Rama's New Auto and New Flair!

Meet Rama—our driver.

This isn't our car though...Rama is also an Auto-Rickshaw (commonly just called Autos) driver. They are motorized 3-wheel rickshaw that work the same way taxis do. Rama speaks English so he is a specialized licensed tourism Auto Driver which is so great! When he is not driving us around he can do his Auto business and make some additional money.

Rama got a new Auto recently and had window sticker made with our names on it.

Anthony was the first one from Logos to move out here, then Alan, and now Miles and me. All of our names are on his new Auto. We are not sure of the purpose as clearly no one but Rama knows who those names are or their signicifance, however, it does seem to be a fun piece of flair. Also, Rama is so incredibly proud of this sticker. He beamed ear to ear while showing it to us and wanted us to take pictures. It was so cute. Rama then gave us a ride in his new Auto around town, and now any tourist who might come to Chennai could take a ride in an Auto with our names on it!

A Full Week of New Foods/People/Places

Well, the food here so far has been amazing! Alan has a list of 5 star hotels and other places we are eating at for the next three weeks. IKES. The places so far have been amazing! For Indian food retraunts we have been able to eat lots of chicken dishes and vegetarian dishes and yummy naan breads and dipping sauces and chutneys. At this rate i will not be losing the weight i want no matter how hot it is here :) just kidding. I think we still will. We went for a long walk around the city (our neighborhood really) and learned a lot. We had to go buy groceries and soap and shampoo at some market. It was good to know where we could find good cholocate ice cream, cheeses, mac and cheese, peanut butter, chocolate, and various other Western (American) NECESSITIES!!!! yes, they even had Kraft mac and cheese! Alan says there is something about that stuff that is addicting(the processed cheese stuff) He said that when you are missing home to eat that and other things from this market -that it helps. Good to know! I even found M&M's. Fruits and vegetables are practically free here. That will be nice to get used to!

We had dinner at the Farm a couple of nights ago. It is this restaurant about an hour away that is well off the beaten path. It is in the middle of bloody no where! But the drive was nice. The inter city would make anyone cry. It is a lot like Mexico. It reminded me a lot of our trip there actually. Lots of poor people with nothing just staring at us who are being carted around like royalty with our own staff. It was ridiculous actually. And you should see our house. Marble floors, and tile kitchens and bathrooms. I mean, nothing super fancy to speak of…but for India this is as good as it gets and we are grateful! We really are treated like royalty. It is something Alan says he is still not used to after a year...i believe it. Regardless of that, back to the Farm. This restaurant is an outdoor pavilion tent—surrounded by nets for walls to keep the mosquitoes out. (Side note: they are just coming out now because it has been too hot for them—good thing.) Anyways, it is a wood fire pizza place and traditional Indian food restaurant, and all outdoors. There are various beds everywhere too for laying on and eating. it was so beautiful! This night was a special dinner in our honor. Various expats and contacts that Alan has made here get together regularly and share experiences and tales of home and travels. It was so fun. We met some amazing people and that was really fun because after Alan leaves it is good to have a network of other Americans, and other people (even Indians) who will be there as friends to socialize with and all. I guess often they take trips together. one guy, Scott, from Boston MA, (just moved here 2 months ago) just went on a trip with this clan to Kalcutta. I have always wanted to go there so this might be a fun way to not just meet others and make friends, but also see other parts of the world at group rates with safe people. :) all good things!

The food was fabulous too. We had more than we could eat as it was and order to share with the table kind of place. Kabobs galore, pizzas, bruchettas , Indian dishes i cannot even begin to [pronounce let alone spell, but my favorite tonight—above all else was this toasted bread that had traditional potato salad on top of it...like bruchetta but it was filled with garlic too...oh my word. it was the weirdest sounding combo but it was Heavenly for sure!

Our cook Raja had made some food this week and put it in the fridge for later. It was sort of naan bread (flat bread) that you dip Dahl and then steamed rice with a curry potatoes and green pepper dish. It would have been fabulous but three glasses of milk later and my mouth was still on fire. Alan likes really spicy foods....me not so much. Miles says his food was almost too much for him, so that is really hot!!!!!! We changed Raja's hours too as we share him with Scott- the guy we met the other night from Boston. Raju will only be here 3 days a week, to cook, and clean. That works well with us and Scott so it worked out great.

Jason De Kock (our boss from Logos) is here with us and helping with the transition and we have eaten many times with him and Alan. Our favorite place so far is about one minute away from our apartment. It is one of the 5 star hotel restraunts called the Raintree. We have eaten twice now there at the one on the rooftop and are served Flilet Mignon. It was incredible and who knew you could get steak in India!!!

Down our street is a Korean Restraunt and a wonderful Thai place. Not too far away is Sparkys Diner, which has eveything under the sun, and another favorite is Tuscana—an Italian place. Another favorite Alan took us this week to Sandy's cholocate laboratory which has the best dark chocloate milkshakes I have ever tasted. I suppose if we are sick of Indian food ever or it just makes our tummys too upset we have so many other choices in this big city. Praise the Lord!

We got cell phones this week, and have been discovering different parks, and touristy places, markets, and beaches, and tiny little towns. We have even been to the local mall. It is a lot to take in, and there are just so many people here it is overwhelming but I think we are going to like it here. I think our new home (city wise) is fascinating and incredibly large. There is just so much to do.

A Trip to Mahabalipuram (Mahabs) India

Today we took a trip to mahabalipuram.

This is a place along the ocean a little farther down the stretch from Ideal Beach where very old temples and structures stand. Some of these monuments were 6th or 7th century AD! Incredibly old and absolutely beautiful! It was a very warm day and the breeze off the ocean was the only relief. We walked along the ocean and watched the colorful fishing boats complete with colorful nets all lined up along the coast ready to head out for the days catch. They have a preservation process of binding up the fish and then laying them out on the beach to dry out which somehow preserves them for up to a year without refrigeration. Amazing. Stinky, but amazing. The boats and the nets along the beach made me wonder about Biblical times and if these fishermen still fish the same way today as they did back then.


Alan wanted to take us to the Bob Marley Restaraunt there but it was under construction. So we ate at another place along the beach. It was decent food, but had a fabulous view of the water and the openess allowed for the breeze to cool us off. We spent our lunch wathing the fishermen bring in their nets, and collect the fish and then put them on the beach and go back out again. There also lots of kids playing, puppies, and a rather large herd of cows hanging out on the beach for our entertainment.

Getting the nets ready for first catch.

Bringing in first catch.

Getting the nets ready for second cast.

Kids playing a tag/tackle game

The streets of this little town were busy with people viewing the monuments but the side steets lined with vendors were not busy at all. Each one would call out to us "Hello, Maddam!" Please Come...Buy Maddam." Various trinkets, clothing items, sandal shops, and bag shopps. We bought a few fun things along these streets. Little carved elephants and a table runner. And of course i had to get an Indian hand made handbag! I was rather ecstatic with my finds and supporting the local people as well. It was fun.

The ruins and temples we saw there magnificent but we really did not spend much time and will be going back to get more pictures. We spent more time in the various shops looking around as Alan wanted to just show us where the momunments were and then spend the day picking up souvenoirs for the road as he is leaving in a littel over a week. So we will be back. One of the most interesting pieces was this monument called Krishna's Butter Ball, which was a large boulder that looked ready to roll on the people sitting beneath it at any time.

There is nothing holding this boulder in place. It is just there, and the surrounding rock face is shiny and smooth from so many adults and children alike sliding down it. Tempting fate, I would say. We will for sure return to Mahabs and view the monuments up close and of course take more photos.

A Full Sunday

Our first Sunday here we went to Alan's church. It is a little different. They meet in an American 50's style diner called Sparkys (kinda funny). It is covered in the typical Americana memorabilia of random pictures, license plates from every state, baseball and basketball cards, and trinkets and do dads from every where that to us is a piece of “home”. We found the Oregon/Portland table that has Blazer stuff on it. Miles was pretty excited about that. Church started at 9:30 am. We sang the same songs we sing at our home church, Sunrise, which was comforting and the teaching was solid. There were about 8 families that all treated us so nicely and made us feel at home. Praise the Lord for that. Tom the owner of Sparkys knows the president of World Vision India and can get us in contact with him, and that also seemed like confirmation we were in the right place. Pretty exciting.

After church we spent the rest of the day at Ideal Beach. It was about an hour away but CLEAN and NOT BUSY and there was a POOL! I am so excited about that. It was stunning. Straight off a post card. Palm trees, huge waves hitting the sand, crashing everywhere, hammocks, chairs under palm trees, it was a beach resort complete with a gorgeous swimming pool! The sun was hot and the water was so refreshingJ oh it was perfect! We will be spending much time there I am sure. It was beautiful—and so far the only place we have seen white people. That is a weird deal.

Meet Malika

This is Malika. This is the dog that belongs to Alan's friend JoAnne. Alan has often watched Malika for JoAnne when she is traveling. We will be doggy sitting for Malika after Alan leaves, for a few days until JoAnne comes home from her travels. Malika is a great dog, and is so incredibly sweet.

Malika's story is pretty incredible. She is not an Indian dog. She is a Kenyan village dog. JoAnne was there for a while and got her as a puppy. There was huge political unrest there and JoAnne had to flee the country leaving everything behind including this little puppy. Well, two years later JoAnne went back to Kenya—not even sure if the village was still there and to her surprise it was. She even found Malika (half starved) who had remarkably survived the unrest living off of whatever she could find for food and shelter. Amazing story and and Amazing dog! It is our pleasure to love on this littel beast while we can. She has made it really fun for us. She has kept me great company while I have been working from home while Miles and Alan are at the office. We just love her and will miss her when we have to give her up to her real owner.

Our New Home in Chennai, India

This is our apartmentFront DoorThis is the living room. This is our views from our balcony

Views from our street. Looking Left. Looking Right.

Arrival To Our New Home.

Friday June 18th, 2010

Our trip from London to India was way more involved and intense that we thought it would be. We were so tired as the flight was long and hot. We had a lot of luggage and from one airline to another they had differing rules about the amount or weight you could take with you. The stuff we could check from Seattle to London was different than what we could check from London to Chennai. We ended up shipping a bag from London to Chennai. More cost, but less of a hassle. We still had two bags each, plus 2 carry ons each and it was all heavy, especially then you are hot and tired. Once on the plane we were ok, just in for a long flight. They did give us emergency exit seasts, so we had lots of leg room, which was nice. We landed in Delhi which was about 3 hours North West of where we needed to go. We had about 5 hours to kill there in Delhi too which is tough. There was not a lot to do in Delhi plus we had to re-check all our luggage so it was once again sit in the airport and wait with all the luggage taking turns getting up, walking around, using the bathroom, or getting a food item or beverage, or just plain ol napping. Too stressful! I thought it would be easier. Next time, we will pack lighter …

Arrival into Chennai was not nearly as bad as we were expecting. Everything and Everyone told us our senses would be inundated with horrible smells, and dirty people, and high heat and humidity. We were not at all. The air was not clean but did not smell at all, and although hot, there was a great breeze that kept us cool, and the people were beautiful. Alan met us there at the airport. He was so sweet to hire a car for us so we could fit all our luggage in and meet us there. It was nice to see a smiling face when we got off the plane. Although the only white people around, we found the people of Chennai to be friendly. Well, this is our new home. So much awaits us!

This is us just after we arrived in Chennai!

SO SWEATY and SO SO TIRED

London Day Six

On our last full day in London we started out by going to The British Museum. It’s an absolutely huge museum full of ancient artifacts from all over the world. It would probably take more than a full day to see everything in it, so we just focused on the pieces from the Ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. We saw Cleopatra’s mummy, pieces of Assyrian and Babylonian temples and walls, Greek and Roman sculptures, and the Rosetta Stone. Those were just the highlights, and we didn’t stay as long as we could have.

The British Museum


Sheepishly fist bumping a god.

The London Zoo

After leaving the museum we headed over to the London Zoo. It was less crowded than some of the other attractions we had been seeing, so we really enjoyed being able to walk quietly through it. They had a pretty good selection of animals, but the best part was how closely we were able to view them. The tigers were just on the other side of some glass, less than a foot away from us. We saw komodo dragons, Galapagos tortoises, meerkats, lions, giraffes, zebras, ring tailed lemurs, and gorillas, but our favorite was probably the tamarins. They were super cute and had a couple young babies that would cling to the backs of their parents.