AND WE ARE OFF...

Barcelona is so awesome. We got off to a rocky start, our suitcases were way over the limit, they wanted $600 more bucks, which sent me into shock waves. We recalled our drivers and were throwing stuff into the back of the car. I don't know what possessed Bri to carry all of her school books, like she would really be studying...anyway, we made it. Hey, Bri and I wouldn't mind living here. Gotta go catch our boat.

WE GOT 6 MONTHS IN...30 MONTHS TO GO

Thank you, Sunnyside for our gift box. Yes, you can see the twine from custom's rampage through the package. Yes, every can of Pringles you sent was opened and poured throughout the box...but it got here. (At least everything else was virtually untouched). Thank you for your love, your prayers, your thoughts and well wishes. The cards, gifts, books meant so much to Bri, Ashley, me and John. We are doing fine. The church in Chennai is doing fairly well. Thus far, no serious persecution here in the city that I know of...but the rural areas...keep praying, please.

I wanted to shift gears and reflect on what it's been like, now that we have 6 months in. I guess I have to be ever so careful with my words...I don't want to say anything inflammatory or sound like an...alarmist, so...choosing my words ever so carefully...here goes:

There are ways that I can empathize and sympathize with the poverty in India, afterall, we grew up in poverty, but we really just didn't notice it, because most of our friends were poor too. It's so wierd, I guess is the best way to describe it. I remember going over to some wealthier friends homes throughout childhood and feeling so out of place in their upper eschelon neighborhoods, never really being comfortable. We had a comradie in "da hood", like it was "us against them"...we were on the bottom striving to make our way out...trying to pull a "George Jefferson" and move it on up...

I guess that is the beauty of America...you really can achieve your dreams and beyond...the opportunity is there.

So now...it's like the tables are turned...and here I sit in the wealthy neighborhood, servants come and go, eager to please...fearful of losing their job...such humility in their hearts. I can't take it. I feel like Jennifer Lopez singing "Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got...I'm still, I'm still Jenny from the block"... I believe the compassion and love of mankind transcends all barriers, and not like I'm emulating George W. lookin' into Putin's eyes...but I find myself searching deeply within people's eyes, past the core of anger or resentment of foreigners floating through their land with freedoms they can never quite attain...maybe I'm just having my WWJD moment, trying to be that light on a hill. I don't know...

It was more fun being in "da hood" hustling for a buck and surviving. Then again, reflecting on the "good ol' days" is always more happier than the reality of being there. Who wants to go to bed hungry?

Well, here I sit, planning another whirlwind vacation. Truth be told, I AM TERRIFIED OF BEING ON A CRUISE BOAT THIS BIG. Echoes of Titanic fill my mind. I find the sound of a fog horn petrifying, it just leaves me quaking inside. My silly girls are determined to watch Titanic tonight. I had found movies like Spartacus, Ben Hur and Gladiator at the DVD shop to try and bring them up to speed on Rome, the Colluseum and Circus Maximus. They seem so clueless as to what happened, or even connecting the dots to 70AD when Rome destroyed Jerusalem, using much of the gold, precious items to be reconstructed in their colluseum. I guess they are much more interested in "where is the mall"...

I know one day they will appreciate this great opportunity that they have been given. I'm just trippin' thinking...what if a rogue wave hits? I never got over the heart sick feeling that settled in after Poseidon Adventure either. So why did I pick a cruise to go on? What we did in Egypt is "nothing", NOTHING compared to this...being out to see on a huge vessel. In Egypt we simply floated down the river, with the land on either side. I could have swam to shore if I had to...

Okay, six months in, my job terminated, I want you guys at the courthouse to know you are always drifting through my mind. My family is always drifting through my mind. My mom and dad are always in my dreams, comforting me in this strange land. I feel like my mind and eyes are still looking for some semblence or essence of HOME, good ol' Decatur...the smell of Staley's in the air...I guess other smells have filled my nostrils these days, and other sights have filled my core. But my Johnnie Frank is happy as a lark, and I am really happy for him. I am really glad they have been able to do good things for India at work, and I really am trying to "enjoy the ride".

Six months in, 30 to go...stay tuned.

WHUZZ UPPP

Monsoon rains from our car window -- Ashley's Birthday cuppacino with heart sprinkles delivered by an admiring waiter -- Forgive me for posting this one of Bri at her insistence -- Our ever-attentive waiter -- Ashley's birthday, en route to Extasy -- Global Adjustment's New Building....

I know I haven't been writing lately, but things have been totally crazy. I guess I wanted to start off telling you about...MONSOON season. I was always wondering what monsoon season would be like, kinda like wondering what the first pang of giving birth was gonna be like comes to mind. Such obsession with the unknown, and then one day...WHAM...doom and gloom sets in. Yeah, rainy days and Mondays always get me down. You might as well throw in Tuesdays and Wednesdays, okay.

We took off for church last Sunday, the front roads were passable, but suddenly as we turned into smaller roads, the water -- which of course drains NOWHERE -- began rising to our door level.

The girls are freaking out, I'm talking to Vendan, like "Do you really think we can make it?"...rickshaws are becoming stranded in the water...So Bri reaches into my purse, grabs my camera and TA-DA...here's a picture of our first real swampy ride.

Thanks to the grace of GOD, we did't have to get out and push the vehicle to higher ground (yes, others were out there towing the line), because only heaven knows just what the gunk floating and lurking below the surface was.

Well the storm knocked out our internet for 4 days, and just when we got it going, SHA-ZAAAM, lightning struck and fried the modem. A neighbor's house had an entire wall to crack. I'm telling you a clap of thunder struck in the middle of the night that was so loud, we all saw a white light...I was just waiting for the trumpet to sound before I realized that no, the end has not yet come...it was THAT HORRIFIC, and NO, I AM NOT EXAGGERATING...

Well My BABY turned 21 the other day, and yes we celebrated. Me, Ash and Bri took off to their favorite cheese cake spot..EXTASY, and yes, this coffee shop truly deserves its name. It just doesn't get any better than this. I'm telling ya, who'd a thunk that one could find such BLISS in India? Okay we were totally silly, whacky and crazy...and our waiter...Gobbie?? I think that was his name, couldn't resist circling our table any chance he could get. Any way, he wanted to bring Ash a candle in her ice cream, but she was coy and shy.

They bring you your dessert in this huge bowl, about the size of your head, with a strip of...I don't know how to describe it other than it's like sugar coated gummy bears, but it's cut into a 5 inch rectangular block, and it sticks to the side of your bowl...like an after-treat of your cheese cake and ice cream. Well, Bri grabs hers, and lets it dangle out of the side of her nostrils. (We are just rolling, it was so funny). Why are my girls so uncouth sometimes?...I was just simply mortified).

Actually, we were the only people in the shop, or I really wouldn't have let them carry on like this....

Well, once again I joined another club...this time it was GLOBAL ADJUSTMENTS. (Yeah, like I need a mental adjustment). So John took pictures of the entertainment that night. These guys were playing instruments (I forgot what you called them and the type of music it was...cantonic?? something like that. Anyway, as soon as I get back from our cruise (I'm gonna tell you all about the drama going on there maybe tomorrow)...but as soon as I get back, I'm going to take a 6 week Tamil course at Global Adjustments. My head can only hold so much...I am trying to review my Spanish (it's been 20 years) for 3 days in Barcelona, the cruise goes to Malta, Naples (Pompeii), Rome, Florence/Pisa, Nice & Monaco. The guides all speak English...but we are on our own in Spain.

I'm sure we'll have some pretty good stories for you then. Hasta luego, feliz navidad, la cucaracha, vaya con dios, my darling! (Yeah, we are in trouble).

GO SPEED RACER...GO

Hey, believe it or not it has been 6 MONTHS since we have been in India, and we are just getting to Kart Attack...which is few blocks from our house. John and Briana as just too dangerous on the road...Bri almost flipped her car twice. Ashley kept exclaiming how much she missed driving...they had a blast here.

I will have to write more of 6 month update in the next blog.