Happy New Year from Dubai!

Happy New Year from Dubai! We arrived safely at beautiful DBX last night at 11:30 after a wonderful 5 1/2 hour flight from Frankfurt on Emirites. Wow, what an amazing airline. We watched 3 movies and the flight went by very quickly. Good food, excellent in flight entertainment, and our new favorite airline. We checked in the Crown Plaza Dubai last night and hit the club scene. We had a wonderful night of dancing and have been enjoying time by the pool today. We had a busy 2009 so we are trying to relax on the final day. Tonight we hope to make it to the fireworks and see a few local sights. Happy 2010 to All!

Christmas Joy!

A few pictures of our wonderful Christmas here in Deutschland. We are enjoying brushing our teeth under running water, not having to think before we eat, and the wonderful fresh air. The snow is melted by the rain, but we are still singing and laughing. The pictures include Ben's brother Markus and girlfriend Kadi, me and Opa Stabe, and the kid's Christmas program at church on the 24th. We are spending the next 4 days catching up with friends and then 12/30 we fly Frankfurt to Dubai for New Years. See some of you very soon in SD!

Greetings from Germany!

We arrived safely in Germany this morning at 6:30 am to a beautiful blanket of snow. Merry Christmas (Frohe Weihnachten) to you and your family!
God bless Ben & Jodi

T Minus 48 hours!

The countdown is on until we fly out. 48 hours from now we will be at IGI waiting on our Air India flight direct to Frankfurt, Germany. We went to church this morning for the 4th week of advent and enjoyed singing Christmas songs and welcoming visiting members from Wisconsin and Minnesota. Parents in their 70's from the U.S. visiting their children in India for Christmas. Amazing! We finished up our Christmas shopping and then wrapped all of our gifts tonight and packed the first suit case. The time is almost here! We had a small Christmas gathering last night with Ben's famous homemade Gluhwein (Hot German Christmas Wine). A very relaxing evening saying goodbye and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. This evening we watched "Licensed to Wed" with Robin Williams and reflected back on our joyous year of weddings. German Level III is 99.8% complete as I have finished the Milestone lesson, but are reviewing back through a few lessons that I didn't score very high on. Grammar tends to be a tough one for me. Best of luck to all of you last minute Christmas shoppers. It is December 20th already and the best time of the year!

World's Best Co-Workers

Yesterday morning I was sitting around the apartment working on my German level III when the UPS man called to verify my address. Assuming it was a package from someone special I immediately got excited. 20 minutes later security called and informed me UPS had arrived. I barrelled down the three flights of stairs like a kid on Christmas morning. I signed for the package and recognized it was from 805 E Kemper in Cincinnati. That is JM Headquarters! The apartment staff carried it upstairs for me and then I immediately ripped it open. At first I thought maybe my old boss had sent me meat, but I knew who it was from. During my five years working at JM in Cincinnati I made a really great group of friends. This was a group who was always willing to answer my questions and give a helping hand. They always enjoyed living through my adventures and treated me like their favorite niece or sister in law. Leaving them was the most difficult part of quitting my job. Well, sure enough yesterday they proved themselves once again. As you can see from the pictures they sent us everything from air freshers & a candle to make the mothball bathroom smell better to spices and muffin mixes to La Rosa's sauce from Cincinnati. MMM! Not in the picture is the pkg of 500 cotton balls that I am already putting to good use. I unpacked everything out of the box and then packed it back up for Ben to get the pleasure of opening last night. He was as excited as I was to see all the treasures. He says, thanks for the fuzzy socks! I feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful group of friends and former co-workers. Life is a mystery and you never know where it is going to take you. Enjoy the little things in life!

Grill Master

The new Indian "Grill Master" at work. A tandoori grill that is perfect for our needs. Saturday night we enjoyed a wonderful meal of mushrooms, organic corn on the cob, and beef steak. Life is getting better all the time!

Cultural Education Day

Yesterday, Friday, was a cultural education day for me. A jam packed day from start to finish.

First, my friend Kim and I had lunch with 2 Japanese women, 2 Italian women, and 1 Indian women at "the best" Japanese restaurant in Gurgaon called Sakura. Rie and Kotomi taught us about the menu, the traditional meals, how to order, and gave suggestions on what would be best for us to try. We all ordered something different and sampled. They gave us a lesson on how to hold chopsticks and what to do with the different sauces. Rie said they start using chopsticks around 3 years of age. One of the neatest features of a Japanese restaurant is that there is a call button on the table. The waitress only comes once you press the button. It is wonderful because then they are not always distracting conversation. We hit the button when we were ready to order and then she came, took our order, and then brought the food. When we were finished we hit the button and she came and cleared the plates and gave us the bill. Kim and I both ordered salmon, one person ordered sushi (I didn't try any raw fish), one ordered prawns (shrimp), and one ordered chicken. This was the first fish I have eaten since arriving in India almost 3 months ago. MMM! Ben and I will definitely be going back to Sakura.

Second, I went to the post office yesterday where you buy stamps and then have to glue them yourself. I bought a sheet of stamps and was working on separating them as I sat in the corner of the post office with my backpack between my legs. As I was sitting there I had my head down, but when I looked up there was a nomadic looking man in front of me. I was in the corner so I knew he wasn't just walking past. He bent over like he was reaching for my backpack. I didn't make any fast movements as before I knew it he had bent down, touched both of my feet, bowed to me, and then walked away. WEIRD! It was a similar motion to what I see all the Hindu believers do at the temples when they first enter. They always touch the steps and bow their head. The touching of the feet was a first for me, but I have to admit I felt honoured.

Third, we had an evening out last night with visiting suppliers of Ben's company. One American from Nashville, one Indian/American from Columbus, OH, and one Polander. A very nice group of men to visit with who I believe were thrilled to have someone take them around downtown Delhi. We stopped at the India Gate for a few snapshots and then headed to a place called @Live. It was the most wonderful getaway as anytime you can find a place in India that doesn't feel like India is exciting. Most places don't have a very good ambience, but this place had an awesome band playing with a very clean and upbeat feel to it. The food was American/Indian mix and the drinks were amazing. Good mixed drinks is another thing that is difficult to locate here. It was a late night for us, but well worth it. Two of the three men were experiencing their first taste of India so that was fun to watch. At the end of the night I was visiting with the man from Poland and he asked how I liked growing up in South Korea. I said, no I grew up in South Dakota, not South Korea. He said, "Oh, I have been trying to figure out all night why you would have been in South Korea for so many years." He had misunderstood us at the beginning of the night when I was talking with the other men about where I grew up in the states. Just a little bit of difference between South Korea and SD!

A full day from start to finish, but a very educational one.

Qutab Minar, oldest landmark in Delhi

Saturday we had a packed day of sight seeing around Delhi. Ben had a co-worker in town for the weekend from Germany so we played tour guides for the day. First stop, Qutab Minar, which is a tower that stands 238 feet (73 m) and was built as a sundial during the time the Afghan armies were invading Delhi. This minaret was built before the Taj Mahal (1631). It is a World Heritage Site of India and a truly impressive area with 60,000 visitors per day. Our tour guide informed us that most of the visitors are school children. Second stop, German Christmas Market at the German School across the street from the U.S. Embassy. Crafts, Christmas Wine, pretzels, imported Bavarian Beer, German sausage, and a band playing Christmas music. It was a wonderful afternoon! Third stop, India Gate at night. We had visited during the day, but must admit that the view in the evening is more impressive. Fourth stop, Connaught Place to see the heart of Delhi and enjoy dinner at a revolving restaurant that gives an impressive view of Connaught Place. They also have the best Wonton Soup in town! I don't care for the Indian, but the Chinese food here is excellent!

The Butcher King

Saturday December 5th, 2009 at 9:30 am we received our first order of beef from "The Butcher King." My friend Shirley from Minnesota gave me his number and said he has good product. It only took 5 phone calls and we had established when he was coming, where to deliver, what I wanted to order, and the price. He arrived, the security guard brought him to our apartment, and he asked where is cutting board and knife mam. Shirley had warned me that he will cut up the meat if you let him. I thought I needed the entire cultural experience, therefore I let the strange man walk in and gave him a cutting board. He walked to the sink and washed his hands and made himself right at home. He pulled out three chunks of meat. There was a tenderloin with a roast attached to each. I asked if it was water buffalo or beef and he assured me beef. If that is the case then it was one of the smaller beef tenderloins that I have seen in a few years. He asked what I wanted steaks, cubed, or roasts. I asked for a nice assortment of all three. He was definitely not a foreigner to meat cutting and I just watched in awe. I asked when the beef was slaughtered and he informed me last night so that was reassuring. I asked where the beef came from and he said, "Outside of Delhi, it is illegal in the city." Then he used the word black market. So I'm not sure if it is legal or not, but I guess we can rule out that he is not Hindu. He asked where I came from and then informed me of beef prices in the US being three times as expensive as his beef. A true salesmen! He came, cut up the meat, dropped a few business cards on the table, and was out the door in about 10 minutes. Very professional! Beef, it's whats for dinner!

Our First Tree

Monday proved to be an unexpected wonderful day. 9:30 am just after Ben walked out the door for work my friend Michelle asked me to go on a Christmas tree hunt with her. I had no intention of buying a tree, but once I learned the price and saw her I couldn't say no. I spent a whopping $4 on this 14 inch tall beauty that came predecorated. Ben and I had the traditional decorating of the tree ceremony Monday evening. I put on some Christmas music and we pretty much pulled the tree out of the bag and set it down. Now we are ready for Christmas! Amazing how much joy it brings to our lives.

Symphony of Sounds

Ben and I joked all weekend about the outside noises and even went to the extent of pretending to be a music conductor to the sounds. Sunday morning we just wanted to sleep in. We stayed out late Saturday night and we just wanted to relax. First, the cleaning crew rang the door bell three times. One would think that after they rang the bell twice, tried to open the door with their keys, and then rang it a third time that they might just leave us sleep, but no. I finally pulled myself out of bed and with the hand across my throat nonverbal said, "No clean today, we are sleeping!" Shortly after returning to bed and falling into a deep slumber the construction crew finishing our balcony started up their wet saw and hammers. They proceeded to hammer and saw all day until the sun went down around 6 pm. Behind our apartment they also decided yesterday morning that they were going to start building a road. So, truck after truck brought loads of rock in to unload. This of course made the stray dogs bark and the children yell with excitement. Every morning the water pump on the roof goes on. This of course is very near to us on 3rd floor so that adds some background humming as well. Is one day of silence too much to ask for? Ben has one day a week off and I just want him to be able to relax during that time. I don't push him to do anything on Sundays as I feel that should be his day. However, I can not control all of these noises. Last night after a full day of noise they decided to hold a rock concert in a tent behind our apartment. Of course they had to let off fireworks at 11:30 to complete it. Once again stray dogs howling, water pump running, and generators buzzing to complete the beautiful symphony of sound. Please appreciate silence for those of you who have it!

Wonderful India

I have encountered and noticed a few wonderful things about India that I believe are blog worthy. The first is what they call "Gold Class" cinema. Wednesday night we went to our first Indian Cinema of the show 2012 at Ambiance Mall. As you can see in the below link the theatre has a special gold class ticket option where each person has a deluxe La-Z-Boy recliner with remote control foot and head rest. We had a call button in between our seat so anytime we wanted something off the menu we just pushed the button. I enjoyed popcorn and Ben was excited to be able to get a beer in the cinema. It was an absolutely wonderful experience and night out for us.
http://www.pvrcinemas.com/page?page=usp
(You will need to copy & paste the above address into your browser to view it.)

The second wonderful encounter of the week is the brotherly love that is around us. Yesterday I saw an older brother helping his two little brothers across the street. The older brother was probably only 10 and the little ones were 2-4 years old. It is not rare to see a 13 year old boy or younger babysitting or carrying around a younger sibling on their hip. In the poverty areas the mothers are often times working and helping their husbands on the construction site so the kids have to fend for themselves. It is just so cute to see a little boy with a sleeping baby on his chest. It makes me believe that these men grow up to be great fathers. We don't see this kind of care in America or Europe as the families are smaller or there is another adult around.

Mango juice is my new favorite in India. There are lots of new juices here in addition to Mango, but it is at the top right now. Lychee Twirl is our road trip beverage of choice. It is the Lychee fruit mixed with apple and twirled together I guess. I had never had a Lychee until visiting Germany a few years back. Fruits here in the beginning looked scary, but now they are delicious. The curb appeal of them is not good, but once you peel them you find wonderful fruit inside. The bananas always look beaten up, but they are tasty. My sources tell me that the winter time (now) is the best for fruits and vegetables as the summer time means they are sitting in the heat all day. This time of year things stay more fresh.

Slowly but surely we are finding more and more to enjoy. Tonight we are going to Gurgaon Connection Karoke night with a group of friends and next weekend we are excited about the German Christmas Market put on by the German House in Delhi. 24 days and we are in the air to Germany, but who is counting?

Happy Thanksgiving!

The older I get the more I truly appreciate Thanksgiving. Every year there is more and more to be thankful for and a new awareness to how fortunate I am. We are so shielded growing up in South Dakota/America to what hard times really means. This year the appreciation that I have and my list of things I am thankful for has grown. Most years I am thankful for family, friends, good health, and a job. This year it is the everyday necessities of food, water, shelter, and clothing in addition to the above. Ben and I started our Thanksgiving Day off with a walk around the park and breakfast downstairs in our apt. breakfast room. We read the newspapers marking the one year anniversary of the Nov. 26th Mumbai bombing and the cost of keeping the one Pakistani prisoner alive that survived the attack. They are keeping him in jail before execution. A bitter reminder of the terrorist activity going on around us.

Ben and I both agreed this year we are most thankful for having each other and for our marriage. We are growing very strong down here and often discuss how if we can survive India, we can do anything in life. How could it get anymore challenging or stressful than the daily life here in India?

Tonight we are gathering with friends from all over the world to celebrate Thanksgiving at a local international restaurant called the Oak Tree. It will be a new experience for us, but we can still be thankful without turkey. The next time I'm home in the U.S. for Thanksgiving it will make it that much more special.

Enjoy your family, friends, and loved ones on a wonderful day to reflect on all that we have in life. Thank you all for your love and support!

PAK'ed Weedkend Pictures Continued

Picture 1: High Voltage sign warning that fence between the countries is powered.
Picture 2: Pakistan citizens cheering and chanting to the drum beat
Picture 3: India Border Guards marching during ceremony
Picture 4: The fence that runs between India and Pakistan...there is neutral ground in between so even if you made it over one fence you will wouldn't be on the other side.
Picture 5: Looking from India into Pakistan at the gates where they do a traditional flag lowering every night at sundown.

PAK'ed Weekend Pictures

Picture 1: Jodi with India Border Security guard
Picture 2: Ben with India Border Security guard
Picture 3: One section of the Indian fans
Picture 4: The security line waiting to get into the border crossing area.
Picture 5:Ben & Jodi at Golden Temple

PAK'ed Weekend

Saturday morning we took off for Amritsar, India to see the Golden Temple. We left from New Delhi train station this trip and were amazed with the size of the station. 16 platforms in all. We boarded at 7:20 am and arrived at 1:35 pm. It was a full service train so we enjoyed being waited on hand and foot. First, we started with tea & coffee, then cornflakes with warm buffallo milk, then a choice between veg or non veg breakfast. We chose non veg and had an egg omelet with 2 pieces of toast with butter and jam. Later on we had another tea & coffee and around noon a refreshing glass of mango juice. I'm truly falling in love with mango juice. I can't get enough of it! We took a taxi straight to the Golden Temple and then went inside for our first daylight view. A very impressive Sikh Temple that is considered a religous pilgramage. Sikh's are defined for their perfectly worn turbans. We had to have our head covered the entire time we were in the temple. On the way in you walk through a pool of water to clean your feet and then we watched as most people touched each of the steps going into the temple and then immediately fell to their knees and placed their forehead to the ground once they saw the temple. We walked clockwise around the temple and witnessed several who were either splashing the holy water on their face or completely dunking themselves in the water. They have a large population of very large fish swimming in the water. Large goldfish, catfish, carp, and a number of others who surfaced frequently. We left the temple, checked into our hotel, and then arranged transportation for an event that EVERYONE told us we couldn't miss. I recognize that the upcoming information may sound like a very stupid decision on our part, but the minister's wife from Minnesota told me we couldn't miss this opportunity. We took an hour taxi ride 30 km west to the India/Pakistan border to watch the sunset border ceremony that happens everynight. A place that I was hesitent to go to despite all the expats urging us to participate, but a really wonderful experience to see. Thanks to the Golden Temple, Amritsar is actually one of the safest places in India to be. The border is also surprisingly safe as more than 5,000 people were there to view the ceremony and lowering of the flags at sundown. The Pakistan crowd was fewer in numbers than the India crowd, but they were still singing and chanting back at the Indian crowd all in good fun. They have a special section for international visitors to sit that is close to the action. The guards wear tall fanned hats and kick their legs really high in the air. A very fun thing to see! I sat down and the man next to me asked where I was from. I said the U.S. in a low voice as I didn't want to exactly sing the national anthem next to Pakistan. He asked where abouts and I said South Dakota. Sure enough he is an Alliance Insurance agent from Minneapolis. I have met more people from Minnesota in India than I did while living in Cincinnati. Crazy! He reassured me it was a very safe place to be. We snapped a few pictures with the guards, stood with a few school children and got our celebrity photos taken, and then headed back to Amritsar for dinner and a view of the Golden Temple at night. 3:30am to 10 pm the Sihk men sit inside the temple and sing. That singing is broadcast all throughout the temple via Bose speakers. I believe saying that these folks have money may be an understatement. They are loaded! I'm sure they have no problem maintaining the temple made of gold. Additional historical reading:
http://www.sgpc.net/golden-temple/index.asp

Ben was the big winner of the weekend. He won the prize for most celebrity photos, the Ritz Cracker challenge, and our UNO marathon on the train home. As you can see in the pictures he developed quite a fan base at the Golden Temple. The Ritz Cracker challenge is what happens when you have been riding on a train for 7 hours. He challenged me I couldn't put 5 in my mouth at once and eat them. I did it so he had to eat 6. He accomplished that with no problem so that made it 7 for me. The rule was you could use your hand to put them in your mouth, but then no hands. Sure enough I started laughing and crackers went everywhere. Ben was also the big winner of the UNO marathon. A true champion! Next trip....Germany for Christmas (Weinachten) and we can't wait!

New Adventures

This past week we have had several fun new adventures.

1) Sunday we took in church at the New Delhi Christian Fellowship held in the British School Auditorium. A gym filled with Christians from all backgrounds and walks of life. It started out like a Southern Baptist praise and worship hour, but then tamed down as Pastor Karl Smith, from Minnesota, started his sermon by talking about "Being Prepared" with his Boy Scout pocket knife. A very worldly group who welcomed us with open arms.

2) Sunday after church we took in the AWA (American Women's Association) fall mela at the American School just down the street from the British School. A beautiful day in the sun walking from booth to booth to look at the next craft. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet new people, socialize with existing friends, and tour the inside of the very impressive American Embassy School. One highlight was the "real" hamburger we got at the concession stand for about $1.50.

3) Tuesday I had my first meeting with Sachiyo and Rie my new Japanese pupils. Once a week we are going to start getting together to help with English and learn Christianity. Sachiyo is a Christian and Rie wants to learn about it. Both were raised Buddhist in Japan as most people there are and now they want to learn. I currently attend Bible study with Sachiyo so she asked if I could help explain Christianity to Rie. This was honestly the first time in my life when I have tried to explain the Bible, communion, baptism, and everything else to someone who literally knows nothing. She has a dual language Japanese/English Bible that she uses and I literally didn't know where to start. This is definitely going to be a very educational journey for both of us.

4) Morning Walk-This morning we walked to the little park 1 block over from our apt. It was packed full of elderly people out walking around the circular dirt path. It is a quaint little place full of beautiful flowers and the rare greenery that India is lacking. One corner of the park there were 8 adults gathered doing morning yoga together, the middle featured 2 women sitting on the park benches meditating, and the place was truly alive with energy. Ben and I are bound and determined to become regulars as it is the perfect way to start off the morning before returning to the apartment for breakfast.

We are settling in more and more every day and continuing to learn about our new place of residence. I refuse to use the word home to describe India!

The many uses of plastic Aquafina bottles

I don't know whether I should say that resources are limited in India or that I'm cheap, but either way we are recycling. Ben and I have still been buying our water in 1 liter Aquafina bottles as we are building up the courage to drink the "Drinking Water" from our reverse osmosis tank that management tells us is safe. The problem that we have is that we are throwing away alot of plastic bottles that are more than likely going to be blowing around the streets of India in the future. Therefore, we have found that they are an excellent resource around the apartment. My first invention was to slice one in half and use it as a toothbrush holder in the bathroom. Second, a vase for flowers. My latest invention and my best has been in our shower. Since moving to the 3rd floor our only complaint is the crap shower head that sprays like something you would water your flowers with. The other day was the last straw when there wasn't enough pressure to wash the soap out of my hair. Therefore, I cut a plastic bottle in half, put a slit in it, and jammed it around our shower head. Now the water comes out and hits the plastic and produces a really nice strong stream of water. Once again, it is the small things in life that really make the difference.

Arun's Getting Married!

Yesterday we learned some very exciting news. Our driver Arun is getting married. He doesn't know when or to who, but he is getting married in 2010. I guess it is down to two lucky ladies and it will be either March or April. He has been on the phone non stop talking to family as they are in negotiations with the girl's families. I guess he has atleast met both woman, but the one he likes his family doesn't. A very exciting year ahead for him! He is a really nice guy who spends all his free time with family. We even got to meet his nephew one weekend.

The Sunday paper is really fun to read as there are about 5 pages of Matrimonials. People trying to marry off their son or daughter. Each of the descriptions describes the children as good looking, well educated, and from a good family. Status and class is everything here as you have to stick to your social group. I love and trust my parents, but I can not imagine letting them pick my husband. Good thing I found Ben on my own in Cincinnati.

Thank God for New Friends!

Saturday night Ben and I had our first gathering/party at the apt. We invited everyone we know and had around 20 people total throughout the evening. It was a fun and relaxing night. Here are a few pictures of the evening. We had representation from Germany, U.S., England, Norway, Canada, and India in the house. Fun had by all!

$4.58 Pedicure

This morning my friend Christine from Canada and I went for pedicures at a place she had been to before. It was clean and in our neighborhood. It was the first time I had a man doing the pedicure. He did a nice job and included a full foot and calf massage. Total Cost 200 rupees=$4.58 Moments like this are what keep me going here in India.

Tonight Ben and I are having ALL of our friends over for a party. Food, beverages, and hopefully a few laughs. We are really excited to have everyone over as we have been to parties at other people's places so it is our turn. The cleaning staff seemed to be excited for us today too as they checked everything over to make sure it was good. As long as everyone can hike up three floors to get here we should be good. Pictures of our friends will be coming soon!

Penthouse Living

Monday night we moved from 2nd floor to 3rd floor (Penthouse Suite) and we are loving it. The apartment has a wrap around balcony and is more spacious than our previous bungalow. Pictures are attached of bedroom, living room, kitchen, and balcony. Please note the beautiful horse picture over our bed. It is a big improvement over the old artwork!