A day in the life of .... Wed., 24 Oct. -- Forum Mall

Today:
went to a MALL with the kids, dropped them off at an indoor play area (with Devi). While they played, I got to do a phone interview (that's an "aside" story), got money from my American debit card at a state-of-the-art ATM (HSBC, in case you were wondering), took a look at all the latest mobile phones, and did my grocery shopping at a supermarket. Pretty good and normal, right?

But THIS, below, is really India.

At the phone shop: no stock of Nokia flip-phones. This is THE phone shop in one of the biggest malls in Bangalore. Hmmmm. Nevermind, Srini said that I could get anything for half-price at Bjkfsdkhfskjhfsdkj Market anyway. Just that they are smuggled, so there won't be any warranty. Not that that would be needed. :) :) :) . I'm looking forward to that Blksdfdjlkjksdf Market trip!

At the supermarket: was given a nice welcome by the mini-flies surrounding the onions ... on a pleasant note, was promptly informed of lack of Quaker Oats. My turn at check-out took 10 minutes for 10 items, plus 5 minutes to get my change.

At the indoor play-area: the price was REDUCED, and the staff were all playing with Tina and Lucy. THIS I love.

Got home, had lunch, blah, blah, blah. Only one power outage.

4.30 PM: went to my Kannada class (that's the state language here), and basically understood nothing, but then again, neither did any of the other students (all Indian nationals from other parts of India). Walked home, feeling ok.

7 PM: walked around the block with the kids in their PJs. Halfway home, was accompanied by our ironing-man, drunk unfortunately but not surprisingly. He wanted money, of course. I told him to ask Phil since I ALWAYS say no, but "sir" sometimes says yes. He was nice though, and we all happily said good-bye at our gate. Good, right?

That's about it for tonight!

Settling In, Our House, Our Neighbourhood, Our India

The first few weeks in Bangalore (Nov.-Dec. 2006) were a bit ..... well, required some adjusting. After a couple of weeks in a serviced apartment, we finally moved into our house in a great neighbourhood, Indiranagar.

One of the major selling points, besides the donkey-drawn plastic bucket vendor strolling along, was the ironing-man perched just opposite our gate. Cool -- never again would I ever have to touch an iron!!!

Then I discovered:

The joys of cooking/cleaning dishes in a kitchen with midget-height counters, while Tina and Lucy discovered the joys of pulling everything down from the kitchen counters (not possible in the States due to babies' height limitations).

The joys of cling wrap that doesn't cling but also wrinkles immediately after you forcefully rip it from the soft cardboard box it's in (no sharp edges on the box).

The joys of counting cows on the street, and the beautiful big trees all around. The joys of hearing and feeling and smelling India. Hmmmm, the melodic sound of the languages, the shaking of the head, the feel of dust on your sandal feet shoes, the feel of the ground as you walk barefoot to the temples, the light touch on your arm of the beggar children, the sounds of the autorickshaws, and the smells of butter corn and roasted peanuts being sold on the street.