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!

Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah!! (In no particular ranked order)

It's Christmas Eve, and I thankfully find myself with my wife and kids at Christmas. We'll celebrate Christmas in Texas, where, unfortunately, the weather is purposefully un-Christmasy, and then we'll travel to D.C. for New Year's. We'll fly to India on New Year's Day.

We know and regret that we'll be unable to see everyone prior to our departure for India. Please know that we would have preferred it otherwise, but time/money have been limited.

We hope each and every one of you have a very, very merry Christmas, the happiest of Hannukahs, and the safest, most splendid of New Year's. It goes without saying, but never should - we love you all.

To rob Dickens blind -- God Bless us all, every one.

Buzz Kill...

What kind of man would I be if I used this absolutely free forum to blog about nothing except monkeys on motorbikes and the pretty new raw silk table clothe I practically stole from some poor vendor? I can answer that honestly...not much of one.

Do you know what I learned? Approximately 50,000 children in India die every year from dysentery...an entirely treatable waterborne bug. I know, "Awwwwww, poor kids," right? In D.C. this was just another "fact" you could read on some NGO's pamphlet or hippie's shirt in Georgetown or hear Sally Struther's whine about on an early-Sunday morning "Save the Children" program. Maybe we heard it from some celebrity, fresh out of rehab and searching for a comeback via promotional empathy. For me it used to be a fact that affected me for a moment or two, until I felt I'd given it its due, and then I went on with my day. 50,000 to dysentery, and that's probably underrepresented. That's likely a drop in the bucket compared to the other completely preventable diseases that take these children young, not to mention the more immediate health risks...like taxis and buses and "tuck-tucks" running over them, which in New Delhi is simply the reason for yet another traffic jam...they'll be scraped up soon, and I can be home in time for dinner. In D.C. these were facts, nothing more. Statistics. Lies, lies, and damn lies, rights?

Everyday I get to ignore these "lies." While sitting in my car or walking to a market, I get to ignore the "walking dead." These children who are born to die. Conceived by parents who've forgotten them to a society that treats them as ghosts who dwell in a world that uses their deaths as fodder for fundraisers or political maneuvering or career ressurrection. The facts were easy to ignore in D.C. As I understand it, with practice these children will become easy to ignore here also.

In the end maybe I'm just a bleeding-heart liberal or a naive Westerner who sees meaning where none exists or maybe I'm just tired right now and overly sensitive. Whatever the case, tomorrow I'll count the number of children who, statistically, will be dead by next year. What makes them different from my own children but chance? Poor, poor me...all that sadness that I must witness and bear and choke on when I complain about being sooooo full or soooo tired or soooo hot or cold.

Ehh. Oh well. Bedtime.

UPDATE!!

You're going to be disappointed, and it's my fault. I purposefully titled this entry "UPDATE" in all caps with two, yes two, exclamation points to get all of you geared up for an exciting entry, tales from an adventurous life in exotic India. I had Dominos Pizza tonight after working thirteen-hours. BUT, it WAS delivered to the house in under 30 minutes. In India, that IS a promise Dominos intends to keep! I did receive my Christmas tree and some groceries in the mail today...so that was exciting!

The air in New Delhi is still heavy with fear and anticipation...and cow dung, but mostly fear and anticipation following the Mumbai attacks. The city remains on "high alert," and so has begun the "knee-jerk" reactionary measures. I'm not saying these measures are bad, but they're reactionary. Life, which is comprised of nothing but work, has become very hectic and taxing, and I've only been on the job for one month. It's great work, and I think I'll enjoy it immensely, once I figure out what the hell I'm supposed to be doing. I'm told this phase is normal, so I'll ride it out.

I don't have many wondrous tales to tell...not yet. I've visited many local markets, haggled with shopkeepers, braved the by-ways in a "tuck-tuck" and I've seen monkeys riding motorcycles (with their owners), but I'm not doing anything terribly exciting in what little free time I have. I'm waiting to share the many adventures with my family.

I recently returned from a work-related trip to Bhutan. The Kingdom of Bhutan is...Shangri-La of Legend. It is clean and beautiful, and the people are soft-spoken and kind. It's no wonder people clamor to visit the Kingdom... only to have their plans dashed against the rocks of futility (the Bhutanese government limits the number of tourists into the country). I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have visited, and the objective of the trip was achieved, or so I understood.

I'll soon travel home to collect Julie and the kids. I can't wait! We'll celebrate Christmas in Texas, New Years in D.C., and then return to New Delhi. Once my family joins me here at post, then you can expect the entries to increase exponentially...elephant rides, the Taj Mahal, and other stereotypically touristy pursuits.

Well, for those who had asked "Where are the blogs? When is the next post?" Here it is...I'm sorry I don't have anything more scintillating to share. It's funny maybe how we humans struggle to find our routines when in a new place...I wake up, I go to work, I work, I eat, I pick up some groceries perhaps, I work some more, I leave work, I go home, I eat, I workout, and I go to sleep. Then, God willing, I wake the next morning to do it all over again. Maybe it's not funny, maybe it's sad or maybe it's both. Or maybe it's neither funny or sad...maybe it just is. Deep. Look at it this way...nothing much to report here, but I did use the word "scintillating" and you don't see that every day. Unless you write and/or edit romance novels...then you might see that word plenty. Goodnight.