Kissy Cringe

It happened again! The awkward cheek kissy. Yuck! I am still cringing.

I went to the house where our Bible study is, to drop off some books. The British guy whose house it is came to the door. I handed him the books and then leaned forward to initiate the cheek kiss. I have been proud of myself for being prepared and not being so awkward with the greetings during Bible study. But now I am feeling weird. We did the kissy thing on one cheek and then the second cheek. Now I am wondering if it was too forward of me or if it would seem forward. Usually it is only one kiss I think so why was there two this time? What does two mean? I didn't initiate the second one, he did. I'm still shaking off the cringes. What should I do? Why am I so awkward?

On the drive home I had to remind myself which side of the street we drive on here (left). There was a scooter on the right going my direction and a car coming down the middle towards me. It took me a second to figure out if I was on the correct side of the street. This kissy stuff just really messes me up.

The Office, Lost, 24

Steve and I have recently started watching The Office, thanks to our friend who gave us 4 seasons of it. That is such a funny show. There are so many great lines in the show. And I am trying to figure out who the boss reminds me of. Maybe it is that there are a lot of people who are like Micheal and when you put them all together you get him. No one is as bad as he is, but there are a lot of quirky people (at least I know a lot).

The next show I really love is Lost. I have to find it online in order to watch it. The first three episodes of this season I was able to watch on YouTube. But now I guess it isn't allowed. So today I found a website to watch the 4th episode. I was so excited to have found it. So since it is Saturday and I have nothing to do today I decided to watch the 5th episode. But no. For some reason that one has been removed because it is not allowed. I could watch episode 6 though. So what is the deal with that.

And my third and final show that I love to watch is 24. It has been a long time, over a year, since I have seen an episode. The new season started in January. I haven't looked too hard yet, but I would like to find it online too. But with 24 I like to watch the whole season instead of having to wait a week in between episodes. So I don't mind waiting until it comes out on video.

So my leading men are Michael, Jack and Jack. All three are quite different. If I had to choose my all time favorite out of the three I would go for Jack Bauer, who saves the world so many times. He is my hero (besides Steve of course).

Desi Girl

Today I am sounding off about something that has been bugging me lately. Kids! More specifically a few boys in my neighborhood, which makes me blame all Indian boys. When I am out in the neighborhood walking past a group of boys one of them will start singing a pop song called "Desi Girl". Ironically, Desi means "from the home country". So I'm not sure why they like to sing it when I walk by, but they do and it really is starting to irritate me.

Some days I just don't have the energy to venture too far out of my neighborhood, and some days I don't even like to go in my neighborhood. Especially when the kids are out in the streets playing. If they are playing cricket when I walk by, they hit the ball right at me. If they are riding their bikes, they will ride really fast at me and swerve at the last second. I just want to hit them or knock them off their bikes.

What to do? Maybe I should use my iPod so I don't have to hear them. Or maybe I should carry a cricket bat to hit the ball when it comes at me. Or maybe I should carry nails to throw on the road in front of their bike. Most likely I will continue to walk down the street with my gaze straight ahead, ignoring the little twirps and the big ones too.

You Say it's MY Birthday?

Yes it is. Today is my 38th (oh my!) birthday. Why is it that we can't believe how old we are getting? I mean, we live with ourselves so it should feel like, "I have been alive for 38 years".

So I started the day with aerobics and the ladies were so kind to remember my birthday. I was given a few gifts and we all had chai and cookies after the aerobics. I realize that the most precious gift I can be given is to be remembered.

I have always, or almost always, had an issue with being overlooked or forgotten. So this year I told Steve to remind a few people that it is my birthday. People that sometimes forget it. I had to tell him several times. Last night I finally said, "Steve, I don't know if I made myself clear that I want you to email these people and tell them it is my birthday tomorrow." So he did.

As I was sitting worrying if he had reminded people and if I should bring it up AGAIN, I remembered something from my counseling. And that is, it is okay for me to tell Steve what I need and to make sure he hears me. So instead of me thinking I was nagging him I saw it more as a need and that is what helped me state it more directly. So he emailed the people I wanted him to and they emailed me a birthday greeting. So life is good.

Taxi, Airplane, Train, Scooter, Car

We left for the airport around 10pm by taxi. It is about a 20 minute drive at that time of night because you don't have to stop at the red lights. It is a bit unnerving to drive through the intersections when you know that cars aren't stopping from either direction. Our taxi driver must have had a reason for not driving with his lights on, but I've searched my brain and can't figure it out. So he only flashed his lights when passing or coming to the intersection. I find my prayer life is the strongest on these rides.

We made it fine to the airport and waited for a good long time at the airport. We were surprised to see the new gates and see the updates they are doing at the airport. We had nice fake wood floors and lounge chairs. They looked nice. Bathrooms are the same with some squatty potties and some sit down toilets, but no toilet paper. And there is always a bathroom attendant who hands you a paper towel after you wash your hands. Sometimes they turn the water on for you too.

We were the unfortunate ones to get the seats in front of the emergency exit rows, so our seats didn't recline. That made for a long flight.

Once we arrived in Bangkok we took a taxi to the train station and waited 2 hours for our train, being dead tired. On the train my seat wouldn't lock into position so I was always in the recline position. We got to see the countryside of Thailand which is very beautiful.

Some of the differences I noticed are that the Thai people are very quite, whereas the Indian trains would be full of loud kids and messy passengers. No one threw their garbage on the floor here. And as we looked outside the windows I saw miles and miles of land with no one to be seen. In India you always see people. Even in the middle of no where. On the train here people are polite to the hostess. In India people are grabbing whatever they want.

Once we got to Chiang Mai we got rented a scooter to get around town with. I love the traffic here. I guess being in a small city helps the traffic not be crazy. People follow rules, stay in their lanes, don't honk all the time.

And our friends have the car. We have all squeezed into their car, all eight of us, and it isn't crowded.

So far our adventures in Thailand have been great. We get on the train again tonight for our 10 hour trip back to Bangkok. We will take a taxi to do some shopping and then head to the airport. Back to the real world.

Thailand Baby

Tonight we leave for Thailand for five days. One of the nice things about living in India as a foreigner is that the government wants to keep track of you so they have you leave every six months. So it is an automatic vacation. We will be staying with some friends in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

We are only taking carry on bags because we need to catch a train in Bangkok only an hour and a half after we arrive. So we don't want to have to wait for our bags. The other cool thing about only taking carry on is that we can shop a lot and fill our suitcases for the return. Thailand has so much more than India and it is so much more easier to shop. I'm going to buy a waffle iron, shoes, clothes, new glasses for Micah, maybe some food, and whatever else I may NEED.

Mostly I am looking forward to seeing our friends. It hasn't been that long since I was there but since our last visit they have had a new baby. So I am excited to see her. And we always play Settlers of Catan when we are together and I have been practicing so I hope to beat them all. Steve enjoys his time with the husband and they usually go out for coffee or play paint ball wars. And Micah loves playing with their kids. So we are all ready to go.

The biggest bummer about our trip to Thailand is that the flight leaves at 1 am. And then we arrive at like 5 and have to take a 10 hour train. It's enough to drive us crazy. Oh, which reminds me of what else we are going to do in Thailand. We get to check in with the mental health specialists (counselors) to make sure we are in sync. I hate having to do it, but because of past times when we weren't in sync the authorities in our lives require us to do it. I suppose it is good for us.

So I hope to have some exciting tales to write about when we return. Happy Trails!

Another Indian morning

I had an aerobics class to teach this morning at 7:45. That is too early for exercise I think. But anyway, that is when it is. So I was waiting for people to come and heard a bunch of street dogs outside barking up a storm. I finally went out to investigate and found they were right in the doorway of one of the lady's homes that was coming to aerobics. So I thought I would get them away so she could come. All the dogs were barking at one poor dog that was huddled in the doorway. There were probably 7 dogs barking at the poor thing. So I started throwing a tennis ball at them and tried to get them to move. They are scared of things being thrown at them. To get a dog to run away all you do is pretend to throw a rock. So the tennis ball worked a bit, but they would circle around a car and come back. Once I got all the mean dogs away I still had to get the poor dog to leave so I threw the ball at him. You would think I had hit him with a brick the way he yelped. But when he moved, all the dogs came after him again. And it was worse. The dogs got a hold of this poor dog and were biting him and pulling on him. He was all the way off the ground. I thought they were going to eat him. Some had his legs, some his head, some his belly. Seriously, they were trying to kill him. So I threw some rocks. They didn't go. They still kept torturing this poor dog. I felt a little silly being out there when neighbors started coming out to see what the commotion was all about. Finally the dogs all ran down the street so at least I didn't have to watch it anymore.