Isaac's 6th Birthday Party (23 September 2006--Better Late Than Never!)

The balloon man. He showed up a few hours before the party and blew up 200 or so balloons FAST with no special tools but his own mouth and CO2. Russell was mesmerized and then the two became great friends.
The balloon man stayed and did balloon sculptures. This is Hiroya (from Japan) and Yeryeon (from Korea) who are both in Isaac's KG class.
Mariam, Isaac's best friend in his ECEC4 class last year.Janya, one of Isaac's newest friends in his KG class this year.
Tom, his oldest and best friend. He's from Australia, but more recently from China, so Isaac often tells people his best friend is Chinese!
Russell hugging his best friend Ellie Joyce (Tom's sister).
Isaac the Birthday Boy wearing a crown he made for himself during "choices time" at school.What was supposed to be a rocket party (a repeat from last year, since, as Isaac said, "I don't have any of the same friends this year, so they won't mind!") evolved into a balloon party when Rich threw down the "rocket" balloons from the roof, filled with a bit of dal (lentils).
The view from the roof of the party as it was warming up . . .Margaret, our housekeeper, and her daughter who helps her Poojah helped to make all of this happen.Margaret and Poojah quietly cleaned up most of the party as we were socializing with lingering guests. We could definitely get used to some of these perks of living in a third-world country!
Playing musical chairs using foam squares.
Russell covered in cocoa after helping make the frosting for the birthday cake!
Graham getting spoiled again by Margaret while Mommy was in the midst of decorating the cake ("Don't worry Mommy," said Isaac, "I'm sure it will look exactly like the one Grandma did!" A tall order . . .)
After much stress, the cake didn't turn out all that bad. As requested, it did look pretty much like last year's cake.Isaac, on the other hand, seems like a completely different boy from last year. So much bigger and wiser and more confident. I love this photo because you can see on his face how very special he felt, but he was trying to maintain a "cool" look on his face despite the urge to grin. So grown up!

The birthday boy and his proud parents (with a dad who is the birthday dad extraordinaire!)
Graham-bam loves to pose for the camera!!
Playing with the spoils from the party afterwards . . . a Hot Wheels set from Tom!

Russell & Isaac Celebrities

So we were outside the Jama Masjid (a mosque in Old Delhi) and Isaac met some guys writing in a book. They asked him to write his name in their book. "You want me to write my name? I'm really good at that." He then proceeded to write his name and everyone in our family. Where else can you go in the world and be asked to write your autograph simply because you look different?
Speaking of looking different, here's Isaac and Russell pictured with their Primary group at church. The other white kid is Thomas, Isaac's best friend who was visiting that day. Sister Pritchett is the American woman on the right who helps run the Primary and ensures there's enough English in Primary so that Isaac and Russell can understand. It was an adjustment at first, but they are loving it now.

Russell's Cool 3rd Birthday Party

We had Russell's birthday party on the same day as the Holi Festival of Colors so we let Isaac and Russell splatter colored sprinkles and frosting all over it in honor of the holiday. We had to do lots of talking and restraining to keep Isaac and Tom away at this moment for Russell to blow out his candles all by himself. Same deal with the presents. It's tough being the little brother!

Perhaps the coolest thing about Russell's birthday party was the monkey man that happened to show up at our gate and offer his services for $4. We invited him in and enjoyed the show! I love India--no need to plan activities, just put out some balloons and see who shows up.

The other cool thing about the party were the fun friends that came. We kept it simple and invited only Tom and Ellie (from Australia, our first and best friends thus far) and Joshua from the ward.

I think to Russell the coolest part of the party was the fabulous gifts--an airport terminal from Tom and Ellie, an airplane from Isaac, a water gun (or as he calls it, a rocket that shoots wa-wa) from Mama-Dada, and a battery-powered train set that plays Indian music from Joshua.

A Day in the Life of Mindy

So there’s never a dull moment in India. Here’s the play-by-play run-down of my day:

4:00 am Isaac woke up complaining his arm hurt. I think it’s growing pains. I gave him some Tylenol after distracting him didn’t work and he finally went to sleep.

4:30 am Couldn’t sleep so I emailed and blogged on my newly set-up computer

6:30 am Took a very quick shower in order to have hot water before it ran out

7:30 am Sent Isaac off to school with Rich and the driver

8:00 am Tried to figure out how to direct Sarita and Sudhir to do the things I want around the house and while I was thinking they were working and I realized they’re doing pretty much everything I would ever do and more. The only thing we’re really missing is a good cleaner to scrub the bathrooms with so I can see how really bad or good they are. Still looking for that . . . Have yet to see Comet or anything like it.

9:00 am Received a surprise visit from the American Women’s Association (AWA) Welcome Committee Chair Sandie Axelson. She lives down the road and was stopping by to make sure I was finding my way to the meeting

9:30 am Sent Sudhir to the market to buy laundry soap, bread, and stuff to make cholle for us (which turned out to be garbanzo beans).

10:00 am Went to the AWA meeting at the Delhi Golf Club. It was extremely posh, and I was (again) very under-dressed and the only one with my children. But I brought Sarita with me to help and it was nice. I met several moms with young children and got an idea of what AWA is all about. They do shopping trips and culture meetings and community outreach programs.

12:30 Picked Isaac up at school and we had lunch (hamburgers and mint chip ice cream cones) in the cafeteria with Marcia and her kids (Thomas & Ellie) along with several other families from Belgium, Australia, Korea, and somewhere else in Europe.

2:00 pm Returned home from school and fed Graham.

3:00 pm Received a visit from a merchant selling stools made of rope and bamboo. I told him I may be interested in buying some and he said he’d come back in a half hour with the stools I was talking about buying.

3:30 Received a visit from our driver’s sister. It turns out he sent her because he doesn’t speak English very well and wanted her to tell me that he doesn’t want to work for us anymore because he can make more money as a taxi driver and wants to make sure we can survive without him. The irony of this is that we have another driver lined up for next month and were trying to figure out how to tell him!

4:00 pm Merchant returned and I bought two stools and three cute little kid chairs and a table for 1000 rupees (about $20).

4:30 pm Went to this amazing fruit and vegetable market called Ohkla Market with Sarita, Isaac, and Graham while Russell stayed home with Sudhir and did puzzles. While Graham slept in the car with Maraj (the driver) we braved the market. It’s basically this long dirt road with people sitting on either side with big piles of produce in front of them. It’s loud, smells of animal dung, but the produce is beautiful. Sarita walked the whole line asking prices and then we turned back around and got the things we wanted at the best prices. We got a huge bag (so heavy that Sarita and I had to carry it together) of potatoes, tomatoes, cauliflower, onions, ginger, and cilantro for about 100 rupees ($2).

5:30 pm We got home and Sarita realized her cell phone was missing. I think someone stole it from her at the market. She went to her room to make sure she hadn’t left it there and came back and I could tell she had been crying. I would cry too if I’d lost a cell phone that had cost me almost one month’s wages! I wished they'd stolen mine instead. I called Rich and he suggested we just buy her a new one. I agreed—after all, we call her all the time and use up her minutes anyway.

6:30 pm I fill up the bathtub a whole three inches or so for the boys to take a bath (that’s all the hot water there is). We read “Homer Price” (Thanks, Aunt Amy!) in the kitchen so we can watch Sudhir make chapatis (like wheat tortillas).

7:00 pm Isaac and Russell eat their chapatis at their new little rope bamboo table with cheese and apple juice. Daddy gets home and holds Graham and practices saying his numbers in Hindi (he’s been learning them from Maraj while he drives him around). We’re so glad when Daddy comes home!

7:30 pm Isaac slips on the water draining from the washer and bites his tongue and starts bleeding. Daddy flees to the bedroom for two hours of conference calls (he added that part—I’m not bitter!). Russell asks me to pick him up and take him to bed.

7:40 pm Two men show up to assess our air conditioning needs. They say we need 12 tons of AC power and Freescale has currently only allowed 7 tons. We’ll see what the next guy says. The landlord’s daughter returns my call from earlier that day and assures me that she’s sending someone to REALLY fix the leak in the wall upstairs so it stops growing mold, but it will take a week or so. Glad we haven’t moved up there yet!

7:50 pm Isaac goes up to the roof to hang laundry, which he’s been begging me to do all night. Last night he was lamenting that he has to go to school and miss out on all the laundry fun (“When I go to high school, it will be even worse. I won’t get to do ANY laundry!”)

8:00 pm Isaac goes to bed.

8:15 pm Sarita and Sudhir finish cleaning the kitchen and I finally get to try their yummy cholle (garbanzo bean soup with cilantro, red onion, lots of garlic, and tomatoes) with chapatis.

9:15 am My day goes full circle and here I sit doing the email thing again. Phew!

Making Friend with Our New Friends Colony House

This is Isaac and his great friend Thomas, with his sister Ellie in the background. We've been hanging out with them and their mom Marcia. They are from Australia and were staying in the same hotel as we were. They have recently relocated from China and Thomas and Isaac attend the same school, same age group. This picture was taken at one of the tombs at Lodi Gardens. I wish I had taken a picture of the family of native folk who sat on the lawn just a few feet from us while we picnicked and looked at us like we were zoo animals. The concept of personal space is almost non-existent here! Isaac has obviously learned to fit in already . . .
On Tuesday we had a little help taking the plunge and actually moving in for keeps to our house. Rich's co-workers were visiting from the USA and had trouble finding a hotel room for that night, so Rich volunteered our rooms. I had to do some scrambling to pack everything up, but we did it!
This is Isaac relishing some purified water from our new filter--one of the criteria we needed to meet before Miss Mindy was willing to move in.
This in Rich on his first conference call in the new house. Internet was another criteria for move-in so that we could have Daddy at home while he talks to people in the USA at night.
Here's Isaac and Russell taking their first bath in our new house. We can only get a few inches of warm water to fill the tub out of the hot water heater (or as they call it here, a "geezer"), but they didn't mind much!

Graham Growing Great

Graham keeps on growing and tolerating new places and people on every turn. We've made friends with an Australian family staying in our hotel in similar circumstances, and when we've arrange playdates Marcia (the mother) asks when Graham will be napping. I always laugh and tell her he's had absolutely no schedule since we've arrived. He does sleep most of the night though, so that's been nice (I only wish I did--it's 4:30 am right now!).