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.

BRI'S SCHOOL OLYMPICS

This is Bri's school. Saturday they had their olympics event to kick off a two week break. Bri got to help carry the torch around the track and eventually as the torch came to each of the strategically placed students, they would pass it off and all run in unison to the podium in the picture below (bottom right), where they lit the torch. It's amazing, Bri seemed happy. The principal listed the students interests and hobbies over the sound system as they passed the torch off...I was just mad because I was too far away to get a good shot. Oh well.

Whoops...I don't know how this got in there...anyway this was the infinity pool at Mahaballpurum (I can't spell)...this was when my sisters were here...

This is Bri waiting impatiently for the event to start in the hot sun...
Here's Bri's relay race...They got third place. I don't know how these girls run in their bare feet on the hot sand (maybe they think that will help them to run faster...go figure). John noticed that they didn't bother to stagger the lead runners on the track...What does it matter, as long as you are having fun, right? Too bad Bri didn't get the inside lane.
Here we have the 5th, 6th, and 7th grade boys building a pyramid. Yes, the day was so close, yet so far from coming to an end. I could be very cynical and sarcastic in the manner which this entire event was played out. Yes, I lost my patience and John finally broke down as well. Maybe the fact that you couldn't leave after your kid was through with their event factored into this...or the entire team she participated in would receive a "zero"...nor will I go into the tedious games they wanted the parents to play walking in a circle, running in a race, guzzling down a bottle of water, and running to the finish line ...(John actually competed in that event)... I must learn patience. (The things I do to keep everyone happy). Yes, Bri had a couple of metals as well. It was worth it all to get a positive reaction out of this kid. The students seemed very happy, dignitaries were there to encourage the students and pose in many pictures. What a Saturday...I felt totally drained after sitting in the sun (there was shade) for... 4 1/2 hours. I practically slept all day Sunday, lots of napping.
Now, if I could just get Bri interested in picking up her school books and studying a little more, then we would have really accomplished something.

WHAT A BUSY DAY...

What a busy day we had. These are pictures from the "Tiffin Club"/OWC where we had cooking lessons in the preparation of Sushi at the Park Hotel. Okay, as much as I hate to admit it, I have never had sushi before...until yesterday. Our demonstrating chef was named "Peter" who had a quick and easy smile as Lan (whose husband is Japanese) kept him in check on the true Japanese way of preparing things. Very educational. After the demo, we had a wonderful lunch and proceeded on to the balcony where we prepared the beginnings of fruit cake fermentation for Christmastime...

Yes, tons of dried fruits slathered in rum were comingled in this huge bin. We all donned out chef hats and after a few great photo ops, returned to the restaurant for awsome green tea gellato...yummo.

This is Sejal (our fearless leader of the Tiffin Club)
Heeeerrrrrre's CHEF PETER

This is Lan checking on the sushi...............
Sejal and Karen...(Karen is just in from NYC)
I ended the evening going to the Taj Hotel to hear Liz Neisloss, a reporter for CNN assigned to India speak about being a reporter at the Indo-American Association. Liz did a nice job, Natalie (Pres. of OWC) also introduced herself and our group to the association, and we did a lot of chatting afterwards...met interesting people...fellow Americans. They concluded by playing the Indian National Anthem (all of the Indians were singing)...and then the American National Anthem. (You know, I was the only one I could hear singing...ever so softly...nonetheless, I had to represent...and yes it was pitched way to high. Nobody sings the anthem like Whitney...But my pictures were too dark to put on the blog.

They are going to have a Obama/McCain debate in a couple weeks...I'm thinking about going, we'll see.

HAPPY 25th ANNIVERSARY, HONEY

LOVE AND HAPPINESS
JUMPING THE BROOM
BONNIE AND CLYDE
Before you laugh at the clarity of my first two pictures...you must understand that, no, I don't know how to scan pictures on my printer yet, and yes...I just took a picture of a picture and that's why it's so FUZZY...

Twenty-five years of living, laughing and loving with JOHN... We met at Jasper Street Church of Christ in Decatur, Illinois, in 1983. It was summertime, he came up from Kentucky to visit his sister, Fannie. I looked into his eyes, I looked into his soul, I looked into his heart...I opened my heart, and he came in.

We committed to each other and married September 17th, 1983, in Scovill Gardens, with Bro. Mayo Towles officiating.

What an intersting journey we have had. We were so poor in the beginning, like so many couples starting out...but I think the most special magic with me and John, what ever I can envision (yes, I do have quite an imagination), he could always create. We have always fulfilled each other that way. The Lord only knows that John Sykes marches to a beat of a different drummer...and the Lord knows that I have developed a good ear for his rythms.

We were blessed with Ashley in Atlanta, Georgia. John watched the entire c-section...cut the cord...I almost died in the recovery room after her delivery. I had toxemia, swelling... I can hear my sister, Joe, telling me of the 'old wive's tales'..."You know death races around the bed three times when you have a baby..."

Thankfully death didn't linger or trip, and ran on out the door...

I was so homesick in Atlanta, couldn't go back to work...dealing with post-partum baby blues...we moved back to Decatur to raise Ashley with family. Well, it took a good ten years to get over the last pregnancy before we did it again...and we were blessed with Briana, the spitting image of John...yes, little Johnnie reincarnated.

And now, we are just one happy family enjoying sunsets in India. Wow. Okay, maybe I skipped a few things, but can you really get 25 years in a few paragraphs on a blog??? Naaahhhhh.

If I could put a song on my blog right now, it would be Whitney Houston...(Yes, Whitney is my favorite singer)...and it would be...MY LOVE IS YOUR LOVE

..."As the years pass us by...we stay young through each other's eyes...and no matter how old we get, it's okay as long as I got you baby...if I should die this very day, don't cry, 'cause on earth we wasn't meant to stay...and no matter what the people say, I'll be waiting for you at the judgment day..."