Today was an amusing day for me, see a couple of weeks ago I realized that our neighborhood had a "ladies email group".  I had recently been bummed that I don't know many of our neighbors except for the three ladies that live directly around me. Anyway, when I realized there was a ladies email group I quickly signed up and hoped there would be some activity soon.  I didn't have very long to wait.  Not to long after I received this email invite:

Hi Friends,
This is Savitha here from villa #98 .I would like to invite you all for this round of ladies meet at my home.
When :  July 18 th  @ 12noonWhere : Villa(98) Dress code : Black & White Western?
Menu :
Appetizers
Pani puri-------2 volunteersRagada patty---2 volunteersImli Chutney---1volunteerGreen chutney---1 volunteer
Main course
Malai kofta curry/vegetable kofta curry ---------2 volunteersVegetable jalfrezy ----------2 volunteersShahi paneer -----1 volunteerRajma ------1 Volunteerchapatti ----2/3 VolunteerJeera rice----1 Volunteer
Mango lassi/falooda----2 volunteersNimbu pani------2 volunteersNo sodas please :)
Cake -----(Chocolate cream cake/pineapple upside down cake)Double ka meetha( bread sweet)

Please   RSVP by Monday.Let's make our ladies meet a  fun filled event.
Thanks,Savitha
Akshaya Extn 2098

Within seconds I rsvp'd as I was thrilled that I would finally get a chance to meet more of the ladies in my "hood". I then took the time to REALLY look at the invite.  As you will see above, the menu was all planned out, as was the dress code....and even the foods that I recognized, lol,ok food, one desert.....I knew I was not capable of making.  And yes, I thought it strange that a menu was planned out with the request for volunteers to bring specific dishes and that a dress code was in place.  I thought it strange but I was still excited to attend and be a part of it.

So, I put my head together with my cook, Gayathri to see what on the list (if anything) she could cook.  As she is a brilliant cook, she advised that I just pick something out and she would cook it.  So I did and sent a note to the hostess that I would be bringing the Malai kofta curry.  Heehee, a couple of days later I was phoned and asked to bring a veggie tray.  I wondered if they were worried that I wouldn't  be able to make a good Malai kofta curry and so they asked me to bring something non Indian and super easy.  How could they know I have an amazing cook?

Fast forward to today, yay!  Was able to find all my veggies (except for celery of course) and made my famous "raunch" dressing to go with.  As Gayathri was setting up the tray I ran upstairs to find something to wear as dress code was black and white "western".  All of a sudden I panicked. Does that mean black and white only? Did that mean I could wear black pants? Or as there was no wine or alcoholic beverages on the menu, did the black and white mean dresses only? Was this a formal occasion? I had no idea so threw on a pair of black jeans, black tshirt and white long sleeve unbuttoned shirt.  Dressed it up with heels and was good to go! I hoped.

The ladies meet was like nothing I expected.  When I first walked in I said "hello I am Cynthia" to which another lady responded "yes we all know who you are".  My immediate paranoid thought was "oh no what have they heard" but then looking around I remembered we are the only "American family" in our neighborhood.  I was the only "gorie" in attendance, but I was made to feel very special. I was taken around and reintroduced to ladies I am sure I have met before but it was nice that I was being introduced again because the other occasion was during Holi celebrations and everyone had paint on their faces..no way could I have recognized anyone!

Being honest I expected very subdued conversation with talk of children and what was going on in the neighborhood, there was a little bit of that but mostly it was just ladies talking loud and laughing and teasing each other.  It was very relaxed and I found myself smiling at how nice and funny these ladies were. Many of them took me under their wing and did their best to make me comfortable. Immediately after the appetizers (pani puri and ragada patty and chutneys) we headed to the main room where our host broke out a game of taboo!  Competition was fierce, and  as I LOVE board games I was on the edge of my seat just waiting to wow these ladies with my strong mind and great board playing skills. We were grouped into two teams of ten, and we were up! We went back and forth with the other team and I don't remember their clues but I am writing down the cards that we had that I recall and the answers I threw out trying to help my team win...it went something like this during our turns:

My teammate: Under the sari, sexy, under the sari..
Me: sexy bra, sexy undies..lingerie!
another one of my teammates: BELLY BUTTON!!

And that was the correct answer!

My teammate: Holy offering, offering to God,
Me: uh blessed water? holy water, communion?
another one of my teammates: Coconut!

Correct!  I would never have guessed coconut!!!!

Well duh, I forget here in India there are many Gods, I was told they offer coconut water to a God....which God I am not sure of....Ganesh? Don't know. Several. Seriously.

Next turn:

My teammate: big animal under the sea, no big plant..., no big animal under the sea
Me and other teammates: whale! octopus! Coral, .....me: baby fish lips!
another one of my teammates: Reef!

And that of course was the correct answer! Yay us:), hey I was close....

Next turn:

My teammate: breakfast food, morning meal, morning food,
Me: eggs, waffles, toast!
another one of my teammates: Sandwiches!

Correct answer...

Laughing out loud because I must have seemed like  total idiot! I was throwing out my thoughts to their clues and they were so off, most of them anyway, I never did shout out one correct answer.  My mad, awesome board game playing skills came to halt today.  Don't worry I would later be redeemed.

It went on like this for awhile and I am rolling, really laughing at myself because I realize that there is a big cultural difference and whatever clues are given I am at a loss, at one point I started shouting out really random things, I probably looked like I had turrets or something.  You can imagine how nervous I was when it was my turn to give the clues to my team!  I don't know why but when I was giving the clues we got about 5 correct in a row and very quickly!  I was a star....they chanted my name....ah...it was awesome!  Don't understand how I did so well giving the clues but could not for the life of me answer one of their clues correctly.  Ok, just re-read what I have written so far, and alot gets lost in translation.  If you had been there and watching the scene unfold, you would have laughed at this clueless gorie too!

Finally the game came to a pause, we claimed to be tied (the other team whooped us) and it was time for lunch.  I had a few of the dishes mentioned above and they were delicious but I had an appointment and had to literally eat and run. Next time I am not going to schedule anything for the day of our next ladies meet.  I didn't know hanging out, in the day time, without any wine or alcoholic beverage could be so fun!  I am so excited to have "REALLY" met my lady neighbors, and this time, I will remember most of their names and I truly look forward to seeing them all again.

And p.s. I needn't have worried about my black and white outfit.  Everyone did wear black and white but it was in all different kinds of styles and one lady even wore pink.

Till next time... baby fishlips!

This post was written on Thursday morning July 12, I wrote it on my notepad but I have been without internet since then and could not post.  It was written in the wee hours of the morning so it's not well written and it's all over the place but just trying to catch everyone up!  There are two more posts since then, I will try to update them a little before I post.  My internet is finally back up and I just purchased a 4g airtel stick so hopefully, I'll always have some form of internet connection. Crossing fingers!

One more sleep.....

We have been measuring John's return by the number of "sleeps" we have left until he is due home. I started the countdown when there was only "five more sleeps" left.  It has been so cute to hear Bruce announce how many sleeps we have left each night. And last night was the best because we both had the biggest smiles on our faces when he said "one more sleep and my daddy's home!". Yes, it is not an usual "thing" in this day and age for our spouses to travel.. It's not even unusual when they go to places such as Uganda and Iraq. Exotic places seem to be the norm and on one hand it's exciting and on the other hand nerve racking at the same time.  For me, Iraq was scary, but at the same time I was kind of excited for John to see a place that I most likely will never see.  I have not really been able to blog since he has been gone for whatever reasons but now, his plane is about an hour away from landing,   I can't sleep, so I might as well catch up on my blog, right?

Woo hoo,Happy 4th of July!

This holiday for me, conjures up visions of a filled with family and friends,a day off from work which turns into a long weekend, a bbq and fireworks! Also, for my family the movie "Independence Day", haha. Anyway, not a whole lot of American expats around to celebrate this day with us but we threw a bash anyway. It was fun, it was "motional" and we "broke that shit out", lol.  We had an amazing bbq, wonderful peeps and fireworks! I also had our rooftop area decorated in lights and good music was shared by all of us.  I love our rooftop here in Bangalore and the party went on into the wee hours and would have gone even longer if I hadn't been paranoid about it being a school night here.  Regardless a very fun evening, and I can't wait to throw another bash.

Spidey also "happened" while John has been gone. 

Every morning when Bruce and I are in the car, I open up the newspaper and whenever he sees anything that catches his eye he'll grab the paper from me and point it out.  Last week it was all about the Amazing Spiderman, so on Saturday I treated him and surprised our driver by asking him to join us for the movie.  The movie was in 3D which I absolutely hate, but it was a good movie and a fun time was had by all. As we were walking out of the theater Shankar (our driver) thanked me and told me he would always remember that day.  It was the first time he had gotten to sit in "gold class" and his first "3D" movie.  Gold class here isn't  half as nice as it is in Kuala Lumpur, but it was a big deal to Shankar and it made me very happy to know that it was a big deal to him and that he enjoyed it so much.What a cool feeling:).

So that was what we did our first 4th of July here in Bangers and the days that followed while John was away, in a nut shell:)

It is now past 2:00 a.m. Thursday morning, and I keep watching the clock and and thinking "soon"....John will be landing soon, so I will leave you guys with my favorite pics from this past week in Bangalore, while I go and freshen up and try to look sexy and fresh at 3 o'clock in the morning, ha!

Update...

..John's plane was late and he didn't get into almost 6 a.m......fresh faced and sexy? Not hardly.....but oh so happy that my beautiful husband was home where he belongs. The second to last pic was taken at a very cool artisans event...my driver Shankar was a huge help with the wee ones.  The last pic I took on our drive home on a Saturday afternoon....these kids were doing all these cool leap frog stunts...it was awesome!

Heat.  Hmmmm.  Yes, I feel that when I look at my husband.  Heat. Yeah, I also feel that on those days when it's pretty darn hot outside and the a/c isn't working. Heat....yes, I recognize that I do start sweating now when I see the popo as who knows what fines I'm going to be slapped with these days in our very rowdy Innova mini van. 

Okay, okay, but those various descriptions of "heat" are not the kind I'm talking about today.

Hostile
Environment
Area
Training


John had to take the class this morning before his flight out to you know where and to be honest, the name of the class doesn't help me to feel calm about this already dreaded trip.

To be continued.