Sunny, 72. The next weather report will be in 4 days.

(L.A. Story) That is so far from the weather here that it's not even funny. It is mostly sunny although it can get hazy and it's really hot. It's been in the 90's. This wouldn't mean much to me (as I don't yet leave the house really) except that we don't have central air. We do have smaller AC units in the bedrooms (which is good) but not in the main body of the apartment. This would be completely horrible except that there is a ton of wind. Air flow is the name of the game here and as we are on the 8th floor, there is lots of it. With all of our balconies, we open up all the doors and let the air flow freely. Add to that the ceiling fans and it can get hard to keep down loose papers (seriously, we have lost a couple out the back door).

The down side to all of this wind is that our floors get really dirty. There is an empty lot across the street which is just dirt and it blows in. My feet get so dirty that by the end of the day, I have to wash them before I go to bed. I think the wind is also drying me out. My feet are definitely starting on their callouses and I'm trying washing my hair every other day (which I have never been able to do before, not even in Utah).

We are also starting to get rain. We had a big storm the first day we were here with thunder and lightning (although I slept through most of it) and it has rained a number of times since then. These aren't the monsoon rains yet (though they will be coming before too long) but they have been just about every day and can get pretty strong if not for too long. The rain does cool things down but mostly I notice that it cuts down on the wind.

It is pretty humid (the rain has to come from somewhere) and I am just a little bit sweaty almost all the time. I have been surprised at how little this is all bothering me. While I have always taken cold much better than hot, I'm not that bothered by the hot and have taken the sweat in stride. Even Jason doesn't mind the wind (which till now has always been his weather nemesis). We are definitely being blessed to enjoy the weather.

(This picture is not here. This is on the mall in DC when we were visiting with Josh and Megan)

Exploring

Today we went out and about in the wide world. Jason has to work at least a half day on Saturdays so Sunday is really the only day that he is off off. If we weren't used to school when he is gone all day on Saturdays this would be more annoying than it is. Back to today. We arranged to have one of the office drivers (there are two and we can use them when they are not busy with office stuff) and Bindu's car take us out and about with Kaustav (an Indian from the office who is working here for just a couple of weeks, I didn't really get his story). There was some confusion with the car and we ended getting out later than we had planned but in the end it all worked out.

This is Adalaj Vav which is a step well that was built in 1499 for a chieftain's wife for hanging out with all her friends. While in the US we might just dig straight down and get a bucket, they dug in at an angle and used stairs to get to the water and offer lounging spaces under ground. It was then open from the top where the water was as well as at various points along the way. The lighting was really dramatic with the sun and shadow so the pictures were a little tricky, yeah for photoshop. We noticed that a big difference between here and if it were in the US is that here we were able to just climb all over it. In the US there would be guard rails practically everywhere so people didn't hurt themselves. I was also very glad that Anna is not older and was content to be in the wrap.

This is a view up the main well.

Here we are exploring.

This is the pavilion space as the stairs go downward.

Detailing of elephants along a wall.


Looking back up the steps.

From there we went to Sabarmati Ashram which is Gandhi's place. This is where it was really nice to have a native with us who could explain things. It occured to me that it was too bad that I hadn't seen the movie before but Kaustav was able to explain things to us. It helped us realize how great he is to the natives by thinking of what George Washington would be like to an American in about 1800. It's in the middle of town right along the river.

Gandhi's actual seat, wool spinner, etc in his bedroom.

Jason and Kaustav on Gandhi's porch.

Ellen and Anna in front of Gandhi statue (behind).

From there we went to the India Institute of Management. This is a really prestigious business school that was designed by Louis Kahn (a famous architect who taught at Penn). It was technically closed so we could only walk around the outside. As you can see, lots of brick.

Louis Kahn Plaza in the center of the campus.

Corridor

Lastly, we went to a famous Indian Architect's office that is still an active firm. It occurred to us that if it were any day but Sunday, we wouldn't have been able to go in there. hehehe The grounds were really pretty.


Anna was great for this whole trip even though it was hot and humid and we woke her up from her nap for it. She was able to sleep in the car (the well is in a neighboring town) so I think that helped. She was loved and admired everywhere. Sometimes too much so. When we got out of the car at the well, we were next to a mango cart (it's mango season) and one of the people wanted to hold her. Naturally we said no. Then when I was getting into the wrap, we let our driver hold her but he wouldn't give her back and started going down the steps with her! I was NOT ok with this and followed closely until we got to the bottom where Jason had to coerce her from him and give her back to me. I know they mean well but sometimes they are a little too friendly. Also, when we were at the well, another guy there took a picture of Anna and I. The lady by the mango cart got a picture with us also.

Tagged

Here is the view from our living room balcony. We are on the 8th floor. The day was a little hazy when I took this. Generally though we don't have much pollution and it's really clear.

I have been tagged by my sister Hilary. I was going to post pictures of our place today anyway so I'll just add a few extra ones to go with the tagging. So I will start with the tagging pictures and add the other ones after that.


1. Sink: Here is our kitchen sink. It's small and forces me to do dishes frequently which is good because we don't have very many dishes.

2. What Anna is doing right now: Sleeping, naturally. This is prime blogging time and it happens a lot as she is still doing two naps a day. As you can see, she is working on rolling over from back to front. She doesn't do it very often and doesn't quite make it all the way around when she does but she is working on it. Fortunately, she isn't doing it while I change her diaper yet. I thought about rolling her over but I didn't want to wake her up and she can roll over by herself, even in her sleep.


3. Laundry Room: We don't really have a laundry room so much as a porch for the washer with some bars to hang our clothes out to dry on. These clothes have been out since last night and the last time I checked, they were still a little bit damp. Apparently, clothes take a long time to dry when it is very humid and has rained (although they are covered so I don't think they were actually rained on).

4. Toilet: I wasn't going to take a picture of the bathroom because there is nothing really special about it but oh well. It does have pretty tiling. I think the hose next to the toilet is to clean the bathroom with, there is a drain that you can't see behind the toilet and a lip between this room and the bedroom.

5. Closet: We didn't bring many clothes with us because we knew it would be hot and I am in the middle of laundry so it's pretty empty. Jason's side has more clothes because he had to bring work clothes too. I also use this for toiletries' storage. As you can see I brought lots because I didn't know what we would be able to get here and I was shopping at Costco so why not?


6. Favorite Room: I don't really have a favorite room here yet so I guess I will say the bedroom because it has AC (more on that later) so I go there if I get too hot during the day. The door next to the bed is the bathroom and the closet is next to the doorway where the picture was taken. That blanket is very light which is good although sometimes is can get chilly with the AC and the ceiling fan both going.

7. Fridge: I added the bouncy chair for scale, it isn't usually right there. Our fridge is small but gets the job done. One funny thing about it is that it has a lock. I don't know why I would want to lock up my food, maybe if I didn't trust my roommate?


8. Favorite pair of shoes: Other than church shoes, these are the only pair I brought with us. I bought them right before we came and they are pretty comfy because they are Dr. Scholls. So far I've decided not to wear socks with them because I think it looks dorky. I'm thinking of getting some sandals here though because when we walk along the road, I get dirt in them and the dirt will come out of sandals easier. They do velcro tighter.


9. Self Portrait: I didn't shower with Jason before he went to work because he was running late and I didn't think he had time for me too so I haven't showered yet today but here I am, looking about like I have before but sweatier. I think I have decided that while I do like my haircut, I think the bangs are funny when my hair is in a ponytail (which it always is) so I'm thinking of growing them out.

10. Dream Vacation: As I am in India in Mango season I'm kind of having a hard time coming up with where I would want to go although family is always good to visit.

Now I will tag Amanda and MaryRuth.

Now on to the other pictures to tie these all together:

Our living room. There is a TV off camera and the door is to the left. Those windows look onto a balcony. There are also two ceiling fans.

The Dining Room. As you can see this is right off the living room and our bedroom is to the right. I think the chairs are kind of funky and the table is glass topped. Anna's seat is propped on two chairs so she can be a part of meals.
The Kitchen is if you turn around from the dining room. The door to the left (where the light is coming from) is the balcony with the washing machine. Behind the fridge is a pantry for our food. Notice there is no oven. We have a countertop stove and a microwave. Bindu (a woman in Jason's office who lives one floor up) has a countertop oven if we want to use it. Grace (the office secretary who is very nice) asked if I wanted an oven but I declined as it would just make the place more hot. The white thing next to the sink is our water purifier so we get safe water and don't have to buy bottles.

This little wall with shelves is next to the door to our bedroom and separates it from the next room and Anna's room (which I don't have a picture of but the door is visible to the right. There is also a sink to the right and another bathroom that you can't see next to it (towards the camera).

This is the room behind that wall. Anna's bedroom is to the right. I guess it would be a sitting room. The glass doors lead to another balcony and there is an unused master bedroom behind that door.
Here is the bedroom we don't use. I think it's the master bedroom because it's a little bit bigger and the bathroom is bigger with a nicer shower. We don't use this room because it has boxes in it from the office and it is more out of the way. Plus, I realized all of this after I had unpacked our stuff and didn't really want to move it. So the room goes unused. Rumor has it that when people come from the states to the office for a short time, we will be their host (which is why we got a three bedroom apartment rather than a two) in which case, they will get this room.


And finally, here is the view from the back balcony. As you can see, we are kind of on the edge of town in a newer area.

Here I am (in cheesy spanish accent)

(Zorro the Gay Blade) So we are in India now and got here mostly smoothly. The flights went well and we were able to stay on the same plane the whole way which was nice. We also got to have a bulkhead seat so Anna had a little bassinet to sleep in which was also nice. She did have a hard time on the last leg of the journey (the 45 min flight from Mumbai to Ahmadabad) and pretty much screamed the whole second half of it. Immigration was a little tricky because we didn't have our address here with us so we had to give them some other information to let them let us in the country but they did. Also, while most of our luggage made it through just fine, our stroller that we checked at the gate did not (the car seat did though) so we had to file a claim and are waiting to hear about that. On the plus side, with the delay that that took, getting through customs was really fast because the rest of our flight had already been through.

We are mostly moved in and settled in our apartment. It's a nice place and I will post pictures soon. So far this week we have mostly been getting our bearings, sleeping, settling in, and working (in Jason's case). Jason's office is being great with getting us stuff like any housewares that we need, plug adapters, an internet connection, advice on where to go and how to do things, a reference for a cook, offering to go shopping for us and other things like that. Also, our first day here, two different people invited us to meals which was good because there was little use-able food in the house.

We have noticed that the people here are all very friendly and great about helping us with things. And, of course, everyone loves Anna. Jason and I went for a walk one morning before work (he leaves at about 9:15 and gets home at about 7) and we were definitely stared at as we went down the street. Jason said it was more than when he walks by himself to work. We're thinking of exploring some of the city this weekend and have already had a number of people from the office offer to go with us. Isn't it funny how when you live somewhere you can't seem to go site seeing unless you are with someone who is visiting.

Small Hands, Smell Like Cabbage

(Austin Powers- the third one I think) Anna has discovered that her hands can do things. Not only are they fun to suck on but they can also pull out her binkie and on occasion put it back in. Although more often than not she ends up just sucking on the binkie tether (ribbon that attaches it to her clothes) or even sucking on the back of it. She can even grab onto her foot and hold things that have been placed right in front of her. She has a toy moose that she likes to bat at the feet then discovered that she can grab them and put them in her mouth.

This morning Anna was discovering what she can do with her face and discovered the pout. It was really cute to see as I was getting out of the shower. Yet another thing that is very cute now but won't be so cute a few years down the road.

It seems that either she learned a bunch of new stuff at once or else she was being neglected for the past little bit while we were moving and we didn't notice what she was doing. In that vein, she has started to crunch up her tummy like she is trying to sit up when she is lying on her back. Any day now she will just sit up all on her own.

Change in Plans

Well, we were supposed to be in India right now. However, we are not. Due to a few visa problems, we have had to push our flight back a week. At first, we were pretty upset but after a little bit of time thinking about it, we realized that it was for the best.

Here are the reasons why it is better that we are still in the states (in no particular order):
-It gives my anti-malarial drug a chance to kick in (we went with the one that takes a week to work and were just going to hope for the best.)
-It gives us time to finish up some logistical things before we go.
- We are able to spend some time with family (my brother Josh and his family are letting us stay with them and we are really enjoying that along with my Aunt and Uncle and cousins who live down the street).
-It gives us a little bit of a vacation after the craziness of packing and before the craziness of flying for 18 hours (the previous plan would have had us finish packing, drive 2.5 hours to my brother's house then 5 hours the next day to the airport then get on the plane. What were we thinking?)

Unfortunately with all of the good things, there is one bad thing: it gives me some time to freak out about the fact that I am going to India where we can't drink the water with a baby who will be at the put everything in her mouth stage. Not to mention the fact that we will be in the airplane for a long time and don't even get me started on dealing with the time change while trying to stop feeding her in the middle of the night. Mostly I've been trying not to think about it. I think it's time to go eat a cookie.

You will be happier

There is nothing quite like the experience of having a baby to start to get an inkling about what God must feel about and for us. Not only the love but the frustrations and the counsel. Just now, as I am putting Anna down for a nap, she doesn't seem to realize that she is tired and if she just goes to sleep, she will be happy. Instead, she seems to think that it's best to cry. When I go and check on her and put her binkie back in her mouth, I tell her to go to sleep, that she will be happier if she does. I don't know how much of that she understands but it reminded me of the Lord. He sees us struggling in whatever we have going on and tries to tell us what we can do to make us happy. From His perspective, He can see what we need much better then we can. Unfortunately, how often do we not hear what He is saying because we are too busy crying for what we think will be best for us. Or even just crying because we know something is wrong but don't know what it is. Our job here on earth seems to be to listen to what the Lord tells us and follow it to achieve the happiness that He knows will come when we do. It is my testimony that He does know what is best for us and what will make us happy and we can be happy as we follow His counsel. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.