Madison's First Day at Kindergarten

Madison's first day went off without a hitch. She had a good time playing and learning. She is already anxious to start buying her lunch. The school has a system (used by a lot of school districts) that allows us to add $$ to her account so she can purchase food. We can get reports including on account activity, possibly even what she eats. There is a way to set restrictions on spending, but I think she will be OK.

Madison also had another first today - she lost her first tooth. The tooth fairy will be visiting tonight!

Back to School (For the First Time)

Madison started Kindergarten today. It was only a trial run - she went for about 1-1/2 hours. Kerry went as well and the teacher briefed the parents on the year's activities. Madison got a tour of all the fun things she will do (PE, Music, Art, etc).

Tomorrow school starts for real. Drop off at 7:45 and pick-up at 3:00. She seems excited about starting school and doesn't appear nervous. Kerry and I will probably take turns dropping her off since she needs to be dropped off right when I usually leave for work. I'm sure the first day will be kind of sad.

And we also have boys knocking on our door asking if Madison can come out to play...

Where oh where has our little girl gone.

Bath-tism

Madison went to big Church with us today and at the end of the service we had a baptism. Madison was interested since there were young twins (a boy and a girl) getting baptised. This was her first exposure to the concept and later today she kept asking about the bath-tism. Why did those kids get bath-tised.

The Trip Home

I left India at 2:00 in the morning on Tuesday morning. The airport was packed at this time. I learned that most international flights left at this time, which means you land first thing in the morning if you are heading back towards Europe.

The first leg of my flight was on British Airways. The business class section had the lie-flat seats that alternate, so I was actually facing the rear. This first leg, from Delhi to London Heathrow, was 10 hours. I managed to get about 5-6 hours of sleep total.

We landed at Heathrow, and I quickly went through immigrations, customs, and met a driver outside to take me to Gatwick Airport for the next leg of my flight. I was a bit nervous because I had a relatively short turnaround between trips, but we had arrived a little early and traffic wasn't as bad as I had been led to believe.

After checking in and going through security, I headed straight for Starbucks. I had been drinking tea the entire trip, so this was a real treat.

The second leg of the trip, from Gatwick to Dallas, was another 10 hours. I watched a couple of movies :The Flying Scottsman & In the Land of Women. The Flying Scottsman is about Graem Obree, an amateur cyclist who breaks the world 1 hour record using a bike that he made. He helped revolutionize the geometry of bicycles. I missed that last part of The Flying Scottsman because they had to reboot the video server system.

The rest of the trip home was uneventful. Kerry and the kids met me at the airport - I was glad to finally be home with the family.

Language Barriers

Every morning the cook fixes us the same thing for breakfast - scrambled eggs and toast. Well the other day he asked if I wanted french toast, and I said fine. So he fixed me scrambled eggs, regular toast, AND french toast. He must of thought we really liked our toast.

So this morning I told him that I wanted scrambled eggs and regular toast. I even pointed to what Andy was eating to ensure there was no gap in communication. But I still got scrambled eggs AND french toast. I couldn't keep a straight face at the breakfast table that morning, and Andy kept laughing as well. Keith mentioned they had been having problems communicating effectively with the cook (Manosh), and that he seemed to be having problems understanding what they wanted. I suggested that he might understand perfectly well but was having a bit of fun at our expense.

Day 7 - Sunday

Ahhh, a day of rest. I woke up around 7:30 but was able to stay in bed until around 9:00. I am feeling much better today, the antibiotics seem to have worked well. Yesterday I was feeling a bit weak and drained, but after dinner last night and a decent breakfast my strength has returned.

I don't have any plans for today, I suspect I will sit around the flat, watch a movie or two, and catch up on some work. The TV has cable, and I get a lot of channels. About 50% - 60% are Indian, but the English channels include a couple of movie channels (HBO with commercials during the film), sports channels, basic cable channels like Nikelodian and the Discovery Channel, and of course news channels.

Keith and Andy love to watch crickett. Last night I got an education on how the game is played. The basic premise is pretty straightforward, but there are a lot of rules. The Indians in the flat like to watch some of the american shows like Wrestling (we saw a match that included Hulk Hogan and Mr T from the 80s), Power Rangers, and of course crickcett.

Today I learned about the secret room in my apartment. There is a guy who takes care of my apartment, which is pretty easy since I am hardly there and don't make a mess. I rarely see him in my place, even this weekend. He is usually upstairs with the other help. Well I always thought he slept upstairs as well, but Keith thought he slept at my place. I didn't think he did since I never saw him. At Keith and Andy's place, they have a room right off of the entry that the housekeeper and cook use. But I didn't have that room - or at least so I thought. Although there is no door from the inside, the room is there and is accessed from outside of the apartment.

Misc Pictures

Here are a few pictures I wanted to post but had not gotten around to it yet. In the lower picture you can see me, Gavin, and Satyaki. Satyaki works for Jacobs Consultancy. He was born and raised in India, traveled to the US for his Master's Program, and now is opening an office in India.

India - Day 6 (Saturday)

Saturday we left the flat about 30 minutes later than normal and worked until 2:30. It was a bit of a rough day because my digestive system finally decided to revolt. Everything I ate went right through me in no time. After a morning fooling around with Pepto and Immodium AD, I finally broke out the Antibiotics this afternoon and took serious action. By the time I went to bed I could tell I was getting better.

After work I had my driver take me across the street to do a little grocery shopping. I wanted to get some coke and a few snacks to help me through the weekend. I've avoided buying too much stuff since I am only here for a short time.

What I really need to do is go to a shopping center and stock up on movies - I suspect I can get DVD's for pretty cheap.

Day 5 - Friday

On Fridays Keith and Andy typically go to the Australian High Commission, which is a simply bar just outside of the Australian embassy. They invited Friedrich and I to join them tonight.

I had a bit of a scare just before leaving work today. Keith and Andy had a meeting at another location, so Friedrich and I were going to share a car. I was told that the director of the project wanted to get a status update from several of us working for Jacobs Consulting, and that the meeting would happen around 4:00. Friedrich and I had decided to leave around 6:30 or 7:00.

Well our meeting didn't start until 6:00 and we didn't get out until 7:00. I immediately went downstairs and Friedrich was not in his office. I also didn't see his computer or any other personal belongings (later I found out his briefcase was stashed just inside the door). I didn't think too much about this until I had made a loop around both floors of the building and couldn't find him. I thought for sure I had been left. It was only after going back up to my office to gather my things and figure out what to do that I noticed he was in meeting with someone and they had the door closed. Crisis averted.

Traffic was bad going to the embassy, and we arrived later than we both had hoped since it closes at 11:00. In the pictures you can see what it looks like. This shot seems to be the best one of the group. The group is, from left to right: Gerry, Glenda, Andy, Andrew, and Keith (taking the shot). I had not met Gerry, Glenda, or Andrew up until tonight, but everyone was very nice and we had a good time playing pool and arguing over the rules. Evidently the rules for 8 ball are slightly different in England, Germany, and the US. Before every shot it seemed we were asking for clarifications to make sure someone didn't protest the shot.

We left at closing time and waded through heavy traffic. Again I rode with Friedrich, who is very nice and has a tendancy to talk a lot. I could barely keep my eyes open since I was still suffering from a lack of sleep and a couple of drinks. (The next day Andy asked me if I had fallen asleep listening to Friedrich talk. He had no idea how right he was).

India - Day 4

Not much happening today, so I will take this opportunity to fill you in on what my typical day is like.

Up and out of bed by about 7:15. I head upstairs at 8:00 for breakfast with Keith and Andy. Manosh (spelling is probably wrong) usually fixes us scrambled eggs and toast. I've started drinking tea in the mornings as well (with milk, 1 lump of sugar).

We head off to work about 8:30. The drive takes 15 minutes or so. Traffic is no worse than any other time during the day. The office building is 2 stories and houses all of the L&T employees. (L&T has the contract to finish the design and build the new airport terminal). Each floor is basically wide open with cubicles in the middle and offices around the perimeter. I have been sharing an office with George and Gavin, the two other Jacobs employees on site.

Lunch is served in the corner of the building from noonish to about 2:00. So far it has been fine and I've not had any problems with the food.

We usually head back home around 6:30 or 7:00. Dinner is at 8:00, once again cooked by Manosh. So far I have had soup (with every meal), fish nuggets, fries, pork chops, pasta, and a slew of vegetables. It is typically pretty good, definitely better than what we get for lunch.

Here are some pictures from inside and looking outside my the flat so you can see what it looks like. It's pretty nice - certainly nothing to complain about.

India - Day 3 (Wed)

Wed was a national holiday here in India - similar to our independence day in America.

Satyaki, our local contact and direct employer, arranged a trip to Agra. We woke up early and caught a train at 6:30. The railway system in India is quite extensive, and serves around 15M people per day. Accommodations are extremely varied, and range from air-conditioned cars where they serve you food and drink on the trip, to normal cars with no AC where people pack in as tight as they can, regardless of the length of the trip.

Our first stop was the Taj Mahal, the place to see in India. We had a tour guide that helped us get around and gave us instructions and helpful hints. As we approached the Taj Mahal (and subsequent tourist attractions) we were immediately overun with hawkers trying to sell their wares. It was quite sad, especially since we had been conditioned to ignore them or they wouldn't go away.

While very impressive, there is not much to the Taj Mahal. It is a Mosque, which means there is nothing inside. The architecture, however, was spectacular, and the detailed engravings were amazing. You can seee that in the picture above with the two girls (neither of whom we knew but it was too cute to pass up).

Our second stop was at Fort Agra. Fort Agra was the home of King Akbar. It is a magnificent fort constructed from Red Sandstone.

We had lunch at one of the nicer hotels in the area. It was a welcome relief to get a decent meal that included meat. Many of the meals include vegetables only.

The final stop was at an old abandoned town called Fatehpur Sikri. This was an abandoned city that was potentially going to be used as the capital, however it was moved back to Delhi. One of the most spectacular sites was of the large gate entrance.

India - Day 2 (Tuesday)

Day 2

Today was my first day of work. I met up with 2 other people from Jacobs Consulting, the company I am contracted to, that are here from the US. I won't have much interface with them from a work standpoint, but am sharing an office with them.

The full day of work was spent finding my way around and meeting some of the people that I will be interfacing with. For the most part very few people know who I am or what I am doing here, so I am having to push and prod to get anything done. I suspect it will get very monotonous and I will have to struggle to stay focused and engaged.

After work I had dinner with Keith (Brit #1), Andy (Brit #2), and Friedrich (the German) in their apartment. We had fish nuggets, fries, soup, and some other stuff that wasn't as good.

And my luggage arrived at 1:15 (Day 2).

I had to call the airport numerous times to ensure they could deliver it to me, and my host also called and let them have it in Hindi, just to make sure nothing was lost in the translation. Part of the problem was the fact that it was a national holiday when my luggage arrived, and some of the major roads between states had been shut down for security reasons. It didn't arrive til 1:15 the following night, which was frustrating since I was already suffering from a lack of sleep, and we were getting up at 4:00 the next morning for a trip to Agra.

My Time in India (Tues)

I've been here for a day and a half now...still without my suitcase. It is supposed to arrive tonight, but as always there are complications. I tried giving them my address to have the bag delivered but I never felt that they understood English well enough. And tomorrow is a national holiday, so certain roads between states are closed, and if I want to go to the airport tonight traffic will be absolutely awful. So I called in my Indian contact to give me a hand. I"ll know shortly if my bags are coming to my flat.

Yes, my flat. The two guys from Britain who live upstairs are having an affect on me. We almost started watching Crickett tonight, but the Indian help turned it to the WWE so we are watching a 20 year old wrestling match between Hulk Hogan and someone else.

These guys have a cook, a driver, and someone to help clean up the flat. And that is pretty standard. They are here for the long haul so it makes sense. Right now we are waiting on dinner. If my bags don't arrive shortly, I will have the driver take me back to the airport.

Driving around town is interesting. Stripes on the road really don't mean much, and there are just as many motorcycles, bikes, and pedestrians on the roadway as cars. And then there is always the occasional cow (I have only seen 1).

The food has been OK - nothing that required Pepto yet.

Tomorrow we are leaving at 4:15 to catch a train to Agra. We are going to visit the Taj Majal, an old Fort, and some other tourist attractions. I'm really looking forward to the trip. I actually think I will get as much work done tomorrow on the trip because I will have uninterupted time with Satyaki, my contact who knows the most about the project.

I will hopefully have pictures from tomorrows trip in the next few days.

Off to Never Never Land

Well I'm off to India. I will have limited internet access, so posts over the next 1-1/2 weeks will be limited.

I'm pretty excited, not at all nervous yet. I get to fly business class, which for overseas travel is pretty nice. I should be able to catch up on some movies and reading.

It's monsoon season in India. Thunderstorms are predicted for the next few days. I'm going to get wet...

The Invisible Kids

We have lots of great kids in our neighborhood. Madison and Collin love to play with all of them. One friend in particular, however, has a habit getting into our house or backyard without me knowing. It usually starts with Madison coming to ask if she can go play at his house. I tell her that we need to see if he's home and check with his parents. Usually before I can finish this sentence, I notice that he's already here.

It's really not a big deal, but sometimes he does surprise us. Like yesterday when he showed up in our bedroom just a few seconds before I undressed to get in the shower. (I had just finished mowing the lawn so Madison and Collin had been playing outside).

Later that day, Brennan from across the street showed up in our house as well. Another surprise. What is it with these kids?! Then I found out that Kerry had been outside and Brennan and mom were coming over to look at the bathroom Kerry started painting.

Countdown to India - 4 days

Four days till I leave for India, and preparations are almost complete.

I've got my passport and work visa. I've got most of my travel gear (clothes, bug spray, medicine, etc). My cell phone has international roaming. Today I received my power adapters.

I also got my vaccinations / booster shots. 7 shots!

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Left arm done.

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Right are done.

Now off to the pharmacy to pick up a prescriptions for antibiotics and malaria...

The Big Pie Fight

The big pie fight was a success. Holleigh was the mastermind behind this, and although sceptical, we all agreed to participate. I think the only regret was not having more cool whip (and not washing the swimsuits soon enough - cool whip is a dairy product now). Everyone had a ball, young and old alike. Except of course the two youngest, Caden and Addison, who we believe were scared of the bag lady (see pics).

The kids got started right off, and it didn't take the parents much longer. Cool Whip pies were fabricated and delivered as fast as possible, but it was impossible to keep up with the demand.

Finally, the evening was topped off with a water balloon fight. You have to rinse off somehow, right?

Vacation Pictures

Here are some pictures from our recent vacation. We didn't take a family picture this time around, but did get some of the kids (Jake & Ashley, Madison, Caden, Collin).


The kids with creepy old lego man.


LegoLand had a great area for Caden to play in. He really took to this tractor that made noises and shook when you pressed the horn. In the background you can see a few of the other toys and play areas.


The trip home worked out well. We sat near the rear and had open seats behind us. Kerry, Kristin, and Caden rode in the back. Well, actually Caden wandered around. Madison and Ashley rode together in front, and I'm sitting off to the side with Collin.


By the time we got home, some of the kids were wiped out and couldn't keep their eyes open.