People often ask me if the kids are adjusting well to life here in India.  Truthfully, I really am not sure.  While they seem to be doing ok, they both tend to be very close-mouthed about what they are really thinking and do their best to adapt to the situation whether they like or not.

I thought it would be fun to write up a list of questions for them to answer that will give a little more insight into what is really going on in their heads…

Addie is up first.

Addie Fluegge - Age 8

1.  How did you feel when you heard we were moving to India?

I felt sad because we were going to leave all of our friends.

2.  Tell me about the trip to India:

The trip to India was weird and the cats cried the whole way and the trip was long.

3.  What did you think when we drove home from the airport?

It felt different because I thought it was supposed to be daytime.  The street was crowded with cars.

4.  Tell me your thoughts about the city of Hyderabad.

Hyderabad is dirty and there are lots of animals walking around.

5.  What do you like about our house?

I like that our house if 3 stories and that its big because there is lots of space to run around.

6.  Is there something you don’t like about our house?

No.

7.  What do you like about our neighborhood?

I like the neighborhood because it has lots of kids to play with and a park and a garden and a clubhouse.

8.  What do you wish you could change about our neighborhood?

I wish I could change the fact that the pool isn’t filled and make more

toys in the park and put a slide in the pool.

9.  What do you like about your school?

I like my school because its big and there’s lots of kids from different countries.

10.  What do you wish you could change about your school?

I would make golden buses with a pool and theatre in them.

11.  What do you like about living in India?

If you compare it to Florida, they are different.  Living in India is like living in a different world.

12.  What don’t you like about living in India?

I don’t like that there’s so much pollution everywhere and the animals are eating trash.

13.  What surprises you most about living here?

The thing that surprises me the most is that everything is different and Hyderabad is bigger than West Palm Beach.

14.  What is the strangest thing you have seen here?

The strangest thing that I saw was that most animals are running wild including goats, cats, dogs and cows.

15.  If you could change one thing about India, what would it be?

I would make more animal rescue centers.

16.  What has been your favorite place to visit so far, and why?

My favorite place to visit was Delhi because it was better than Hyderabad and it had less pollution and it was less crowded.

17.  What are some things you have learned from living in India?

I learned that you can live anywhere and you get used to it after a while.  Different places sometimes aren’t the same as the old places.

18.  Would you recommend moving to India to any of your friends?  Why?

Yes, I would recommend moving to India to my friends because they might like it in India.

19.  What do you miss most from the US?

I miss not having beef and pork and poptarts and I miss my friends.

20.  If you could bring one thing back with you from the US this Christmas, what would it be?

I’d bring back my Fur-real Butterscotch pony.

We had a major problem. As I have mentioned before, each day a well in the community is filled from some unknown source.  The water is then pumped up into the water tower, where it is fed to smaller wells located in the yard of each house.  Each house, in turn, pumps the water up to a storage tank on the roof.  A full roof tank of water should last at least 2 days with normal use.  A lot of washing or extra showering will obviously empty it faster, but in the past the pump has only been turned on for a while Monday through Saturday when Sudhaker is here, and never needs turning on on Sundays. I can’t say that we’ve ever gone up there to check the water level Sunday evening after the kids shower to see just how low it has gotten, but we generally don’t run out of water, and Sudhaker fills it again on Monday without incident.

Something changed.  Suddenly, our water was disappearing.  A full tank of water when Sudhaker left at 6pm was reduced to half a tank by the time we’d go to bed, and turned up empty the next morning or afternoon.  The pump on the roof that feeds the water down into the house was constantly running as well.  Not a good sign.  After searching high and low for any sign of leakage or running water, Sudhaker, Scott and I were left baffled.  There was just nowhere for this water to go.  If it was a leak in the walls, the red brick would be soaking it like a sponge and creating a visable wet stain somewhere.  In addition, our well in yard was almost completely dry, and we were looking at being entirely without water by the evening after the kids got their showers (IF they got their showers).

Sudhaker came and got busy wandering the neighborhood and making phone calls trying to get someone to come and figure things out, and managed to procure a water tanker to come and fill the well for us.  After some time, he was able to get the a hold of the landlord, who arrived with 2 other guys in tow to assess the situation.

After some questioning and searching, they found it.  The kitchen sink has two faucets, one for cold and one that should be for hot, if hot water was actually hooked up there.  Apparently, the hot water faucet was inadvertently turned on.  Now, under normal circumstances, in a “normal” place, that would have entirely no effect on anything.  However, “normal” has a very different  meaning in India, so having it turned on meant, of course, that a pipe somewhere was opened to allow all of our water to flow directly into the sewer.  Of course…how stupid of us not to realize this! 

As a remedy, they hovered around the sink for a good many minutes, crouched down examining everything, and finally emerged and announced that it had been taken care of.  They had disconnected something or turned something or pressed something…I don’t know which, and now the hot water faucet would do what it was designed to do….nothing at all.

Ah, India.  Gotta love it.

While I don’t have a picture of her, and she’d be quite angry if I tried to put one up anyway, I’d like to take a moment to wish a big happy birthday to my dear friend Maureen.

Maureen has been my partner in crime for the last several years.  She has been there with me for all of the volunteering, all of the Girl Scout stuff, all of the large parties we’ve thrown, and most of the best times I have had in the last few years.  She is responsible for me developing a much more laid-back attitude than I had when I arrived in Florida, and for introducing me to the dark side of life by ordering me my first ever shot.  She never likes to take any glory, but it must be known that I could not have pulled off a single event at the school or for the Girl Scouts without her at my side, nor would I have wanted to.  Even the most hectic, annoying, frustrating events were made fun when we worked together.  We were a team, pure and simple, in everything we did. No matter what, I knew she always had my back.  We’ve been through some bad times together, but we have come through it all unscathed, and are stronger people for it.

Even now, we manage to talk almost daily, making life here a little less lonely, and she has even begun using instant messaging as a way to communicate with me, even though I know she despises typing. I appreciate that more than you will ever know.

So, Happy Birthday, Maureen.   Thanks for all of the good times, and many more to come!  Christmas holidays will be great….just make sure that West Palm Beach is ready for these old girls…we’ve got some life in us yet!

Those of you who have known me in the last few years while living in Florida know of my propensity for getting very very sick on a regular basis and resisting going to the doctor until the coughing gets so bad that I can’t take it anymore.  I’m not sure what the problem is, but each and every little cold ends up right in my lungs, and I walk around hacking like an emphysema patient for weeks afterward.  Due to my inability to accept that the ravages of time have somehow changed my body chemistry and made me more sickly, I tend to ignore the cough and pass it off as nothing as long as possible, until finally those around me threaten forced hospital admission unless I see a doctor.

India appears to have the same affect on me, and my bi or tri-yearly cough has appeared on schedule.  In true Stacy style, I ignored it as long as I could, until 2 nights ago I found myself unable to take a breath without collapsing in a coughing fit.  Scott told me that I would be seeing the doctor the next day, and I had to agree.

Now, for most medical attention here, I have been told to go straight to the hospital.  From what I understand, there aren’t many separate offices for general practitioners or clinics, just large hospitals with lots of doctors who are ready to see you whenever you happen to walk in.  We chose Apollo hospital for our foray into the medical world.

The hospital was very large, and, as usual in Hyderabad, there were people everywhere.  The first thing you saw when you walked in was dozens of gurneys parked by the front doors, nicely lined up in rows.  I wasn’t certain if they were just being stored there, or if they just had you lie down right there if you were in serious condition until they could find a place to cart you to.

We worked our way through the large, bustling crowd that would have seemed more normal at a show at a convention center than in a hospital reception area, and found a small reception desk.  Scott aggressively procured our turn and managed not to let anyone jump ahead of us.  Remarkable!  He really is getting good!  We explained that we needed to see a doctor for a bad cough, and the receptionist pointed us down the hallway to a Dr. Lakshmi (The name of a Goddess, by the way).  At. Dr. Lakshmi’s desk we found that she would not be in until 11, and asked if there was anyone else.  They pointed us to room 20, Dr. Ganesh (The name of a God, by the way).  At Dr. Ganesh’s desk we found ourselves ushered right in to see Dr. Ganesh himself, without so much as a moment’s wait.

Dr. Ganesh was a small, thin man.  He was to the point, yet friendly.  He asked questions and did an exam.  Scott answered the questions for me when I was too consumed by coughing to respond.  He used a full-size flashlight to look into my throat (I think I’ll bring him a pen light from the states!), took my blood pressure, and then listened to me cough and wheeze with the stethoscope for quite a long while.   He then spent what seemed like a very long time writing his findings.  He said that he didn’t feel that I have asthma (as has been suggested by other doctors), but I did have a very nasty case of bronchitis.  He recommended no less than 5 medications - a steroid shot, an antibiotic, an inhaler, another steroid, and something else unknown to me.

He said that if we wanted to be very thorough, we could do a blood test and an x-ray, but didn’t seem to think it was really necessary, so we decided to forgo those tests.  He advised me to return in a few days if things were still bad.

Scott and I liked him very much.

We emerged back into the very busy hallway lined with people waiting for doctors, and were instructed to take a seat.  While Scott paid for the visit (350 INR - about $7 USD), a man came and took the prescriptions and supposedly headed off to the pharmacy to get them for us.  I didn’t know who he was or whether he was legit, but that’s how it goes here in India, and sometimes you just gotta have faith.

A few minutes later, he returns with a small box and a sealed needle and syringe and hands them to me.  As I carry my own steriod shot, he leads me down the hall to a small room with no less than 4 nurses crowded in waiting to give me a nice swift jab.  Could it be in the arm?  Oooohhh Noooooo.  They indicated that it would be in a much less dignified place.  That was probably the worse moment of the whole ordeal.  I tried to reason with them that the arm would be just fine, but they weren’t having any of it.  So, while 4 nurses watched, I laid on the table and received my shot of indignity.  For what its worth, it didn’t hurt as much as it does in the arm, but it does ache a bit today.

After that was over, I doubtfully thanked them for their services and worked my way through the crowd back to Scott.  The other medications still had not arrived.  The man returned and asked for 750 INR (about $15 USD) before he could bring the medication.  Scott paid the man, and he soon came back with a baggie of medication for me.  He showed me each one and made sure that I could tell them apart, and then we were free to go.

By this point, the coughing was so bad that I abandoned my plan to go into school and just went home.  I was coughing all day and all last night.  I was light-headed and unsteady from the steriod shot, and have felt all nervous and twitchy ever since.  The coughing was definitely worse in the last 24 hours than it had been the whole time I was sick.  It thankfully has begun to lessen this morning, after I was finally able to fall asleep at around 4:30am.  Scott is greatly concerned, and is here with me now as he got very little sleep as well.  (In sickness and in health….he promised!).  He will go into work a bit late.  He says that he really must love me, after all, he spent nearly $25 USD on my health and well-being AND took an hour out of work to accompany me to the hospital AND listened to me hack all evening.  I told him to shut up and go back to sleep.  Isn’t love a wonderful thing?

It was bound to happen.  Someone in our family would eventually need the services of a doctor while in India.  As of today, both Ender and I have had doctor experiences to relate.

I alluded to Ender being sick a few weeks back, but didn’t give details, so here it goes.  He began complaining of a stomach ache.  At first I didn’t think too much of it, but when he started having diarreah along with it and it went on and on for 2 weeks, I figured we needed to get it checked out.  I got the name of the physician from a fellow expat and called that day.  I was told to “come right in”.  However, I couldn’t leave right at that point, so I asked for an appointment the next day.  That was when I learned that in India you don’t make Dr. Appointments.  You just go in whenever you want.

The next morning, Ender went to school for the first couple of hours, because the Dr. Office didn’t open until 11.  I casually mentioned to some of the teachers that I was taking him in, and explained the situation.  At this point, one of the teachers spoke up and said “Well, have you dewormed him lately??”  I doubt that there has ever before been a look of such shock and horror on my face as there was at that minute.  They laughed and said “Don’t look so shocked…we do that all the time!”.  The conversation devolved into them arguing about the right schedule for family deworming…once a year, 4x a year, or every month.  Apparently, the majority of them “deworm” the whole family once a year.  Happy New Year!  Now, let’s get those worms out!

I went to the appointment with a heavy heart, now totally convinced that my son did in fact have worms and that he would need a good deworming, much like we do to Beauty on a monthly basis.

The doctor’s office was located in a male fertility clinic.  I knew this from talking to people, but was still kind of freaked out when I saw pictures of the Statue of David and other masterpieces depicting the male form on the wall.  Apparently, the doctor is the wife of the physician who runs that clinic, so she uses one of the rooms as her office to run a small pediatrics practice. I don’t think Ender noticed the art.

The waiting room was empty, and we were ushered directly in to see the pediatrician by the secretary.  The pediatrician works out of a room the size of smallish bedroom.  In this room, she has her desk, medical books, assorted odds and ends, a few old toys, and a small exam table.  It was cramped and crowded and felt like were were walking into the well-worn study of an eccentric writer.  It all felt very strange to me, but most of the things I encounter in India do, so I tried to take it in stride.  The doctor was very nice and personable.  She made small talk with me about what we are doing in India, how I liked it so far, etc.  The usual.    She asked questions, jotted down answers, and gave Ender a quick exam on the table.

She explained that there are 3 possibilities… a virus of some sort, a problem with his intestinal bacteria, or, of course, worms.  She assured me that all three of them are fixable, and I shouldn’t panic.  She prescribed 2 medications for him, and requested that I take a stool sample to the lab for testing.  The medications should take care of the intestinal bacteria and/or stomach virus issue, and the sample would tell if he needed further treatment for the worms.  If that was the case, she would like to treat the whole family for worms, just as a precaution. :(  She gave me the note paper she had been writing on, with the prescription on the bottom.  No records were kept of our visit.

I decided to get the “sample” from him in the evening, so off we went to the pharmacy to get his medications.  This is where I learned a few things.  First, not all pharmacies carry every medicine.  I had to go to no less than 4 to collect the two medicines that I needed.  Next, nearly ever pharmacy looks something like the back room of a tavern where the bookie does his business.  They are small, they are cramped, and the medicines are precariously stacked on dusty shelves, easily within arm’s reach of the customers.  Lastly, they don’t take your prescription.  They gladly hand over the medications prescribed and send you on your merry way, prescription still in hand.  Prescriptions don’t even need to be on a prescription pad…any blank sheet of paper will do.

After our big adventure, we stopped at KFC for some chicken.  A little grease on top of a stomach ache never hurt anyone, right?

That evening, we retrieved the sample (Ender was very mature about it all and did it without me in the room), and the next morning the driver and I headed out to find a lab.  He had asked around the previous evening because he knew what we had to do, so he knew where to go.  The lab was located in a medical office building.  The place was extremely packed, which is the norm here, as I have found.  I waited patiently at the front desk, with people jumping in front of me (again, the norm here), until Mujeeb came up to the desk with me and helped me push my way through to the front (its the only way…) and get my message across.  The sample was handed over, and I was given a small receipt with which to pick it up again.  You’ll be surprised to learn that ANYONE can pick it up.  Hippa laws obviously don’t apply here.

Mujeeb picked up the results for me the next morning.  I was thrilled to learn that Ender was worm-free, and seemed to already be responding to medications.  I called the doctor with the news, on her cell phone, as she had asked, and she told me that nothing further needed to be done.  Come back if he starts having problems again, otherwise he’s fine.

I am greatly pleased that my child didn’t need to be dewormed, however, I would not have been totally surprised considering the way he digs into any dirt or sand he can find and is somewhat resistant to hand washing.  I did take the opportunity to lecture him about washing better, using the “The Dr. says that you could have had worms!  WORMS!” ploy.  Unfortunately, it only seemed to work on Addie, who, ever since, has been a hand-washing maniac.

Oh, as a side note to all this:  Prices.

Cost of Dr. Visit:  300rs  (about $7 USD)

Cost of Medications:  65 rs (about $1.25 USD)

Cost of lab tests:  around 85rs (about $2 USD)

Total:  450rs.  (somewhere near $10 USD)

Less than half the price of our insurance co-pay in the US.  Amazing, isn’t it?

Tune in tomorrow for:  Stacy’s day at the hospital (its not as bad as it sounds!)

After attending a party on Sunday in a dress shirt and long pants, Ender decided that he liked the extra attention that comes from looking sharp.  He asked if he could dress like that for school today.  Not sure what the special occasion is, or who he is trying to impress, but you must admit, he looks quite snazzy.  Unfortunately, the playground is full of dirty reddish sand that resists washing, so I imagine it will be a one-shot deal for that particular pair of pants.  Oh well, at least they’ll have had their day in the sun.

I hadn’t realized it, but apparently India makes you helpless.  Too delicate or too weak to do anything for yourself, you must sit back and let others do things for you.  At least, this is how it feels for me lately, and it doesn’t agree with me at all.

Let me give you some examples.  I go to the store.  While walking around, I see something on the bottom shelf that I would like to examine.  As I crouch down to take a better look, a clerk comes running up behind me with a small stool to sit on. This has happened on several occasions.  Geez, I’m just picking something up…I really don’t need to sit down for that!

Still shopping.  I have now found an small item that I would like to buy, and am holding it in my hand to take it to the register.  However, again, this is not allowed.  Another clerk comes running up to me with a bag for me to carry the single pen in.  It really wasn’t that heavy, I swear!

In another store, I am looking at shampoo, trying to decide on which one I would like to buy.  A clerk comes to me and begins picking up each bottle and handing it to me for me to look at.  I really can reach my arm out to pick something up, I know I can!

Back home.  I have bought a big bag of dog food.  I have Mujeeb pop the trunk and go to retrieve it.  He pushes me aside and hoists the 25lb bag to his shoulder.  After having a heart attack a few weeks ago, you’d think he’d be a bit careful, but he ignores my admonishments and carries it to the door, where Suhdaker takes over and carries it over to the dog food bowl.  I carried 50lb bags of rock salt back home, for goodness sake!  My small grocery bags get the same treatment, and I only get the honor of carrying my own backpack because I’m clutching it firmly when I get out of the car.

The kids generally jump out of the car without their backpacks, and I have to fight Mujeeb to get him to let them carry them when I call them back.  I don’t want them to think that they can have someone wait on them hand and foot, but if I allowed it, they certainly would have just that…

Sometimes the kids don’t jump out of the car.  Sometimes they fall asleep before we get home.  Mujeeb makes a move to grab them and carry them to their rooms for me!  I put my foot down there.  Scott and I have both seen other people let their drivers do this, but we agree that it is our duty, our right and our privilege to carry our own sleeping children, and on this I will not compromise.  Mujeeb seems to know not to argue this one.

Yesterday Sudhaker followed Scott around the house while Scott was trying to put up some shower caddys in the kids bathrooms.  He was greatly distressed that Scott was doing this work himself, and kept trying to take the drill from him.  Scott was having none of it, and managed to put up the caddys on his own.  Amazing!

At school, I follow the lead of the other teachers who ask the maids to fetch them little things like an extra notebook.  I need a bucket of water for a math lesson on measurements.  The maids bring it up and have it waiting in my room.  I managed to sneak it back out and carry it and dump it myself when the lesson was over…Ha Ha!

I know it sounds crazy, but I really want to do some things for myself.  I miss it. What if I become weak?  Lose muscle tone?  Forget how to carry things??  Argh….just let me do SOMETHING myself!

I’ll show them all, though.  I’m planning to buy a bucket of paint and paint the bathroom all by myself.  I can’t wait to see the look on their faces!

In India, Children’s day is celebrated on November 14th.  The day is filled with special events geared for children.  I didn’t hear of this day until the afternoon before, and only because the teachers at school were planning a special surprise for the kids the next day.

At 1:00, the children gathered in the gym for the surprise.  The teachers and staff (myself included), dressed in authentic Indian clothing, danced a little dance and sang a song for the children.  The kids got a huge kick out of it.  The dance was not horribly well-rehearsed, and I was certainly one of the most pathetic dancers up there, but the kids didn’t seem to care.

The song:

Its a day, let’s be glad

and sing a song anew

Cares away let our happy voices

Rise to the sky

Wishing down, blessings meet

On you on this happy day

May you walk in the light of heaven.

We’ll sing a song of our own

That no one else has sung

All our cares we will leave

Far behind us today

And we Wish on this day

Happy Happy Children’s day

May you shine like a star in the sky.

May you have, you have

All fortunes ten times ten

May the Lord bless and keep you

For more years which are to come

Fill you Dreams with the sweet

Twinkling Bright days ahead

May you walk in the light of heaven.

The tune of the song is absolutely beautiful, but I was unable to find it online anywhere.  I have been humming it for the last 2 days now.

At around 7:00, the neighborhood ladies decided to get together and order pizza for all of the children.  We were invited to the clubhouse by a neighborhood child, and arrived to find a room filled with running kids and tons of pizza.  There are a ridiculous amount of children in our neighborhood.  It was very nice of the ladies to do that, and I got a chance to meet some neighbors I had not previously met.  Luckily no singing or dancing was required of me…I doubt I could embarrass myself like that 2X in one day.

Of course, Ender asked me where his presents were.  I had no knowledge of whether or not presents were traditionally given on Children’s Day, but apparently some of the neighborhood kids had asked him what he had been given, so he found out for me.  I told him that he would get his presents when Daddy got home, because I knew that we had 2 Wii games we had stashed away unopened for a rainy day.  When Daddy got home I explained the situation privately to Daddy, and we presented out children with their Children’s Day gifts.

It reminded me of a story that Scott’s mom, Jeanne, tells.  When she moved to Michigan, she had no knowledge of the midwestern tradition of St. Nick’s day on December 6th, a German tradition carried to the US where St. Nick comes on the night of December 6th and gives the children a stocking of candy and trinkets.  Scott and his sister came home crying from school that day, asking “Why didn’t St. Nick come to our house?  He left treats for everyone else!”

Next year I’ll be more prepared for it, now that I know about it.  However, every day around my house seems like Children’s Day to me, as the kids certainly have their fair share of fun and treats at all times.  I think its the same with most of the kids in our neighborhood.  It saddens me to think that the ones who really could use that special day never get to celebrate it at all.

Now its Ender’s turn.  His pictures are a bit different.  They were all taken while we were on our Delhi trip, but many of them were taken from the car window while we were on the 3 hour trip to and from Agra, where the Taj Mahal is located.  Here’s what he has to offer:

This is his photo of a restaurant we stopped in on the way to Agra

Apparently the souviners on display at the restaurant intrigued him

A photo of the crowded street (he was trying to get a picture of a green rickshaw)

A motorcycle (or two-wheeler) as they are called here

This cart has seen better days

A bit blurry because we were moving, but I loved the lone lady on the corner

Here is a great one of a ridiculously overloaded cart

The red fence is striking. I am not sure if he was going for the fence or the flowing trees behind it.

He took this in Lodi Gardens in Delhi. Perhaps it is his way of remarking on the pollution of the cities here? Or, maybe he just liked the sign...

Horse-drawn carts

I guess he has a thing for fences...

This one is cool. Its just a link from a chain link fence. The sharp points intrigued the kids, and he wanted to take a picture of it. I was amazed when I saw how well it turned out.

The last one requires a little background information.  As we walked around India Gateway in Delhi, these three boys became fascinated with Ender.  At first they were just curious at this strange and foreign little kid, but then they noticed the digital camera in his hand.  Each time he snapped a picture, they were leaning over his shoulder to see it display on the back.  He didn’t realize why there were following him and hanging over him, and began to get annoyed, until we explained to him why they were doing it.  He offered to take their picture, and they enthusiastically agreed.  He snapped this fabulous picture of them, and they were absolutely thrilled to see themselves in the display.  It was a really neat moment for all of us.

I will try to hand off the camera to the kids much more than I do.  They don’t have any of the hang-ups I do about photographing people and things.  They just take the camera and go with it.  It is that kind of attitude that has given us some of the most memorable photographs in history.

Lately, when we go out, the kids like to take the camera and start snapping pictures.  Its great to look through them, because you never know what you are going to find.  I snagged all of Addie’s pictures from Delhi and Taj Mahal for your viewing pleasure.  It’s great to see what an 8 year old finds photo-worthy.

Dogs are definitely one of her favorite subjects

Here are a few more

Animals of any kind are an attraction for her

Look closely and you will see another chipmunk

Pigeons at a feeder

Landscape photos are also a hit, taken from weird angles

as well as flowers

and more flowers

and a whole garden of flowers

I have saved my 2 favorites for last.  These two pictures are strange in their topic, but show me that perhaps she has the makings for a very good photographer someday….

She told me that she liked how the stick looked, so she took a picture of it

The feather in the grass caught her eye. Nothing beats a good feather picture!

Next time on “The Fluegges” :  The Kids Take The Camera, Episode 2:  Ender