Hello all, it's been awhile, there's always much to tell and I'm never sure where to start....what has become "the norm" for us, I forget is still amusing, astounding and crazy to our friends and family back home. With that in mind, I will share with you one of the emails I received this morning from our community leader.
**Snake Awareness Lecture on 12 May Saturday at 10 AM**
Dear All Recently there has been spurt of incidents of snake sighting within the layout (within the villa also). As suggested by Mr. Vinod, owner of Villa # 49, it may be a good idea to arrange for a brief lecture by the snake catcher Mr. Nagabhushan which will educate us with respect to how to protect ourselves against the snakes and what first aid needs to be provided in case of emergency. We have therefore arranged for a lecture by Nr Nagabhushan on Saturday 12th May 2012 at 10 AM in the club house. Please do attend to improve our knowledge about the snakes and do's and don'ts in case of emergency so that we are better prepared.Regds
Indeed! You read that correctly. Snake Awareness Lecture coming this Saturday, will we be attending? You betcha! I have heard waaaaaaaay too many stories of big snakes coiling themselves around car tires, of snake charmers being called to homes of friends to rid them of snakes. Big snakes too. I have even seen a very large, LARGE dead snake on the side of the road. We knew something was up when we saw our security personnel holding big sticks and slapping at the bushes in the park area this past weekend....immediately John and I both looked at each other and said "snakes". We didn't run off shrieking or anything, we are kind of used to this kind of thing now, but we absolutely want to get as educated as we can be should we ever need the info.
Hmmmm what else has been going on. Ok, on a "health note". I have not been too healthy. Friday night I forgot that you have to be UBER careful and decided the heck with it, I want Chinese take out. Soooooo, I went ahead and ordered chinese food from a place that we had not yet visited and had no previous good recommendations from friends or other expats. I just wanted take out and I was impressed that the order came within half hour and that they were able to find us! The food was delicious. It really was. You know, I don't even think it was the take out because John ate too and I was the only one who later got sick. Very sick. Montazuma's revenge, Delhi belly, the trots, the runs, whatever you decide to call it, it's all the same. Let's face it people I had the big D and I had it bad. Baaaaaaaaaad. It started in the wee hours of Friday night/Saturday morning at 4 a.m. and continued all day.....but I kept thinking "it'll pass". Just kept on with my day and our plans and truly believed it wouldn't get the better of me. We even had a lovely, really fun evening with our friends Saturday night and I think that the rum and cokes I was drinking kept the illness at bay. Until I got home that is.....it started up all over again and by Sunday, I was thinking it would be easier if I just camped out in the bathroom. By Sunday night I was in severe distress. It stopped being funny and started being very painful. I felt like I was having labor contractions, that's how bad my stomach started hurting. And I'm not exaggerating. I was doubled over in the fetal position when I finally couldn't take it anymore and woke John up and told him we needed to get me to a hospital. That is a whole other story........but the good news is that a few hours later, after three injections and two IV's of antibiotics, I was able to go home. I'm still a bit dehydrated and I am still afraid to leave the house for more than an hour (on Monday I didn't leave my bedroom all day), but I truly am much better.
What else......oh! We got to see The Avengers two Saturdays ago:) and what is really cool is that we got to see if before they showed it in the US. I don't know why but that makes me happy. Yeah y'all have fast food, "Whataburger", the best Mexican food, etc, but hey I got to see The Avengers before you did and it was AWESOME. Yes, and Mexican food, that brings me to another story...as you all know Cinco de Mayo was just a few days ago right? There is a really decent Mexican restaurant here and we totally thought they would be having margarita specials or some kind of celebration as it is one of the biggest Mexican restaurant celebrations of the year right? But oh my goodness, not only were there no celebrations, they didn't even have Margaritas that day because get this.....they didn't have any tequila. That was just so wrong on so many levels. They did have Coronas, but man...no tequila....at a Mexican restaurant....on Cinco de Mayo? I shudder when I think on it. Thank God for the Martins! They had a little get together that night and to our delight they had John's favorite Mexican dip, what we call in our house the "Rosarita 7 layer dip"....and twas delicious! I forgot to take a pic, but I assure you it was beautiful to look at and absolutely authentic in that it tasted "just like home".
**Snake Awareness Lecture on 12 May Saturday at 10 AM**
Dear All Recently there has been spurt of incidents of snake sighting within the layout (within the villa also). As suggested by Mr. Vinod, owner of Villa # 49, it may be a good idea to arrange for a brief lecture by the snake catcher Mr. Nagabhushan which will educate us with respect to how to protect ourselves against the snakes and what first aid needs to be provided in case of emergency. We have therefore arranged for a lecture by Nr Nagabhushan on Saturday 12th May 2012 at 10 AM in the club house. Please do attend to improve our knowledge about the snakes and do's and don'ts in case of emergency so that we are better prepared.Regds
Indeed! You read that correctly. Snake Awareness Lecture coming this Saturday, will we be attending? You betcha! I have heard waaaaaaaay too many stories of big snakes coiling themselves around car tires, of snake charmers being called to homes of friends to rid them of snakes. Big snakes too. I have even seen a very large, LARGE dead snake on the side of the road. We knew something was up when we saw our security personnel holding big sticks and slapping at the bushes in the park area this past weekend....immediately John and I both looked at each other and said "snakes". We didn't run off shrieking or anything, we are kind of used to this kind of thing now, but we absolutely want to get as educated as we can be should we ever need the info.
Hmmmm what else has been going on. Ok, on a "health note". I have not been too healthy. Friday night I forgot that you have to be UBER careful and decided the heck with it, I want Chinese take out. Soooooo, I went ahead and ordered chinese food from a place that we had not yet visited and had no previous good recommendations from friends or other expats. I just wanted take out and I was impressed that the order came within half hour and that they were able to find us! The food was delicious. It really was. You know, I don't even think it was the take out because John ate too and I was the only one who later got sick. Very sick. Montazuma's revenge, Delhi belly, the trots, the runs, whatever you decide to call it, it's all the same. Let's face it people I had the big D and I had it bad. Baaaaaaaaaad. It started in the wee hours of Friday night/Saturday morning at 4 a.m. and continued all day.....but I kept thinking "it'll pass". Just kept on with my day and our plans and truly believed it wouldn't get the better of me. We even had a lovely, really fun evening with our friends Saturday night and I think that the rum and cokes I was drinking kept the illness at bay. Until I got home that is.....it started up all over again and by Sunday, I was thinking it would be easier if I just camped out in the bathroom. By Sunday night I was in severe distress. It stopped being funny and started being very painful. I felt like I was having labor contractions, that's how bad my stomach started hurting. And I'm not exaggerating. I was doubled over in the fetal position when I finally couldn't take it anymore and woke John up and told him we needed to get me to a hospital. That is a whole other story........but the good news is that a few hours later, after three injections and two IV's of antibiotics, I was able to go home. I'm still a bit dehydrated and I am still afraid to leave the house for more than an hour (on Monday I didn't leave my bedroom all day), but I truly am much better.
What else......oh! We got to see The Avengers two Saturdays ago:) and what is really cool is that we got to see if before they showed it in the US. I don't know why but that makes me happy. Yeah y'all have fast food, "Whataburger", the best Mexican food, etc, but hey I got to see The Avengers before you did and it was AWESOME. Yes, and Mexican food, that brings me to another story...as you all know Cinco de Mayo was just a few days ago right? There is a really decent Mexican restaurant here and we totally thought they would be having margarita specials or some kind of celebration as it is one of the biggest Mexican restaurant celebrations of the year right? But oh my goodness, not only were there no celebrations, they didn't even have Margaritas that day because get this.....they didn't have any tequila. That was just so wrong on so many levels. They did have Coronas, but man...no tequila....at a Mexican restaurant....on Cinco de Mayo? I shudder when I think on it. Thank God for the Martins! They had a little get together that night and to our delight they had John's favorite Mexican dip, what we call in our house the "Rosarita 7 layer dip"....and twas delicious! I forgot to take a pic, but I assure you it was beautiful to look at and absolutely authentic in that it tasted "just like home".
I was just interrupted by a loud rumble outside, it's looking dark and windy and my first thoughts were "yes! it's going to rain!" and then I remembered how much it can rain here and the tent, tarp, tin, and cardboard homes immediately come to mind and all of a sudden I am not so excited about the rain anymore. I just can't even fathom how those homes survive even one night of such heavy rains. But then again a few months ago I couldn't fathom how those home could even be considered homes. If you would like a little insightful reading into life in the slum homes of India, I have read two books that have given me I hope, a better perspective. Shantaram, and Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Both are very good reads, pick them up if you get a chance. You'll see what I mean.
On a whole other random note, one of the best things about expat life is the people you meet. Some of the new people we have met are turning out to be very good friends. And thru each new friend we meet other lovely people and it is just so great to meet nice, good people who all seem to believe that we're in this together and we really try and help each other out. In a country like India, where every single day could break your heart, your will, your faith.....friends are the most valuable thing you can have. We are so blessed, so lucky, so grateful that we don't feel like we're in this alone:)
I leave you with this song that will stay in your head all day long "keep smiling, keep shining knowing you can always count on me...for sure (everybody) that's what friends are for....
and I remain a "hot....corny mess"!
Cynthia
Next blog will be about the Indian ER, by our guest blogger John Specht. I cannot bring myself to objectively write about this, so I will leave it to him. Stay tuned.
On a whole other random note, one of the best things about expat life is the people you meet. Some of the new people we have met are turning out to be very good friends. And thru each new friend we meet other lovely people and it is just so great to meet nice, good people who all seem to believe that we're in this together and we really try and help each other out. In a country like India, where every single day could break your heart, your will, your faith.....friends are the most valuable thing you can have. We are so blessed, so lucky, so grateful that we don't feel like we're in this alone:)
I leave you with this song that will stay in your head all day long "keep smiling, keep shining knowing you can always count on me...for sure (everybody) that's what friends are for....
and I remain a "hot....corny mess"!
Cynthia
Next blog will be about the Indian ER, by our guest blogger John Specht. I cannot bring myself to objectively write about this, so I will leave it to him. Stay tuned.
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