They doth protest too much...

Jantar Mantar! The images you see here are of Delhi's only government-approved protest site. You want to yell and scream? Well, get a permit and head to Jantar Mantar! It's also a very M.C. Escher-esque location...multiple terracotta structures erected to assist a once-living Maharaja to map the movement of stars and other planetary bodies. The site is really quite impressive.
You might be thinking "It looks more like a public park or a place one might take a picnic than a protest site," and we thought the same thing. We then thought, why can't it be both? You're tired of screaming about Western capitalism or Indian incompetency or the Chinese stronghold in Tibet...time for a break, maybe a tuna salad sandwich and some Tang, and then, once refreshed, you get right back to it...your screams
of protest that much louder, your clever rhyming
chants rhyme even better than before. Who knows, perhaps the world takes notice and thinks to itself "Wow, they really seem worked up, even energized, impassioned...they must really care, and I bet they had a nice lunch!" Olivia and Eli even had a run at it, chanting "Hell No, We Won't Go...To Bed" over and over again (they finally did). They also started in with "We're Here, We're Queer, Get Over It!" That one didn't last too long...I think they even realized how little sense it made...right now at least. We rounded out Saturday with dinner at Cafe Turtle (think Kramer Books & Afterwords in Dupont Circle...only Indian).
On Sunday, after church, we walked Hauz Khas village, dubbed the Greenwich of Delhi. Art galleries, boutique clothiers, antique stores...and, at its center, 700-year old ruins and tombs. Packs of stray puppies roamed the streets, telephone wire hung low, and most buildings looked as though they were on their way up or down. Not quite Greenwich, but there seemed a few diamonds in the rough (Cotton Curio, we're looking in your direction). Then it was off to Khan Market yet again for a late lunch at The Kitchen. The food was great, and the kids were the pits. I think we would have preferred it the other way around.


Delhi....OUT!!

"So a Brahmin, a Kshatriya, and a Vaishya walk into a bar..."

I'm pretty sure that's what this says in Hindi...or at least the part that I can make out. This is the archway from a tomb at Lodi Gardens. The kids were just below the archway. I told them that they couldn't have their picture taken until they'd translated the joke completely. As of this morning, Julie was still running food out to them. I'm kidding, of course. They translated the joke pretty quickly, and it turned out rather crude.

Ahhhh, good times. Nothing new to report, really. We're all still adjusting to life in Delhi. For the kids, some days are better than others...Olivia has hit the occasional rough patch, but we're rounding out the edges. Eli is happy so long as he can ride his skateboard or his bike or go back to Dilli Haat (he's had me haggle for a wooden alligator, a traditional Indian hat, and a piece of carpet shaped like a car...so far). Alise is happy so long as we're not driving anywhere...she's cool just hanging in that carseat, but the minute the car starts moving...wow. Julie is throwing a Lunar New Year gathering tomorrow. Julie insisted we call it the "Lunar" New Year as opposed to the "Chinese" New Year, so that she wouldn't have to continually answer the question "So, are you Chinese?" She's not, as far as we know. I insisted we call it a "gathering" because the word "party" carries with it so much expectation. "Gathering," however, implies that it could be really dull and that would be okay. We're trying to get all of our social events out of the way early...we figure that once everyone realizes that we really can't throw a decent party, then we'll never have to worry about it again. We may not get any invitations of our own, but that saves us the trouble of "conversation," which requires effort and consciousness.

Work is...work. I'm enjoying it, for the most part. As with any job, I find the hardest part isn't the actual work, but all of the personalities and egos you have to dance around. I commented to a friend earlier this week "the world would be a much better place if everyone could just put down their egos for half a second." That includes me, of course, because even as I write this I think "That's very insightful...if only more people thought like YOU!" I am egotistical and arrogant, but I think acknowledging that is the first step toward recovery. "An Ego-less You: A Guide to a Better Life through Recognizing You Don't Know Shit, in the End." Man, I'm smart.

I digress. We're currently taking orders for Pashmina shawls. I know a guy who knows a guy who came across a whole truckload...kidding. We can buy really nice ones for next to nothing, so order now while we're feeling generous. Also, friends and family, you only have a couple more months before the heat from Hell emanates upward and cooks Delhi, so you really should consider visiting soon. Furthermore, visiting while we're still "getting acquainted" with Delhi is probably a good move because than we'll all be excited about exploring and traveling. If you visit us when we're a year in, then it will be like when you visit someone you know in D.C. and you suggest "Hey, can we go to the National Mall," and your friend responds "Sure, YOU can go to the National Mall, I'll be at Starbucks."

Anywho...Delhi, OUT!!

Monkeys: Check, Elephant: Check

Our first weekend in Delhi was spent nearly comatose or wishing we were comatose. Actually, most of last week is a blur...I remember the kids waking up at 2 am almost every night swearing it was time for breakfast.

We spent this past weekend, our first real weekend in Delhi, getting to know our new home. We drove the kids by monkey corner (a spot where countless spider monkeys loiter about waiting on a bus that will never come -- or it might), and we visited Lodhi Gardens (think Central Park with wild parakeets, kingfishers, and fewer muggers). We shopped at Dili Haat, a great local market where Eli and Olivia had henna done. Eli's, when it was said and done, looked nearly like a henna Shmoo (Wiki it, folks). Best of all, to my estimation, I rented an elephant for the kids. A real-life, ornately-decorated, rampage-averse elephant for two hours of elephant-riding-goodness.

Olivia is settling in at school, and is meeting all sorts of kids -- kids from Australia, Japan, Korea, Israel, and America, too. Eli is presently chillin' at home, but we intend to enroll him at a Montessori school or something similar, if only so he can socialize with punk kids his own age. Alise has actually taken up competitive polo, which suprised us because she's only three months old. It works out though, as we strap her into the saddle and lash the giant mallet to her little arm and WATCH OUT!! She might already be considered the most talented in her age bracket.

Julie, while working part-time, has a little extra time on her hands, relative to what she had in D.C., and has already knitted three shawls, painted four self-portraits, and has begun an auto-biography. (Note: Alise really isn't playing polo, yet. Julie hasn't knitted three shawls or painted four self-portraits or begun an auto-biography, but she bought a lovely silk-bound journal this afternoon.)

For my part, I'm working and running and trying like hellfire to balance my complexion. I have combination-skin, so it can be difficult, what with all the pollution in Delhi and such. Don't you know?!

Delhi...OUT!

Happy New Year!

I hope this post finds all of our family and friends happy, healthy, and eager to usher in a new year. For us, 2008 was a wicked hectic year - this overseas assignment and all the necessary preparation, and, more importantly, the birth of Alise. We're heading to India today, and, while we're excited, we are more than a little sad to say "see ya later" to so many loved ones. We hope all of you will really consider visiting us, as I can imagine no better way to experience India then with family and friends by our side.
All of you will be in our thoughts and prayers every day of 2009 and beyond. We love you and miss you! Happy New Year!