It has been a couple days since my last post because we left Delhi and arrived in Vizag. Ryan has to take the computer to work, so I'm limited to his time back at the apartment to be able to update. Interestingly enough, when you are not sleeping on the most comfortable mattress, you don't feel like you need 9 hours of sleep at night. Funny how that works. So I am up at 3:00am updating things for all you people!

We left Delhi on on Thursday afternoon to leave for Vizag. The name of the town is actually Vishakhapatnam, and initially I was going to try to phonetically spell it for you, but everyone pronounces it differently here as well, so we'll just refer to it as Vizag.

I can't help but reminisce for a moment on our 4 days spent in Delhi. Our bed and breakfast hosts were so kind and willing to help us with everything we needed. Drivers, water, food, information, omelets and toast, whatever. Truly a spirit of the people that India has to offer. Here are some of the food items they served us for breakfast the last morning.

This was a steamed rice piece with some sort of vegetable sauce over the top. 

Looks kinda like a donut. Doens't taste like it.

Rice dish with potatoes in it. Very good, Ryan said it reminds him of stuffing.

Family we stayed with in Delhi

Potato chips...Conor was in heaven!

 

Before I put Delhi to a close I have to share some favorite memories:

First has to be the driving. In a city with millions and millions of people, without regard for posted traffic rules (because there actually are signs with posted rules), there is still some weird sort of a chaotic flow. Between the different sizes of vehicles and people walking and bikes, it is amazing we only saw one little accident between a motorcyclist and an auto rickshaw.

Brayden and Davis decided their favorite memory was of the Taj Mahal. Then Brayden added to that..."When Davis got chased by the monkey". Ok, story time.  We were traveling from Delhi to Agra to go see the Taj. I told you all of the animals we spotted along the way. Well, about 7:00am we stopped for breakfast at a half-way spot. When we got out of the car the boys spotted a wild monkey behind us walking along a wall. He jumped up a tree and was sitting on the wall when the boys had to get out their ipods to take a picture.  Davis got a little too close, about 10 feet away and the monkey didn't like it, so he jumped off the wall and turned towards Davis and started running after him, making crazy monkey noises.  Our driver was able to interfere and put himself between the monkey and Davis, and Davis, with sheer terror on his face started running for us. We couldn't stop laughing, and neither could the other people around. Funny how laughter is a common language.

Now, on to everyday life in Vizag:

Getting off the plane in Vizag was fun, not only because we get the occasional stares, but we are in a place where we know people. Not me, but Ryan. Ryan has worked with this team of developers for quite some time now, and chats with them several times a week, so there are already people we "know"...and it makes all the difference in the world.  The population of Vizag is about 1.4 million (although I read that from a book...the same book that told me the 3 1/2 hour drive from Delhi to Agra was only 2 hours...so I'm not sure of the exact population), but whatever it is, it is A LOT less than Delhi.  And there is a noticeable difference. While traveling to the apartment I noticed a lot less trash, the streets are better kept, not as much traffic, and it's a lot more humid. We also encountered our first man vs. large city truck accident. I've come to this conclusion in traffic laws, the only law is this, the bigger you are the more authority you have. This goes for ambulance drivers, "traffic police", anyone...unfortunately this was very true for the person that did not make it across the street. Luckily, none of the kids saw the body on the side of the road. Brayden was too busy looking at all the people standing around, he missed the body, Ryan covered Conors eyes and the other 2 were pre-occupied. Hopefully, that is the last time we will experience something like that.

So, this bring us to the apartment. Hmmm, it makes me wonder if I should show pictures or not...those of you that think we are on this lavish vacation, you can put your minds at ease. Vacation time is over and reality has officially set in. There is nothing lavish about where we will be for the next 6 weeks or so. Very basic, not at all family friendly, and not anything I've ever lived in all my life. (That's not totally true, there was that hotel I lived in for 2 weeks with I was in 5th grade with my mom and 2 brothers...but that's for another time, and I was too young to notice details.) Even when we were first married and we had our first apartment and we'd turn on the lights and the cockroaches would scatter, it didn't matter because we were in love and love conquers all, right? Yes, love does conquer all, because if I didn't love my husband with every fiber of my being, I would have walked back out of the apartment and said, "See ya when you get home!"  As soon as we walked in the apartment I had 3 thoughts run through my head. (WARNING: the follow thoughts are raw and uncensored, this might get a little explicit for young readers and it might change your views of me for others.) My initial thought was, "HELL NO!, What in the world was I thinking?".  Then, smiling and toughening up a little, it softened with a "I've got a lot of work to do".  But, in the quiet moment of looking around and taking it all in and realizing I get to leave this in a short time to go home to all my luxuries and comforts, it dawned on me that there are so many others that have it worse than my "hell no" and there is nothing else for them to go "home" to in less than a blink of an eye.

The first night we went to bed early, but the a/c in our bedroom wasn't working, so I went out in the living room, put a sheet on the couch and slept in there. At sometime during the night I woke up and was in my all too familiar routine of "I can't  sleep so I am going to think" phase, and I really think I saw a slight glimpse of the future. As a member of  'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints', we send missionaries out into world at the age of 19. The world, people, not just around the corner. Boys (they leave as boys and come back as men) and girls (at age 21), go off, without their mom and dad, without their friends, without any of the outside world and live in conditions similar (or probably worse) to what we are in now. I just laid on the couch and had this thought, that I am able to experience this in some small way, with my family, and hopefully prepare my boys for what they will encounter when they are of that missionary age and go off on their own. Then they can write home and say, "Mom, remember the apartment we lived in when we were in India? Yeah, that was way better that what I live in now." Haha, I know it might be a little random, but it has all been part of this experience. Ok, so here are a few pictures:

Kitchen

Notice the positive, people, I have a microwave and toaster!

Dining Room...WITH A FREEZER! 

Bathroom...and yes, that is the shower head on the wall. Ryan's comment to Brayden, "It gives a whole new meaning to peeing in the shower". Great, just great!

Light switches, Before

Light switches after my clorox bleach wipes went to work.

Ok,  now that you've seen mostly where we will be staying, funny story for you.  So, the company has an office manager that will get anything we need. For instance, when we got here the fridge was stocked with milk, eggs, water, thumbs up (a Coke product that has a stronger flavor),  jam, etc. Anything we need we call him. So, the air conditioner isn't working and Ryan calls me to let me know there will be somebody coming by to fix it. Within 45 minutes there is a knock on the door.  I open the door and there is this little woman standing there. She hands me a newspaper, not in English, and I tell her, "no ,thank you" and give it back.  She asks' something to the effect of, "Can I clean your floors?"  Now, you have to remember everybody wants to do something here to earn some money. And I don't trust anyone, so I refuse her services and tell her "no, thank you". She continues to speak to me (not in English) and I have not a clue what she is saying.  I smile and say "I don't understand," and just proceed to close the door on her face.  About 5 minutes later another knock...same lady. She's trying to explain to me what she is saying and I just say "no, thank you, no, thank you." Of course I had a smile the whole time, because I am so nice! After she leaves Brayden and I laugh about what a funny lady she is.  She goes away...finally. 30 minutes or so later, the office manager comes to fix the a/c. He walks in with the person who is working on it and goes straight for the bedroom. A few minutes later he comes out and says to me in his broken English, "Did the maid come by yet today?"  What!? What!? Are you kidding me?  How in the world did I miss the memo that I have a maid that comes in and cleans my floors everyday. He laughs and I ask him if he will apologize for me. I guess the jokes on me.  But, the biggest question is, "Can I get a cook, too?" Haha, totally kidding.

So, we (meaning me) spent the first day in the apartment cleaning and getting things put away while the boys played on their ipods. I needed to do some laundry so I was making piles of dirty clothes, etc. (Yes, I have a washing machine!) Time to put the clothes in the washer when I realize, oh, yeah, the power is going to be out in a few minutes. Oh, did I forget to mention there are rolling blackouts here? Yes, 3 a day. One from 7-9am, one from 12-2pm and one from 7-8pm, to help conserve energy. The way I look at it is that it's during breakfast, lunch and dinner.  All the more reason not to cook! Oh, except my stove is propane (or something connected to a tube) and I don't need power for that.

For the most part we stayed in the apartment , but in the evening, one of Ryans co-workers, Sri, took us to the grocery store to get some food.  It's amazing how the smallest things can have the biggest impacts. We were looking for flour to make crepes, which is a favorite of our kids.  Only, here it isn't called flour. It is called 'maida'. It only took us 20 minutes to figure that out. Oh, and the costco size eggs cartons we buy for our family, you know, the 5 dozen at a time size, yeah, they sell them here in 6's. Not 6 dozen, 6 in a carton, 1/2 dozen. But, if you're looking for pringles or oreos or Hersey syrup, look no further than the local grocery store.

So, today is Saturday, and we have a driver to come pick us up to take up wherever we want to go about 9:00. I think we'll be heading to the beach to let the boys unwind from being cooped up yesterday. However, by 9:00, I think I will be ready for a nap.