are a "fuller figured" woman like myself, your best option is to have something made. But that was impossible as I only had a week. After much disappointed searching, I gave myself an afternoon to find something and if unsuccessful, I would have to fain illness on the night of the ball. So a friend and I went to Sarogini Market. Picture an out door flea market and you might come within ball park range of what shopping at Sarogini is like, or anywhere in Delhi for that matter.

Anyway, we came to an area in which there were many vendors with stacks of clothing. Literally stacks, the clothes were lined up in 3-4 ft high stacks. You simply tell them what you are looking for, the size range (all by pantomime) and they quickly start sifting. The faster they can find you something the more likely they are to make a sale.

Not in my wildest dreams did I imagined I would find something in these dusty piles of clothing. But that is exactly what happened, and not only was it amazingly suited for a formal event, it fit me perfectly. Now, some of you may think "whats the big deal, you found a dress" but to me, it was nothing short of a personal miracle.

Then, to top it all off, after haggling a little with the man, I ended up paying approximately 10 USD (the dry-cleaning cost me 12). My costume jewlry and shoes were 4 times the cost of my dress and I couldn't have been more pleased had I picked it out of a catalog!

The ball was great and it is always so much fun to see everyone dressed to the nines. The bonus for me was seeing all the amazing gowns that I knew cost a small fortune and smiling at the thought of my ten dollar miracle.


Not the greatest picture but you get the idea.

The next "first" happened on Sunday when we attended our first Indian wedding and I wore an Indian Sari for the fist time. The Sari is a traditional dress worn by most Indian women that exists of 6 meters of fabric neatly tucked and wrapped around the body and then draped over the shoulder. I borrowed one from a friend who wrapped me up and off we went.

The wedding was for my house-keeper, Prabha's, daughter. We arrived around 8pm and as soon as we did, became the instant focus of attention. Prabha grabbed my hand and led me to the front of the room (actually it was a tent) and walked me up on the stage where the bride and groom were sitting on thrones (seriously). I didn't know whether to hug and kiss them or bow at their feet. It was an awkward moment,luckily it was over quickly. After that there were lots of photos, mingling, food and dancing (we didn't actually dance though).

My cook, Mutua, was there with her family as well, they all looked so fancy. It was nice to see them in their own element, although they still would not refrain from waiting on us hand and foot. At one point Richard told Mutua, "you are not at work!" It didn't stop her.

I surprised myself by how excited I was to go and how much I actually enjoyed being there. It was definitely an out-of-comfort-zone event but I had a really great time. I loved wearing the sari as well, it has this way of making you feel very feminine.



Hey there, gigantor!

Mutua and her daughter Saseekala and Depha


Mutua's grand-daughter, Nayga


Tent full of wedding guests


Morgann & Richard at wedding

This Friday is Diwali (pronounced dee-valee). It is basically the equivalent of our Christmas. They decorate, light candles, buy new clothes and housing items and have a big feast, but they aren't celebrating Christ's birth. We have been invited to go to Mutua's house for Diwali on Friday, so we will take lots of pictures and blog how it all turns out. For now enjoy the pictures of some of my "Firsts". I'm sure there will be many more "firsts" to come.

फेस्टिवल ऑफ़ दुस्शेरा Festival of Dusshera

Last Sunday we celebrated.... or more like watched the Indians celebrate, Dusshera--the culminating festival of the 10-day celebration known as Navaratri. The festivals vary widely based on the region celebrating, but all of them celebrate the triumph of good over evil. The production of Ramlila is enacted--which is an abridged version of the Ramayana--which depicts the battles between Ram (Indian God) and Ravana, who abducted Sita, Ram's wife, and the evening is culminated by the burning of the effigies of Ravana, his brother, and his son (the bad guys!).

We went with the McIllece family and their driver, Baldev, to his community celebration, where we sat in the middle of a big field/park to watch the events. Luckily we got to sit in the VIP section (meaning we had a chair instead of standing for two hours because we paid). After about an hour we were completely surrounded by throngs of people. A flimsy bamboo fence separated the seated section from the "standing" section and at any moment it looked as if the fence would collapse under the pressure of the hundreds of people leaning against it. Had anything gone wrong that night, it would have been a miracle to come out alive. It reminded me of the night club fire a while back, where all those people were trapped and died because they couldn't get out of the dance club when it caught on fire....

Anyway, back to Dusshera. I basically understood what the festival was about, yet I still couldn't figure out why it took them almost two hours before putting the three 50 foot, explosive-filled effigies out of their misery. But finally the exciting moment came and, one by one, they were set ablaze. Before their demise, Taylor asked Richard; "Dad, do you think we are at a safe-statue-burning-distance?". The answer was unequivocally......."I don't know". But we soon found out had we been much closer we would have singed our eyebrows. (OSHA would have had a field-day at this little event!). As they set fire to the effigies the flame burst was hot enough to make me a tad nervous, along with the deafening booms of the firecrackers going off inside them. But after the first one burned up without incident and the fear of being trampled subsided, I was able to enjoy the 2nd and 3rd with a little more excitement. It was quite an evening, I was really glad we had the chance to see this festival in action. Where else could you burn 50 foot statues, set off explosives and shoot illegal fireworks all in one night. My brothers would have loved it (pyros)!

Besides the flame-works my favorite part of the evening was Tyson's water-works. He had what I like to call a; "Calvin-and-Hobbes-moment":
Not too long after we arrived Tyson complained that he had to pee. Without being there, you just have to trust that what he was asking was next to impossible. I kept telling him there was no bathroom and he had to wait or Daddy would try and find him a spot to pee where someone wasn't already sitting or standing. Used to the creature comforts of home he would have none of that, until two hours later when he could hold it no longer. I told him to stand behind his chair and pee underneath it (his chair looked like much worse had taken place in its presence). He said okay, but then got distracted. Assuming he was going to continue holding it, I turned and started talking to Richard on my left. Tyson climbed up on the chair to my right. But instead of sitting he was kneeling on his knees. Next thing I know, I look to my right and catch a glimpse of little-boy-butt-crack and a perfect arch of liquid rising and falling in front of him. I was so stunned I couldn't speak, all I could do was nudge Richard's leg, who when he realized what was going on, cracked up laughing. All of the Indians around us who saw the fountain of youth simply giggled, public peeing is a part of their culture (but a story for another time). If I hadn't known how badly he had to "go" I might have been angry. But the circumstances were such that it was just one of those moments you chalk up to living in a third world country and say no more. Luckily the rows of chairs were spaced far enough apart that no one was "rained" on. Tyson was quite embarrassed but obviously desperate. Why he chose to pee off his chair instead of behind it we'll never know, but a great story for posterity.



Picture of the three effigies (before their death) and in front of that, our "vip" seating. You can see from the picture that the distance between flames and seating is not that far!



I'm not sure what they were made out of but it was HIGHLY flamable. Looked like paper mache heads with wrapping paper bodies. Gotta love that sexy mustache!



Kinda looks like we're sitting inside a coral...oh wait a minute, we are sitting inside a coral.



Oooh, Aaaah!



Why am I the only one smiling?



Picture of the "throngs". If you look to the right you can see where the fence is bowing down from the weight of people leaning on it.




Before...



After! Cool huh!

Compound Living

I thought it was about time to show you (pictures below) where we live and how we like it. I know its long overdue and I apologize.
First of all we are living on the US Embassy Housing Compound located directly across the street from the actual US Embassy. It is not a huge compound, maybe the size of a city block. I don't like using the word compound, it makes everything sound so...fortress-like, but for lack of a better word...
Besides housing units, the compound is also home to the medical office, a small (but VERY over-priced) commissary, maintenance buildings and the ACSA center (can't remember what the acronym stands for, sorry). The ACSA center houses the pool, barber shop, a diner, a restaurant, a bar, a small gift shop, a small gym and bowling alley, all two lanes of it. Oh and a couple small playgrounds, a small baseball field and the Marine barracks. I know I keep saying everything is small, but that's because it is.
Then across the street on the back side of the housing compound is the American Embassy School compound. Although not ran by the US Embassy, American children have priority entrance (since there is always a waiting list).
We originally requested not to live on the compound as we were looking forward to a more integrated experience while living in India. But the housing board had other ideas and issued us a 4 bedroom unit on the compound. Why?...we have no idea, but living on the compound definitely has his advantages. The kids have a 5 minute walk to school. We have a recreation center, complete with pool and tennis court (oh I forgot to mention the tennis court) literally, in our back yard! Richard's commute is maybe...3 1/2 minutes, give or take 30 seconds.
But there are also disadvantages as well. We have less privacy and much less interaction with the "real" India. I feel, because of that, we miss out a little on the "true experience of India". Also, the compound can make you very complacent, if you don't want to leave it, you wouldn't ever have to. Everything you need is right here. So I have to make it a point to get out as often as I can (to go shopping of course) to remind myself where I am living. Over all, we are happy on the compound, but I think we would have been just as happy living off the compound. There are pros and cons either way and regarless, it has been a great experience so far and we love it!


Our house, is a very, very, very fine house...


Driveway looking into back patio/courtyard.


Back patio/courtyard.


Back patio off the kitchen and our Gardener Kumar, planting a garden. Actually, I just realized yesterday that Kumar is his last name and that I've been calling him by his last name for the last two months. Which I know he doesn't mind, but it sure made me feel like an idiot.


Isn't that a cute little garden! These pictures were taken before Tyson decided to try his hand at gardening. I don't think Kumar was very amused with his handy work.



Our neighbors banana tree.


Stairway to heaven (just kiding, actually it's the stairway to Richards office) how would you like to have to climb that 5 or 6 times a day?

Everything sounds a lot better than it actually is, but still, I have nothing to complain about! Yet sometimes it seems I'm not happy unless I find something. So, if need be, please feel free to (gently) remind me, just how fortunate I am, if at some point you feel I've completely lost touch with reality!

Please don't forget to leave your name on your comments, unless you wish to remain anonymous (which might be fun for you but causes me many sleepless nights wondering who you are!) I got a very sweet one about the bunnies but I don't know who it came from.

Tyson-in-the-box

Okay, technically he's not "in" the box but, Tyson-"on"-the-box just doesn't have the same feel!
Here is a quick story of a not-so-fun adventure we had just after we arrived.

We had been in India about 3 weeks and one night we came home around 9pm after having dinner and as we got to the front door Richard realized he left the keys at the restaurant. Where's that darn hide-a-key when you need it! So there we all stand, in the sweltering heat (oh yes, it was still blistering hot at 9pm) wondering what the heck to do, with Tyson sawing zz's like there's no tomorrow in my arms. So Richard started making phone calls. Finally he gets the number for the restaurant and begins to make one of several frantic telephone calls; "I said keys, not bees!" "No, I don't need a table, please check under the table for my keys!". "Let me speak to anyone that speaks English PLEASE!" Anyway, after 2 phone calls and at least 3 different people, they located the keys and sent them by taxi to the Embassy. In the meantime besides wanting to strangle a certain person who shall remain nameless (RICHARD), I had to set Tyson down because my arms and back were screamin for mercy. But the only place to set him down was on the ground (Uh, I don't think so!) or a large box just outside our house. Earlier that day the boxes had contained a small amount of household goods shipped in our "fast" shipment and were outside the house waiting to be taken to the trash. So, I laid him on the box and there we sit, no actually we stood, and stood and stood some more, on the empty compound street at 10 o'clock at night with Tyson asleep on a box. Every few minutes I had to flip off a bug or an ant, curiously checking him over, but you'll be happy to know, after this tragic story, he suffered no long term effects from his night on the box!
(Richard either!)

Notice the dirty footsies!

Daddy, please don't make me sleep on a box again!

MaKaela Turns 9!

Happy Birthday MaKaela!
MaKaela has been waiting anxiously for her birthday to arrive and finally it did! Despite the fact that her slacker Mother sent the invitations out only 3 days prior we had 10 girls out of 10 show up for MaKaela's pool/slumber party! Who made up that silly rule about giving a 2 week notice anyway! For me that is a sure fire way to guarantee I won't be there. After about 3 days my brain does an automatic purge of information to the recycle bin and unfortunately it can't distinguish between the useless and useful information I've stored.
Anyway, MaKaela was extremely excited to have all her friends there and they all seemed to have a great time.
We swam for only an hour because the pool is starting to get a bit chilly and everybody was freezing. We then came home and ate. Mutua had fixed some pizza, spring rolls and some little battered potato thingy and then we did cake and ice cream... oh and of course presents. Then they played outside, watched a movie and I then put them to bed. Which was easier said than done, but after getting one more pillow and one more blanket, shutting off ceiling fans, because "I'm too cold" and turning on lights, because "I can't sleep in the dark", opening doors and changing from one bed to another one last time, I think they fell asleep. Or else I did, I'm not sure.

And just in case you were wondering who made that SOCCER-IFIC CAKE...It was ME! with a little help from a friend (okay a lot of help) . Nevertheless, I'm extremely proud to say; I made the coolest-ever soccer cake! I'm sure you can't see it in the pictures but the grass frosting on top, actually looks like real grass. (But honestly, I'm not the boasting type).

All 11 girls posing with MaKaela and her amazing birthday cake! Is that a real soccer ball, it looks so life-like?

Oh wow, look at her blow out her candles on that fabulously decorated birthday cake!

You need a really special knife to cut such a special birthday cake, good thing we had one!

How do you make a Kashmir Carpet.

The start of a hand woven carpet.

The picture above is the hand-written pattern for the carpet.

Color by number carpet pattern.

Richard being schooled in the art of carpet making. Don't be surprised if we end up moving to the mountains and become famous carpet weavers.

The finished product! Gorgeous!

This 4x6ft. silk on cotton rug is 140 knots per inch. It took 1 person 9 months to make.

This carpet took 8 people 11 years to complete.
The cost you ask...a whopping $18000.00 Whoa!

Richard's Trip to Kashmir

Kashmir, India. Northern India about 30 miles east of the Pakistan/India border.

Richard said the mountains reminded him a lot of the Wasatch mountains in Utah.

Richard escorted the American Citizens Chief to Kashmir last week to interview an American citizen who was arrested. He thoroughly loved being in the mountains enjoying the cool air. It is significantly cooler up north and a welcome break from the heat and humidity of Delhi (wish I could have gone)!