Tony's Visit

It was so great having Tony visit, and as much as I love India, having Tony here to experience it with me made the whole country seem more interesting and colorful and enjoyable. While he was here, we went for walks around Sankey Tank, he gave his testimony at church, we went shopping for gifts, we ate dosas at a very old school Bangalore restaurant, and we just enjoyed being together. Below are a few pics of us here in India for those very few of you who haven't already seen them on Facebook.

A couple gifts

I picked up gifts for Tony's bosses today and am so pleased. They are each getting a brass bowl and a silk scarf, though Tony will have to choose who gets what. See below I'm modeling one of the scarves, and then there are picks just of the bowls and scarves. Yay!

Fun Sunday

Well, I had such fun on Sunday! It was game day at church, so everyone met up at the church in the afternoon. We all sat in plastic chairs and wooden benches along the sides of the long, narrow dirt courtyard in front of the church. In the courtyard, they used flour to mark finish lines for races. Then there were running races by age group (little kid, big kid, teen) and walking races by gender for the adults. The little kids also had a race where they had to jump like little frogs, with their legs bent and hands touching the ground between their feet on every hop. It was so cute! For youth and adults, they also had a lemon-and-spoon race, which was a lot like egg races I've seen at home. The lemons here are small, about the size of key limes. So you would balance a lemon in the spoon and hold the spoon in your mouth and race walk. I won first place in my age group! Have to say, the games were such fun and required so little in the way of set up, that if we ever have another Herod or Wilson family reunion or big get together, I vote that we play some of these games. It was a blast! See descriptions of some of the other games below:

• Memory test: All the married women were let into a small room where 17 everyday items (like a comb, light bulb, roll of tape, etc.) were laid out neatly on a table. We had one minute to observe. Then we were ushered out and given a pen and piece of paper and had 3 minutes to list all the items we could remember. I won third place!
• Bombing the city: Using flour, a large plus sign was drawn in the the courtyard, with a letter drawn in each quadrant: D for Delhi, B for Bombay, H for Hyderabad, C for Calcutta. Then players would walk around in a circle, passing through each quadrant. When the whistle blew, everyone would freeze. Then someone not playing the game would fan out four cards, face down, with the names of the cities, and someone would draw a card. Everyone in that quadrant was out. This continues until only one person is left.
• Musical chairs: The rules and set up were a little different from at home. The chairs were set up side by side in a straight line, alternately facing opposite directions. At each end was an extra chair, kneeled on by someone not playing the game. You had to walk around the line of chairs, and when the music stopped, you couldn't go back, only forward, and you could only sit in a chair facing you. This eliminated the situation you see sometimes with our set up, where you have 2 people trying to squeeze into a chair at the same time. There were only so many chair facing your direction, and you plop into the nearest one or race around in a circle like with Duck, Duck, Goose, trying to get to the empty space before another person. It was good fun.
• Roll jumping: A clothesline was strung between two trees and bread rolls were pierced through with string and tied to dangle from the clothesline, just above people's heads. Each person stood under their own roll, and then it was a race to see who could jump and bite at the roll and bring it down first.
• Find the coin: People stood around a wooden bench on which there was one paper plate for each person. A coin was placed in the plate and then covered with a mound of flour. At the signal, each person clasped their hands behind them, bent at the waist, and tried to be the first to pick up his/her coin using only their mouth. Some people blew to move the flour and then picked up the coin, and some dug right in. Blech!

Wonderful time at a craft fair

I went to a craft fair today in Bangalore, and it was the best time ever. I spent four hours there (just because I had the time and why not) and looked at every booth more than once. There were 110 booths with handicrafts from different regions of India, all labeled with the region and the type of art: embroidery, specific type of drawing or painting, ceramics, terracotta, jewelry, wood carvings. It was heaven. I bought a few gifts for family but tried to buy only things that seemed unique or particularly well priced, since I've heard that the Anjuna Market in Goa also has crafts from all over India, and Heidi and I are planning to go there.


For myself, I bought a pair of chapals-- leather slip-on sandals. They are so cute! (And they're flats! What am I thinking? Who is this person in my body, buying flats?)






I heard the guy selling these shoes to Indians for 200 Rupees, and when I bought these, he bagged them up and said, "450." And I said, "What? No, they're 200. I've heard you." And he said, "No, madam. Those-- 200 Rupees. These-- 450." And I said to forget it and walked off and he called me back and took 200. Geez. You have to be on your toes... And I will admit that while I bargained for everything I bought, I'm not too sure if a local person would consider what I paid to be a fair price. But I feel fine about it. Anything that seemed too much, I just walked away. There was nothing there that I couldn't live without, so if there was not a price that the craftsman and I both found to be fair, no harm done.


That said, I did buy three drawings from a woman who does extraordinary work, and I would have been really disappointed if we could not come to a consensus. And we nearly couldn't. I wasn't sure what an appropriate price would be, so I called a friend who's from Bangalore and described the drawings. She advised me, and I was able to go to the negotiation table with a better idea of what to shoot for. I went back to the woman who drew these pictures and bargained and bargained, each of us writing a number on a scrap of newspaper and clicking our tongues and shaking our heads at the other person's number. When it looked like we were at a standstill, I walked away and went to all the other booths with drawings in this style. Sure enough, hers were the best. Intricate, tiny details; heavy handmade paper; sharp, clean lines; clean paper with no discolorations; and drawing content that I liked. When I made my way to the booth next to hers, which sold similar drawings, she called me over and offered me the price that my friend had advised over the phone. Yes! I took it in a heartbeat. Can't wait to get these puppies framed!

Two other highlights of the fair were the monkeys and the sugar cane juice. So at one point, I was at someone's booth, and we could hear rustling in the trees above us. The craftsman smiled and rolled his eyes and said, "Monkeys." And I was like, "Yeah, sure," thinking that he was kidding. Then while I'm standing there, a monkey runs up and grabs at some juice that's under the craftsman's table! He makes "shoo!" noises and waves his hands at the live, freaking monkey that just ran under his table, and the monkey runs off. Later I was in another area of the fair, and I could see fawn-colored, little monkeys swinging and jumping from branch to branch right above me. I mean, they were right there, like squirrels or something. It was SO COOL.

A distant second in the list of non-shopping-related coolnesses is the fresh sugar cane juice. Okay, I'm ready to have this again at any time. YUM. There were men there with huge sticks of sugar cane and a metal contraption with a handle to turn and crushing gear-things. So they'd poke the end of a sugar cane stick into the gear and crank the handle. You could see the flattened, mangled sugar cane come out the other side and juice flowing into a slanted metal pan that ran off into a pitcher. You could ask them to also crush fresh ginger or mint along with the cane or have them squeeze fresh lime juice into your cup along with the sugar cane juice. Man, it was good. I got lime once and lime and ginger the second time. At 36 cents a glass, sugar cane juice is definitely a treat I'll be seeking out in the future.

Pics from an autorickshaw

Below are some pics I took here in Bangalore the Saturday before I left for Dubai. There were several things that I've been dying to get pics of, and a few of them are below. For example, you see women in sarees sitting side saddle on the back of motorcycles here. Wild. Had to get a pic, but it's hard to do in traffic. Also, I was dying to get a "cow walks down the road" pic, but every time I see livestock in the middle of a busy city street, I take too long fishing out my camera, and they're past. So below are my best efforts so far. All these are taken from the back of an autorickshaw as I rode around town, so they're not exactly artistic wonders, but they give an idea of what you might see riding around Bangalore. Enjoy!


Below: A cow walking in front of an autorickshaw on the street.

Below: Cow grazing by the side of the road.

Below: Typical street with buildings and a woman walking along.

Below: My best attempt so far at photographing a woman in a saree riding a motorbike side saddle.

Below: An older woman relaxing in front of a building and one of the ever-present stray dogs relaxing not far away.

Below: A Hindu temple.

Below: Ulsoor Lake, with its green, green water.

Dubai Pics

Below are some pics from Dubai. I was there only three nights but did see quite a few things. Dubai reminds me a lot of Las Vegas. It's a place of opulence and excess, luxury and wastefulness, beauty and extravagance. To be honest, it's not a place I would choose to visit on my own, having read some about the horrible conditions of forced labor that built the beautiful buildings. But I had to visit Dubai to do a few things, so I decided to observe and enjoy and appreciate the opportunity to see a part of the world I would never have otherwise seen. Enjoy the pics!

Below: What do you think this is? A mosque? A historical building? This pic reminds me of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. But it's not a mosque. Keep scrolling.


Below: This is the same place. So beautiful with the intricate tile work.

Below: It's a mall!!!!!! Can you believe it? It's a shopping mall based on the theme of Ibn Battuta, the explorer. Each wing of the mall is decorated like a region of the world he visited on his travels. These pics are from Persia; there are also Egypt, India, China, and Tunisia wings.

Below: Here's another shot of the Persia area. That was my favorite wing, though the others were also beautiful.

Below: Here I am, putting on lipstick before getting my picture taken. Makes me think of pulling up to Wal-mart in my grandma's minivan when I was little. We'd park, mom and grandma would put on lipstick, then we could go in. I am continuing the tradition in my own way. :)

Below: Here's a shot in the Egypt wing. Most of my Egypt pics were really blurry for some reason, so I'm pleased this shot came out.

Below: This is the India wing. It's a take on the Taj Mahal, obviously, with what looks like intricate white marble carvings all over.

Below: This pic is from the China wing. It was really colorful and had this huge, gorgeous ship in the middle of everything.

Below: This pic is from the outdoor pool at the hotel where I stayed. The pool is on a deck on the 3rd floor and is surrounded by high rises on all four sides.

Below: This is the young man who offers Arabic coffee and dates as you enter the hotel. He is dressed like many, many men in Dubai. It took me a while to get used to seeing men in long, pure white robes and head coverings, and many men wore on their head a white or red-and-white cloth and a black band around the top, holding it on. I was shy to ask this young man for a picture, but he was delighted and gave me his email address and asked for a copy.

Below: This is a little blurry, but I wanted to get a picture of the political leader of Dubai in this blog posting. His image is everywhere: on billboards, posters, Tshirts, signs. Thirty years ago, Dubai was a desert, and now it's like Las Vegas. Apparently, the lightening-fast transition was primarily the work of this man.

Below: I was in Dubai during their National Day (like the U.S.'s Independence Day); the country was 38 years old on the Wednesday I was in town. There were displays like the one below in all the stores, and all day long the local TV stations featured 10-second or so clips of citizens wearing "I heart UAE" scarves saying why they love their country. It was really interesting, as the few clips I saw featured women in full burkas and men in the white robes and headdresses. Plus "I heart UAE" scarves. Juxtaposition.

Below: Here I am in front of a gorgeous local mosque.

Below: Here's an orange juice stand where I got some fresh juice. The guy in the blue shirt on the far right of the picture is Mitchell, an American guy on his way to India to study yoga and Buddhism. We met my first morning in Dubai and got to chitchatting and decided to meet the next day for siteseeing.

Below: Looking across the canal at the flashy new city and old fashioned boats.

Below: Another water pic.

Below: This is in the old area of town. This room is a coin museum (closed for National Day), and the dark wood doors you see along the walls cover ancient coins that are on display when the museum is open.

Below: An open area in front of a mosque in the old area of town.

Below: More of the mosque.

Below: This tower is in a traditional style that has openings on all 4 sides that channel any breeze down the tunnel in the tower to cool the room below. I thought that was such a neat design!

Below: This is a traditional nomadic dwelling, set up as a display in the area near the mosque and coin museum.

Below: The lovely palm-lined streets of Dubai.

Below: An old fashioned tour boat in front of the skyscrapers that fill the city.

Below: Me posing with a camel. You could take a ride around the old town on the camel for 20 dirams, but I opted for just a pic.

For Ms. Deming's Class

Below are some pictures of everyday objects. How can you tell that these pictures were not taken in your hometown? Where do you think they were taken? How could you find out?

Below: In the picture below is a FedEx delivery van. How is it different from a FedEx van you might see in Abilene? How is it the same?

Below: Read the sign below. What clues suggest that this sign is not in the U.S.?


Below: In the picture below is a public bus. What makes you think this bus might be in the U.S.? What makes you think this bus is not in the U.S.?

Below: Here is another familiar object....well, almost. What kind of writing is above the word "stop"? How could you find out? What do you think it says? What are some countries where this stop sign might be located?

Below: Here is the same type of familiar object. How is it the same as the one above? How is it different? What kind of writing is above the word "stop"? What do you think it says? Why do you think that? In what country might you see this sign?