Dreaming of a White Christmas

Okay all - heading home (Mass and Penn) for Christmas tomorrow for a very quick trip! Hope everyone has a wonderful holidays!

Risha

It's official - I'm in India

So I'm at work, trying to think of a creative and effective campaign strategy to get men to wear condoms and I start to stare off into space when something moving outside catches my eye.... yup it's a monkey. Not just any monkey - a monkey with hiccups!! Then I spot the baby monkey with him/her who is on the neighboring balcony alternating between staring at itself in the mirror, turning on the faucets, and sitting in the baby swing attached to the ceiling:)

This is much better than the nasty fat man who is usually in nothing more than a towel shaving out there every morning and clearing his nose onto the floor - ick!

The tougher side

To put the rest of the post in perspective - I should start with pictures of my home. No furniture yet but a christmas tree!

So one of the toughest things for me to deal with here in India is the poverty (the other is gender). This time around it's a tad more personal. I sat down on Friday to discuss terms of employment with my housekeeper and on Saturday went to her "servant quarters" at the back of the house to check them out and meet her son and mother who live with her. The quarters consist of a small room (size of one of the three of my bathrooms) and a bathroom. The three of them sleep on a mattress on the floor.

Her son is 7 and when I asked her if he was in school she said no, that since her husband left (or died, I'm not sure) she hasn't been able to afford it and started crying. So she spends the day cleaning my enormous house and dusting my closet full of shoes and cooking for me and doesn't have a way to cook for herself and her family. And she's paying a tutor $8 a month to work with her son for 2 hours every day.

Even more desparate are the folks without the small quarters. A lot of migrant workers here are in constuction and move around from building to building living in tents on the streets nearby. Since there's construction accross from the office, there's a new tent city. These are a few picts. Click on the one of workers for a bigger view - the men in skirts versus women in saris. I can barely walk comfortably in a sari - never mind heavy lifting!!

PS. The 144 days until the mall opens changed to 141 a few days ago. So far the count has reduced 3 days for every 30. At this rate the mall should open in 2010.

Meeting Bill Gates

So Bill was back in India last night with his wife, Melinda. He held a reception for people who are being funded by their foundation. Probably about 200 people in the room. I sorta got to nod to him as he passed by so I guess that doesn't really count as "meeting".

I did find out one interesting thing about him though. He isn't comfortable with the people running his foundation in India (called Avahan) calling him "Bill" so they've been instructed to call him "the benefactor". :)

Stop Cribbing!

My co-worker Meg and I were driving to lunch yesterday and there's this guy holding a huge sign at a major intersection that says STOP CRIBBING. I'm thinking, hmmm what is cribbing? Is it like sudden infant death syndrome? Is it sexual harrassment?

Then Meg turns to me and says, cribbing is british for complaining. It's an ad for a gym! Silly british!

R

I have a home!

I moved into my new house on Saturday, which coincided with the delivery of all my stuff! The piano arrived safe and sound:) Most of the other furniture was damaged but nothing heartbreaking and all the dishes etc arrived okay.

The house is really fun - and although I'm daunted by the process of buying all the furniture I'll need, it is fun to think about! Maybe all from the wicker store pictured? I'll take some pictures tonight but really it's just empty rooms so far. It has three bedrooms, each with a bathroom, a living room and a dining room. The yard I've already posted pictures of. It also comes with servant quarters and a woman, Tenzing (I'm sure that's not how you spell it) who cooks, cleans, shops for me. She lives in the quarters with her mother and son - I haven't met the family yet, nor have i seen the quarters. There's also a gardener. What a life! My first instructions to Tenzing was to make sure I never ran out of yogurt or bananas.

I'm making some progress on getting a car and driver, and I'll need a guard to watch the car, since I'll have to park on a side street. And then of course the car washer. I'll have a staff! Hee hee. So when you all come visit, rest assured it will be as easy as Delhi can be!

This picture is from the office. They are building new apartments across the street. Construction here absolutely fascinates me. Why are women not equal when they participate in all the hard work?

:)Risha