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Friday, December 16, 2011

Warming My Hands and Heart

Soon these...













will be covered by these...


which will be wrapped around these...













which will warm this.


Leaving for home in 3 hours and 8 minutes.  Can ya tell I'm excited?

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

On the 12th Day of Christmas...Wait, I wanna switch those gifts!

Yeah I know I'm starting backwards but I got this card in the mail from my mom and I want to switch the order.
I wanna trade Day 1 for Day 12.  I'd like to have the 12th day be today so I can be on one of those planes-a-landing at O'Hare. Guess I'm gonna have to be patient just like everyone else.  2 more sleeps in India before I leave for good ole Chicago.  

Can't wait!

By the way, do you  Chicago friends, do you think there's anything missing from this version of the song?  I've got a few ideas...

Monday, December 12, 2011

Appreciating India

There have been a lot of things today to remind me how much I appreciate India.  Mostly the wonderful people who are in my life.  And a lot of these things would only happen here.  


The time screen time starts now.  15 minutes till my brain says screen time is over and I want to capture these moments before I take my new medicine and loose them.

Only on a random Monday in India do you:
  • realize you need to go home sick due to all of the dizziness and fuzziness, stop by the Business Center and have a ride home in less than 2 minutes,
  • have a driver take you door-to-door through the mid-day school traffic (rickshaws full of children),
  • arrive home to your apartment to find 7 pairs of shoes outside your door,
  • open your apartment door to find those 7 men repairing your 3 air conditioners that you asked to be serviced less than 24 hours before,
  • sit on a couch surrounded by 7 men who are servicing your air conditioners since the bathroom's the only empty room in the house,
  • have your housekeeper arrive while the men are working and tell them they need to hurry up so you can rest,
  • have your sheets changed while you make one phone call to a dr,
  • have 7 men finish their work quickly because your housekeeper politely asked them to hurry up,
  • have a healthy lunch (chicken, broccoli with garlic, rice and salad) prepared while you sleep,
  • have a light knock to tell you your yummy lunch is ready,
  • sleep all afternoon and wake in time to have your housekeeper give you final tips before leaving for the night,
  • have a doctor who makes house calls arrive within the time frame promised,
  • have the house doctor diagnose you with sinusitis, write prescriptions and help you feel a bit at ease for $28.39 and in 30 minutes,
  • walk to the pharmacy and pay $11.90 for 4 medicines including antibiotics.
I appreciate all of the help I had today from the people so much.  Thank you.  Also appreciating my ASB friends who sent me home, gave me hugs, called or texted to check on me and share the dr's number so I can get healthy for my big trip home on Friday.  The help's appreciated by my heart and my head which will hopefully feel better very soon.

Time's up!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Letter to the Church Across the Way

Dear Church Across the Street from my Apartment,

I know that this weekend you are having a special festival.  I saw the signs and have heard your music and songs like I was actually in the audience for the past 4 days.  Unfortunately those have coincided with me having the flu.  I'm all for celebrations and singing.  I think it's great.

It's just that today, day four of your celebration, I'm particularly noise sensitive.  I haven't complained for the past 3 nights.  It's just that the ear plugs aren't helping.  And I wanna feel better.  Could you turn it down just a little for the next 4 hours?  Just a couple of cranks.  That's all.  Still have your fun and song but a little quieter.

I'd be really grateful.

Sincerely,
The Blonde Girl Across the Street with the Bad Headache who's Sick of Being Sick

Thursday, December 8, 2011

How you Doin' Mr. Motorcycle Guy?

It's been a long week.  A good week but a long week.

A wonderful, inspiring, kind writing consultant named Matt Glover has been working with the elementary teachers and I've gotten to tag along.  I'm growing as a conferrer.

A cold.  An upset stomach.  Grossness hit.

Every moment of each day's been busy.  Like warp speed from 7:30 - 5:30.

This isn't unique for anyone.  Really not at all. We've all had weeks like this.

Today I was feeling exhausted.  That point where you just wanna cry.

My shoulders were hunched (more than usual), my hair I knew had to be a fright and I think due to a fever I had most of the day I had that lovely pasty, pale glow.

I was waiting on the side of the road at 6:15.  It's hard to catch a rickshaw at that time of day.  A couple of ricks had stopped but said no to my destination.  Again, not atypical.

I was giving up hope.  Thinking I'd have to walk home and the day's weight would be even heavier.  The plan was to give it 5 more minutes and then I'd walk.

Then along rode a cute guy on his motorcycle.  He smiled and gave me the Joey Tribbiani, "how you doin'?" head nod.  You know the one.

I smile and shook my head. Was he serious?  I turned around to catch a second glimpse.  He did too.  I laughed.

Thanks Mr. Motorcycle Guy for the nod.  It was just what I needed and made all of the grossness, tiredness, and sickness melt away for a few minutes.    Well, that along with the rickshaw who pulled up right after you drove away and who finally brought me home.



Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Just a Spoonful of Ginger...

makes my cold fade away (for a bit).

I finally caught the ASB cold.  It's been floating around school for a few weeks so I knew eventually I'd take my turn.  Yesterday morning, I woke up and my head felt fuzzy. I thought I'd had one too many egg nogs the evening before at the Christmas Tree Lighting.

Then I thought maybe it was my allergies. I'm stretching out my allergy medication by taking it every other day until I get home. The medication I used has a substance that's banned in India so I can't get it here.

Just before leaving for the day I realized the fuzziness wasn't nog or allergies.  It was actually a head cold.

I left a note today for my housekeeper, the wonderful Espse.  She makes delicious chicken,veggie and rice soup and ginger tea that I thought could help push away this cold.


Not only did I get my tea and soup, you'll see I also had a little friendly advice.
Don't worry about me following Espe's advice.  I drank my ginger tea very hot hot along with some Nyquil. The tea was super gingery.  There actually were huge chunks of ginger in the bottom of the soup pot.

And definitely don't worry about me eating yogurt for breakfast.   Not sure how that will help but I'll try anything to get better quick.  Here's to hoping I feel better soon.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

O Christmas Tree

Last evening, ASB had it's annual Christmas tree lighting sponsored with the Grand Hyatt.  It was spectacular.
Christmas tree lit by the moon.  
The elementary choirs sang carols. Santa visited Mumbai, India.  
Children and adults stuffed their faces.  

Eggnog, delicious cheeses, honey ham, turkey, dumplings, duck and an entire dessert bar.  Including...
Didn't try the Christmas pudding but I definitely did think of Gram.

"It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas.  Everywhere I go."  Even in India where we lit a tree in 85 degree temperatures.