Today the boys decided they were pooped out and wanted a break, so I took advantage of the opportunity to spend a little time at the mall. When I say mall, I don't really mean "mall", like you would think, however there are multiple stores in an enclosed multilevel building with a food court...but it's still not a mall like I know malls. Other than the two "anchor" stores, 'Reliance' and 'CMR', the stores are very, very small. Although they vary in size, 20'x20' is a good estimate for their "showroom". Anyway, I got to the "shopping center" a few minutes after opening, about 10:10 am to find many, many employees, probably 30 or so hustling and bustling. Cleaning, straightening, standing around talking to people that are cleaning and straightening...you get the idea. I wasn't shopping for anything in particular, I mostly just wanted to see what was available. The ladies clothing was on the 2nd floor and I was quickly directed up the stairs because I was heading towards the mens' department that was on the lower level. Evidently I either looked lost or I am not supposed to go shopping for my husband (man, I feel like such a liberal woman in this country). As I am the only customer walking around all the beautiful sarees, shalwar kameez, scarves (to see the difference, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothing_in_India), in all sorts of cottons and silks, I never had to look far for someone to help me. There was always someone right behind me, literally, behind me. If I stepped backward I would have stepped on their feet. It was great when I had a question, not so great when I was just looking. Regardless, I never had to wait or look for someone, not like I would have in most stores in the states.

After purchasing a few more "home goods", which is where most of my rupees seem to be going, I decided I wanted to find a new pair of shoes. For those of you that don't know me personally, I'm pretty tall. Right under 5'9" ( I have no idea what the metric translation for that is). Along with my height comes relatively large feet, size 10 to be exact. I'm not sure what that translates to in European sizes, but it must be somewhere along the line of a 43, because the largest shoe size they carry at the store I went to was a 42. That doesn't really fit my size 10 (sometimes 11) shoe size. But the sweet employees that were "helping" me were sure that they worked just fine.  My quest for black shoes quickly changed to shoes that would fit, but in the end I found nothing.  Alas, I will try again, and probably find defeat in my way. I will keep you posted.


After shopping at the shopping center, and getting more groceries, I met Ryan and a few other employees for lunch. We went to a buffet at the Sheraton Hotel in Vizag. The hotel was beautiful, so beautiful we decided we'd probably take a night and spend it there. Mostly because they had a really nice, clean pool, but definitely because they had waffles and bacon on the menu. Mmmm, bacon!


Today wasn't super adventurous, no crowds forming, no pictures taken of me, some time away from the kids, but regardless, here are my thoughts some 2 weeks into India...


Discoveries: 

• Showering in a bathroom that is shared with a toilet, makes for some pretty interesting toilet paper.
• I have a "trash genie". All I have to do is put my trash outside my apartment door and someone picks it up. I have no idea who, but that is what I was told to do. Along those lines, I have not seen any other apartment with trash outside the doors.
• Either we take our driver to random places that are not very well known or this city is bigger than I think it actually is.
• The older generation stares at us, the younger generation wants to ask questions about America if they speak English, if they don't speak English, they smile, but are so willing to help us out.

Things I've learned to let go of:

• dirt...if it's clean dirt, it's just dirt.
• blow drying my hair, putting on make-up and for the most part showering. Mostly because I have to plan so much time for my hair to dry and I am used to just getting ready and going in so much less time than it takes me here...but don't get me wrong, I do shower.
• The kids wearing clean clothes.  Once again, if it's clean dirt, it's just dirt. If it attracts flies or any other sort of flying thing, it goes in the washer!

Things I miss:

• Counter space in the kitchen.
• A good knife.
• A washing machine that actually spins the water out of clothes (but soooo grateful for a washing machine).
• carpet, all the floors here are made of tiles, everywhere we have gone. (A rug may be my next purchase...but then I'd need a vacuum).
• Outside space to make my children go "play outside".
• lettuce 
• The obvious, friends and family

What I love about India:

• The cost of surfing lessons.
• fresh vegetables/fruits at market, that are mostly organic, but don't cost 3x's the price because of it.
• The little personal sized pineapple (I'll take a picture next time we get one, they're so cute...and yummy).
• The billions and billions of fresh mango we've seen.
• The experiences we've had here together as a family.
• Definitely, most definitely, the people!