A break from the hustle and bustle of Delhi

The entourage heading to the playground

We ordered food a little while ago and the man on the phone (who I understood with perfect clarity for the first time in India!) asked me for my phone number to confirm the order. Little did I know he really just wanted my number to survey his clientele later. The food was awesome.

Here are a couple of precious ones of the girls. This was Maya wrapped like a burrito at the pool and then hugging her sister during one of our morning stretching/workout sessions. Nothing too strenuous for the girls--usually just jumping on daddy's back while he struggles to do pushups.

Nighttime fun!

 We went to Neemrana this weekend for a little getaway with many other teachers and families from school. It was a great break from the routine of the campus but exhausting at the same time. It was also the first time that we've felt like we've seen real India in some respects. We got out into the hills and enjoyed the palace. We swam, enjoyed delicious foods and soaked in the ambiance of a 15th century fort/palace.

 This is the figure of a deity that was in our room. It was gorgeous. In the evening there was a Rajasthani dance party where some truly marvelous dancing happened. I will be practicing the moves shortly for my next dance off opportunity with Burke. Pictured right is one of my favorite partner moves--spinning as fast as possible while holding on to your beloved--it was intense; I think Laura's game though.

 I'll leave the spinning bike wheels for someone else.

This was our principal dancer/actor. He struck similar poses with everyone in the audience who wanted (and many who didn't seem to want it). He just stood there behind a group of people until someone took a picture. All of it was motivated by his intense love for his profession as he did not ask for any payment or tips!

 Here is beautiful Neemrana from outside. We went on a little hike/adventure walk in search of a long lost step well that was rumored to be in the area. It was very Indiana Jonesy.

And then we found it. Here is a member of our expedition striking a pose.

It was extremely impressive to be there and in the presence of such history. It was sad also in realizing that this treasure wasn't much more to a novelty and a trash dump for many of the locals.

This is a shot looking down the staircase to the water below. At the bottom there really isn't much water--more rubble from the walls and walkways deteriorating.

Here's the entrance to our room. It was off a beautiful little crtyard that made us feel very special. The whole palace was a bit of a maze that of course Laura mastered before she even left the room. The rest of the group was still getting lost as we left today.

Detailed ornamental work was everywhere

Left, this is a view from our window. I think you can see the Zip line that I did also. It was nice but as our neighbor said--you never go as fast as you hope.

Here is the view from our balcony (left) and from outside our balcony (right). Every room at the palace was very unique. There seemed to be secret passages everywhere and hidden tranquility gardens or rooftop party spots. It was a great reprieve.

Maya spent much of the time at the pool but we also wandered around quite a lot. There was a walking tour with an audio guide that I would have loved to take but alas, no time, and oh yeah, we have two little babies that make it impossible to do anything of the sort! Maybe next time.

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Stuff! and the toe-headed wonder.

 What a couple of weeks it has been! We started off with a surprising bang! last week when Steve Klein, the director of admissions at Wabash, visited our school in New Delhi. It was a weird twist of fate that it happened to be the first (and only) day that I looked at the student announcements and just happened to see that Wabash was visiting. Zach and I went home for lunch and changed into the appropriate garb for a good photo. Rumor has it we made the Wabash facebook page!

 Last Friday there was a newbie/buddy happy hour at the American compound. We went and enjoyed good company and a few drinks. The girls have come to depend on and love hanging out with Tía Court and Tío Zach.

Guapa's relegated to dressing in Maya's pjs for  her.

Our stuff arrive this week and we were ecstatic--until we realized that we have a whole lot of junk. I remember  agonizing over which things to take and which things to leave behind in Denver; after 8 weeks without all of it we realized that there is precious little that we need. We love having the wall hangings to remind us of the all of the people who have helped to create such wonderful memories, and the kitchen equipment is essential, but much of the rest is just a whole lot of stuff. On the upside, the movers did a great job of unpacking most of it--whoo whoo! now just to get rid of the piles they left on the floor!

I know, I know, you think this photo is cruel--and as soon as I saw Maya doing this I wanted to leave, but let me explain the evening. This is at the Marine House at the embassy compound; think fraternity house. The band that was playing are all teachers at our school so we were there in support. A couple of seconds after this photo as we were contemplating leaving (it wasn't actually very loud) the bassist called Maya over and gave her some ear plugs. Perhaps the coolest part of the whole evening was that Stene Verhulst, a friend from my coaching days in Denver, was in Delhi on a recruiting trip and made the time to hang with us for the evening.

This is one little bit of our settling in after receiving the sea shipment. I like this wall of our house a lot as it is a great blend of the old and the new. This photo is of the Colorado Aspens in the fall taken by our good friend Sean Kemp of Academy fame. Below the photo is a new hutch piece that Laura picked up; when I say "new" I mean new to us as it is really about a hundred years old we were told. I would call it an antique but I've been warned against using that terminology in India--antiques are all owned by the government. To use the vernacular of the business, this piece is "old old".

Humayan's Tomb; The Taj Mahal was modeled after parts of this.

Photos on the grounds of Humayan's Tomb were very exciting and interesting. Here is the first in a series that we asked a fellow (Indian) tourist to take for us. This is a nice family portrait in front of the tomb.

This is the second in the series. Note the awkward man standing next to Zach. He is not in fact walking as it would appear, rather, he is photo bombing us quite intentionally.

When we asked him to move over he actually moved closer to Zach at first. We clarified that we meant out of the frame and he almost obliged. I guess we can always crop an arm if we need to, right?

 Maya was a huge hit at Humayan's Tomb. Several families preferred to stare at her over looking at the magnificent structures. She dealt with the attention admirably and even posed for some photos. After a few families asked to have their picture taken with Maya, I asked for the same favor. These kids have such wonderful outfits on, I couldn't resist.

Here is a cute sequence with Maya, Naila, and Mommy.

Walking around the tomb.

Here is one of several women carrying huge bundles of grass on their heads. Look, no hands!

The girls investigating the floor.

 Here are the two gals by the tomb. They did great with all the attention and seemed to enjoy the day.

Family portrait from afar.

Naila with Tío and a bubble.

Newish Furniture and Naila’s 5 months

Ganesh statue on campus

  Namaste, this post is from Laura.  I apologies in advance for not having the amazing writing style of my husband, this post will most likely have errors but I promise it is from the heart.

Bernie's reading chair

Last week we had our couch and two chairs reupholstered.  This is an experience I have been looking forward to since before we arrived.  I had heard about the unique process of fixing up your house in India and I was up for the challenge.  I bought a beautiful rug (check), reorganized the furniture (check), bought some decorative pillows (check), and now it was time to buy curtains and fabric.  Courtney took us down to GK1, Greater Kailash, to Fabindia, a great store for home goods.  She helped us negotiate the overwhelming process of looking at different materials and curtain samples. We finally made our decisions and set up an appointment for the tailor to come to our house to make the slipcovers.  The next day he came, measured, and said he would be back in a few days to make the covers.  When he came back he set up shop on our living room floor.  

This is was the part I had been waiting for.  For two days he worked his sewing machine and make us the best looking slipcovers I have ever seen.  I love our living room.  It is looking more like home everyday. I hope we have enough room for all of our stuff when the shipment arrives. 

Who needs a plug?

The finished product.

My bangle baby

 Maya and Naila had another great week.  Maya likes to where her bangles and a bindi everyday.  I do not have a good picture of her bindi because she will not let me, but I did get the bangles.  Naila turned 5 months and posed for a picture in our new chair. The girls are becoming friends.  Naila loves to watch Maya, she thinks anything her sister does is hilarious.  Maya likes to know her sister is sleeping in the same room as her.  I cannot wait to see these girls grow up together.  It makes the chaos of two babies worth it.

The monsoons have continued. I don’t think this picture does it justice but it poured for about five hours, which means a fifteen-minute drive turned into a 2-3 hour drive. I am so thankful I live on campus.

Sunday morning I woke up to best sound.  Bernie was “facetiming” with friends back in Denver while they filled out their Fantasy Football draft.  I was great to see some many smiling faces and hear a little about life back home.  Here’s what you all looked like from our end.

So daily life here is great.  We wake up between 6 and 7, have fresh fruit for breakfast, say goodbye to the girls and take off on our two-minute walk to work.  If I feel like a mocha, there is a coffee shop on campus that I stop at for a cup.  We teach wonderful students who thank us for the lesson, go home for lunch with Maya, Zach, and Courtney, and back to work.  After school we usually go to the pool where Maya is becoming quite the swimmer, home for dinner, and off to bed.  I think Bernie and I are working harder than we ever had but we have so much more time to work so it makes it worthwhile.  Naila usually does not have more than one bottle a day because I am able to come home to feed her.  I love that the school is supportive of families.  The assistant principal had a question for me, when she saw me walk by she said, “are you going home to feed the baby? Can I walk with you?” AMAZING! I love that they understand my family needs. 

Thanks for following along.

So that is probably enough for this week.  Soon we will write about Indian issues.  I keep thinking about the division of labor in this country but I do not think I understand it yet.  Here is the main idea, no one does anyone else’s work.  One person mows the lawn and another picks up the cut grass.  One paints the walls, another watches, another cleans paint spills, another watches, another sweeps the room after, and another inspects the work and accepts praise for the hard work.  It is very interesting, more to come.