Radishes

Today Bimla (my house help lady) told me that radishes are cheap these days. In fact, she bought 3 kilos for just 10 rupees (25 cents). She was planning to make her family some fried bread with radishes for dinner. But when she came home from working yesterday she found that her kids had eaten all the radishes raw. Now her youngest is throwing up radishes.

My visitors

My parents came to visit this past week, over Christmas. It was a wonderful time together. I am so glad they came to visit. I also love seeing India through a new person's eyes.

Jama Masjid, the biggest mosque in India, was one of our first stops. We all squished into an auto rickshaw and road to Old Delhi. Crowded, but a beautiful day.

Second trip was to Humayan's Tomb which is close to our house. I decided it would be a good experience for my dad to take a cycle rickshaw there. Thinking that for my mom it might not be good for her back, all the bumps. So I told the cycle driver where to take my dad and Micah. Then he went the opposite direction. So my mom and I drove to the tomb and waited and waited. Finally, we saw them walking towards us. It turns out, the cycle driver took them somewhere else and Micah told him it was wrong. So he took them back to the beginning place and they walked. At least my dad got to experience a cycle rickshaw.

The day after Christmas we went to the Taj Mahal, along with half of India. It should have been a clue when we tried to get train tickets and were told it was overbooked by 200. So we got to drive there. Another good experience. My parents are very impressed with Steve's driving.

Well the Taj was CROWDED. Like the worst day at Disney Land. The waiting line was 4 hours long just to get in. We ended up paying the fast-track price and didn't realize it meant being pushed to the front of the line in front of all the others who had been waiting. Once inside the gate we realized that there was no way we were going to get close to the Taj. So we looked at it from a nice distance. It was a river of people all around the Taj.

Thanks for visiting Dad and Mom!

Another fear

I remember something else, besides earthquakes and tsunamis, that I am afraid of. I have a fear of attacks at church and hotels. Of course that fear would be because of the attacks in Pakistan at a church and the attacks last year at the Taj Hotel in Bombay.

A few months ago while our pastor was preaching, there was loud commotion outside a door at the front of the gym (that is where we have church). In my mind I was figuring out the best action plan for the attack. I would fall to the ground and cover myself with the plastic chair. I realized that would give me absolutely no protection from bullets, but maybe they wouldn't notice me and wouldn't shoot me. It turned out to be nothing so I didn't have to go to the floor.

A couple weeks ago we had a visitor at our church that was at the church in Pakistan when it was attacked. He is now deaf in one ear because he was too close to a grenade that exploded. That brings my fear back into the forefront of my mind.

So the other thing that scares me is hotels. This week is our church's Christmas Eve service which is held at the Hyatt Hotel here. I remember last year, being just a couple of weeks after the horrible terrorist attack in Bombay, and how I was noticing the lack of security. I realized there are so many ways a person could get in to the hotel and shoot us all.

I am tempted not to go to the Christmas Eve service. Too much anxiety for me I think. But my parents will be here and I would like them to have a nice Christmas Eve, so we will probably go. I am sure I will again choose my seating wisely, maybe behind a pillar or something to block the bullets.

Train of Chaos

We just got back from a wedding in a village. It was a very interesting trip. An all night train ride that we got very little sleep on. It was loud. One gentlemen decided to get a newspaper around 4am and I guess he wanted to be a news broadcaster, so he read it out loud so we could all hear the news. Others played their radios or talked loudly. So we didn't sleep very well. We arrived and went to the wedding.

That night we got to sleep in a hotel. That was nicer, but also loud. The housekeeper washed dishes outside our room and talked with other workers during the night. Then the call to prayer at 5am was the loudest I had heard. And the guy who sang it must have just woken up. He was still clearing his throat as he sang.

Well the last night was also spent on the train. We waited at the platform until over the load speaker we were told to go to another platform. So our group rushed with all the other people, up the stairs, over the tracks, down the stairs, with all our luggage. When the train finally arrived we only had five minutes for people to get off and us to get on (along with 100's of others). So we ran to the spot where are car was but the doors were being held shut from inside. I guess they already had enough people. But all the other 100 people who were suppose to get on were panicking. So we pushed and shoved and someone finally opened the door. So people started fighting and yelling and shoving to get in. We thought we would be smart and just get in the next car and then make our way over to the correct one. But others were also smart and were doing the same thing.

Then the train blew its whistle. We weren't on yet. There was also no room to get on. So we were shoving people on. We were next when the train started to move. We pushed Micah on and then I had to get on. But still no room. So I was shoving and yelling with everyone else. Still Steve and our friend needed on. Some guy was panicking because his grandpa still was outside. He was leaning over us which causes us to lean out the train. No one was able to move and the train was still moving along slowly. Well someone eventually pulled the emergency cord and it stopped. Steve and our friend were able to push on, with one leg outside the train. Police came on with their guns and climbed over everyone.

We were still not anywhere near our seats and it didn't look too hopeful. I stood in the bathroom with an old beggar lady. There was a blind man sitting on the floor outside the bathroom and probably 20 people all bunched together. Micah was a little ahead of us with a friend standing between the two train cars. Well eventually Steve put our huge bag on his head and just started pushing his way through. We had to step on people's feet and their bags to make it to our seats.

So once we got to our spot I climbed up to the top bunk where I was safe. Next to us was the fight with the police and I didn't want to be in the middle of that. Micah got up with me. There were others already in our seats who apparently had waitlisted tickets, which means you just go wherever you can. People were still trying to get to their seats but had to literally climb on the sides like a monkey to get anywhere.

In our berth we had six bunks, three on each side. There were twelve people in all who squeezed together. I slept with Micah and a stranger sat at the end. He kept my feet warm. I didn't have a blanket or anything to keep me warm. Our bags were several berths away and we didn't want to even try to go anywhere. So that was a horrible night of tossing and turning and freezing.

Password

So what happens when your husband changes the password to your gmail account and doesn't tell you? The answer is, you can't blog. So all the many important thoughts I have had for the last couple of days have had to escape my memory and forever be lost.

SWEATER VESTS are my favorite! Here are two of my recent finds.