Holi Hai!
Some of you may know the festival of Colors that is celebrated here in India, mainly it is a celebration of spring.  In the north of India the celebrations are huge, here in the south a little more reserved.  In other words, we didn't have to worry about someone knocking on our door in the morning, or sneaking into our house to drag us out and throw colored water, or dry colors at us.  We were expected instead to show up at the appointed time and place to throw color and water at each other at one time. Lots of fun!  The kids had a great time throwing water at us and their friends.  We had a number of friends very excited to have us participate, and we had a great time getting colored and wet.  I couldn't get as many pictures as I would have liked because it was too wet for a camera, but here is a video and I will post a few pictures in the next day or so. I wish you could see in the video how really colored and wet we are, but it misses out a little.
Holi Hai!

Bannerghatta

We went to the zoo yesterday.  It wasn't what I expected.  It was clean, and the animals looked healthy and well kept.  The elephant exhibit was a little different than what you would see in the states though...

Love From Bannerghatta!

More videos

I am posting video of walking down the street with the kids.  Not very exciting, but you can see a little bit of where I live.  I tried to videotape inside the store the other day, but the employees came and told me to turn it off.  If I can find someone to let me tape inside, it would be fun to show you just how different the "supermarket" is here.  On the weekend there is a market along the the street of fruit and veg, so I should be able to get some video of some of the produce.
Enjoy!

It took a while for us to get used to the money here.  Most people here use cash only.  The frustrating thing is that people always want you to have exact change, but no one is willing to give you change.  Let's say, for example, that you go the the store.  You spend 38 rupees.  You have a 50 rupee note (about $1 US).  You hand it over and the clerk gives you a dirty look and asks for change (meaning the exact amount of the bill).  You don't have any.  They search their drawer.  They might not have change.  If they don't they may throw something random from the counter into your bag and tell you to have a nice day.  Or they might tell you "next time" (when they may or may not remember owing you any money) They might have change, but they don't want to give it away because it is all the small bills or change they have.  They might need it.  You know, for a time other than right now. 

Anyway, here is some video of what change looks like. 

Lastly, here is some more video of the shops.  We are very lucky to live in an area where people eat pig here.  (BACON!!!-sorry to all my veg friends) So we have a shop very near our house where we can get meat, including pork.  We usually eat veg most nights, with meat only a few times a week.

PS I wasn't able to find any cheese.  At least not any I wanted to eat.  Those cheese blocks you can see in this video are $8 and they were packaged in June of 2010.  I know aged cheese is supposed to be good, but I don't think it is supposed to be sitting on the shelf of a store that looses power multiple times a day for extended periods of time for 2 years.  Maybe that's just me...

Videos...

I'm not going to write much, just post some videos of us going to the mall today.  

I tried to upload them to the blog, but had a hard time, so I uploaded them to youtube and linked them here.  I hope that works!

Here is the link to a video of us crossing the street...

Video of the mall near our house

This is some video of us crossing the street to catch an auto near the mall.  :)

I do know that tractors drive on the road all over the US, but it is just so common here, and these are major roads.  Just sayin...
More coming soon...

A little piece of me

While walking around Bangalore a few weeks ago I noticed a piece of the sidewalk seemed to be a little soft-it had been poured a while earlier.  I couldn't help myself, I squatted right down and carved my initials into the wet cement.  I have officially left my mark!
I haven't blogged much lately,  mostly because I am having a hard time putting my thoughts into words.  I am struggling over the loss of something precious- we have to leave Bangalore.  Ben's job doesn't need us here anymore and so our employment visa requires us to leave by April 1st.  We tried thinking of a different way for us to stay here, but no matter what we do, it will mean leaving Bangalore and returning "someday" on a different visa.
I feel like I will be leaving a piece of myself behind.  Culturally India is so different from America, but so close to my heart. I fit here! in America I am always late.  Here I am the first one anywhere I go and I never have to rush my kids out the door.  Life moves quicker and slower at the same time.  I heard once that for everything that is true in India, the opposite is also true in India.  I believe that now.  After living here, I see why some people hate it so much and why some people love it so much.  I think you see what you want to see anywhere you go, but I fall into the love India category.  I am just starting to really see my place here.  I love the clothing, ladies...you get to dress up every day if you want to!   Sparkles and bright colors are everywhere around you.  A head bobble and a smile will get you almost anything you could possibly want here-for a few rupees. Bargaining, city life, friends, tea, autos, taxis, cycles, scooters, buses, trees, parks, people everywhere, trash, animals, bugs; everywhere you go life surround you.
I want to remember everything, but I feel like there is so much I have already forgotten.
In order to help myself remember what it was like here (and to help you to see a little bit of why I love it) I am going to try to blog every 2 or 3 days until I leave.  I will continue on for those who are curious after we return to see how India has changed me.  I feel freer here.  (Is freer really a word?) I myself am curious to see what returning to American will be like for me and for my family.
In the next few days I hope to figure out how to video blog so that I can post some video of the small things here.  Who wants to see me run across the street with the kids for groceries?  Who wants to see what grocery shopping in India is like?  Who wants to see me bargain for an auto?  What else do you want to see? If you have a specific request, comment or email me and I will try to get it on video before I leave.
I really do think and hope we will come back here one day.  Hopefully a day very soon.  We have some plans for coming back and we haven't even left yet, so I think we will return.  I hope.

Sisterly Duties

Lately I have been getting a lot of comments about some sisterly duties that I didn't know I was missing out on.  A number of our Indian friends have asked when I will be arranging the marriage of my sister.  A few have graciously offered ideas on how to arrange a meeting of potential grooms.  We were given a newspaper that we can advertise what qualities we are looking for in a future husband for her.  We have been given tips on how to interview the groom and his family.  Good questions to ask, qualities to look for and sincere pleas to check with his friends to see how deep his faith truly runs.  In case he says he is a Christian when he really isn't. Or says he has a job when he doesn't. Or secretly has another wife in another village.  You know, the usual stuff.
I have to say, I have gotten the questions enough times now that I have decided to run an "ad" on my blog.  That way when they ask I can honestly say that I am making inquiries.
PS. It might be better if you didn't mention this to Elizabeth.
Here are her stats:
loves Jesus
5'2"
Cute
Also is often gorgeous
Loves hiking
Loves being outdoors
Full of Adventure
Loves playing games
Loves Reading
Speaks some Arabic, learning Hindi
Age: 31
Great family (totally not biased on that one)

Here are important qualities we are looking for in a potential husband for her
Loves Jesus
Likes hiking, camping, and the general outdoors
Responsible with money
Enjoys playing games
Willing to try new things
Likes (or is willing to try to like) India

Interested parties can comment or send an email to me at melissahoefer@yahoo.com
I will review all applications and let you know the results.

A few good laughs

I feel like I should say something funny, but it is 11:42 pm and I can't sleep.  It's hard to be funny in the middle of the night.  (I have kids, 11:42 IS the middle of the night for me)
However, I do have a good embarrassing story from a few weeks ago.  Laughing with your friends is better than laughing by yourself, so I am sharing this one so we can all have some giggles together. 
A few weeks ago I went to a movie with a friend here.  So fun!  I was excited, but nervous.  I mean, I have no idea what it is like for women to go "hang out" together in India.  So my friend told me to meet her in our parking garage at 5, she will drive.  At about 4:45 I happen to run into her down by our playground, she looks me up and down and says "will you be able to be ready to go at 5?"  I start to doubt my choice of clothing (I thought I was ready).  I tell her, yes, I can be ready at 5.  I tell Ben I am going to go "get ready." I brush my hair again, look through my cloths and realize changing is totally pointless.  I am going to the mall to see a movie, I am going to dress like it.  (Kurta, Dupatta, jeans) If I had taken a picture I would insert it here, but you can imagine that I am wearing something amazing and I will pretend that you are correct.  I arrive at the designated spot at exactly 5:04 and I do not see my friend.  I am nervous.  I begin to have a conversation with myself.
She is Indian, she will be late right?
But I just saw her and she said to be here at 5.
Am I in the wrong spot?
No, she is Indian, she will be late.
Are you sure because she seemed like she was wanting to leave right at 5.
Just sit down and wait.
Is it OK to sit down on the floor of the parking garage?
Should I be standing when she comes down?
Seriously?  Sit down.
Do you think I am dressed OK?
What else are you going to wear?
Should I change?
Into what?
If you leave, she will come.
By now it is 5:15.
Did you notice the time?
Yes, she's Indian, everything will be fine.
You don't think she's somewhere else waiting for us?
No, she's just running late.
Ahh!  She surprised me.  She is here but I didn't hear the elevator open because I was busy having a conversation with myself.  Was it out loud?  I hope not.  She doesn't seem weirded out that I was sitting on the ground and talking, so I think I am good.  We start walking to her car. We get to the car and I reach down to open my door.  She says "Actually, I'll drive."  I look into the car and remember that in India they drive on the other side of the street and the steering wheels are on the right.  I am trying to attempt to get into the drivers seat.  I start to laugh out loud.  She does too.  We both have a really good laugh about it for about 20 minutes.  I still can't think about it without laughing really.  Have you ever tried to get into the drivers seat of someone else's car?
We did, in fact, have a great time shopping and seeing a movie.  Turns out she was nervous too.  She locked her keys in the house (which is why she was late) and we had to go to her mother-in-law's house to get a spare key, go back to her house, get her key and then return the other key to her mother-in-law. All in all the night was fun. 
Comment on this post with a smile if you got a laugh!  I can't hear you laughing, but it would be the next best thing. :)

Dear Me

Dear Mouth and Stomach,
Thank you for being troopers today.  I am sorry that you feel like you are on fire.  You will live, I promise.  I will be very good to you for the next few days.
Sincerely,
Me
In other (related) news, I went to my first Indian birthday party today.  Note to self: wear a Sari to birthday parties.  I was a little (a lot) under dressed.  Luckily, Samantha wanted to wear traditional Indian clothing and was a HUGE hit at the party.  They loved it that she dressed in Indian clothing and was very polite.  She remembered please, thank you and "Aunties" all where appropriate. (Whew)
There was a lot of really spicy food.  I wish I could tell you what I ate, but I have no idea what it was.  They kept filling my plate until I couldn't fit one more thing in my belly.  I finally took the plate into the kitchen and gave it to someone so they would stop filling it up. Later a lady asked me how many children I had.  When I said "4" she looked at me disapprovingly and said "you are still so slender."
Beauty is such a funny thing.  As a woman it is so easy to think a certain way about your body for so long that you don't realize you think it until someone points it out to you.  Here in India, it is not feminine or attractive to have a "six pack" for abs.  What is beautiful is a soft and slightly round belly.  Just watch any Bollywood movie or dance video (if you haven't, you should anyway)  and you will see young, beautiful women in sari's showing of nice, soft bellies.  The other day I thought, "hey-I look like that" regarding a person on a billboard.  Do you know how often I have thought that in America?  Never.  (Although I was wishing- just a little- for beautiful, shiny black hair)
Back to the party.  I had a really good time sitting with the ladies and chatting with the few who knew English.  I have started learning some Hindi, so I was very excited for this party because I really wanted to use it.  However, no one at this party spoke Hindi, only Kannada.  One of the crazy things about Bangalore is how many languages are spoken here.  So many.  I did get to use my Hindi to tell someone on the street that I don't speak Hindi.  It is so exciting to use even 2 words! The grammar is so different, and it is really hard to focus during the lessons with all 4 kids running around, but it is still really fun.  Our teacher doesn't speak any English which is helpful for our learning method, but it also poses some challenges when we can't explain what we want her to do or teach us. We usually get a few laughs when we think we know what we are saying and find out we are saying something entirely different.  The other day we thought we had learned the name for pet, but we were really saying that we didn't know where something was.  I also told my teacher that a fish ate me (I was trying to say that I eat fish).  We all got a good laugh about that one. 
Before I go to bed tonight I will teach you something in Hindi.  If you want to greet someone in Hindi, put your hands together (like "prayer hands) slightly bow your head and (If they are your age or younger) say naMAstay (phonetically) or if they are older than you namaSCAR (emphasis on the caps).

-Please insert your age appropriate namaste or namaskar here

Death Defying Driving

Last night my sister and I took an auto home (auto's are our main mode of transportation here-kind of like an open air taxi) from visiting commercial street.  I was having so much fun watching where we were going that I forgot all about talking.  I realized I was ignoring my sister, so I looked over only to see that she had the same look of joy on her face that I know was on mine.  I know this because she looks almost exactly like me, just shorter.  The height having no bearing on her face, we look like twins sitting down and have the same facial expressions.  Our driver was...Awesome.  He inspired me to make a list of things I have learned from driving in India
1. It is perfectly acceptable to drive on the wrong side of the road here
2. Driving on the wrong side of the road is a good way to get around bothersome traffic on your side of the road
3. Red lights are to be obeyed if you can't get around the traffic in front of you to run them or if you arrive after the cross traffic is too thick to drive through (please use your judgement on how thick is "too thick," 3 or 4 cars deeps appears to be just fine)
4. Scary dirt back roads are fine to drive at night as long as you are going at least 50 km/hour-be sure to dodge the people and/or buses if you can
5. If you discover that you are heading the wrong direction, doing a u-turn in the middle of your lane is a good way to turn around, never mind if you are on a one way road, just take it where you need to go
6. It is good to be delighted in your own shortcuts
7. It is not scary at all to be asked if you know where you are by your auto driver (OK, that might be sarcasm on this one)
8. What is usually a little over an hour drive can be cut to 40 mins. with creative driving
9. I am more than ever wanting to drive here
10. I am going to be seriously disappointed when I return to the US and have to follow pesky driving laws
11. My sister and I are crazy similar-we both got out of the auto with huge smiles and said "that was awesome!"
12. You probably don't want either one of us to drive you around when you visit us here
13. We would love to drive you around when you visit
14. You might cry if you get in the car with us while you are here...out of pure joy from wonderful driving
~Love from India~

Christmas in Bangalore

Hello out there! We are still alive and well here in Bangalore, although missing the presence of my dad who came to visit for the holidays.
The last month has been filled with exciting adventure.  My sister moved here!  She is doing an internship here and will be with us for the next 3 months. Woo Hoo! 
Christmas in Bangalore was different than I expected. It was strange to not see Christmas decorations everywhere and hear Christmas music playing in the stores. In some ways it seemed hard to get in the Christmas spirit, mostly because we kept forgetting that it was coming. I often wish I was a person who had really fun holiday traditions, making Christmas cookies, advent calendars, fun Christmas crafts with the kids. This year I attempted to fulfill my dreams of tradition making, although it was a little harder than I thought it would be. I thought, "I'm homeschooling. I can make this fun and have crafts and make some homemade ornaments so that when we find a tree we have something to hang on it." Then I realized that I have no idea how to find craft supplies here. So we had to resort to using what I brought with me. I love to sew. I don't have much time to do it, but I have an obsession with buying fabric that has been temporarily been put on hold here because I don't have a sewing machine to fantasize having time to spend using. However, when I left AZ I gave away most of the fabric except for a few remnants that I couldn't part with. Silly, but they came in handy for some cute owl ornaments. I got the idea from here...
Snowy Owl Ornaments
and I thought they came out pretty cute.

The kids loved making them. We also attempted to make homemade paper ornaments. We had a few mishaps before we got something that we could use, but by the time we figured it out the kids were bored with it and didn't want to make any more. Maybe next year. Does it count as a tradition if the tradition is attempting to make up new traditions?  I do have one tradition that I was able to fulfill because my sister was able to bring brown sugar from the states: Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast!  Christmas morning we like to have Cinnamon Rolls and what we like to call Tillman Breakfast (after my Aunt Becky who gave us the recipe-love you Aunt Becky!) which is an egg casserole.  We even found pork sausage!  We also had a visit from Santa...which was pretty funny.  I am not sure if he wore the mask for everyone or just our kids, but our kids wanted to know why he was wearing a white mask and had black hands.  I explained that Santa has to wear a disguise so that he doesn't get mobbed when he is out walking around on the street.  Good parenting 101.

Santa!

I went to the store to by decorations for molasses cookies (my husband's family tradition) but I realized the don't sell cookie decorations or molasses here, or cookie cutters for that matter. So, we had to give up the cookie idea (although after Christmas we found play-dough cutters and 1 box of sprinkles at the store, so we made sugar cookies with sprinkles shaped like little ducks, butterflies and stars)
We did connect-the-dots shaped like Santa and Christmas trees, and also a kid surfing. It's been really hot here, so it seemed strange to be picturing the snow and cold weather that we know is happening other places. I have been enjoying seeing everyone's Facebook pictures of cold weather, but it seems very far removed from the 80+ weather we have been having here.
Our apartment complex put up Christmas lights a few days before Christmas and left them up through the new year, so that was fun to see.   Christmas dinner was fried Chicken (we don't have an oven big enough for anything else), mashed potatoes, homemade mac n' cheese, cranberry sauce, mushroom and potato soup and Parker House Rolls.  For desert we had homemade fudge, Banana Cheese Cake Squares, and Apple Slices.   We also had the company of one neighbor for dinner and a different one for desert.  
Although it was different not to hear Christmas music and see decorations everywhere, it was also the most simple Christmas we have ever experienced.  I wish we would have taken more advantage of it to speak to our kids about what Christmas is really about.  We were able to share the story of the birth of Jesus, and to emphasize that He is what the holiday is really about. It was nice to be able to focus on that, I think sometimes it is easy in America to forget that simple truth.  Here, with no distractions Christmas was what we made it to be; which was fun, and also a time for us to sit back and realize how much we had taken Jesus out of The Holiday.  This really is The Holiday for a person who really believes that Jesus was the son of God.  I mean, a virgin birth.  Who can believe it?  The story is beautiful and incredible and the beginning of a new type of relationship between God and man.  The birth of Christ fulfilled prophesy, brought inner peace and taught us what it means to REALLY follow and obey God.  His life is a life given over to teaching obedience, serving, and loving.  I hope your Christmas was a beautiful time with family, and friends, enjoying each other and enjoying Christ.
Here are a few pictures of Christmas in Bangalore:

Cinnamon Rolls and Tillman Breakfast!

Christmas tree!

table decorations

Family picture

Christmas dinner

Cute kids

Apartment Complex