We made it back!

Hi there-
We did not have ready access to email in Vijayawada... so sorry for the break in posts! But, we're back! A bit tired, but all of us fared much better on this long trip than the last one.

We are getting settled in today, and I will be updating our blog with some pics from our time in Pedapulipaka - which was great. We all had a really good time visiting with Sri's family and attending a few India functions.

More pics to come soon!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Hi Mom,
Just wanted to wish you a Happy 60th Birthday! We thought of no better way than posting it on our blog... as we can't be with you to sing and share the day.

Hope you have a great day and look forward to celebrating when we return.

Love,
Marci, Sri, Kaeshev & Noe

Update from Vijayawada

We left Bangalore on Tuesday, and thanks to a short flight… made it here for the first time without jet lag! We are welcomed by Sri’s parents, grandmother, as well as his sister (Padma) and her son (Maneesh). It’s so nice to be amongst family in India… food just shows up, all of our creature comforts are met, and Kaeshev has someone to play with (other than his adversary Noe). We are getting settled in and other than a nasty high fever and cold that Sri has had for the past two days… we are generally well.

Today was Noe’s birthday and she had so many new clothes she didn’t get a chance to wear them all. It is Indian custom (here anyway) that you receive new clothes on your birthday. She loves dresses and skirts, especially the long, flowing, shiny ones but hates too much attention when she wears them. It is quite comical.

We have a family function for Shivani (Sri’s brother’s daughter) tomorrow. So we’ll be all decked out, and I’m sure the pics will be colorful. Since the head photographer has been on the couch or in bed since we arrived, we have yet to take too many pictures. Hopefully, he’ll bounce back soon.

That’s all for this blog… I hope to post more soon. We still don’t have internet connection in PuliPaka, but I will post when I come into the city.

Love and miss you all.

Belur & Halebid- Off to Coffee Country

Belur- took 103 years to complete!

Went to Belur and Halebid this weekend... here's a few pics of the trip. The temples were amazing, built from the mid 11th to mid 14th century, they are so fun to explore. We spent the night (Friday) at the Taj Garden Retreat... which was bit too moldy, so we decided to just stay one night. But the kids had fun swimming and it was certainly beautiful outside! Kaeshev has another little bug (fever and cold), but is weathering this one well. Traffic was terrible coming back into the city on Sat- it took about 6 hours to get back (and 4 to get there)!

Sri has another day of work, and then we're off on Tuesday for Vijayawada. We decided to ditch the 16 hour train adventure for the 1.5 hour flight. So today (Sunday) we're spending time packing and last minute shopping. Kaeshev seems to be better today, we're keeping our fingers crossed that Noe doesn't catch this one.

Hard to believe that our time in Bangalore is winding down. Seems like the first week was a blur with illness, and the next two we spent getting to know things. Now it's time to pack up and leave. We think it will be easier when they are maybe 5 & 6. Between the diapers and fevers- it's a little stressful with small kids, but we're managing and clearly not letting it slow us down much!

We are starting to miss Chapel Hill and are reminiscing about our food, friends, and frequent haunts. We're looking forward to a couple of weeks at Sri's parents house, and then the long trip home. I hope to write a few blogs from "DJwada" as Kaeshev calls it... but I'm not sure about Internet connectivity. So, check back next week- and I hope to have more up by next weekend. Hope you are well, send an email if you get a chance to let me know you read this- lest I think I am writing this for cyberspace strangers!

Below are more pics from the trip. Amazing and totally worth the trip to see sometime when you're in India!Belur Entrance to Temple

Carving details

Kaeshev and Mama
Noe swimming at the Taj Garden Retreat

Halebid
Halebid Entrance

Halebid Details of sculpture- beautiful!


Sunflowers in Coffee Country (on the road to Halebid)

And here's a little info on Belur and Halebid...

Belur-Halebid go together like twin cities. Separated only by a short drive, both were home to the Hoysala dynasty for three centuries (mid-11th to mid-14th century). Coming upon one after visiting the other is like recognising a family resemblance. Both look similar being star-shaped. They were founded by a Jain, Nripa Kama, whose kingdom was sandwiched between the Cholas of Thanjavur in the south, and the Chalukyas of Badami in the north. Nripa Kama's son and successor was Vinayaditya. He is remembered by later generations that often, incorrectly, consider him to be the founder of the dynasty. But Halebid and Belur tend to defy history. It is rare to find a place that appears so untouched by time.

The Belur and Halebid temples are cut from the soft stone called chloritic schist. It allowed for very fine detailing, evident in the intricately carved temple walls. The tradition of ivory and sandalwood handwork is reflected in the sculptures of these temples. As representations of South Indian styles they are comparable, perhaps, only to the temples at Khajuraho.

Of special interest are the engineering techniques used in `assembling' the temple, particularly the locking systems that used grid locks, interlocks and the pin and socket system! They were used for attaching separately carved panels onto the walls and ceilings, achieving a continuous and inseparable appearance for what are essentially disparate stone structures.

Getting Ready for the weekend

Thursday...
Today we spent the morning getting ready for our trip to Chikmagalur. We'll be leaving tomorrow- Friday, and be back in Bangalore on Sunday. We're looking forward to getting away for another break from the city. Here's a pic that we took today while at the mall. We read books in the book store for hours this afternoon, and we went shopping for birthday clothes for Noe.

Last night we had some friends (Sri's colleagues) over from NetApp. Lokesh and Amar joined us for dinner and play with the kids. The kids loved the toys and painting kits that they brought. Here's some pics before they went for a ride in Amar's car! Kaesh was so happy that he got to ride up front. Only in India! And he's ready to move here...

I'm posting this late, since we had some internet issues before we left for the weekend... so I'll update more on our weekend soon!

Out on the town for dinner!

We took the kids out on Sunday night for dinner at the Royal Orchid Hotel- which is between our place and NetApp. We walked over and took a few pics of the neighborhood. Here are a few from that night. It was delicious Thai food- and was a nice change of pace from the Indian fare.

Noe- the little princess gathered 3 flowers that night from admirers (ok- two were from her parents!) She has no shortage of charm and beauty!

Kaeshev loved the rooftop views, but even more the rooftop gym- where he got a nice tour of from the waiter. He even got to use the treadmill while we waited for the restaurant to open. They don't start serving dinner here until 7:30. Luckily the kids took a good nap- or we would not even have thought about it.

We have been getting a bit more daring lately and trying a few other "lunch stores" as Kaeshev refers to restaurants. We got some great Chinese one night, and even went to TGIFridays! Still maintaining mostly vegetarian- outside of the BBQ at the Oberi, which was fabulous!

I figured no blog is complete without discussing food:-)

View from the Royal Orchid Hotel Rooftop


Mama- we're hungry!



Shopping for Diapers at a local mart



Walking down our street with our "squirrels"

On the way to the Royal Orchid

Another Monday

Monday July 28-
We hit the gym this morning- Kaeshev's favorite thing to do... although swimming comes a close second. It's nice to just take the elevator three floors up, and get out a workout. Noe just comes along, and is so cute- loves to lay on the floor and pretend to do pushups. She learned that from her Nana- not me:-)

After our workout- we walked the neighborhood and bought some flowers and fruits for Himaja and family who we are going to visit today. She is Sri's sister's, husband's, sister's daughter (read niece of Raja and Padma). They live nearby and have been a great resource and in touch since we arrived. They have a 9 month old son that Kaeshev and Noe like to giggle with.

Things in the city are still a bit edgy given all of the terrorist activity in the country. But, there have been no more incidents in Bangalore- so we're crossing our fingers and moving on. The streets today were busy as ever with traffic and the only apprehension I felt was from an Italian woman at the local "Whole Foods" (an organic Indian Mart!) who was stressed about even coming out for vegetables. I have thought better of going to the local malls- but figured I can't keep inside for a week, so off we went about our daily business... and today the big find was organic food in India!

The food mart we found was filled with tons of imported goods- olive oils, mustard, chinese spices, olives, etc. They had a whole section of prepackaged organic dahl, rice, and oats. But to my amazement was the big section of greens (which my mouth was watering for, but my brain stayed strong!) They had all kinds of lettuce, probably every green leafy thing grown in the world. My thought was how this market was going to make it... I think it'll go out of business soon- unless there are a lot more Italian ladies lurking in Bangalore than I am aware.

We picked up a few essentials- natural peanut butter (with no hydrogenated oil!) oranges, jelly and some bread. I have yet to find the 'chicken ladies' eggs (otherwise known as farm eggs). I have amazingly given up my daily egg breakfast, and now eat a dosa every morning. I am so craving NC farm fresh eggs:-)

Well- that's it for today- kids will be up soon, and I have some special mac and cheese to give them:-)

Missing you all!