I Survived India!

I survived India! (I should get a bumper sticker and put that on my car). Yes, I survived India with a 2 year old and also without getting horribly sick. I can't speak for Jas though because he is still not right since his double dose of cold coffee (which gave him a double dose of Delhi belly!). However, I am truly blessed and thankful to have had the experiences that I have had on this trip. I must admit,  India is not for your average traveller,  you definitely need an open mind and a strong stomach. I have seen so many things in this country that I don't think you can see anywhere else in the world. Lots of them I have not really talked about too much cause I don't want to give the country a bad rap, but its a real eye opener at times. Many people asked me if I liked India and if I would ever come back. My answer to both questions is yes, but with a asterisk....I won't do it again with a 2 year old! I actually enjoyed the craziness of Delhi, the beauty of the hill stations and seeing random cows in the street.  But I won't miss the dust, massive pollution or seeing piles of garbage laying around outside an empty dumpster. The thing I will miss the most is Jas's family whom I have bonded with over the past few weeks. Thankfully the goodbyes tonight were quick and not a typical drawn out Indian 20 minute goodbye.
It was actually a pretty easy going day, last minute breakfast with family and one stop for a quick visit to an old friends house. Then we headed back to the house to finish up our packing.  But what what would my last day be like if I didn't get stuck in a traffic jam! The street light was out at a very busy intersection and it was literally a grid lock of cars from all directions. We must have sat there for 10 minutes without even moving an inch. Finally, a few rickshaw driver got off their bikes and started directing traffic. We took whatever turn available just to get out of the madness. 
Once we reached home, we had to pack our final things and weigh the suitcases,  which is never an easy task. My suitcase weighed in 20lbs over, but that is only because Mia and I were now sharing a suitcase. (Jas's mom needed one of ours for some stuff she bought). So the suitcase shuffle began. My wardrobe is now scattered amongst our many suitcases and jammed into a small compartment in the car seat bag. So after weighing and reshuffling a million times, we ended up with 6 suitcases,  6 carry on's, a car seat bag and a stroller bag! Everything was brought downstairs like a suitcase parade and packed into two cars. But we still had one thing to do, exit India in style and blow off our fireworks.  Everyone gathered in front of the house while Jas and his cousin Ravi light one after the next. And these were no sissy fireworks,  some shot high into the sky and others zipped around leaving trails of sparks. The funny thing about this whole situation is that the ones that shot up into the sky were hitting phone and power lines... but nobody seemed to care! Mia got a kick out of the show and wanted more but it was time to head to the airport. 
Our flight was scheduled to leave at 2:30 am, so we left the house around 10:30. We passed several weddings on the way, so I asked his cousin how many he attends during wedding season and he said about 2 a week! That's insane and I am glad I don't live in India cause I would go broke just attending weddings! We arrived at the airport,  filled up 3 of those carts and we were off. Inside you would think it would be dead, however it was extremely busy and crowded.  It was a complete miracle that all of our luggage weighed in with no issues! The agent gave us a customs form to fill out before security check, so we went over to the side to do this. All was well and I was just about to fill out Mia's form when she grabbed her passport out of my hand and wouldn't give it back. I still needed some info from hers, so I had to grab it back from her. This was tantrum number 1. Similar to yesterday's fiasco,  she kicked and screamed and stopped everyone in their tracks. But I put her under my one arm and carried her through. Once inside the security corral, an officer saw us struggling and sent us right to the special needs line which was way shorter then the regular line. This is the one good thing about kids throwing tantrums,  lots of people want to help. She finally calmed down and just in time to have our passports and tickets checked at immigration.  We got through the first rounds of checks and then we had to go through the actual security,  men and women had seperate lines. The women's line was longer because we were being sent into a private search area, so Mia and I got in line while Jas breezed through with all of our stuff. This is when tantrum number 2 started. Mia wanted to hold our plane tickets, but as you know she has been going through a phase of shedding things. And there was no way that I waa gonna let her get a hold of them, so she started wailing and pulling my shirt. By the time it was our turn, she was laying on the floor kicking and screaming and Jas couldn't do anything to help me. We entered the private search tent and the woman patted me down and ran the wand over me. I was shocked when she also did the same to Mia, and I think Mia was surprised as well and she took a swing at the lady! I think the lady had enough of us so she sent us on our way. Jas met us on the other side and we were about to go to our gate when we did a bag count and realized that in all the madness, one bag disappeared.  It ended up that Jas left it by the security check and we grabbed it and walked to our gate. Once there, we settled in and had a coffee and realized that something was still missing!  Jas had bought some posters and we had them at security but forgot to grab those as well. So ten minutes before boarding,  Jas had to run back to security and claim his posters.
So we made it! As of right now we are on the plane on our way to Vienna and we keep hitting patches of rough air. And those of you who know me real well know that I get panic attacks when that happens,  so its been a fun 7 hours! I am just looking forward to having my feet on the ground, a long hot shower and to wash Mia's puppy who once was pink but is now a funky shade of grey.
I think this will be my last blog entry since we will be home soon. Hopefully those of you who followed us enjoyed the adventures as much as we did!
Here we come Chicago!

It Happens Only In India

When Jas and I first started dating,  he always used to play this song called "It Only Happens In India". After everything I have experienced in my 3 weeks here, I understand why that song was made! Today was our last day to do anything here, so we ventured out to the busiest wholesale market in all of Asia: Chandni Chowk. It means moonlight square and was designed by the emperors favorite daughter in 1650 A.D. Sounds romantic, right? Well, maybe back in that time when it had pools of water that used to reflect the moon, but that is all gone. Actually,  it had to be one of the dirtiest,  most hectic and crowded places that I have ever been! Once we exited the metro, the surge of people was overwhelming, and we pushed and dodged our way to the street. It was about 11 AM, the shops were not even open yet,  but there were people, rickshaws, cars and ox drawn carts everywhere.  First we went to another famous Sikh temple where a famous guru was tortured and killed.  We sat and listened to a bit of the service and then left.  We waved down a few rickshaws and then headed over to an extremely old and very large mosque. I have never been inside of a mosque so I really wated to check it out.  At the entrance,  Jas was denied because he had shorts on. So we removed our shoes and started to proceed into the courtyard,  once again we were stopped. The guy kept telling my inlaws that prayer was going to start in an hour so we couldnt go in, but for some reason he kept looking at me. I kind of got this vibe that he really didn't want us in there, especially me. My father in law argued with him a bit, but he just kept shooing us away. So we grabbed an electric rickshaw (only in India!) and continued on our way.  By this time, amongst all of the blazing horns and madness,  Mia fell fast asleep in my arms.....I couldn't believe it! While we made our way through,  I couldn't help but notice all of the crazy wires running everywhere.  There is no way in hell that comcast would ever come out to fix that mess if your cable went out! All of a sudden we got stuck in a Rickshaw jam in an intersection and everyone was attempting to go in different directions but nobody could move. Some rickshaws had to back up, people were screaming at eachother and horns were blaring....again, this only happens in India! Once we got through that mess, an ox driven cart pulled up next to us, and this gigantic animal was inches from my face! We finally pulled off to the side because Jas wanted to buy some fireworks for Mia. This small shop was filled with all kinds of interesting explosives and has been in business since the 1800's. Jas called me in (mia was out cold in my arms) and he showed me what he was buying and asked if I wanted anything else. As I turned around, I saw a box with a picture of a baby on it.....for fireworks! It was almost like they were advertising that this particular explosive is suitable for infants....only in India! We drove around the market a bit more, but I had seen enough of the insanity so we headed out for lunch to a place called Side Wok. It sounded amazing and was a recommendation from Jas's Uncle, only problem was that we had to find it. The driver dropped us off in front of the huge outdoor shopping mall and we started walking. By this time Mia had woken up, so I was carrying her, and it was probably about 80 degrees and I was sweating.  It seemed like we were walking forever and every person we asked if they knew were it was, had no clue this restaurant even existed.  We walked and walked, crossed busy crowded streets and dodged the street children begging us to buy their pencils. A few phone calls later, we finally found the restaurant and it was well worth it. The food was a mix of Thai/Chinese and everyone including Mia, enjoyed the food. Mia had actually been so good all day, that I promised her ice cream and any movie of her choice once we got home. I shouldn't have spoken so soon. Jas and his dad went on to shop while me, Mia and my mother in law headed back to the train station.  All of a sudden Mia threw the biggest tantrum on earth for no reason and I couldn't control her. She didnt want to walk and she didn't want to be held, I was literally wrestling with her on a busy sidewalk. People stopped and stared as I tried to hold her and walk to the train station but it was not happening.  At one point she layed down on the dirty sidewalk and screamed....I grabbed her and she screamed even louder and people started gathering around asking what happened.  My mother in law told them to mind their own business and went to go fetch a cab. Not one cab driver would take us once they saw the state that Mia was in. Finally we came upon a police officer and he hailed a cab in a spot where cabs were not supposed to stop and told the guy to take us. At first he resisted,  but the cop told him he had no choice,  so we climbed in....only in India! I was so thankful and Mia finally calmed down so we took the cab all the way home rather than the train. I wished we could have taken the train because riding in a 3 wheel motorcycle in rush hour traffic is not fun. The fumes from all the surrounding traffic and the bumpy ride gave me a massive migrane. I am so glad we are going home tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Jazzie!

Today is Jas's birthday and we didn't have much on the agenda.  First it was time for showers, which I have gotten used to, but dread because it takes so much time. Mia is even used to it and now I can't get her out, she ends up screaming at the top of her lungs. Once we were all ready, we set out to meet one of Jas's old friend who also has a daughter the same age as Mia. She is a member of this extremely exclusive club in Delhi, I guess the wait list is 35 years! (Seems like someone has to die before they accept new members!) We had coffe and a light lunch in the coffee shop because children are not allowed in most parts of the club. At first Mia didn't want to play with her daughter,  but luckily I brought playdough and instantly they were making birthday cakes for Jas. Afterwards we took the kids over to the private park and they had a complete blast! Mia was so happy to run, play, swing and jump! Its been almost 3 weeks since she has been able to play at the park, so it was really nice to see her so happy. They do have a lot of parks in India,  but the equipment is old and looks so dirty and unsafe,  so I haven't taken her. The girls had a blast and played for about an hour, then we headed out to a place called Khan Market which is a very clean outdoor shopping market. Things were pricey but we bought a ton of kids books for Mia about India and written by Indian authors.  It was there in the bookstore that I started feeling a little funny and so did Jas and his cousin Ravi. We wanted to walk around more but figured that it was best to grab a limka and head back home.( like Sprite but way better!) That seemed to help so we drove around and stopped back by India gate took some pictures and also saw some of the other government buildings.  (Sorry I didn't take pics on my phone, I was wrestling with Mia in the back seat because she was over tired). Once we were back home I went in the kitchen to make Mia mac and cheese and Jas went to hang out with his uncle. Come to find out his stomach was not feeling good either and Jas thinks it was from that drive up stall we went to.....good thing I didn't eat much!) All of a sudden I heard a crash and Mia screaming! She had climbed up on the kitchen table and was trying to grab my Nikon, lost her balance and fell off the chair with my camera.  She was fine, just got scared but when I picked up the camera I could hear that something had shattered! Once we got Mia calmed down, we took the lense cap off and thankfully only the lens protector shattered.  What a day! We had plans to go for dinner for Jas' birthday but he came down with a stomach bug and a little fever. Instead, we all hung out and had Raman uncles famous home made pizza. Then we spent about 45 minutes trying to figure out what made Jas sick. After much debate, we settled on the fact that it could have been anything when you are in India! But the next morning I figured out that it was the 2 cold coffee's that Jas had when we met his friend for lunch. 

Taj Mahal Tuesday

Today is our last road trip and it is actually only a day trip from Delhi to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Once again I have had to drag Mia out of bed so we could beat the traffic coming out of Delhi. (Maybe she knows how I feel now for all the times she dragged me out of bed back at home!) Once out of the city we hit the highway and this has been the first time I have seen empty open roads! No cows, tractors, potholes, rickshaws...hardly a car on the road! It was kind of refreshing and we cruised to Agra in about 3 hours without interruption.  However once we were off the highway it was back to the traffic madness. We made our way through a busy town in stop and go traffic and finally turned off into a parking lot filled with camels, horses, rickshaws and electronic shuttles. We could have walked the 1 km but why do that when you can take a carriage pulled by a camel? After some price negotiations, we climbed up and settled in and right away we got bombarded with guys trying to sell us a tour of the Taj. This one guy was so persistent and wouldnt give up, he rode on the back of our carriage almost to the entrance.  After 10 minutes of telling him no he finally gave up. At the entrance security was tight and you couldn't bring more than a purse,  cell phone and a bottle of water inside. Both Mia and I got patted down, then my purse got searched and went through the scanner.  Like cattle, we were all hearded through the entry way but then it appeared through the archway.  Everyone had cameras and cell phones out trying to snap a picture while pushing their way through. It was a constant battle to get pictures in just the right spot while also trying to manage Mia. She was cranky and didn't seem to care about where we were and I ended up carrying her through most of the Taj. It was pretty amazing to see the beautiful craftsmanship and detail that was put into this structure.  It was a quick trip inside because the only thing to see was where the tomb was, then you make your way around and you are back outside.  We were all hungry and hot so we headed to the exit to find a place to eat. On the way out, we walked through corridors of archways and took some cool pics of Mia running. We ended up at a beautiful Radisson hotel and the food was amazing.  After lunch we were supposed to take a tour of the Red Fort but Mia was so tired and I am sure its not a stroller friendly place. So we called it a day and are heading back to Delhi. Only a few more days and we will be coming home!

The Value of Money

Since we have been back from Nainital we have not done much of anything and have actually gotten some much needed rest. Mia has had 2 days of decent naps and I have had a little time to organize my many suitcases to get ready to come home. Speaking of that, I have to admit that I am so ready to come back even though I have heard its pretty cold. I hate living out of a suitcase and I don't like other people doing my laundry. I am also not used to the fact that the house boy washes all my dishes and picks up after me. This may sound awesome to many of you, but when you are actually in the situation,  its strange. I am not really sure what his name is, but the common name for all of the house boys is Chotu (not sure if I spelled that right but it means little). And he is little, probably only about 5 feet tall and very petite. I don't think he speaks much English and he is extremely soft spoken. His basic duty around the house is cleaning, helping with the cooking, running errands and making tea. He is live in help and I was shocked to see that his bed is outside under a makeshift roof next to his own private bathroom.  He tries to help me out when I am making something for Mia but I am so self sufficient and I am sure he finds that strange. I also find the whole situation interesting because I actually feel bad for the poor guy. However, someone pointed out to me that he was probably extremely poor and its better for him here where he is fed, clothed and has a bed to sleep in. And I have definitely seen my share of poor people,  its the children that I feel extremely sorry for. If you have seen slumdog millionaire,  that's exactly what they look like and they tap you car window and beg. I was told to ignore them and not even make eye contact but its so hard when I see kids Mia's age running around dirty and barefoot in a polluted intersection. Yesterday I saw two young boys about 5 & 7 doing flips and tricks with mustaches drawn on their faces in front of our car. And then they came up to our window to beg and could see Mia in her car seat watching movies on the galaxy. Its just not right. Its the parents fault because schooling in India is totally free (including their meals) but the parents make them beg cause they are more likely to get money. I actually gave some apples to a woman in the street who had a young baby in her arms but she looked displeased and kept asking for more. Jas's sister gave me a bunch of baby clothes that we gave away and we still have tons of candy to pass out to kids when we see them. There are millions of these poor children in India, and its hard to help them all but every little thing counts. Even if its just giving a candy to a small kid to put a smile on their face.
On the other hand, yesterday Mia learned the value of money at the young age of 2. She was napping so I decided to run downstairs and grab some lunch and hang out with the family.  Every once in a while we would go up and check on her but she was out cold. After a while I kept thinking that she has been sleeping for a long time so I ran up again to make sure she was ok and I couldn't believe what I caught her doing.  She quietly got up, went into the diaper bag got my purse out and got back on the bed where she proceeded to go in my wallet and take out all of my money.  What did she do with it? She ripped it in shreds!  I startled her as she was in the act and she started wailing.  I couldn't be mad at her but she managed to rip apart $84 into small pieces!  I brought her and all the puzzle pieces of twenties downstairs and everyone helped tape and piece it together.  The only way I could make her understand is by telling her that without money we wouldn't be able to go back home. She just said sorry momma and said she wouldn't do it again.  But I won't make the mistake of leaving my purse in the room anymore when she is supposed to be napping!
We ended our night by going to a drive up food joint. And of all times I didn't bring my camera or my phone it had to be last night! It truely was a chaotic scene. First there really was nowhere to park, cars were quadruple parked all over the place almost into the intersection.  I couldn't really tell who worked there because people were just everywhere until a guy came up to our window and took our order. While we were waiting for our food I was just observing my surroundings and noticed all the stray dogs around. You could hear them fighting for someones leftovers and then a guy would come hit them with a stick if they became to bothersome to the people.  And once again I saw many poor kids running around barefoot trying to grab any extra leftover food. The smell of grilled fish and chicken was so strong and I am sure that was torturous for their hungry tummies.  They brought our food on paper plates and we ate in the car. It was kind of a cool experience but I wasn't too sure about the meat so I ate very little.  We got out and crossed the street to go see how they make an Indian sweet called jalabi (I probably spelled that wrong). Jas's uncle bought a fresh batch and once again I don't think I have seen a bigger smile on Jas's face! We started to make our way back home and must have passed about 10 weddings on the way....on a monday night! I guess people here get married any day of the week and there are thousands of weddings each day in Delhi! This is a fact I believe because since I have been here I have seen a million weddings going on. So Aims if you are reading this, the place to be for a wedding planner is India!

Monkeys on the Roof

My posts are a bit behind because the internet in the hotel was pretty slow, but we are heading back to Delhi so they will be uploaded there.  Anyways we spent our last day in Nainital doing a little sightseeing and we started off at the High Altitude Zoo. Our driver had to drop us off about a quarter mile from the entrance and we had to hike it up a steep cobble stone street. It wasn't too bad, the view of Nainital was good and I figured it would wear Mia out. I also thought that once we got inside it would be level and easy to walk, wrong again. It was all uphill walking and stairs. Not bad if you wanted a workout but I was more looking forward to a relaxing morning at the zoo. And of course Mia was not co-operating, running everywhere she shouldn't be and had no interest in the animals.  The zoo actually was not that great, it needed major work, but it was pretty cool to be up that high with the view of mountains all around.  Once we reached the top there was a small doorway and we learned that one of the oldest temples in Nainital was back there. I walked back there and it was a small walkway with all of these fancy strings tied to the fence and bells strung on ropes zigzaging above my head. We went over to the priest and gave a small donation.  He said to make a wish, walk around the temple and then to tie a string to the fence. He said if the wish comes true we have to come back one day to untie our string and we would be givin a bell to hang. I'm not gonna tell you what we wished for, but if it comes true and we don't come back then its considered bad luck. (So part 2 of India could be in my future!)
We decided to take off from the zoo because Mia could have cared less that we were there and we drove to another town call Bhimtal. It was similar to Nainital with a small lake in the center but more remote and less crowded.  I guess that up in this part of the mountians there are many lakes and all the town names end in "tal" because that means lake. This particular lake was a lot smaller but the drive was very beautiful.  We stopped off to take some pictures and noticed that we were right next to a very small school and all the kids were out playing.  I got out of the car and immediately the kids started to gather around the fence and were waiving hello. We asked the teacher if we could buy them candy but she politely said no, I guess they don't take candy from strangers! It was about lunchtime so we found a 5 star resort to stop off at. It was way up the side of the mountain and the road was so bad that we were joking and saying it was a 5 star hotel with a 1 star road! However,  it was nice and the food was amazing,  Mia got 2 juice boxes and everyone was full, happy and sleepy. (Kind of sound like the 7 drawfs). We got back to the hotel around 4 and I figured that since Mia didn't nap she would pass out. Well that plan got totally messed up when suddenly I heard this loud rumbling on the roof. It almost sounded like huge rocks rolling down the metal rooftop.  And at first I thought that's what it was because we were in the mountains and on the roads I saw big rocks that had fallen all over the place. So I looked out my window and what did I see? Monkey's!  They decided that now was the perfect time to play and chase each other around right above our room! This annoying activity went on for about a half hour so needless to say, none of us could sleep. We called it an early night because we wanted to get on the road by 5 am to try and make better time.
Our wake up call came at 4:30 along with hot tea and a thermos of hot milk for Mia. We packed up the car and were whipping down the mountainside in the dark. As we got further down, I saw a few cars on the side of the road and Jas said a lot of people get motion sickness in India. Literally the moment he made that comment,  Mia started getting sick and we had to join the other cars on the side of the road! Thankfully she didn't have anything to eat or drink or our car would have stunk all the way to Delhi! We made it the rest of the way down with no other incidents and in no time we were on the pothole highway. We were not on it too long because our driver had found a detour that might take us a bit longer, but its better than being tossed around inside the van. Once again we found ourselves in the countryside with all of the farmers and truck traffic.  We seemed to be going faster but once in a while things slowed down for trucks that were extremely overloaded.  One truck in particular tipped side to side and  we had to keep our distance because it looked so unstable! And this rounds up week 2 in India!

The Road To Nainital

I have mentioned a few times before how difficult the driving is in India, but the ride to Nainital takes the cake. We left Delhi around 6:30 to avoid the traffic and for the most part we were successful.  I thought from there it would take about 5 hours and it would be a smooth ride up the mountains like it was to Shimla. Boy I was so wrong. We were not even half way when the local traffic started to pick up. Once again we were in the countryside and our driver was dodging trucks, motorcycles, cars, rickshaws, pedestrians, cows, horses and the occasional monkey! We started to notice more and more cows and bulls in the back of trucks, come to find out that we were going to pass the local livestock sale. Once we were past all that traffic,  I thought we were in the clear. Wrong again! Our driver immediately busted a u-turn and went on the other side of the road into oncoming traffic!  This is actually a common thing to do when there is a traffic jam, people just make their own lanes. So as we were going the wrong way, we bypassed about a mile of backed up trucks then we merged our way back into the correct lane of traffic.  It was bumper to bumper and we could hear an ambulance behind us. But not one car moved to the side to make way. Instead the cars and trucks turned a two lane highway into a five lanes and were everywhere with only inches to spare in between.  We were stuck and our driver told us that he was stuck in the same spot once for 5 hours! I was starting to get anxious because I had to use the bathroom and some of the trucks were over loaded and looked like they were going to topple over on us. Slowly we moved forward and weaved in and out and finally got to the toll booth which was causing the jam. I think in total we spent an hour just to go a few miles.
We stopped off at a McDonald's to eat and use the washroom and I was sure from there on we would have an easy ride. I have no idea why I kept thinking that because a while later we were driving through small towns with tons of traffic.  At this rate it would take us forever to get to Nainital. The further we went, the worse the roads got, which slowed us down even more. The potholes where so bad that we had to slow down to either drive around it or go through them. I will never complain about a pothole in Chicago again,  these as wide as the street and some were very deep. The scary part was watching the trucks drive over them, they looked like they were going to tip over. And the worst part of this whole situation? We had 50 miles of this crappy road! It was so unpleasent and I am surprised that our driver said he would take us knowing how bad the drive was! The moment we entered the next state the road instantly improved and we stopped off for lunch. We were now 6 or 7 hours into our trip, we thought the whole trip would take that long but we still couldn't see the mountain rage. We continued on and within 2 more hours we made it to the base and had 30 miles of curvy uphill driving. Once again we were whipping around hairpin turns up the mountain side, the views were spectacular.  Along the way we encountered a few rockslides that were being cleaned up and only one lane of traffic could pass at a time. Finally we entered Nainital and it was beautiful....I guess it was worth the 10 hour drive! The clouds hung low over the the lake and hotels and houses surrounded it up and down the mountain.  After stopping for directions a few times, we made it to the Nani Retreat!  The room resembles a bed and breakfast and the view from our window is of a beautiful courtyard.  Immediately tea was served to us and we all crashed after that. Mia is already sleeping and Jas and I are watching cheesy Indian movies! We are already dreading the drive back but we have 3 days to relax until we head back to Delhi.