Our 2nd Indian trip

View Larger Map


View Larger Map

Our second Indian trip begins on Saturday August 29, 2009. We start by flying to New Delhi (C)and then Driving to Rishikesh (B) staying overnight and then to Auli (A).

Auli, Uttaranchal A on the Map

Auli in the Indian state of Uttarakhand is renowned for the fascinating ski resorts and stunning natural vistas. Bounded by the snowy peaks of the mighty Himalayas, this hilly terrain offers the enchanting sceneries of oak fringed slopes and coniferous forests. At an average height of 2800 meters, this might be the single spot where the visitors would get the unusual opportunity of a nice promenade.

Walking through the misty slope provides one with the imposing spectacles of some of the lofty mountain ranges like Nanda devi, Mana Paravat and Kamat Kamet. Besides this snowy miracles, the boulevards through the slopes offers marvelous views of gorgeous apple orchards and fine deodar trees, which makes one’s morning stride a precious experience.

Auli proffers a credible past that dates back to the 8th century. It is believed that this pretty locale is blessed with the sacred visit of Sankaracharya. As a toddler in the tourism arena, Auli proffers an unspoiled ambiance. The harsh frosty storms, the sylvan peaks and the long stretch of snowy valleys would make idyllic surroundings for a skier. Aptly called as the haven for skiing activities, this hilly resort is turned to be the only tourist destination where skiing is the most sought after past time.

The erstwhile training ground of the Indo-Tibetan Police Force, Auli has gained the status of a popular hill resort with in a short span of time. The sheer inclines of Auli are a hot spot of courageous men who dare to explore the demanding environs. The snowcapped mountain ranges, the screech of the winds and the entertaining skiing, Auli is bestowed with all that is enough to thrill the onlookers. The nature at its full bloom gives a feeling of an awe inspiring time, which cannot be wiped out from our wildest dreams.

After 4 days we head back to Rishikesh and spend another day there.

Rishikesh - B on the map
A sacred town at the convergence of rivers Ganges and Chandrabh aga, Rishik esh is a naturally attractive place at the foothills of the lower Himalayas in the state of Uttaranchal in India. The importance of this holy city lies in the fact that it serves as a gateway to other religiously important centers like Kedarnath, Gangotri, Badrinath and Yamunotri.

Rishikesh, literally means Lord of the Senses, stands for Lord Vishnu and the city is blessed with the flowing of Holy Ganges. The city is a hub of many ancient and new temples, attracting thousands of pilgrims through out the year. The popular belief of Hindu devotees is that performing austerities in this holy town and offering prayers in the holy temples brings the much needed attainment of ‘Mukthi’, the salvation.

The main attractions in this exciting touri st and religious spot include Gita Bhavan, Nilkanth Mahadev, Lakshman Jhula, Swarga Ashram and Triveni Ghat, all the places having great religious importance. Rishikesh and other nearby places like Dehradun and Mussoorie makes a good interesting and amazing excursion plan.

Rishkesh is renowned for numerous Yoga centers, and perfectly termed as the World Capital of Yoga, which offers training of Yoga and other spiritual activities. This is a place to attain peace and tranquility. Many water sports activities like white water rafting and adventurous activities like wild forest trekking can be undertaken in Rishikesh.

The tourists who look for spiritual holidays as well as seclusion ar e welcomed at the lap of Rishikesh, with all its natural beauty and God’s gifts. It offers its visitors with experiences which nobody can forget for a lifetime. The sacred pilgrimage to four holy shrines starts from Rishikesh.

Agra - D on the map
Famed with one of the Seven Wonders of the World - Taj Mahal, Agra is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. Agra is a virtual fort of history and architecture located in the state of Uttar Pardesh in India. Historical monuments, architectural grandeur ventures and the beauty of marbles, Agra thrives as the best picnic spot in India.

Agra, a medieval city, was assumed to be built in 1475 had been found its place even in the epic Mahabharatha as Agraban (means paradise). The renowned second century geographer Ptolemy spotted this place as Agra in his world map. Agra was the capital of many dynasties including Lodhi and Mughals.

Located at the banks of River Yamuna, Agra offers the tourists the richest of the man made beauties including three UNESCO World Heritage Sites - Agra forts, Fatehpur Sikri and Taj Mahal. It is the haven of Mughal art, culture and architecture.

Agra is the foremost tourist spot all over India and has been equipped with all kinds of infrastructure facilities for tourists. The city with multi colored illuminations providing a marvelous view at night offer hearty welcome to its tourists. Many high standard hotels and resorts add the enjoyment of the vacation and picnic to its pinnacle in Agra.

Tuesday March 17th 2009 - just a typical day

I apologize to all of you who are anxiously awaiting an update. I'll start with today and work my way back to the beginning of the year.

Today I needed to go to the fruit market and supermarket.


The fruit market is interesting . . . they put their bad fruits in a crate and then the goat herder will come along and his goats will eat the fruit. Shopping in India is NOT like anything in America.


They have: watermelons, apples, oranges, grapes (both green and black), coconut, cantelope, bananas and chickoo - and Indian fruit that makes the most wonderful ice cream. The chickoo is next to the scale and looks like a potato. If you look closely - near the top to the right of the watermelon - you will see a picture of their god.


Here is the chicken shop. The man in the yellowish shirt is standing in front of it. The green stacks are eggs with green dividers. I didn't stop today - but I'll get more pictures later.


This is the supermarket I go to. It seems like every time I go I found something that I wouldn't think they could possibly have.



They carry my purchases to my car. While you are at the market you can take a moment to worship your favorite god. Ganesh is featured here - the elephant god.

Watch out for the stray dog sunning himself in the middle of the road.

Then my driver carries them to my elevator. Thankfully I only have a few feet to my front door. I come home and power is out. At least we have fans and the TV's (to do school) - but even though it's only 75 right now - it's sticky today. The high's have been creeping up to the high 90's now.

Today we are doing school for the rest of the day. Here is Joanna.


Sam is currently napping. He's figured out how to stand up in his pack'n'play and so now it's harder to get him down.

Next (or before this) a Sunday picnic BBQ with KBC.

Sunday March 15th - A KBC BBQ

On Sunday the 15th we had a picnic with our church (KBC) to say farewell to the Smith's (going to the states for furlough) and Silas.






Silas is graduating Monday from the Pastor Training Institute and is going back to Myanmar (Burma) to plant a church. Silas was Sam's buddy and he would tease the girls that he was going to take Sam home with him for the night. Madeline was NOT happy with this idea and she let him know



.

Madeline hung out with Hannah - her best bud.



The girls will miss Abby as she is going back to the states with her family for 3 months.


Madeline and Hannah with an impromptu "tea party" Caleb - Hannah's brother tried to help.


Not all the pictures are mine. Thanks Caroline.

KBC Camp in Panchgani, India. 2/27-3/1 2009

I'm posting a slideshow - the pictures speak for themselves.

January Pictures

Merry Christmas Everyone!

It's an hour before Christmas day and I thought I would do the equivalent of a Christmas letter - blogstyle.

The cookout with our church was fun. The Burmese students spent most of the day cooking/preparing the meal. We had chicken and beef kabobs, tons of rice and some other things that I'm not sure exactly what it was - but it was good. We talked and then sang Christmas songs. We stayed 4 hours. Sam is quickly becoming a favorite with the college students. As soon as he is fed it seems he is whisked away by someone. I spend most of the time just making sure where he is and seems likes it's a different person every time. Sometimes even when things change - some things stay the same. Same thing would have happened at our church.

I was clearing off our video camera to make sure that we had plenty of space for Christmas video and was watching some of Sam's birth. I didn't realize we had gotten Mom planting flowers with the girls and then at the hospital she and Joanna had made a "bet". Mom said he would have brown hair and Joanna said he would have black hair. Mom kept saying "you're right Joanna" and I didn't get it until Joanna told me the whole story. I was crying.

Tomorrow will be busy. We are opening presents in the morning and then going to a hotel for lunch (same one we did Thanksgiving at). All of the Cummins Ex-Pats are meeting. Then for dinner we are going to someone's house (another ex-pat) and having Christmas dinner. There should be kids there that night - so I'm hoping Joanna and Madeline meet some new friends.

I'll post more tomorrow.

Merry Christmas.

Scott, Dawn, Joanna, Madeline and Samuel Zook

Fireworks . . . in December?

Last night during dinner we heard an unusual boom and quickly were informed (by the girls of course) that fireworks were going off. Fireworks in India do not have any of the regulations as they do in the states. They were being lit off quite close to a neighboring building and no one seemed to bat an eyelash at it. We were just thankful it wasn't our building that was next to them. The girls were excited and after dinner we headed out to the deck to watch them. By this time it seemed that they were having problems because after an explanation of what a "dud" was - Joanna proceeded to count 29 of them before some real ones were lit off.

We had another enjoyable Sunday. It is wonderful to meet with Christians every week and we miss the weekly Bible Studies that are cancelled until next year. We have a nice time of fellowship as we eat dinner after church every Sunday. Home-cooked Indian food is soo different from what you will get in a restaurant in the states.

I'm starting to branch out. I've been using pre-prepared dinners that all you cook is the rice and then heat up the sauce. Last night I had picked up a packet that all you had to add was water & chicken - when I looked at the ingredient list - it was just spices and oil. Everything else I made from scratch :) I've also developed a fondness for sauces with coconut milk in them - VERY good!

Not much is happeneing this week. Scott was just contacted about having a formal Indian welcoming ceremony. We shall see about that one - should be worth another blog entry.

Joanna's birthday is Saturday and I've invited 6 kids over to spend the afternoon. 4 of the 6 are boys and not her age, so not sure what they are going to do. I don't think I'm going to do a "real" party since she already had one - but we can do pizza and a playdate.

Dawn

Don't panic

We where with out land line phone (and subsequently DSL Internet) since about 4 pm on Saturday. We will resume our regularly scheduled blog posts....what...we don't adhere to a regular schedule on this blog....well never mind...I am sure you get the idea.

Anyway, allow me to summarize the event thus far (since our last post):

1. Great Sunday meeting at Keruso Bible Church. Good message (about the genealogies in Nehemiah...no kidding)

2. Invited some friends in the church to visit our house on Tuesday. Very excited to get to do this as these folks have a little girl of just the right age.

3. This morning Dawn is sick with some stomach flu. (thankfully, she only has vomitted once, so she is keeping hydrated but she seems to have some fever with it too).

4. I am staying home today to feed and school kids and take care of Dawn as she requires. (If you didn't guess this is the husband writing this, very happy that the net is back on).

cheers

The good days, the bad days and the mundane days.

I have to be inspired to write here. So when life is not that interesting or less than pleasant it's hard to write and be dull and depressing. Questions and comments inspire me :) Or if I come up with a particularly catchy title. So if you want more information - ask away.

The good, the bad and the mundane. Seems like life reflects life back home.

Life in India is good when:

The baby sleeps right when you want him to and takes nice LONG naps.
The girls spend all day playing with minimal fighting and don't trash the place.
They focus on school and do everything without balking.
They are thrilled to be able to cout to 5 in Hindi. (If we can get them to 9 they will be useful if anyone needs to call customer service. Thanks Adriane for that one.)
The girls actually eat Indian food and ask for seconds.
You have a maid come in and wash your floors and bathrooms every weekday.
Your maid teaches you how to make Chipatti's (similar to a tortilla)
You discover cooking with gas is a piece of cake.
You get a little more settled every day.
You find something imported at the store that's just like home! Cause for rejoicing!
They have Kentucky Fried Chicken in India.
They have Papa John's in India - and they DELIVER to your building.
You meet other people in your building complex from the states that have kids too.
You hear from people back home and know you haven't fallen off the face of the earth.
You think the next 49 weeks will be a piece of cake.

Life in India is bad when:

The baby is fussy ALL day long and doesn't want to do anything but eat
The girls fight all day long and trash the place.
When the girls aren't fighting they are playing with the baby - even when you've just gotten him to sleep.
They look at you like a deer in headlights when you ask them to pick up and frustration turns to anger lightening quick.
You are so tired you want to curl up in a ball and just hibernate for the next year.
Your whole body just aches.
You have to stop at 2 different stores just to buy bread and milk.
You want to cry, but if you start don't think you will ever stop.
Just about everyone is hard to understand - and they think the same of you.
You can't sit around and eat bon-bons while someone else cleans your house - so you spend each afternoon trying to do as much as the maid does.
You don't have the right kind of flour to make Chipatti's correctly - and you had no idea there was more than 1 kind of flour.
You still have piles of stuff on every horizontal surface and despair that you will ever get it all put away.
You fail to do the calculations on the prized imported item at the store - only to discover you paid $11 for a normal sized container of parmesan cheese.
Philidelphia cream cheese is $6. Thank goodness I didn't buy it.
It's the middle of the day and I can't talk to anyone because it's the middle of the night back home.
I'm too exhausted at night to stay awake to talk to anyone back home.
It's the beginning of week 3 and how am I ever going to survive the next 49 weeks.

Life in India is mundane too.

We get up.
We call people back home.
We try to get the girls to clean up, get dressed and start school
It's lunchtime before I know it.
The maid shows up and the race to clean begins.
We try to finish school
Madeline will occasionally nap in the afternoon
The maid leaves and it's time to start dinner.
Dinner is a pre-packaged Indian dish (think indian food in an MRE type package) and I heat it up and make rice to go with it.
We spend some more time on the computer with people back home.
We put the kids to bed.
We stay up a bit longer and fall into bed - only to do it again tomorrow.

Thanks to all who have emailed, posted on here or on facebook, chatted on here, facebook or skype. Scott now knows what he has to get to get our Indiana phone # working over here. I will let you know when it's up and running.

I love hearing from everyone.

Dawn

We are all fine.

We didn't even know anything about the turmoil in Mumbai until my mother-in-law told us when we woke up this morning. India is about to have elections and there are some groups stirred up hoping to impact the outcome of those elections. Pune is a small (by Indian standards) and likelihood of us being in danger is minimal.

We are taking precautions and are being safe.

We are looking forward to our first Thanksgiving in Pune.

I'll post more as we know it.

Dawn