Spring Break!

Our spring break has officially begun. We are getting ready to head to the Maldive Islands. For those of you who are geographically challenged like myself these are a chain of islands located southwest of India. Ted is quite excited as once we arrive in Male, Maldives we will board a seaplane to head to the resort. So we will be gone for one week, the second week will be spent at home just enjoying the pool here!

A memory for life

Today I received a text message from a mom at school announcing that Fisherman's Cove was releasing baby sea turtles! Of course those of you that know me, know that I had to be there! I had an idea what it would be like from a friend but it was so awesome to be able to be a part of this! The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle commonly lays it's eggs on the shores of the Bay of Bengal but often the eggs are endangered by dogs, seagulls and crabs so a group of volunteers have formed Turtle Walks. People walk the beaches between January and March and when turtles are found laying the eggs the eggs are then dug up and moved to a protected site and buried one foot deep in the sand. Then approximately 40-45 days later the turtles start to hatch. The turtles are then gathered and released into the ocean. I was asking the man in charge how he marked the nests. It appears that it is like a treasure hunt, take 10 steps, then turn 15 steps, etc! They indeed found the nest as there must have been at least 150 turtles that we released. They were about 1 1/2 -2 inches in diameter and were quite active. A few still had the yolk sack hanging from their belly. Each of us got to release 5-6 into the sea. The turtles were gently placed on the sand and the waves carried them out to sea. What a site to see these turtles take their first swim and we were there to witness it! Awesome! Unfortunately only about 10 percent live to be full grown turtles. I look forward to going on the turtle walk next year!

So what side do you drive on?

I was talking to a man from Scotland the other day who was telling me the he drives on Sunday as they have no driver that day. Then I stupidly asked him if he was used to driving on the "wrong" side! We both had a good laugh at this question.
Today I saw a car that had the steering wheel on the left side (aka the normal side) and I was shocked. I saw a westerner getting in the right side of a van at school and thought how unusual that she was driving and then realized...no steering wheel on the right, it was on the left! Bhaskar was telling me the consulate personnel import US vehicles when they move thus the American van with the steering wheel on the "right" side or I mean the left side!

A good weekend

We had a very nice weekend! The children were off school for Good Friday and each of the boys had a friend over. I even had a friend over! We played Scrabble in between fielding questions from the kids and making lunch. In between rain showers the kids managed to swim. We have had a lot of rain lately. due to some tropical depression somewhere at sea. The bad thing about rain here is that there just doesn't seem to be anywhere for it to go, so it puddles everywhere. On Saturday I celebrated my birthday. We just hung out at the house in the morning and then in the afternoon went and checked out some antique shops. We have found several pieces that we like. It is so neat to see a piece of furniture made out of Jack fruit or Teak. That night we went to dinner at a new hotel, the Asiana. On Sunday we went to church, the past two Sundays we have visited an on old Scottish Presbyterian called St. Andrew's Church (aka The Kirk...I guess Kirk means church in Scotland). We have definitely been the minority in the church but the sermons have been good. The opening prelude played on Sunday was arranged by Harold DeCou who plays the piano at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Peoria, IL. In church communion was offered and Mason said, "Mom, is the bread safe to eat?" Only in India would you hear this question! After church we head to some friends for lunch/dinner. There were people from Michigan, China, Minnesota, Scotland, Illinois and some other country in Europe I can't remember. One thing I have realized living in India is how terrible my geography is! It truly is an enriching experience living abroad. Not that we don't miss our family and friends as we do, but we just remind ourselves that this is just a season of our lives.

A tight sqeeze

This is just a street that we drove down in India. There was so little room that I thought for sure we would never get out again and our car would have to be removed piece by piece. Amazingly enough we came out without any scratches! The area we were in is called "Electronics Street". We went out to look for another UPS (uninterrupted power supply). After going down this street and some other very narrow streets we were unable to find a parking spot. We decided to head to Spencer's plaza which is a shopping mall that is really huge and has several phases (to get lost in). We thought we would park at Spencer's Plaza and then take a auto rickshaw, but we ended up finding a UPS in the mall! While at the mall Ted even got an eye exam and new eyeglasses!! The exam was quite different than the US but it worked.

Our lawnmowers

Yep, the title is right. This photo is of our lawnmowers...Vincat and his father are cutting the lawn. No machine powered mowers here, just an old fashioned knife or machete type thing! They are on about day three of the cutting, each day they have spent 2-3 hrs. I think when the all the grass is established around the pool construction we will be looking at buying some type of mower. It is nice to have the grass cut as it was getting quite long. I joked that I was going to bring a cow in the yard!

Missing Teeth

Emily is really growing up in India. In the past 2-3 weeks she has lost three teeth! She is quite proud of the fact that she can pull her own teeth. What a trooper she is. We have been teasing her that she looks like a jack-o-lantern. The tooth has been placed under her pillow with a note that reads, "Dear Tooth Fairy, I am excited because it's the top tooth. Love, Emily Green". I wonder what will be under her pillow in the morning?