Where in the World Am I?

This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:36:00 +0000

This week I also posted at Coffee Mommy and What I Eat.

Winter Holiday -- Shillong, Meghalaya

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 06:34:00 +0000

Last week we escaped the city and headed north into the chilly weather of Shillong, Meghalaya. It's in the northeast of India, that little part that sticks out between Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Overall we had a great time. The resort was nice, with plenty of nature for Muffin to explore. It was chilly enough to need fleece jackets some of the time, but not so cold as to be uncomfortable. That was a relief to me, wondering how Muffin would fare in weather colder than anything she'd experienced before. By the last day, she was picking up her fleece and walking toward the hotel room door whenever she wanted to go outside.

We flew from Hyderabad to Kolkata to Guwahati and the drive from Guwahati to the resort, Ri Kynjai, was a couple hours. It's usually estimated to be two hours, but it took us nearly three hours to get there and almost four on the return trip. The biggest complaint we have for the whole trip, but there's nothing anyone can do about it, was the traffic. Apparently in the winter dry season, the state comes alive with mining and the roads have "double trucks," as our driver put it. Drives that should have taken forty-five minutes took hours. But if we wanted to leave the resort grounds and to walk around other parks, we had to sit in the car. We were able plan a bit so that the bulk of our car time happened during Muffin's nap times, which made the rides a little more bearable.

Once we got out of the car, though, wow. Nature like we haven't seen in a while.

Lake view from our room.

Morning stroll around the resort grounds.

Why I always insist on seat belts in our rental cars.

Like I said, the resort was nice, and if you just wanted to hang out on your balcony and wander around for a day or two, it would be perfect. Only once did Mike have to get up and ask the kids playing in the lobby at ten o'clock at night to please quiet down. (And that was only because the private cabins were booked so we had to stay in the main hotel. Get a cabin if you can.) The resort does a package deal with the meals at their restaurant (which had pretty tasty food, especially if you don't mind Indian and Chinese) and they handle payment of the drivers as well, so there's no negotiating prices all day long. We really liked our driver and would recommend him to anyone else going. For diplomats, they offer the VAT exemption right up front so there's no blank stares or arguments or paperwork.

Photo Friday is hosted by Delicious Baby.com.

This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 06:04:00 +0000

This week I also posted at Coffee Mommy. And I'm working on my post about our recent holiday. I'm at a coffee shop, away from grabby little hands, so hopefully I'll have it completed and posted here soon.

Snow Muffin

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 14:13:00 +0000

Today we took Muffin to Snow World here in Hyderabad. After dozens of readings of The Snowy Day along with "snow" being one of her favorite sign language cards, we were curious to see how she'd react to real snow. Or at least the closest thing to real snow we're likely to see for a while.

It was not great. Mike is from New Jersey and I'm from Rhode Island so we've had our share of cold winter weather, but Muffin has lived her whole life in balmy Hyderabad. Our clothes were not warm enough for her and the clothes you rent from Snow World (aside from being a little gross and weird) were too big for her. She enjoyed the novelty for about two minutes before the cold started to bother her. I have to admit, it was colder than I expected it to be. And the rubber galoshes they make you wear, to keep street dirt from coming off your own shoes and onto the snow, do not keep your feet warm.

It was such a surreal experience that we'd like to go back when she's a little older and we're better prepared for bundling her up.

Early tomorrow morning we are heading north for a short winter holiday, where, after today's experience, I'm glad temperatures are expected to be unseasonably warm this week.

Low-Key Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 06:26:00 +0000

Muffin has been down with a fever for the last two days which has put a halt on my Christmas preparations. This morning she seemed closer to her regular self except for a congested cough, so I think we're in the clear as far as the fever goes. We took her to the doctor on Thursday night to confirm that she didn't have an ear infection or the nasty throat infection that Mike had a couple weeks ago. Just a cold. Her first cold ever, but just a cold.

So, there won't be any gingerbread houses tomorrow. I've got the dough made already so I might be able to bake a batch of cookies, but I'm not worried about it if I don't. Two days of sitting with a hot, sleepy baby on top of me has been exhausting. I finished sewing our dresses so we'll have something to wear if we feel up to going out tomorrow. By a little mix-up we've ended up with two invitations for Christmas Day.

Mike's cooking our duck for dinner tonight. Since we brought it home on Tuesday, Muffin has been insisting on taking a look and saying "Hi" to it every time we open the freezer and then refrigerator. If she's not too crabby we'll make dinner early enough for her to join us before bedtime because, as I said to Mike this morning, she loves food and she's been so excited about the duck all week long.

Muffin had her first visit with Santa this week.

Santa on his own didn't bother her too much. She freaked out when the crowd of people watching cheered for her for not freaking out.

I hope everyone celebrating this weekend has a nice holiday, whether it's big or small, at home or far away.

Travel Photo Friday: Bird Market, Hyderabad, India

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:22:00 +0000

It's hard to believe that a year ago when I went to the bird market to shop for our Christmas duck, Muffin snuggled into the Ergo and slept the whole time. Not this time. She was excited, yet thankfully kept a respectful distance from all the animals. We picked out a pair of ducks and this year, I guess my driver thinks I've hardened up to India life, so instead of coming back later for the "cleaned" ducks, we walked around the corner to, uh, the place where they "clean" them. Muffin wanted to watch. I made her wait outside with the goats. She was so happy and engaged throughout the whole process, from taking birds out of the cage in the market to taking them out of the cooler at home.

Muffin and this turkey were the same height.

Dinner!

Sitting on a bench, loving all the activity around her.

Photo Friday is hosted by Delicious Baby.com.

The Hyderabad 10K

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 10:17:00 +0000

This morning I ran my first race in years -- the Hyderabad 10K. My experiences in India over the last year led me to expect a lot of exuberance with much less attention to detail than there would be at a race in the United States. And I was pretty much right.

Chip timing was offered for the amateur ten-kilometer run, which impressed me at first. So did the online registration process. However, when I went to the Expo yesterday to pick up my bib and chip, even though I brought the printed-out registration confirmation, they had me fill out a new registration form -- with all the same information on it -- then they went onto the computer to check my online registration. They asked for my id card but didn't actually look at it. The online registration had said to be sure to bring the credit card you paid with as your proof-of-purchase, but they didn't ask to see it. Also, during the race, as a backup to the chip timing they were writing down bib numbers and times at the five-kilometer mark and at the finish line they stopped me to ask my name as well. If this is all computerized, all you need is my chip! And why the redundancy of filling out new registration forms by hand when I have my printout? They looked at it and threw it away!

The race only started five minutes late, which was earlier than my friend and I expected. We'd been running the course for the last few weekends so had an idea of how to pace ourselves for the times we wanted. I actually felt great and went a little faster than my training runs. I kept thinking that I couldn't keep it up, until I noticed that kilometer markers didn't quite match my Garmin and maybe the race would be finishing sooner than I expected. When a particularly chatty runner started bothering me with only two kilometers to go (even though my Garmin indicated a half-mile left), I used the upcoming finish line as an excuse to say "Great job, finish strong!" and zoomed ahead for a good finish. (If he was able to chat, he should have been going faster, too!)

My goal was to keep a ten-minute pace and my final time was fifty-seven minutes! My Garmin tracked the distance at 6.04 miles rather than 6.2 miles. I'm curious to see my official time once they get it posted. I didn't notice a finishing clock at the line. The 9K Corporate Fun Run/Walk was starting as I finished and the line was crowded. They didn't have great crowd control and eventually they gave up keeping a finishing chute open and free of walkers. When my friend crossed the line a few minutes after me, she said she'd been walking and pushing people out of her way to make it to the finish. She may have finished in under an hour, but the walking crowd at the line took her several minutes to get through before she actually crossed the finish line in about one hour and three minutes. Also, once we finished we had to cross the road in front of all the walkers to get over to the refreshments table. Sorry Hyderabad, even with chip timing and starting only a few minutes late, you lose points for a messy, crowded finish line.

Now I don't know what to do next. I'd like to tackle a half-marathon if I can find one. I may have to travel for that. The Bangkok marathon and half-marathon have been postponed to my birthday in February. I like Bangkok and I like my birthday...

Travel Photo Friday: Old City Motorcycles, Hyderabad, India

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 22:01:00 +0000

My husband loves motorcycles and he recently bought his second Royal Enfield here in India. He bought an older one that will be easier to bring back to the United States with us (classic cars don't have the same safety and emissions standards), but it needs a lot of work. One day Muffin and I went with him on the tour of mechanic shops in the Old City he visits regularly to check on the progress of his new old bike.

Happy.

Muffin loves motorcycles.

I have one of these old scooters, similar in color to the one on the left. I haven't driven it yet.

"Safety on roads is safe tea at home"

Mike's new old bike.

These ornamental handlebars are very popular in parts of the Old City.

Royal Enfield, India.

Photo Friday is hosted by DeliciousBaby.com.

This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 14:19:00 +0000

This week I also posted at Gluten Free Works and What I Eat. Happy Thanksgiving!

Travel Photo Friday: Livingstone-Stanley Monument, Bujumbura, Burundi

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:01:00 +0000

From the archives. Bujumbura, Burundi, March 2009.

A few kilometers outside of Bujumbura there's a large rock known as the Pierre Livingstone, the Livingstone Rock. It marks the spot where Livingstone and Stanley spent a few days in Burundi as they were passing through the region. It's not where the famous "Dr. Livingstone, I presume," was uttered; that took place in Tanzania a couple weeks earlier. But they both wrote in their journals about the hospitality of the local king and there's some speculation that they stayed for so long because Stanley was suffering from malaria. It's a highly contagious area, but also a nice view to sit and recover by.

View from the monument. We brought a cooler of beers and sodas and enjoyed a drink in the cool breeze.

If you enlarge the photo you can see where they carved their names and the date.

Photo Friday is hosted by DeliciousBaby.com.

This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:59:00 +0000

This week I also posted at What I Eat. Chocolate pomegranate cookies and using flaxseed as an egg replacer.

That Room

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 10:17:00 +0000

I wouldn't sign us up for Hoarders, but we collect stuff. Mike has his cameras and his bike parts. I have fabrics and bits of paper. We both have CDs and DVDs that have been listened to or watched once. We both have old clothes. Occasionally we do go through our stuff and pare it down a bit but we still end up with that room. That room where boxes remain unpacked and stuff that we need to keep but don't use ends up. All the moving around that we do hasn't cured us of our habit of collecting things and holding on to them forever. We moved in together about eight years ago and I'm afraid we might still have boxes from that first apartment stashed away somewhere.

We've lived in our current house for almost a year. We moved in just before Christmas and the last delivery of our household effects was on New Year's Eve. So I decided that before the end of the year, I want that room cleaned up and organized. I've had a junk room rather than a sewing room and office. It was a room that Muffin had never even seen because the mess was piled so high. Even when the mold hit, I braved the room long enough to rescue some fabric but we never go to the rest of the room.

When Mike had last Friday off and we had a full staff of housekeepers and nannies to keep Muffin busy, Mike and I went in and tackled that room.

It's still not perfect but it came a long way that morning. I've sketched out a couple little work tables to be made and I've figured out my storage needs. I've found homes for two sewing machines, the printer, and the scanner. All the fabric is on shelves. Our housekeeper gladly took some of the craft supplies that I felt I no longer needed. Her daughter and young cousins keep scrapbooks and love getting my crafting hand-me-downs. Muffin sneaks in there now and marvels at the fabrics, anxious to touch them all, making little "oh, oooh," sounds.

I can't wait to start using my new sewing room office.

P.S. We've been doing some big cleanups around the house, and one morning we put out several garbage bags, including one from the catbox, because, well, we have a cat who uses the catbox so we have to throw it away. Within an hour, every garbage bag was gone from in front of our house except the one full of kitty litter. It took several days for that one to disappear. The ups and downs of having a "private" garbage man. He doesn't really have to take anything he doesn't feel isn't worth sorting through to see what can be resold. Eventually it all disappears though.

Travel Photo Friday: Mount Kilimanjaro

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 03:14:00 +0000

From the archives.

We climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in February 2009.

Day 4 of the climb. Our destination, Uhuru Peak, is in the background.

Photo Friday is hosted by DeliciousBaby.com.

This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 01:39:00 +0000

This week I also posted at What I Eat. I've been waging war against the humidity of India to make macarons.

Travel Photo Friday: Pumpkin Shopping, Rythu Bazar, Hyderabad, India

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:01:00 +0000

We can't go to a pumpkin patch or an apple orchard here, so two weekends ago we went to one of the big produce markets, Rythu Bazar, in search of pumpkins for Halloween.

Photo Friday is hosted by DeliciousBaby.com.

This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:59:00 +0000

This week I also posted at What I Eat.

Muffin had her first taste of green jello this week.

Travel Photo Friday: Diwali, Hyderabad, India

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:01:00 +0000

Wednesday night was the first night of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. To someone not accustomed to the holiday, it's more like the salute to fireworks.

Last year we arrived in Hyderabad on the first night of Diwali. Luckily Muffin was jet lagged enough to sleep through the whole thing. The fireworks continued for several days. Would we be lucky enough this year?

Yes. Muffin loved watching the fireworks for a little while and then she happily settled into bed and slept through the night.

Muffin also enjoyed some of the traditional holiday sweets.

We had a small, toned-down Westernized version of the holiday compared to our Indian neighbors.

Shopping for fireworks.

Laddu, a traditional sweet.

Rangoli, a chalk drawing in front of the house that welcomes any deities that might be stopping by. This is at a neighbor's house.

More laddu pleeeeeeeease!

Watching the fireworks.

The big kids played with sparklers.

Fireworks.

Photo Friday is hosted by DeliciousBaby.com.

This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 21:59:00 +0000

This week I also posted at What I Eat.

Travel Photo Friday: Bangle Shopping, Old City, Hyderabad, India

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 22:01:00 +0000

I love the bangles of Hyderabad. I bought my first set about two weeks after we arrived. We've been here for almost a year now and I have quite a collection. Babies get bangles here but I was reluctant to give them to Muffin until she stopped putting them in her mouth. The glitter gets everywhere and she's swallowing enough of it as it is without actually eating bangles. Last week, though, she expressed an interest in wearing my bangles rather than eating them so I decided it was time for her to have her own. Grandma is visiting, so it was a good time to go to the Old City, to the bangle district, for a little shopping spree.

A young bangle salesman, for a young customer.

Muffin chooses her favorites.

Photo Friday is hosted by DeliciousBaby.com.

This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 21:59:00 +0000

This week I also posted at What I Eat.

Welcome to Mold Haven

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 04:12:00 +0000

When we came home from our summer vacation after Labor Day weekend we were greeted by a house full of mold. We had no idea we should have left all our air conditioners running full blast for three weeks while we were out of the house. We left all the ceiling fans on and we left the air conditioner on in our bedroom just low enough to keep one room comfortable for the cat. We were saving electricity. In a house with faulty wiring and a generator that continuously goes on and off, we thought that was the right thing to do.

But the monsoon season won. Mold. Not so much in the walls and ceilings as far as we can tell, but individual objects in random places. My vegetable ivory jewelry that was stored in one place, but not the vegetable ivory that was stored in another. Mike's dress shoes but not mine. One coat out of a closet full of them. None of the clothing drawers, except for the one filled with my bras. One drawer in my bedside table but not the other drawer.

We've had some of the mold tested. It's toxic in large quantities. We don't think we have large enough quantities and we cleaned it up as soon as we started finding it. We think we're okay, but we're not experts.

Maintenance hasn't been too worried. First they tried to tell us it was dust from the construction going on next door. Then they said it was "Just fungus." I'm sorry, just fungus? They tried to tell us the air purifier was a dehumidifier before admitting they had no idea what a dehumidifier was.

That's when we had to start laughing. Dehumidifiers should be handed out upon arrival at the airport here, along with your entry stamp and a cup of chai. But the maintenance guys had no idea what we were talking about. We went to several appliance stores who gave us blank stares and Mike said to one sales guy "If you don't know what I'm asking for, then you probably don't have it." The guy laughed and agreed. A friend tipped us off to apparently the one store in town that carries them. They know they are the one store in town that carries them and can charge quite a bit, but we bought one. They were out of stock and we had to wait twenty-four hours for delivery. When it arrived, our housekeeper was amazed that such a machine even existed. She thinks India would be a better place if more people knew of this technology.

We have washed everything in white vinegar. Most of Sophie's stuffed animals were saved by a spin in a super-hot washing machine cycle followed by a thorough drying. What's odd is that the shelves I keep my fabrics on had mold, but only one of the fabrics actually did. I ran them all through the washer to freshen up, anyway. We removed the carpet from our bedroom; the mold was the worst in there. Luckily Sophie's room was one of the least affected areas of the house; I cleaned up all of her stuffed animals the day we arrived home, threw out some of the clothing that was beyond saving, and the mold has not returned to her room.

The dehumidifier is running day and night. When the power goes out and shuts it down, it only takes an hour or two for the mold smell to come back into our bedroom. Between air purifiers, air conditioners, and the dehumidifier, after several weeks it feels like we have finally gained on the mold. There doesn't appear to be new growth in any of the places we've cleaned up. We are anxiously awaiting an order of silica gel desiccants, those little white "Do Not Eat" packs, to keep in our drawers and suitcases.

Now that we know the mold is toxic, however, we are trying to see what this country can produce in the way of a qualified inspector. No luck so far. We are just trying to stay ahead of the mold until the dry season starts up in a few months.

Travel Photo Friday: Salzburg, Austria

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 03:21:00 +0000

From the archives...

In August 2007, Mike and I took a European vacation. He had studied in Salzburg and wanted to show me the region, so we spent a few days there. I loved it and would live there in a heartbeat.

Festung Hohensalzburg (Salzburg Fortress)

Salzkammergut tour, Wolfgangsee

Year-round Easter egg store. (There's also a year-round Christmas store.)

Salzburg at night.

From Salzburg we took a bus to Berchtesgaden and admired the view from Eagle's Nest.

We left the region via train through Fuessen, where we saw Schloss Neuschwanstein.

Photo Friday is hosted by http://www.deliciousbaby.com/.

The Littlest Supporter of Breast Cancer Awareness

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 04:29:00 +0000

This morning we attended the Pink Ribbon Walk in Hyderabad, the kick-off event for Breast Cancer Awareness month. It was a short two-kilometer walk and we were surprised at the number of people who participated.

In India the rate of detection is so low that the majority of women who have breast cancer aren't diagnosed until such a late stage that it is usually terminal. In Western countries it's easy for women to talk about their health. But remember a couple of centuries ago, when (male) doctors in the West had no idea what was going on with women's health? In India, because of the conservative culture, it's more difficult for women to discuss health problems with their doctors. It's more difficult for them to seek out treatment because of a lack of trained specialists. And then it's nearly impossible to pay for medical bills. Here in Hyderabad, KIMS (Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences), the organizer of the Pink Ribbon Campaign, is working with corporations and charities to get free and low-cost mammograms and treatments to the women who need them.

The press was mad for Muffin, especially once she got a hold of a sign. This is one time I didn't mind all the photos. If her little mug on the front page of the newspaper helps raise awareness it will be worth it.

Travel Photo Friday: Bangkok, Thailand

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 03:15:00 +0000

Recently Mike had to go to Bangkok for about three hours' worth of work. We decided to turn the trip into a long weekend for the family.

We loved Bangkok. It's a big, modern, clean city but it also has some of the charming things we like about India. The food was great. The people were friendly. There's an easy train system (much cleaner than Metro and BART!). It's kid-friendly, but not particularly stroller-friendly. No worries for Muffin though. She just started walking, so while she tolerated the stroller for getting through the airport, she was anxious to try out her new skills to the delight of everyone who saw her.

Lumpini Park, which is a nice place for a stroll; we were surprised by the number of people out jogging.

You have to share the park with the local water monitors. Related to komodo dragons, but less poisonous.

Walking in the park.

Outside Central department store, where there's a fabulous grocery store with hot and cold food bars, and a Sanrio store.

Water taxi.

Asleep on the water taxi.

Family tuk-tuk ride.

Yum! Pork on a stick.

Photo Friday is hosted by DeliciousBaby.com.

Whirlwind

noreply@blogger.com (Stephanie) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:29:00 +0000

It's been a hell of a couple of weeks. We were in Rhode Island. There was an earthquake. We had a hurricane. We were delayed leaving Rhode Island. We were in Philadelphia. We were delayed leaving Philadelphia. We arrived back home in Hyderabad a week ago and tonight we are taking off for a few days in Bangkok.

Regular blogging should resume again soon.