Where am? In my room at the Guest House at the
university/hospital in Ponnekarra. I
just found out that I have been pronouncing this wrong, not Po-neh-kar-ra but
Po-neck-kor-ra with the emphasis on NECK.
How am I? Very good. But you already know that.
Sorry
I haven’t updated this blog is a very long time. I did get to send out my
Christmas letter to most of you so that gave you a lot of info on me. But for those of you who didn’t get it, I’ll
attach it.
You
have to understand that everything is different here – even the internet. When I open Google and Yahoo they are Google
India and Yahoo India. So it’s difficult
for me to get what’s happening in the US. That’s why I appreciate it so much
when you write to me.
This is going to be a long Posting so read what you want
and disregard what you find boring.
I
found this on Yahoo India one day “When Chris Hemsworth aka Thor aka
Every-Girl’s-Dream-Come-True was in Asia lately for the filming of Michael
Mann’s movie, fans traversed from Hong Kong to Singapore to Malaysia chasing
after the chiselled Adonis for a glimpse of him. Asia is fast becoming filming
hotspots for blockbuster movies, so it’s no surprise that Asia is deemed to be
the next ‘Hollywood’. Get your popcorns ready for our favourite movie spots in
Asia!”
I
sure have gone to the movies seeing everything I can that comes here in
English. I did see Thor 2, and
two days ago I saw The Life and Times of Walter Mitty and yesterday I
saw The Wolf of Wall Street. These last two movies were excellent. I
have missed quite a few movies and started making a list on my computer of what
I want to see on DVD when I get back. I’ll be hibernating for a while but it
will be summertime so I will want to stay home and be in A/C. Netflix has already
sent me a very attractive offer to join again.
Life is going
well for me with the countdown to my leaving in February. I just bought my
tickets this week and I am going to Densapar, Bali on February 20th, and continue on to Perth, Australia on February 27th.
That gives me one week to relax, get massages every day, let myself be
pampered.
So I have
missed telling you about the way I spent my holidays and also a highlight of my stay here in India. I
already mentioned to you that I helped to host 10 people from Sri Lanka who
came here as consultants for a Micro-Finance plan for village women. It turned
out to be a blast. I am not a financial person at all, I was just making sure
they got what they needed (rooms, meals, transportation) but it was truly amazing,
traveling with the 9 women in the back of a private bus with Indian (think
Bollywood) music blasting and them dancing and singing. Of course they made me
get up and join them. It was a hoot.
And shopping! I have heard of “shop to
your drop” but with these women it was shop until you run out of money and since
they were financial people, the one man kept refurbishing their resources. The
last day they were here we went shopping, then to see that dance theatre Kathakali,
then after the show we went shopping again. The stores were closing, it was
already after 9:00 p.m. but the shopkeeper was making so much money he stayed
open, and even opened another shop he had with other merchandise to accommodate
the women. They bought so much stuff they were buying suitcases to put it in to
take back to Sri Lanka. It really made my heart sing that they were not rich
women but they were self made wealthy women with their Micro-Finance scheme. And
they weren’t buying stuff for themselves, they were buying gifts for everyone
they knew and worked with. They were unbelievably generous women. I will never
forget them. Yes, they even gave me, my co-workers and the bus driver gifts!
And we didn’t get back to the Guest House until Midnight!
Christmas? Christmas slide
past me very quietly and quickly. I
stayed that night at my friend’s brand new home, very beautiful with all the “Western”
bells and whistles. I had a hot shower. And we listened to Christmas music from
the internet. I was able to YouTube
hours of play of classic carols. And
then kids came to our door. My friend speaks the local language so I called her
and she found some candy she had in the house and gave it to them. They really
didn’t sing, they chanted with one person calling out “HAPPY” and the others
replying “CHRISTMAS”. Also, they had
someone dressed up in a Santa Claus outfit with a hideous mask. But the exuberance they had was touching.
Remember only around 15% of the population here is Christian. There are Muslims
and Hindis in all the surrounding houses.
Over the holidays there was a huge
Christmas tree at the mall I go to and there were English movies, children's
animated movies, one about Turkeys a couple of weeks ago and then Frozen,
which turned out to be based on a Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tale. Yes, I
went to see it.
It's constant summer here, no
change. It has been 87 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit the whole time. Lately it’s been getting cool enough during
the night that I can turn off the fan but it’s on again as soon as the sun
comes up.
And I never told you about
Thanksgiving. I had that over at my girlfriend’s home. There are two roommates
there, an Indian named Reshma, and a California girl named Eileen. Eileen is my age, a retired Microbiologist
who volunteers at the university teaching classes and also at the hospital where
she is in charge of Infection Control. Reshma is a younger woman who is in
charge of the International Marketing office at the hospital. Think Medical
Tourism. I wouldn’t want her job for
anything. Picture someone coming to your Emergency Room who doesn’t speak your
language, and is obviously dying, and then dies!! But by time they die they have run up a bill
of thousands of dollars that you have to find who pays for it? And WHERE to send the body? And the person was
alone. Like I said, I would not want her job.
But back to Thanksgiving, Eileen
fixed a Thanksgiving meal that rivaled anything I have ever had. They had the
complete kitchen with all conveniences so she made a perfect vegetarian meal:
two kinds of stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (except they
weren’t the kind we’re used to, they cooked up yellow not orange), mushrooms,
corn on the cob… I can’t remember everything.
She even made a pumpkin pie and whipped up cream for the top. The only
thing missing was the Macy Parade.
New Years Day I was talked into going
to the Mother Center for the organization that runs the hospital and university.
I really didn’t want to go because I always have a terrible trip physically
going and coming. I have tried buses,
cars, trains and always I have been pushed, leaned on, squashed and had motion
sickness. No, I don’t like taking the three and a half hour trip there. But
this time I did have a very pleasant train trip both going and coming, down on
New Year’s Eve and back on New Year Day. They had a cultural presentation with singing
and dancing. I love dancing, and there were two very young girls who danced
Classic Indian dance that were fantastic. New Year Day is not a holiday
here in India so coming home I saw that the school children were in their
uniforms going to school. I have not been volunteering for a week now. I did
some proofreading of a document but that’s it. I gave myself a vacation.
And getting my airline tickets was a
saga! I couldn’t do it online like
normal. I tried several websites and my American credit card doesn’t get
approved. I finally had to go to a travel agency with all the information of
exactly what I wanted and they were able to run my credit card and get me my
tickets. And I immediately got an email from the Fraud Protection Dept of Chase
Bank asking me to call them. Oh the joys of living here.
So I will be enjoying the last 45
days of my living here in India. I will contact all my co-workers on Monday and
see if they have any projects I can help with before I leave. I have to start
packing and see what I would like to send back to the US so I don’t have to
carry it back with me. I am only allowed 20 Kilos on the planes.
A very happy New Year to you
all. Let 2014 be a Blessed Year for all
of us.
Love,
Marie
Marie
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