Today...was cleaning day, but first I must post a picture of my bathroom so you can appreciate how cleaning bathrooms in India is totally the bomb!
The absolute best part of this is that there is no drying involved...put cleaner on, scrub, scrub, scrub, pour water to clean it off, done, done, done! Ok, here's the weird part about the bathroom...see all the knobs on the wall for water? Yeah, not so sure what they all do, or if they even all have a purpose, but I know that hot water comes out of the one with the pipe attached (as long as you turn the hot water heater on. Oops!) All the buckets? Um, I have no idea. The "window" above the toilet, yep, I can tell if the neighbor is in their bathroom as well. But, my favorite thing is on the top right hand side, the dark hole...yep, you guessed it! It's a hole...in the wall. (I'm guessing it's the built in vent.)
Ok, enough housekeeping...let's get on to the good stories! Haha. Today was another trip to find kitchen utensils and cooking crap. I keep thinking if I buy a new spoon, or a new pot, food will appear in the kitchen that I will know how to cook! I would like to think that last statement isn't true, but even with all the new items I bought, we had cold cereal for dinner (it beats Ramen Noodles!). Besides, I'm stocking the kitchen with useful items that the next family that comes will need...Karli Riley. (hehehe) Wait, let me back up a bit. The other day Ryan and I were at the store and we found a magazine that is called 'Yo! Vizag', so of course we had to buy it to see what it was about. In this magazine (which I'm sure most good size cities around the US would have as well) was a list of tourist attractions, places to go, etc. Basically, you pay for either ad space or as a listing for a business. Ok, so after I went to the kitchen store I asked my driver if he knew where a store was that was listed in my handy dandy magazine. Because certainly if it had an address, you'd at least know how to get there! With the address (which is a whole other weird thing around here) and street name, it even has what it was around, the area, whatever. So I ask him, "you know?". He looks and reads and shakes his head yes and we start driving. Typically when we drive I look out the window, up, down, everywhere because there is so much to look at, and even if I've been on the same road 18 times and the buildings haven't changed, the scenery around the buildings have. So we're driving and I'm looking and I see a huge green sign that says 'Bagles'. But, I didn't want to confuse Raju (the driver, and yes, we are on a first name basis...I even bought him a Coke and shared corn nuts with him!), so I said nothing knowing it wasn't the bagel shop I had directed him to. About 5 or 6 turns later, he pulls the car over and says, "No, no, no". What? You just said "yes" and we passed a bagel shop a few turns back and now it's a "no"? So instead of trying to explain to him that I saw a bagel shop (I stopped explaining things to him because he started explaining things to me and I don't understand anything he's saying, so I'm guessing he's not understanding me, either), I say, "Any bagel shop...you know?" "Yes, yes", he says. So away we go, and go, and go and drive around for 20 or so minutes. Now during this 20 minute scenic view around Vizag, I'm trying to figure out at what point do you just say "never mind...I'm good". Is it after almost running into a kid on a bike? Nope. After going the wrong way down what seems to be a one way street (or at least only wide enough for one car?) Nope. How about after honking at a cow 50ish times thinking it will move? Nope. It was only when we started going in circles and I could tell he had no idea where we were going that I said, "No, no, take me home." That was quite an experience. But, once again..I will not rest until I taste a bagel to see if it the same or not!
For lunch Ryan and I went out with a team of employees. Evidently they had a restaurant in mind, but Ryan, being the adventurous type, wanted to try an Italian restaurant we found out about in our handy dandy magazine...'Flying Spaghetti Monster'. If you ever want to make someone in this country feel uncomfortable, take them to an Italian restaurant. Know they know how we felt when we went to the Indian Food Buffet the other day...haha. Both lunches were so enjoyable as it gives us a chance to really talk and get to know them.
Lastly, but certainly not least, when the boys went swimming today, Davis, Dallan and Brayden were able to try fresh coconut milk and fresh coconut.Davis gave it a thumbs up, Brayden tolerated it and Dallan spit it out!
Ok, enough housekeeping...let's get on to the good stories! Haha. Today was another trip to find kitchen utensils and cooking crap. I keep thinking if I buy a new spoon, or a new pot, food will appear in the kitchen that I will know how to cook! I would like to think that last statement isn't true, but even with all the new items I bought, we had cold cereal for dinner (it beats Ramen Noodles!). Besides, I'm stocking the kitchen with useful items that the next family that comes will need...Karli Riley. (hehehe) Wait, let me back up a bit. The other day Ryan and I were at the store and we found a magazine that is called 'Yo! Vizag', so of course we had to buy it to see what it was about. In this magazine (which I'm sure most good size cities around the US would have as well) was a list of tourist attractions, places to go, etc. Basically, you pay for either ad space or as a listing for a business. Ok, so after I went to the kitchen store I asked my driver if he knew where a store was that was listed in my handy dandy magazine. Because certainly if it had an address, you'd at least know how to get there! With the address (which is a whole other weird thing around here) and street name, it even has what it was around, the area, whatever. So I ask him, "you know?". He looks and reads and shakes his head yes and we start driving. Typically when we drive I look out the window, up, down, everywhere because there is so much to look at, and even if I've been on the same road 18 times and the buildings haven't changed, the scenery around the buildings have. So we're driving and I'm looking and I see a huge green sign that says 'Bagles'. But, I didn't want to confuse Raju (the driver, and yes, we are on a first name basis...I even bought him a Coke and shared corn nuts with him!), so I said nothing knowing it wasn't the bagel shop I had directed him to. About 5 or 6 turns later, he pulls the car over and says, "No, no, no". What? You just said "yes" and we passed a bagel shop a few turns back and now it's a "no"? So instead of trying to explain to him that I saw a bagel shop (I stopped explaining things to him because he started explaining things to me and I don't understand anything he's saying, so I'm guessing he's not understanding me, either), I say, "Any bagel shop...you know?" "Yes, yes", he says. So away we go, and go, and go and drive around for 20 or so minutes. Now during this 20 minute scenic view around Vizag, I'm trying to figure out at what point do you just say "never mind...I'm good". Is it after almost running into a kid on a bike? Nope. After going the wrong way down what seems to be a one way street (or at least only wide enough for one car?) Nope. How about after honking at a cow 50ish times thinking it will move? Nope. It was only when we started going in circles and I could tell he had no idea where we were going that I said, "No, no, take me home." That was quite an experience. But, once again..I will not rest until I taste a bagel to see if it the same or not!
For lunch Ryan and I went out with a team of employees. Evidently they had a restaurant in mind, but Ryan, being the adventurous type, wanted to try an Italian restaurant we found out about in our handy dandy magazine...'Flying Spaghetti Monster'. If you ever want to make someone in this country feel uncomfortable, take them to an Italian restaurant. Know they know how we felt when we went to the Indian Food Buffet the other day...haha. Both lunches were so enjoyable as it gives us a chance to really talk and get to know them.
Lastly, but certainly not least, when the boys went swimming today, Davis, Dallan and Brayden were able to try fresh coconut milk and fresh coconut.Davis gave it a thumbs up, Brayden tolerated it and Dallan spit it out!
Thanks for the spoon and pot Christina! How is that new mattress coming along? PS - I'd love for that bathroom to be your next weekend project if you ever pass a Home Depot - haha! Love ya!
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