Sukkot (Flashback)

Back when we were still in Virginia, we happily got to spend Sukkot at Elise, Eric, Gavi and Sarit's house, with Steven. They have a neat sukkah that they built from a kit, which was a good solution reached after many years of hand-making versions in the various countries where they were posted. We were introduced to an East Coast type of skach (sukkah covering) - corn stalks with husks attached (apparently other East Coasters use pine boughs). Growing up in California, it never occurred to us that palm fronds were just regional, not halacha.

The sukkah was great, the food was excellent (so much good cheese!), and the company was even better. We looked into getting a sukkah kit for ourselves to include with our HHE packout, but all of the stores were sold out for the season (yeah, there's a sukkah season). If there's a kit company that makes the plastic-pole version in sections shorter than a 32" shipping box, we'd be interested for next fall!

RE: Mumbai - We're Fine

Hello - many of you are probably watching the Mumbai attacks on CNN and wondering about us (I know that our folks have fielded some very sweet calls of concern). Don't worry, we're over 600 miles away from Mumbai and are fine. We hadn't even heard about the attacks until talking to our families this morning, since they happened in the middle of the night here and we don't usually watch TV in the morning, except for Sesame Street. Plus, there's currently a cyclone above us, flooding all of the streets (half a meter of rain fell in two days), so most of the news we had heard was about the monsoons. Here's a map (thanks, Jill) where you can see the distance between Mumbai on the West Coast, and Chennai on the Southeast coast.


I'll update if there is any new information, but just know that we're OK. People from several consulates and the embassy will be helping American citizens in Mumbai, and our hearts go out to all of the wounded and the families of the people who were killed. The siege of the Mumbai Chabad House resonated for personal reasons. Hopefully this will all be over soon.

Home? Ennai!!!

The title of this post is what Sam says at least once most days, now that we are in our new home. At first I think he was asking to go home (to Falls Church), but now it's just for confirmation that this is home.

Surprise, surprise, we had more issues with our baggage on the flight from Delhi to Chennai. There was much conversation, several phone calls, boarding passes produced to prove that we had arrived on an international flight, more fees, and on and on. At one point, Mark was taken away to some office somewhere (I later found out that it was to pay the fees), and I found myself alone with a toddler in a strange airport, in a new country, without passports, boarding passes, a working cellphone, or local currency. Not letting that happen again, let me tell you.

You have to look at electronic signs to see what gate your flight's at in Delhi (and they change all the time, and announcements are difficult to hear), like at a train station. The flight involved taking a bus out to the tarmac and going up portable stairs to the plane. It's been a long time since I've gotten to do that! People were very helpful with, if slightly suspicious of, all of our carry-on baggage. Sam fell asleep at the airport and didn't wake up for the whole flight. Which was good, because (unannounced to us), our flight had been combined with one to Bangalore, and was now twice as long. Hmm. We just hoped that our sponsors, Kristin and Tony, would find out about this and not be waiting at the airport for 2 extra hours.

Kristin had found out, and didn't mind the wait, although Tony had gone back to work. She also said how sorry she was that we would be in temporary housing for a few days, referring to an email that we hadn't actually gotten. :) Luckily, the temp apartment was perfectly adequate, stocked with food and toys by Kristin, and complete with a crib for Sam. That's right, we lugged around the Pack N Play for a week, when everywhere we stayed (except for Chase's) had a crib available. Note to self...


We took a quick visit to the Consulate to check it out and introduce ourselves, then on to our temporary digs and a lesson in water purifiers and mosquito nets. Poor Mark, he's allergic to the bug bites but is like catnip to mosquitoes; Sam and I got one bite each to Mark's 13. The weekend was a blur of hanging out, eating out at a variety of vegetarian restaurants (green dot on the menu = don't have to ask about ingredients), and meeting new friends/co-workers, including Matt and Jill. Jill went to Israel with a bunch of my summer camp buddies, and we had a fun time playing Jewish Geography.


First impressions of Chennai: it is much greener and nicer than what we saw of Delhi, not to mention largely free of smoke (there's an ocean nearby; it's the same reason West L.A. is less smoggy than the Valley). We've seen cows and oxcarts and people living under tarps right next to huge mansions (it turned out to be housing for the construction workers), families of five all balanced on one motorcycle (with mom riding sidesaddle), and women in gorgeous saris walking around barefoot.


On Saturday morning we went to the Consul General's residence, where an Auto Rickshaw, festively decorated, had been set up for anyone wanting to take holiday photos. Sam quickly fell in love with the "truck," wanted to drive it, and protested loudly when taken out of it.

Yeah, that's the shot for the card. We found out that there are two other boys, Alexander and Jackson, born within a week of Sam. That'll be some birthday party come June! There are tons of other kids in the Consular Community close to Sam's age, and we had a brunch playdate set up within an hour of arriving at the CG's. :) At that playdate the next day, with Kris and Richard, we discovered that they had lived in L.A. and were fellow devotees of places like The Apple Pan.

I don't want to overgeneralize about FS people, but in our limited experience, they sure are friendly and helpful! We were toted around, fed, entertained, lent/given anything we needed until our shipments arrive, and on and on. The result of this generosity was that by Tuesday, we had moved into our permanent housing with our own working Indian cellphones, working internet, a high chair and toys for Sam, a temporary car and driver, food, and playdates for me and Sam while Mark worked. It was awesome.

Oh, and while we were at the temporary apartment? Sam and I saw a monkey. For real. Running along the top of the fence like a possum, with crows dive-bombing it and a local dog barking his head off. I couldn't get to my camera fast enough, but we were thrilled, and for days afterwards Sam would say "Muntey!" to any and everyone.

In the next post: our fabulous house and what makes it weirdly Indian. Hint- it has to do with water...

Welcome to Delhi. Smoke?

After a relaxed morning in the hotel, we found that leaving Frankfurt was going to be more stressful than we thought it would be! It started out fine... a helpful porter took all of our bags down to Lufthansa check-in, and we had plenty of time before our flight. But then the charmingly perplexed ladies behind the counter told us that for baggage allowance, India goes by a complex formula of "total weight," (much less than the American baggage allowance) not number of bags per passenger, and we would have to pay some fees. So what was the damage? €2,900.00. Around $4,000.00!!!!

Not. Going. To. Happen.

After much discussion and many, many phone calls, it was determined that we would still have to pay a little extra. A little, as in €750.00, or around $990.00. Still a lot of money, but at least it didn't leave me about to faint as the earlier figure had. Note to self: never travel with the maximum allowance of bags, ever again.

But we thanked the women for being so helpful (they really were), and went on to our flight. It was fine, with excellent vegetarian food available. Sam wasn't thrilled to be on a plane again, but he was mostly OK, and there were plenty of other kids on the flight to camouflage his fussiness. We arrived in Delhi at 1 AM local time, and after some misunderstandings managed to find all of our bags and the driver who had been sent for us (we were waiting inside, he was outside, etc.) .

Our first impression of New Delhi? It smells like fireworks, even inside. We assumed that this was a holdover from Diwali, but it turns out that it smells like that a lot, because of the fuel that's burned by so many people (dried-out cow dung). Let me clarify that it doesn't smell like dung, just like burning. After some time living there you apparently acclimate to the scent, but the whole time we were in Delhi it felt like Wildfire Season in Southern California, complete with the smokey pseudo-twilight.

So at about 3 AM we headed over to the airport Radisson, where we had a reservation. Um, yeah. We had a reservation for later that day, and we were essentially arriving in the middle of the previous night. Check-in wasn't until noon, and if we wanted to get a room for the few hours of sleep before Mark had to go to work, it would be another night's fee. Our other choices were to hang out in the lobby, or their 24 hour "NYC" restaurant.

Or, or... call our friends Martha and Iftah, who are posted to Delhi!!! For people woken up in the wee hours, they were amazingly gracious and told us to come right over. We stored most of our bags at the hotel and took our first Ambassador cab. In two days we went from toting a car seat all over New York to holding Sam on our laps in a car with no seat belts. Oy.

They fed us homemade schnitzel, made great sofa cushion beds for us, and tucked us in for the rest of the night. Mark went to work a few hours later, and Sam and I hung out with Martha and Iftah as their HHE (furniture) arrived. Sam fell in love with every mover and demanded to be picked up. Sadly, we were unable to visit the monkeys that live down the road, but we did see our first cows and oxcart. Once Mark got back from work we headed over to the hotel (finally!), which was very luxurious, with reasonably-priced room service. Did you know that if you order a glass of milk from room service in India it comes with a glass of sugar water? It does.

After Iftah finished teaching his karate class we met up at the Chinese restaurant in the hotel for a great dinner, and some fun photographs:

My kid loves a hat, especially an improvised one. We were beyond thankful for the warm welcome to India, and felt just about ready for our journey to Chennai the next morning. Also, we're really looking forward to seeing Martha and Iftah again, maybe for Chanukkah or Passover.

If it's Tuesday, this must be Germany.

We got to Frankfurt at 5 AM local time, 11:00 at night as far as we were concerned, after being awake most of the flight from New York. Sam had a good time on the plane, but really really wanted to kick the seat in front of him all 7 hours. Thank goodness the German girl sitting there didn't seem to mind. Getting our massive numbers of bags (each weighing 50 lbs. or less) through the Frankfurt airport was a challenge, but luckily the hotel is literally attached to the airport.

Slept a little, ordered breakfast in, and finally felt human later today. We took the S-bahn (train) into the center of Frankfurt to check out the older buildings (as in, 15th century) and have dinner. Mark got his sauerbraten and I had spaetzle, along with an excellent hefeweisen (wheat beer) and apfelwein (cider). Sam had applesauce and said "hi" to the entire restaurant. The Japanese family next to us was charmed. The lady who wanted to read her book in peace moved to another table.

On the walk back to the S-bahn, we saw a shop selling Native American jewelry. Now, I know enough German to realize that the sign basically said, "Native American Jewelry" (the derivation of the Yiddish insult is from the concept of "family jewels"). But I am just enough of a 12 year old to be amused, and to think of the word "Indianerschmuck" as what one might call a Hoosier who is in fact a hoser. :)

Now we're hanging out in the room, watching election coverage on CNN Europe. Our flight to New Delhi is early afternoon tomorrow, so it'll be a morning of relaxing at the hotel before it's time to go.

Onward and Eastward...

New York Stories

Got to New York safely, found a car service with an SUV that could take us and our ridiculous amount of baggage to Mark's grandma Chase's apartment, had some late-night diner food (delivered!) and great conversation with Chase. The next day was Halloween, and after Mark's morning at work we met up at Braden's apartment for a playgroup. Sam was actually the oldest baby for a change.

Braden's cutie, Fisher, was fittingly dressed as the Catch of the Day, while Sam went with a holiday-themed outfit rather than a costume this year.

Later that night, thanks to a babysitter Braden arranged for us, we were able to see Equus with Chase. Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths were amazing, but that is one twisted play.

Side note: in the play, Daniel's character is so disturbed at one point that he doesn't talk, only sings commercial jingles, especially one for a Britsh candy bar called Milky Bar ("The Milky Bar Kid is strong and tough, and only the best is good enough..."). Once we arrived in Chennai, a local cable station was running ads for a showing of the most recent Harry Potter movie, with shots of a tortured-looking Daniel. The sponsor? Milky Bar. Ha!

It was a wonderful weekend with Chase, who has an apartment chock full of sculptures that are just the right height for a toddler to meet. Sam would run around saying "hi" to all of them. Luckily all of the ones at ground level were bronze or other suitably toddler-proof materials. We had no high chair, but we made do:

After meeting up for lunch with friends Jenny and Ross (last seen Scottish dancing at their Texas wedding), we went with Chase to the Natural History Museum. It was the first time that Sam really interacted with museum exhibits, naming the animals he knew, and it was a blast. Towards the end, you will see the famous "sack of potatoes" exhibit from the Anthropology hall.

New York is where a lot of Mark's college buddies have ended up, which afforded us the opportunity to join Jordana and David for brunch, along with their super-cute kiddos, Charlie, Zack, and baby Rosie. Kid-friendly apartment, lots of toys, bagels galore... Sam was in heaven.

Our final night in New York was spent unpacking, repacking, and weighing suitcases. We were not going to be overweight with our baggage again, not with three other flights to take! (The best laid plans... oy oy oy). The next morning Mark went to work at JFK and I went off to mail the excess belongings to our new home in India. We met up at JFK, easily checked in our right-weight bags, and headed out on Lufthansa to our "rest stop" in Frankfurt. Thanks to seat-back movies and Sesame Street on DVD, a fairly uneventful flight was had by all.

In Transit

There are a lot of back posts which will appear once we're settled somewhere with internet (or at least a good spell with borrowed wifi), all about pumpkin patches and visiting New York and moving out of D.C....

But suffice it to say that we are in a state of flux. We're leaving New York tomorrow (Monday) for 24 hours in Frankfurt, then 24 hours in New Delhi, and "home" in Chennai on Friday. Pack out was crazy (I'm not sure it can be any other way), and we ended up one of those sad families at the airport, all of our suitcases open, moving things around and into boxes so that we wouldn't have to pay fees for overweight bags. Thanks to the porters at National Airport, we didn't! There are definitely some packages that will be sent ahead of us before we go head out of JFK tomorrow...

Sam is doing well, loves the airplanes so far, and we're all thrilled to be on our way. We're trying to talk to as many people as we can on the journey, and we'll do our best to touch base once we're in India.

L'hitraot (don't know how to say that in Tamil/Hindi/Urdu)...

Clean Baby Cuteness

Sam is particularly cuddly when he comes out of the bath (at least when he's not trying to run around naked, peeing on things). Thanks to Auntie Shar-Shar for sending these pictures; there are also new pictures on the journal entry about Adam and Shari's visit.

Consumables

We are leaving so soon! In two weeks we will pack out again, go to New York for a few days and then on to India. Preparations in the lead-up include buying obscene amounts of favorite foods (canned and dry goods that don't spoil quickly) and other items (toilet paper, diapers, shampoo, etc.) that will be sent out with our furniture or as a separate Consumables Shipment. These are things that can be difficult or expensive to get in Chennai, and we're glad that State will ship them for us.

But, if you can imagine trying to plan and buy a year's worth of groceries ahead of time, you can picture what we're going through (and the expense!). Just how much peanut butter is enough for a year? What if Sam doesn't like peanut butter? What if he has one of those toddler phases when PB&J is all he will eat? Does peanut butter count as a liquid under the "no liquid" policy for packages mailed to us later? We don't really drink, but it's expected for hosts to provide wine at dinner parties, and Tamil Nadu is a "dry state" so it's better to buy it here. How much will we need? Should we bother with Kosher wine? Can you get cases of Baron Herzog in Virginia? How many "hostess gifts" will we need? We're supposed to give something that represents where we come from (Knott's Berry Farm Jam, check!). How long will Sam fit into his current size of diapers? What about pull-ups; when do kids start potty training? Dang, better buy a potty. We don't know how our new house is configured- how many baby gates should we get? Babies-R-Us is now on our "to do" list, along with Target, Costco, Trader Joe's, Safeway... multiple trips since our little Prius only holds so much.

Even for someone who enjoys shopping as much as I do, it's a bit daunting. So is the organization; it can take weeks to months for the various shipments to reach us, and some come sooner than others. We have to decide what must get there earlier rather than later, and allocate accordingly. Luckily, if we send our own packages to Chennai now, they should arrive soon after we do.

I'm not complaining, buying consumables is far and away more fun than the packout from L.A. was, or any previous move, actually, except that I don't get to do it with the family and friends who helped me in California. And it's a Foreign Service rite of passage... I'm sure I'll hit a point next spring with way too much peanut butter and not a jar of salsa to be found, and I'll be making a mental note for the next time we're sent to a Consumables Post.

In the meantime, I'll send out an email with our American forwarding address. You know, just in case you want to send us a care package. Without liquids.

Auntie Shar-Shar, Unkey Monkey, and Buddy!

Columbus Day weekend was spent with my brother Adam, sister-in-law Shari and their son Brandon. Sam adopted our "Hey, buddy!" greeting when talking to all of them, and now seems convinced that his cousin is named Buddy (and that all three of them are named Shar-Shar). Of course, he also thinks that cats say his other cousin's name, "Meeeyaah."


We went into the district and had a lovely time walking through the National Mall and wandering around the Jefferson Memorial.

The weekend also included loading up at Costco with supplies for India, and eating at our favorite local restaurants (Hong Kong Palace, Silver Diner, and Original Pancake House!). What we liked most of all was hanging out at home, sometimes even dressed alike (mostly the kids, but Shari and I have similar taste). Sam got his uncle to read books to him, he tried to soothe Brandon with a paci to the eye, and a book of his own. Sam also spent a lot of time sneaking up on the baby for very energetic cuddles. We're working on "gentle".

It was a great weekend, and we're so glad they came to visit us (and not just because their rental SUV held that massive amount of Costco consumables in this photo). We're really going to miss our family!