The Second Week

We had a pretty uneventful week, so I haven't done any posts about it. However, I decided to consolidate to give an idea of what our week has been like. On Saturday, our first load of laundry was picked up. Many of you have already heard the infamous underwear story, but for those you of who haven't, I'll give you the short version.

Two gentleman came to pick up our laundry on Saturday. They began by sorting the laundry into piles and then counting it up I assume to insure that nothing is lost or misplaced. Much to my embarrassment, this involved sorting and separating my underwear also. I had purposely packed more "modest" underwear, but hadn't really considered it when packing my carry on or when dressing the morning we left. Needless to say, the older gentleman ended up tying two of my "smaller" underwear together. I guess that made them easier to keep track of.

Also on Saturday, I bought eggs for the first time at the grocery store. I was a bit nervous about it since they were just kept out in the open air, not refrigerated as they are in the states. The first time I saw them, I assumed that they must be set on special refrigerated shelves...or not. But after a bit or research and questioning of my mom and sisters, I was assured that eggs do not necessarily need to be refrigerated. I think we're having them for lunch today though, so I'll let you know if that really is the case.

On Monday, our laundry was brought back, my underwear in order and not tied together this time. Unfortunately, when they arrived, I had been sleeping (we all fell asleep around 6:00) and was a bit out of it. I didn't realize until the next morning, that one of my white tank tops had been switched out for a old, dingy, used to be white, man's tank top. I was really irritated, mostly because I brought so few clothes along, but I immediately saw visions of a happy Indian man wandering around with a new, bright white tank top. However, on Wednesday when our laundry was brought back, I felt really foolish when the gentleman first pulled out my tank top and apologized profusely. When did I become so jaded? I didn't even realize how often I think the worst of people before I get the whole story. It's really quite sad. To see the man's face, it was obvious the last thing he would think of doing was taking someone's laundry. It was a bit of a humbling experience.

I also set up the boys bedroom this week. They were so excited about it, they spent most of the day in their beds. Noah would tuck Micah in and then climb into his bed giggling. They laid there and watched t.v. (which I think is the main reason Noah thought it was so cool). It was adorable. Unfortunately, when I tried to put them to bed that night, Micah wouldn't stay in bed, and Noah only lasted about 45 minutes before he was climbing in bed next to me again.

On Wednesday, I decided to take the boys to the grocery store as we were getting low on food again. The boys were terrible! Micah screamed almost the entire time and whenever he stopped Noah would push or poke him to get him going again. Micah threw his pacifier at me no less than 10 times, and hit me in the head with tube of Pringles twice. Besides all of this a man followed me around the entire time, I assume either because he was so shocked by the boys' behavior, or because he was worried I was going to put the smashed Pringles back. One of the main reasons I went to the store was to get some snack food. I usually like to snack a bit during the day, and it really hasn't been possible so I was terribly proud of myself when I picked out two popular Indian snacks. The first was called roasted Chana (chickpeas), and the boys loved it. The second, called Murrukku is still in the fridge. It is actually quite good, but the boys don't seem to like it as much.

Our maid, Mary, has become quite a favorite with the boys. Micah is constantly chasing her around the apartment on his little bike, and she is the only person Noah will let pinch his cheeks. Her daughter, Grita (pictured), came over with her one afternoon, and Noah played hide and seek with her for awhile. She speaks more English than Mary, so I think he really enjoyed talking to her. The rest of the day he kept talking about his new friend. She is 23.

Since we have been here, we have kept all of our food in the refrigerator. This is to help reduce the amount of "wildlife" in the kitchen. We reasoned that if we kept our food put away we would have less bugs (roaches) to deal with. I think it has helped, but I have also found that I really like my food refrigerated. Everything tastes better cold - try it, you'll see. I don't know if I can go back to storing food in my pantry when I get home.

We have new pet! Not our plan when we came to India, but we do love animals...and reptiles. We found a really cute little lizard in our kitchen the other night. My first thought when I saw it was that it was a baby alligator. I think I may have been reading about the Alligator park nearby, at least that's the story I'm going with. I let out a little yell, mostly from surprise, and Noah came running as fast a his little legs could carry him. He was so excited by the lizard, I think he may have scared it a bit. We spent about 15 minutes getting the lizard out from under the refrigerator, but then he escaped into the nearby cabinet. We haven't seen him again, but we're still hoping to catch him. On the upside, he may be eating some of the many bugs in our kitchen.