Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Some Things from the Beach

So it really did rain.  A lot.  Notice all the water beyond this little brick wall.  That is not supposed to be there.
These guys are there for some reason ... giving the whole place a miniature golf course feel.
His mouth has a bunch of trash in it, proving people are people wherever you go.
Here I think he is saying, "Ooooooo.  Ice Cream."
The hike from hotel to beach.  It seems there are some cattle on the loose.  So it was like having a beach out by the barn.  At least as the walking goes.  Very Barren County!!
Finally the sea.  I tell the kids all the time, "The sea calls us."  I find it unthinkable to be close to the sea and not have my feet in it.  No matter how brown it is.  This trip I was down to my last 18 hours before making it out.  But I would've gone alone in the pouring rain if necessary.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Word Association

Some stuff just goes together.  I say, "Peanut Butter." You think, "Jelly."  Bonnie and Clyde.  Hammer and Nails. Biscuits and Gravy.  

So of course as Deepavali, the Hindu festival of lights approaches--your mind automatically goes East, right.  As in Eastern Kentucky.  When I say, "Hindu Holiday," you think "Miley Cyrus."  Right on, man! Hindu = Billy Ray's daughter. I say, "Vedas," you think "Achy Breaky Heart." Its only logical, right?  
You can only imagine how I felt when I found this Deepavali greeting card today featuring none other than Hannah Montana!  Oh how the over-commercialization of Deepavali grieves me (and don't even get me started on Deepavali greeting cards...)!!

I just tell myself that Hannah is not in it for the money, just trying to encourage the young people to let their inner light loose.  Or that the card is a bootleg.  

Either way, SHINE ON!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Sleeping With a Scarecrow

Here at our beach meetings we have these "pillows".  I say, "pillows" because they are in pillow cases and they are on the bed.  I am inferring from context that they must be pillows.

So being creative, flexible, and a problem solver ... you know, a doer, I set out to fix my issue.  The second night I exorcised my "pillow" from its case and then filled the case with dirty clothes.  Which worked pretty well except for the fact that the clothes have a tendency to fall out during the night.

That is where the title comes from.  All night long I feel like I am on my way to Oz having to stop every few feet to shove the straw back inside The Scarecrow.  But that is what we problem solvers do.  We restuff our scarecrows and keep on going!

The beach


Here we are at meetings at the "beach". At least people say there is a beach. We haven't been any closer than this, so maybe you can judge for yourself. Beach or not? We'll have to let you know ... if we get out there.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The Best Husband


I have the absolute best husband in the whole wide world.  He came home from the store with my favorite drink.  Now you might not think this is a big deal, but believe me it is.  Finding Dr. Pepper in this here part of the world is not like running down to your nearest Wal-Mart and picking up a 12 pack.  It was the best gift he could have given me!  Dr. Pepper and a candy bar.  I sure do love my man!

Monday, October 20, 2008

Are you Pakistani?

Yesterday I stopped to get some gas---wearing normal American clothes--and a guy came up and asked, "Are you Pakistani?"

Now around here people have this cute way of saying, "Who, me?"  When you ask them something.  Like I ask what their name is and they say, "Who, me?"  Of course you, I assure them and they give their name.

So at the gas pump its my turn.  Pakistani?  Who, me?  Are you serious?  Can you see my skin?  These are all things that ran through my head.  Instead I answered, "Yes.  From Pakistan."  Then told him I was kidding and really from the USA.  He was from Bangladesh, I am thinking he was making fun of me because he heard the shirt story.

Which goes like this:  since we party all the time I needed some new shirts.  So I got the one in this picture and rolled into a party ready for the compliments.  "Hey, great shirt."  "Like your shirt." "Lookin' good."  Almost as soon as we arrive, the compliments start to roll in.

Then someone finally tells me the truth.  They just needed to wait until more people were around.  The friend says, "Nice shirt.  Is it from India?"  No, someone assures him. Its Pakistani.  So before the night ends one guy invites me to attend something else and adds the reminder, "Don't wear that shirt from Pakistan."

So Monday night after the gas station guy asks if I am South Asian, too, I take it as a sign and get ready to roll out for the night (at 9:30pm) in my cool new, long shirt.  When I get there and bump into my first friend he says, "Hey!  Nice shirt!  Its Pakistani, right?"

Oh well, at least I am trying...

Surreal


Sometimes living in Asia you hear weird stuff.  Like when you are sitting in a restaurant and realize they are playing "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers over the sound system.  Its really funny when it seems especially out of place.  

This morning we were sitting at a nice little Indian place eating breakfast like we always do on Monday when this jewel started up on the jukebox.  What makes it funnier is that its then followed by some Hindi song.  "Eclectic," that is what they'd call it on HGTV...

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Most Cliche People in the World

A new McDonald's opened today about 10 minutes away from our house.   Now this is not so amazing since we have another one 10 minutes away in another direction and have probably five within 30 minutes or so.  BTW, we've eaten at them all ;-)

Well, for some reason we have been pretty excited about this one and have been checking the "Opening in __ Days" sign with a great deal of excitement.  

So in typical Glasgow fashion, we went to the new restaurant on its first day, joining a huge crowd at lunchtime.  I once told an Asian that seeing Americans in McDonald's is like having the chance to observe a wild animal in its natural habitat.

One of the guys on the opening team asked how we found things and I said, "Just like America."  Not sure if he thought that was a compliment or not, though!!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Man That Stinks!

You can see so much idol worship where we live.  Its really weird.  These things are all over.  Every shopping center has one.  Every construction site.  Lots of houses.  Just all over.  I am not sure what purpose they serve, but they are all over.
This one maybe has something to do with the tree.  Maybe not.
Here is the all to common red spirit thing in people's front yard.  Again, no idea why.  Usually they have fruit offerings but I saw one in a restaurant that had a bottle of beer, too.  A popular spirit I would guess if he/she likes to drink beer...
And then there is this.  Just one out in an empty field.  Maybe just for good measure.  There is an abandoned construction site way back in that field so maybe that is it.  I just dunno.  Its too much for me to get me head around.  

BTW, all these pix were taken within 2 minutes of each other.  All these and more could be seen at once if you got the right vantage point.  That is what I mean when I say this kind of stuff is everywhere.  Its every where.  

Sunday, October 12, 2008

MONKEYS!


I know those of you who also live in Asia won't find this exciting.  And I know if you are one of our readers in  India, you probably HATE these guys.  But we are still Kentucky enough to get pretty excited when we monkeys that are not locked in a cage (and actually they're pretty exciting in a cage at the pet store--we saw one steal a kid's sucker.  "That was awesome," as Kevin would say on The Office).

So that is how we came to almost cause an accident when we spotted about 15 monkeys along the road on our way home from our friend's house.  To local folks, we must look like people from the city who stop to make photos of cows in Metcalfe County.  Pretty stupid-looking.  But we don't care.  We get excited about wild monkeys.

By the way, there are monkeys in these photos.  They are just hard to see.  That kind of palm-tree camo helps to keep them from getting eaten by tigers.  And tourists.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

More Visiting!l

You know what is awesome?  People here love to celebrate.  The have turned a one-day holiday into a MONTH!  People are still visiting around from house to house.  They kind of run the gamet from, "Oh, its you ... come in for a minute of polite visiting while I wait for you to leave" up to what we had today.  It was more like a wedding reception without the bad music.
This is Craig with a friend.  This guy invited us to his house months ago and we've been waiting ever since.  He totally proved our point from before about specifics.  He had asked us to come and said he'd call but didn't, so we thought it a bust.  Then when Craig went by this week he was, "Come Saturday afternoon.  Here is my address" and then he started drawing a map.  Specifics = actual invitation.  Remember that.
This is just a crowd shot of people eating.  You can just see all the food!  Man Oh Man!  Good stuff. 
This is us relaxing after eating.  We went inside and hung around and talked with folks.  Lots of nice, new friends.  It was really fun.
Finally, us with the friend's mom and little brother.  We highly recommend some folks try to come this time next year.  Lots of great food, hospitality, and us. What more could a vacation offer?!?

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Get Your Umbrella Ready Before it Rains

That is a proverb here.  Have your umbrella ready.  Even though folks seem more likely to use it in sun than rain.

An English one goes like this: If you see something and think you might want it buy it; you might not ever see it again.  Thus when we were at the store the other night we came home with cranberry sauce.

We're not sure if we'll find a turkey this year but we are sure that we will not repeat last year's fruitless cranberry search!

Notice Angie in the floor cleaning stuff up.  She is an awesome wife!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

What They Didn't Tell You

We watched the presidential debate from Nashville on CNN World.  One thing I find interesting that neither Obama nor McCain talked about was in regard to "right/responsibility" of health care:  the issue of cost.

Today we went to the doctor with two of the kids.  They both had an exam, one had a urine dip stick test, and we got three medicines.  Total cost?  Less than $20 for all of it.  This was with a good doctor and guess what else ... after being told to "sit down a wait a while" we were in with the doctor (not the nurse) in about 10 minutes.  Oh and did I mention we didn't have an appointment and had never been there before?

The problem with healthcare in the US is deep.  Don't go thinking tax breaks or a free system like they have in Canada can fix the issue.  There is so much money involved on all sides that no one really wants to get it fixed except the patient.

When we get $6 x-rays, prescriptions for a few bucks, and good medical/dental care quickly without a huge hassle we understand why there is such a thing as "medical tourism".  That might actually be the thing that gets some folks out to visit ;-), if so--come on!!

P.S for all those who love the kiddos... they are fine. 

Monday, October 6, 2008

Meltdown!



When our friends from KY came they brought a BUNCH of microwave popcorn.  Which is awesome since it is about $1 a pack here for some reason.

At any rate, one brand (Orville?) is especially buttery and so we used a plate under the bag.  Not such a good idea it turns out.

Somehow our unbelievable powerful microwave can cook popcorn in under 2 minutes and can melt a plate in less than that!

Please, Piano Lady don't think we didn't appreciate the plates.  It was a real mishap and a sad one at that.  The plate was unable to be salvaged.  The popcorn was consumed without further incident.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Origins of a great fruit



Did you read our dragon fruit post a while back?  Well, while we were out in the village we saw where they come from ... a cactus!!  How great is that?  Cactus fruit!

Who knew such great stuff came from a cactus.  Also, guess what.  I got close enough to examine it and got poked.  Which led Angie to ask me, "Did you not realize it was a cactus?"

Saturday, October 4, 2008

No Place Like Home for the Holidays

We had an incredible opportunity to share some of the holiday here with our friends in a small town a couple of hours from where we live.  This time is like Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years (with some Halloween and a few others thrown in).  So it was a real treat to be included with the family.

This is a traditional village house.  Its the kind you'll see in ALL the "Home for the Holidays" type commercials on TV right now.  We stayed in a concrete house and this one was next door.  The more traditional don't really have glass windows like this but open frames and wooden shudders than can be opened to allow more mosquitoes to enter ;-).
One important thing to note was that we were invited to stay the night.  But we had started to think all our invitations were like "funeral home talk" and so we didn't actually come prepared to stay the night.  We had no change of clothes, toothbrushes, contact stuff, nothing!

(Aside:  OK, by funeral home talk, I mean the following conversation:  "Hey, wow.  Its good to see you.  Its been too long."  "It has, hasn't it?  I haven't seen you since [some person's name] died last year. Man we should get together more often."  "You are right, its a shame we only get together when someone dies."

This funeral home talk is common for us.  Like in Hiseville when someone says, "Ya'll go with us."  Except they have no intention or desire for you to accompany them. We say, "Lets get together sometime."  And mean, "See you when I see you."  

In your home culture this is so easy.  You know fairly well when someone is "inviting" you but doesn't mean it.  "Hey, give me a call sometime and we can grab some lunch."  But when you are in a new place its really hard to know when someone is inviting you and when someone is "inviting" you.  So we had a number of invitations to "go" places and see people for the holiday. But they never called so we didn't go.  Our friends said we should just drop in but all our arrangements were like "Come Tuesday."  And we say, "OK.  Call me because I don't know where you live."  And they never call.  Hard to miss that hint.  Even today someone said, "I want to invite you to my house."  And I said, "We'll come."  Then they smiled and left.  No directions + no time + no specifics = no invitation.

This got a bit discouraging, thus by the time we were going to "spend the night" we didn't bother to take it seriously.  We went with the clothes on our back and that was all.  BTW, do not tell him I said so but this was all Craig's fault.  End of aside)

Here are some attractive folks we saw there.  After promising to get full length photos of the family; we didn't.  Sorry.  After a bit of hanging out everyone was so sweaty and stuff we didn't bother.   Notice the kids playing PS2 in the background.
Here are our noble hosts preparing some food in the kitchen.  We had rice and fish.  Lots of traditional food.  Tasty stuff.  The shrimp paste was spicy and delicious!
This is a telling photo!  See those mats?  They are also dining tables, TV couches, and lounging places.  In our house we typically think that we don't have room for lots of people.  Here folks roll out some mats, thrown down some mattresses and just add another family.  Pretty cool, if not as comfy as a La-Z-Boy.
Craig with the traditional stuff (minus the skirt).  This clothing is mostly just worn the first day of the holiday.  So we were overdressed but looked spiffy. And shiny.  They feel like satin pajamas.  
More typical lounge wear.  The skirts get more comfy all the time.  Craig says men in the USA are totally missing the boat on the skirt thing.  He is still not so comfortable with the idea of grabbing a small shoulder bag and wearing it.  Too much like a purse for him.  Skirt-wearers must draw the line somewhere, right?
Angie and her friend.  You can see into the kitchen.  They had some cabinets but normally here dishes are stored in a more accessible fashion than we had in KY.
Getting ready for a ride around the neighborhood.  Craig was the only one with some variety.  Since he wore a t-shirt under his shiny shirt he could look like he changed clothes.  Swiping the skirt from Caleb's outfit made a whole new look.  Notice how manly men ride in a skirt.  Never sidesaddle, you just gird up your loins.  That biblical imagery takes on a deeper level of meaning when you try to run in a skirt.
Finally time to head home.  This is our friend's dad, the master of the house.  Notice Hudson's face.  He is so passive-aggressive in pictures...
Everyone saying goodbye. It was a great time (even if we were stinky).  You should really take in some foreigners some Christmas or Thanksgiving.  Seeing people like us look goofy and not knowing what to do (where do you put the gravy if you've never had mashed potatoes?  Well, of course in KY, you just put the gravy on everything), how to do it, when to do it.  Its amazing how much stuff we know to do just by seeing it done.  We just absorb our culture.  You can see how odd your habits are by trying to watch foreigners fit in with you.

So these patient folks gave us clothes to wear, gave up their beds, let us use their soap, bought us toothbrushes, let us eat their treasured holiday treats, drug us around to their friends and introduced us.  It was good.  But as you can imagine, we had to stop at McDonald's on the way home...

Friday, October 3, 2008

Waiting




















Thursday we went to a friend's out in the country about 2 hours from our house.  Since it was a new place for us we were meeting them at a toll both and following them.  Since it a holiday there is lots of traffic and so they were delayed.  Since we are close to the equator, we were sitting in the HOT sun while we waited in our formal attire.

Here are some actual shots of us playing Nintendo DS whilst waiting.  Later we'll fill in some details about the trip that ended up being an overnight stay, we were:

1)  Overdressed
2)  Underprepared
3)  White
4)  Shamed with how great people's hospitality can be compared to ours
5)  We had lots of rice