H-O-T

Oh the heat here!!!

 I was warned.

 People, I spent every summer in west Texas, but I don't think the heat was quite like it is here in India. I wake up in the morning full of energy and plans (we sleep with the AC on), but by noon I am sprawled on the bed with my skirt pulled up as far as it can be while still being a somewhat proper Indian wife, zapped of any desire to move. (But I have to move to turn over every once in a while because the parts of the body touching the bed soon become drenched with sweat.) Even a trip to the bathroom takes much gathering of resources and droopy shuffling, with a huge sigh of relief when I return to plop back down. I don't even towel off after showers anymore, because those precious few moments before the drops of water evaporate are pure bliss. I now take two showers a day, sometimes three! Oh my lord.

 And it is only going to get hotter.

Halfway

This week has been full of new adventures!

 Now, don't get too excited. My excitement threshold is such that just leaving the house is cause for celebration. :)

Husband has been fabulous, taking walks with me in the evenings and out on the bike for his errands. He also took me to a couple of libraries to look for books in English. Both of them had about one shelf worth, but they weren't really books I would normally read. I was ready to sign up for a membership, when his cousin mentioned that she has a friend that has a bunch of English books. She called her friend and then came by one afternoon on her moped to take me to the friends house.

Now, just getting to go for a moped ride in Indian traffic is a thrill, but the prospect of more books made me giddy. Every speed bump that jolted my butt off the seat had me giggling like a girl.

 When we arrived, this extremely nice lady sent her teenage daughter out to get us all some ice cream. A moped ride, books, and ice cream?!!!! This has to go down as my favorite day so far!

 She teaches at an English medium school, and offered to ask her principal if I can come to school with her, to chat with the kids, and browse the school library. I would totally be interested, would love to chat with some kids that speak my language, and satisfy my curiosity about schools in India. (When I told my niece of this, she promptly insisted that I come to her school too. So this next week might be busy.) I ended up borrowing 13 books, and have already finished three...

Saturday evening, Husband picked me up and we went to meet his friends for drinks. Since this is a dry state, drinking takes place in people homes. We went to his cousins place, and I chatted with his two little sons and even got to ride a bicycle! I told you, lots of adventures. ;)

So. I am no longer bored. Besides the school visits, the other things I am looking forward to, is, one, my friend from Ahmedabad is coming down next weekend to meet the family and just hang out. She said she would bring me some magazines and I am beyond thrilled. And, two, before I fly home we are planning a trip to Goa! Yes, beautiful beaches and the laid back Indian life await me. I am happy that I will get to see more of this wonderful country.

Right now, I am in our room, and nephew is playing a game on the computer while four of his little friends are gathered around watching. I have no idea what they are saying, but their cheers and laughter are making me smile...

This Aries isn't made for the housewife life! (aka -Posting just to post)

 I totally want to post something witty and amazing, but I am out of steam. I look at the calendar and see that I still have 5 weeks to go, and I am about to jump out of my skin! I want to go back to work, I want to go back to Bikram yoga, I want to ride my bike to my favorite bar and have a few scotch & sodas while talking story with all my drinking buddies! I am thinking that 2 months of just sitting around reading is surprisingly not as fulfilling as I imagined it would be.
I am enjoying the time with my husband, and with the kids, and I do like being here, but the slow tick-tock of these endless days, are wearing me down. If my knee wasn't injured I might start going for runs just to burn off some energy. I cant focus, and I just keep obsessing about all the things that I need to do this summer. I am worried about my lovely job and how I might lose it because I took this time away. I am irritated by people who don't return emails. Argh!
Okay, enough with the negative. Sorry for the uninspiring post. I wish I had something going on to report on, but literally, there is NOTHING going on.
Ah. But...Maybe I should list all of the books I have read since I've been here. :)
-Someone Else's Garden    *Dipika Rai
-The Glass Castle   *Jeannette Walls
-An Instance of the Fingerpost   *Iain Pears
-Between the Assassinations   *Aravind Adiga
-His Dark Materials Trilogy   *Phillip Pullman
-Hotel   *Arthur Hailey
-Five Point Someone   *Chetan Bhagat
-If Today Be Sweet    *Thrity Umrigar
-Mother Pious Lady   *Santosh Desai
-A Girl Like Me   *Swati Kaushal
-Known Turf   *Annie Zaidi
-Hindi Bindi Club    *Monica Pradhan
-Being Indian   *Pavan K Varma
-A Fine Balance   *Rohinton Mistry

The last one I am still reading.
So 14 books in 3 weeks, and I still have 5 weeks to go. Hmmmm. I need to find a bookstore again. The train station here has Sidney Sheldon and Jeffrey Arthur. That is it. So I have been trying to get Husband to take me to Vadodara, a larger town a couple of hours away. We might go when the kids are done with exams and make a day out of it.
Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh..................................

It's like that only

 I am obsessed with this phrase that is uniquely Indian.
  "It is like that only."
 It is a response to many of my questions that I secretly think they don't have an answer to. So this phrase, accompanied by the Indian head wobble of course, pretty much slays any further questions I might have.
 It implies, how can you argue with this?
 "It is like that only" or "Just like that only" reminds me of when mothers say, "Because I said so!". No further argument please. And, how your mother would sometimes shorten it to "because!", my husband shortens "just like that only" to "just!"
 "Babes, why do Indians do the head wobble so much? "
 "Just!"
 No further comments required.
 You can put "only" on anything. "Sister-in-law, where did you go this afternoon?"
 "There only."
 Well.
 I love it. Every time I hear it, I copy it and do the head wobble. It might be the only thing I pick up in India, but I believe it will serve me the most. :)

India wins the semifinal against Pakistan

Cricket!
 I didn't know a thing about it before I married an Indian, but I have been lucky to be here during the World Cup. The family watches every game, and I am trying to understand it. Husband explains some and I also looked it up on Wikipedia. I like it! Not only is it an interesting game, but all the beautiful brown boys make it exciting to watch. You should check out the Indian captain, Dhoni, he is super handsome. I tell my husband that I only watch to watch Dhoni. ;) Heeheehee...
The semi-final was India vs Pakistan, and I guess they have a longstanding rivalry. It was pretty much a holiday here in India, with the banks, government offices and most shops closing early, and the streets were surprisingly deserted. Every time India got a wicket everyone would stream out of their houses and dance with the neighbors in the streets, hooping and hollering, lighting firecrackers. I couldn't help but get caught up in the excitement.
 It was a long game but I guess they usually are. Started at 2.30pm and ended about 10.30pm. When India won, it was pandemonium in the country. The news was full of shots of people dancing in the streets and fireworks going off. Here in this town, the neighbors were all out, dancing and drumming, running around with India flags, lighting firecrackers and just smiling at everyone. Husband took nephew and I on the motorbike to see what was going on outside the neighborhood. I made a video for you. :)

My sad tummy :(

 I totally want to do a post about the magic of my bowels right now, but since most won't appreciate it, I will spare you. :) But, you should know, that if you ever spend any significant time in India, you will become obsessed with what is happening there. :) 

I heart riding Indian trains.

 I finally got out of the house!! Went to Ahmedabad to visit an American girl who has been living here since January. I found her on the Expat Blog website a few months ago and we became chatty, chatty FB friends.
 On Saturday morning, Husband took me to the train station and helped me find my car. I had to kick someone out of my seat and I was one of two women in the whole car. The staring is still a little hard to deal with. The journey was about 4 hours, and I just read the whole time. I didn't have a window seat and when I did look out the window, the person sitting next to it would turn and stare at me. So strange. In the US, we would just ignore each other.
 I thought it would be easy for two pasty white girls to connect right away, but the mass of people at the Ahmedabad train station made finding each other a bit difficult. We called each other but the loud speakers announcing trains made it impossible to hear. We finally resorted to texting, and found each other near the entrance.
 Then came the inevitable crush of autorickshaw drivers asking us if we wanted a ride and quoting exorbitant amounts as we are obviously tourists. Ha! C had just taken an auto to get there so she knew how much it should be. After a lot of haggling, we were on our way.
 We went straight to her place to drop off my bag, and then headed out to find a bookstore. Yep, thats right, all I wanted from the trip was some new books. :)
 It was fun trying to fill each other in on the stories that brought us to India, and the things we find silly , difficult and outrageous about it here. Our conversation was all over the place, jumping back and forth between many things. It was so nice to be understood, and find some sympathy for the cultural things we are both dealing with.
 After we bought books and Hindi movies (with English subtitles!), we just went back to her place and laid around reading and watching Hindi MTV. My favorite kind of day.
 We ordered food to be delivered, had some beers, and visited with two of her friends that stopped by.
 The next morning was a lazy one , and the afternoon found us visiting a mall, where we were the only white people and the source of amusement for the young Indian boys who hang out there. Especially after we found a Scary House and came out of it screaming with delight. I wont tell you where we had lunch, it is too embarrassing to mention, but sometimes the familiar in an unfamiliar place just draws you in. ;)
 A little more of hanging out at her place and then it was time for me to catch my train. Her friends came to give us a ride and help me find my car, which is always appreciated. They left me safely in my window seat and I settled in.
 Window seat!
 I love the window. Watching the countryside fly by, feeling the wind and dust on my face, having a front row seat to the action at the stations. It is perfect for daydreaming. The older man sitting next to me took me under his wing, buying me peanuts, asking me questions, and telling me when my stop was the next one. There was a couple with a toddler sitting across from us and it was fun making faces at her, smiling at the parents. Smiling is my main form of communication here, and I am getting more comfortable using it. :) I am also getting more comfortable traveling in India by myself, and can't wait for the day when I can just spend a few months just wandering this beautiful country, speaking Hindi, and making friends of all ages. I think that I married him just to be married to India. :)