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