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!