Morning 1.....baby did surprisingly well last night considering the drastic change in environment and time zone change she has experienced in the last day. She went to bed around 10 and only got up 3 times- I expected her to be up all night crying and confused but she has been really adaptable.
Roy went out this morning for medicine- he picked up a cold somewhere. So, how medicine is typically purchased here is you go to roadside shop and tell the guy what your symptoms are and he gives you some meds. You also tell the 'pharmacist' how many you want- you can literally purchase 1 pill or as many as you want. They are cheap- 10 rupees for 5 or 6 which is like 20 cents.
While he was gone and baby was sleeping I had some free time to stand outside on the balcony and people watch. I saw a guy coming to deliver milk to the neighbor across the street in typical Indian fashion- he came on a bike with metal containers of milk hanging off the handle bars. This would be fresh milk- warm, and he went to the neighbor and the cutest little school girl came out with a bowl and he poured it in and left. Families like this would have contracts with these milkmen to pay so much per month for this daily service. Not sure how much it would cost, but I will see if I can find out.
Right after the milkman left, a pretty old guy on a bike came selling newspapers on the street. He had big bags full of paper tied to the side of the bike. He calls out- paper! as he rides down the street. He is wearing all white- including the traditional Indian man bottoms of a dhoti which in my terms is a wrap skirt- short to the knee, but some men wear them long to the floor. On his way out of the street he stopped to dig through the neighbors garbage where he apparently found some old floor tiles worthy of taking along.
Then the cute school girl and her sister left the neighbor house for school. They walked to the end of the street and a small van came and got them- the kind of van you would call 911 if you saw in your neighborhood....teal blue and beat up but you could see was filled with all school girls in the cutest uniforms you have ever seen- I'll try and get a picture later.
Kids here seem to be especially fascinated by white people. I have yet to see another white person while I have been here. They stare at me more than adults (and the adults stare an uncomfortable amount of time) but kids are a little more brave to wave or point or even smile like they have just seen something forbidden. Last time I was here, I had a little girl chase me to take my picture- who knows where that picture ended up, I sure hope its not in their house framed or something.
People get up really early here- lots work in town so they have a long commute in. Others don't seem to have a specific job but are just standing around or doing some odd job like selling flowers or veges on the roadside. They take enormous pride in these jobs. The life is just so simple it truly makes you think about how complicated we live back home.
We are going grocery shopping in a bit to buy some American food for dinner. Mashed potatoes, gravy and Cajun chicken on the grill. I sure hope I can find some frozen chicken, but all signs point to a chicken dying later today (I won't stick around for the show). Also we don't actually have a grill here, but apparently Roy thinks he can construct one (in typical Indian style) using things you can purchase from a local store or have laying around the house. Should be interesting. Family seems excited to try the food- although the may just be humoring me....but I gotta say the chocolate cake his sister and I made last night seemed to be a big hit. That kind of dessert is not typical and for most (Roy's school friends stopped over last night) it was their first experience. It was a challenge figuring out how to cook it in their microwave/convection oven which works in Celsius but overall I thought it tasted pretty good.
Time for a quick shower and then off to shop!
Roy went out this morning for medicine- he picked up a cold somewhere. So, how medicine is typically purchased here is you go to roadside shop and tell the guy what your symptoms are and he gives you some meds. You also tell the 'pharmacist' how many you want- you can literally purchase 1 pill or as many as you want. They are cheap- 10 rupees for 5 or 6 which is like 20 cents.
While he was gone and baby was sleeping I had some free time to stand outside on the balcony and people watch. I saw a guy coming to deliver milk to the neighbor across the street in typical Indian fashion- he came on a bike with metal containers of milk hanging off the handle bars. This would be fresh milk- warm, and he went to the neighbor and the cutest little school girl came out with a bowl and he poured it in and left. Families like this would have contracts with these milkmen to pay so much per month for this daily service. Not sure how much it would cost, but I will see if I can find out.
Right after the milkman left, a pretty old guy on a bike came selling newspapers on the street. He had big bags full of paper tied to the side of the bike. He calls out- paper! as he rides down the street. He is wearing all white- including the traditional Indian man bottoms of a dhoti which in my terms is a wrap skirt- short to the knee, but some men wear them long to the floor. On his way out of the street he stopped to dig through the neighbors garbage where he apparently found some old floor tiles worthy of taking along.
Then the cute school girl and her sister left the neighbor house for school. They walked to the end of the street and a small van came and got them- the kind of van you would call 911 if you saw in your neighborhood....teal blue and beat up but you could see was filled with all school girls in the cutest uniforms you have ever seen- I'll try and get a picture later.
Kids here seem to be especially fascinated by white people. I have yet to see another white person while I have been here. They stare at me more than adults (and the adults stare an uncomfortable amount of time) but kids are a little more brave to wave or point or even smile like they have just seen something forbidden. Last time I was here, I had a little girl chase me to take my picture- who knows where that picture ended up, I sure hope its not in their house framed or something.
People get up really early here- lots work in town so they have a long commute in. Others don't seem to have a specific job but are just standing around or doing some odd job like selling flowers or veges on the roadside. They take enormous pride in these jobs. The life is just so simple it truly makes you think about how complicated we live back home.
We are going grocery shopping in a bit to buy some American food for dinner. Mashed potatoes, gravy and Cajun chicken on the grill. I sure hope I can find some frozen chicken, but all signs point to a chicken dying later today (I won't stick around for the show). Also we don't actually have a grill here, but apparently Roy thinks he can construct one (in typical Indian style) using things you can purchase from a local store or have laying around the house. Should be interesting. Family seems excited to try the food- although the may just be humoring me....but I gotta say the chocolate cake his sister and I made last night seemed to be a big hit. That kind of dessert is not typical and for most (Roy's school friends stopped over last night) it was their first experience. It was a challenge figuring out how to cook it in their microwave/convection oven which works in Celsius but overall I thought it tasted pretty good.
Time for a quick shower and then off to shop!
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