Journal1

Around the world in 20 years or so . . .

August 19, 2005, 6:34 am.��

Well, it is time to start chronicling my big adventure if I ever have any hope of recalling everything.� I am going to try to get things up to date this morning and then keep track from here on out.� Yesterday we got up at 4:45 am to take David, James and Heather down to U of A.� Awfully early but Heather needed to be there by 8 am for orientation and it seemed logical for me to take here rather than asking Chris to take a day off of work to take her.� I am happy to do so.� I have really become attached to her and hope that she and David make it long term.

James was the first to get registered while David and Heather looked for the orientation sign up.� He is in the same room with David this year that David had last year.� Being together sure made it easy to document any problems with the room.� They are in room 63, Heather is in room 20.� Her roommate is Jackie but goes by "Jack."� Seems to be a sweet kid when she introduced herself; very self confident.� Jack got in yesterday with an early arrival so got dibs on the bottom bunk and Heather needed to go to Wal-Mart to purchase a ladder to get to the top bunk.

David got his financial aid figured out, I think but James still has some to do w/Sunburst Farms.

September 16, 2005 ~ 3 a.m.� ��

Woke up with thoughts swirling inside my head and need to get started writing them down.� Yesterday was such an emotional day for me with my last day at BESTFed and the Goodbye party that my friends gave me.� I debated trying to get back to sleep but on Monday, this time will only be 6 a.m. so I had better get used to it soon.� Otis likes it anyway so that I can spend some extra time scratching his chin.� I am going to miss him too while I am gone. �Although he is technically David's cat, he thinks that I am his person.

I held it together pretty well yesterday until Susan had the entire staff come down and cut cake and said goodbye.� After that I was weepy all day.� I just stood in front of the door before I left the last time trying to make sure I will be able to picture it always in my mind.� I remember spending days and days looking around to find the Mesa location back in '96 and from an empty space it sure has grown.� I sure hope that leaving BESTFed is the right thing to do.� I just got the place where I want it.� I can be just the LC and I really enjoy it.� I knew in my mind that going into the Foreign Service would mean leaving BESTFed.� It finally hit my heart yesterday.�

In the evening, my friends in the lactation community threw me a "going away party."� I did pretty well holding it together then as well, only broke down a few times.� Fortunately Phyllis brought in a whole box of tissues.� We got together at Olive Garden and spent about 3 hours together.� They pitched in for a gift certificate from Best Buy and another from American Express but Tracey joked that it was a gift certificate for a bikini wax.� (Can you imagine, me, getting all the hairs ripped out???. . . on purpose???� Yuck.)� Anyway it was so nice of everyone to show up to say goodbye.� Cheri Casciola, Debbie Gillespie, Janet Hollett, Maria Lennon, Phyllis Adamson, Tracey Grady, Patty Stouffers, Jamie Dick, Star Zemekis, Mary Cummins, Mary Ann Thurston, Bonnie Jones, Lori Isenstadt, and Judy Okney.

April 18, 2006 ~ Musings as I wait for the plane to leave the country. . .

It is 3:56 p.m.� I just figured out that I do not have the right type of access to get into the internet here.� It is kind of frustrating.� I was hoping to send Bill a message to let him know that the cat and I are doing well and will be boarding the plane in about 90 minutes.� To quote a sig line from my friend Arnetta, "Wow, what a ride. . ."

It seems that it was just a few days ago and forever ago as well that I was spending the day in Chicago with Patricia when I got the phone call asking if I was still interested in joining the Foreign Service.� I had applied so long ago that that when the woman called and said she was from the State Department, I thought immediately, "The State Department of What? and "Where did you get my cell phone number."� It was just February when I decided to sell my business and March when I handed it off to Susan.� I had one speaking engagement under my belt, one more scheduled and I was loving the idea of doing a lecture circuit.� After the call, I flew back to Phoenix and Bill and I talked about how this would affect us.� We decided that we needed to finish Bill's medical clearance that we let lapse so that he could go with me, accepted the offer and made reservations to go to DC in August to let State do the clearance.� He breezed through while James and I looked for somewhere for me to live while I was in training.� I visited Grandma and Grandpa to say goodbye.� I am afraid that they will not be with us by the time that I return from my first tour of duty and we decided not to tell them that I was going overseas.

Orientation training started September 19th and it was very exciting.� I could hardly believe that I was getting ready to work overseas.� Of the 16 people in my field, 15 started with us.� We lost one on the day of our swearing in ceremony and one more 6 weeks later.� The rest of the 13 are slowly heading out to posts around the world.� We had a real fall in DC with the leaves changing colors.� Snow in the winter.� I had my first opportunity to shovel it.

It was great working through the training and some of my classmates have become close friends.� It is kind of a neat feeling to know that if I go to Athens or Kiev or Prague or a number of other cities around the world, I will know someone who lives there.

Training was sometimes difficult, sometimes fun, sometimes interesting and (occasionally) boring!� There was so much to learn; I hope I remember half when I get to post.� I have been in contact with the people at post.� It is hard to tell how things will be but my new boss seems like a nice guy from his e-mails so far.� I have a sponsor named Marsha.� She will pick me up at the airport when I get in even though it will be nearly midnight for her.� That is SO nice.� I was worried about how I would negotiate a foreign airport and city by myself.� There is one other person there, Jennifer.� She is the CLO and has been a wealth of information.� If the rest of the staff as nearly as welcoming and nice as the people I have contacted so far, this will be a very good place to work.

It comes and goes in waves, this feeling of sadness that I am leaving the US.� It really hit me hard the first time the day Bill and I went to the Library of Congress.� I have no idea why it was so intense there, we had just left the Supreme Court building and we have spent time touring a lot of the American monuments here.� Alternately, I am so excited about going.� I can hardly wait.� Sometimes I feel both at the same time.� One of the coolest things that I heard in orientation (first 3 weeks) was a lunchtime discussion between two classmates.� One was telling the other about a terrific steak house that she had found and the other needed to visit the next time he was in Pretoria!� It was like being in Phoenix and talking about the next time you go to Mesa.� So cool!

It seems like forever waiting to get on this plane.� I dropped the cat off at the boarding area about 90 minutes ago then, lucky me, I was picked for the 'test everything and pat you down' type security checks.� Dulles has an interesting method of moving people.� There are moving "lounges" that you board and they work like a tram to move you between terminals.� Kind of a nice idea but rather slow getting to the next terminal.� Because the flight is so long (22 hours) I get to go business class and am in the United lounge.� I have never been in one of these before.� They have a little bar and a snack bar with crackers and cheese and cookies.� Nice since I missed lunch.�

I think the best day so far was the day Bill showed up in Warrenton.� I had not realized how very much I would miss him when I left Phoenix.� We had originally talked about him taking an IMS position with State and we would live apart for 2 ~ 4 years if needed.� NO.� This would not work for us.� I miss him and he misses me way too much.� The old saw about absence makes the heart grow fonder is not real.� Absence makes the heart grow lonelier.� Even with him visiting me in October, November and December, we had too much separation.� It is not for us, yet, here we are with me flying off to India without him.� At least he will follow me in 15 days.

One instructor that taught us for nearly 6 weeks was a former English teacher.� What a blast we had with him.� His favorite grammar error was using "at" after "where."� So to Roscoe, if you ever read this:� Where are you "at" right now?� Most of the instructors were great.� Nearly all had passion for their own particular specialty.� Each would tell us that when we got to post, the subject that was taught that week would be the most important thing that we will need to know.�

Well, I am tired of writing for now.� Think I will get another piece of cheese.� Maybe more later.

April 19, 2006 ~ Close to landing time in Frankfurt (7 am local)��

I just finished breakfast: ham, turkey, a roll and some cheese.� Thank heavens they did not serve eggs, my body only thinks it is 1 am.� In India it will be 4 hours later so I really need to wake up and get ready for the day.� I need to put down the laptop.� More in the terminal.

I am in the terminal.� Just found the gate.� I had forgotten how annoying it is to have smoke everywhere can be.� We Americans are very spoiled!� I am thinking of taking photos of the cigarette packages here.� I almost did not recognize what they were.� The health warnings are at least as big, if not bigger than the brand name on the carton.� I was looking for a suitable souvenir but decided that my bag is heavy enough ~ the straps are coming apart from the weight.� Besides, we just got rid of most of our dust collectors!� I think I will stick with the photo that I took from the plane.� It will last, I can share and it is not heavy to carry.� I am not sure how well the photo turned out but will see later when I download.� David will be interested to know that they sell Heather's favorite, Godiva Chocolates here.� If I read the package correctly in German, it looks like they run about 9.6 Euros for a pound and a Euro is only about $1.16.

That flight was awesome.� The seats lay nearly flat to sleep.� Dinner was a four course meal.� There were 24 movies to choose to watch.� I made the mistake of watching "Walk the Line" which I had wanted to see before I left the US.� It was a good movie but by the time it was over I was too tired to sleep.� If I have to make the trip again, I will go to sleep right after dinner and then I think I will not be so very tired on arrival here.� I am afraid to go to sleep because I might miss my plane and if I take a later nap I will have trouble sleeping tonight in India.� What a neat problem to have, worrying when I can sleep because I am getting to travel around the world.� In addition to the meals, seats and movies, you would not believe what else they had. . .High-Speed internet!� On the plane!� Access was available for about $30 for the trip or $9/hour.� It is available in the Frankfurt airport too.� The cost is 2 Euros/15 minutes.� I am toying with the idea of sending some e-mail but since it is not necessary and everyone that I would write to is asleep, why bother!� Bill would not appreciate a 3 am call and the boys would not appreciate a call at 1 am so I guess I will pass.� Isn't it amazing how well connected we can be if we want to be?� Surprisingly I have not seen a place in this airport to purchase a Coke or Pepsi.� I could really use the caffeine about now and I already had 2 cups of coffee on the plane just to wake up.� I had not drunk any coffee since December and it did not take me long to remember how much I do NOT like coffee.

I am not sure how much longer the batteries are going to last in the laptop.� Already I have had more use than I thought I would get.� It is convenient to have it available.� I know if I needed to write later, I would not do it.� It seems strange to sit here in the airport, overhearing conversations and not understanding a word.� I am sitting next to a mother and her two sons.� The older of the two appears to be about 6 or 7 years old.� He is so impatient.� Wants to run and play.� Boys are the same in every language.� She wants him to sit still and wait for his flight but is getting exasperated having to remind him.� She is suggesting things for him to do to keep him close but entertained.� The little one is probably about 3 or a little younger and seems perfectly content to be on momma's lap.� I see very few strollers and the ones that I do see are usually filled with packages and the children are carried.� All of the children either seem to be walking or in arms with the exception of parents handling two or more non-walking children.

There are a lot of women in saris at the gate waiting for the next flight.� I am getting excited about what it will look like in India.� I am going to be toast by the time I get there.� I just figured out why the little one is so content on mom's lap.� He just assumed the position and patted mom's chest.� She gently put him off but I am not sure how long that will last.� He is getting more insistent.� I am wondering if she is weaning or if she just does not like to nurse in public.� I wish I could talk to her but I not only cannot speak to her but I am not even positive which language she is speaking.� I would love to hear her experiences.

I am tired and will probably save more battery power for the next leg of the flight.� More later.

April 19, 2006, 3:21 pm, India time��

The clouds have finally cleared enough to see some of the landscape.� We are over the snow capped mountains of Turkey and headed into Iraq.� It looks like we are splitting the difference between Mosul and Tabriz heading toward Mumbai (Bombay.)� There is some brackish looking water below which think might be just to the west of Tabriz.� Not much time left, 4:41 to Chennai.� This is so exciting and so unreal. . . �Throughout the trip, Lufthansa has had personal viewing screens.� Once of the options to view is the progress of the trip with landmarks, time and altitude.

Lunch on the plane was a preview of my new diet.� Every dish was spicy. �They were able to rustle up some fruit so I ate that for lunch.� The soda here is served in 0.15L cans (just under 6-oz) ~ sure makes a difference from the 52-oz thirst-busters that you see in Phoenix.�

I was just about to say that the landscape looked like the area around Tucson from the air but then there are snow-capped mountains again.� Definitely NOT Tucson.� I think we are heading over Tehran and then Pakistan soon after that.�

We made a turn and missed Tehran.� Abu Dhabi is off to the right of the plane ~ I am waving through the window ~ Hi Alex!� Karachi is next.� Hey, I just realized that I will see two sunsets in 15 hours, is that cool or what?

I hope that the cat is OK in the cargo hold.� I am not sure how many of you want to read about this adventure.� I was going to e-mail it but that looks unwieldy (4 pages so far) so I think I will try to post it to the website that we were going to put up and I will put a link in the e-mail instead.� I never figured that I would do much writing but who knows, maybe I will after all.

I am debating trying to get a nap but if I am really, really tired when I get in, it might help me adjust to the time.� I think I will watch a DVD instead.� Signing off again for now. llp

April 20, 2006, 2:58 pm ~ India time. . .��

Well, I did it.� I moved to the other side of the globe!� I arrived in the airport last night at 11:46 pm.� No one was at the gate.� I went through until I got to customs.� They had long lines then I spied the line for diplomats/special handling.� When I approached the guy started to wave me off, pointing to the long line but I showed him my passport and he smiled and let me through.� I guess when new hires are met at the airport, they are usually met at customs and no one was there.� I started toward the baggage claim area and there was a lady and a gentleman waiting with a sign that said "Ms. Linda Pohl."� The lady was Marsha and the gentleman works at the consulate too but I cannot seem to bring to mind his name right now.� They helped me get my bags, he asked for the original paperwork to send to the health department for the cat.� When it came time to leave, we just walked through with my bags and all!� I expected to have to have them searched but it did not happen.� Just a smile and wave from the airport officials!

Outside there were throngs of people waiting with signs to meet other people.� It was very nice not to have to find them there.� We got to the van that was waiting at the curb with a consulate driver.� I was going to put the cat in myself but when I reached for the door, it was on the wrong side!� Ok, that's right, since the driver is on the other side, the sliding door will be too.

Off we went to my new house.� It is really weird to see lights coming at you on the wrong side of the street.� One of the large vehicles driving around did not even have lights.� As we came up the road to the house, Marsha was telling me the address and the names of the streets but I cannot even remember one right now.� I was awfully tired.� The driver kept blinking his lights as we got close.� I asked why and Marsha said it was to make sure the guard opened the gate for us.� It turns out we have a guard in front of the compound that contains the four houses in my housing section.

We got into the house and she showed me around.� During the tour of the house, she picked up this electric fly swatter and was killing mosquitoes left and right.� After the last employee left, they replaced our floors and the house had been left completely open for three weeks so a bunch of mosquitoes set up housekeeping inside.� After she left, I continued to use it.� Between us, we must have zapped 75 ~ 100 mosquitoes.� She showed me both of the bedrooms, the living room, kitchen, dining room and the distiller.� She also warned me not to drink the water unless it was distilled or boiled.� I even need to use distilled or boiled for brushing my teeth.� OK for tonight, I am not even sure where the toothbrush is right now.� I needed to get a shower, wash my hair, and get to bed.� By the time I got cleaned up, settled Otis with cat litter and food and crawled under the mosquito netting, it must have been close to 3 am.

I woke up a couple of times during the night (uh, morning?) but was able to go back to sleep.� Slept until 10:30 then figured that I needed to get up for the day.� I opened the juice that Marsha left.� Tropicana orange juice but it tasted very strong compared to American orange juice.� I think ours must be watered down.� It was good, but I added water.

Time to unpack and dress.� I started on the suitcases.� When TSA looked through my bags, they managed to open the bag of pine nuts.� Ugh.� Pine nut dust made a mess of the clothes in one whole suitcase.� About � way through, I needed breakfast.

Looking at the dishes made me realize that it was time to put water to boil.� They were dirty in the cupboard.� Not a problem but I do wonder what the floaters are in the boiling water.� Dishes are washed and I proceed to open the box of shredded wheat cereal that Marsha left me.� I get to the fridge and the milk that is safe is Nestle.� For those who know me and know how much I like milk and how much I boycott Nestle, you know this will be a dilemma during my stay.� Next indication that this will be very interesting ~ something scurried out of the way of the spoon when I opened the sugar.�

After breakfast a guy from the consulate showed up at the door to fix the phone in the bedroom.� He is one of the people that I will work with at the consulate.� Time for a short nap.� No sense fighting this tired feeling.� I felt better after 30 minutes and finished unpacking.� Doggoneit.� I must have packed the batteries in Bill's suitcase.� I will need an AA for the alarm clock tomorrow.

Had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch and took a walk down to the first major street.� Surprisingly there are many of the same flowers, trees and bushes that I saw in Phoenix including bougainvillea and those plants with the white or purple flowers (I think they are called Jonny Jump Ups.)� There is also a banana tree down the street! After a walk, I sat down to write again.� The power went off for about 35 minutes.� No problem about the lights, sunshine through the windows works fine but no AC is a problem.� I hoped that it did not continue for long and it did not.� It may have been the fellows outside who are working on the windows.� It looks like they are building wooden screens.� It is almost 3:45 and time for another short nap so that I can visit tonight.

10:30 p.m. ~��

UGH ~ I just found out I have been washing the dishes wrong!� You have to put bleach in the wash water and the rinse water when you wash them.� I have been drinking and eating from poorly washed dishes all day.� Hopefully it will not make me ill.� I had a nice dinner with Marsha and her mom.� She made spaghetti and salad with ice cream for dessert.� I was told that some of the ice cream here is not good but evidently this is OK and will not make you sick.� Off to bed for now and up for my first day of work.� Yikes!� Hope it goes well.

April 21, 2006, 4:30 a.m.��

I cannot sleep.� I am tired but keep thinking of Bill and wishing I could call him.� When I get into work, I can try and he should be getting ready for bed.� I really miss him already.� Thankfully, Marsha let me use her dial-up account last night and I sent e-mail to him and the kids and Dad.� The longer this missive gets (wow ~ 7 pages!� I never write that much,) the more I need to think about getting it onto the website that we are going to use.� I am not exactly sure how I will manage that though until I get internet service.� Evidently asking for service and being willing to pay does not always correlate with getting things done.� I understand that India is just starting to work on this whole idea of customer service.� I am excited about going to work today and seeing how much of my training stuck.

There are ants on the computer screen!� The kitchen and bathrooms are the only place with 120V wired so I plug the laptop in to recharge in the kitchen where, in spite of being here barely 24h, the ants know I am here and are already making themselves feel at home, including in the laptop!� My mosquito bat is sure a blessing.� I had to recharge it and realized that I did not know how.� There are adapters that are needed to plug into wall circuits.� Unlike the two blades and a ground pin on American electrical systems, there are three round pins in a triangle arrangement.� Two are power pins and, evidently the third is some sort of connection pin because the electrical does not work without all three stuck in the wall, even if the appliance has only two pins.

I am starting to really feel the humidity now.� It did not seem as high yesterday.� Marsha's mom said that when the floors get cleaned, you need to use the brown Lysol on the floor to kill organisms otherwise the floors will mold and mildew.� That explains the entire house being done in tile with just a couple of throw rugs then.� Carpets would not make it.� I borrowed some laundry detergent and was finally able to clean the towel that we put in Otis' kennel for the trip.� Poor cat!� He wet it in spite of his best efforts.� When he got out and got his litter, he used it in front of me because he had to go so bad.� He almost never allows anyone to see him use the litter box.

The birds (leastwise, I think it is birds) are loud here, even before dawn.� When I heard them yesterday, I was thinking it was monkeys but today I think it is birds.� I wish I could record their calls and post them here for you to hear.� I think I need to get breakfast and shower for the day.� It seems that once showered here in the morning, one not only uses deodorant like in the states, but one sprays down with mosquito repellent.� Just had one of those buggers try to bite me!� More again later.

April 22, 2006, 8:39 a.m.��

First day of work was yesterday.� The boss is very nice and I hear the CG is nice as well.� I get to meet with him on Monday.� The CG is the guy in charge of the Consulate, like an Ambassador is in charge of an Embassy.� It looks like there will be a lot to do and lots of things to learn.� I think the hardest part is going to be to learn the names of everyone.� I was never very good with names to begin with and, to my ear, many of the names sound like random letters strung together.

At lunch, Marsha and a friend took me to a shop where cooking ware is sold and pots are mended.� The drivers here are CRAZY!� There were times when, if the window was down, I could have put my hand flat against the car door and had my palm touching the car I was in and my knuckles touching the car next to me.� That is while the car is in motion!� The right-of-way belongs to whoever has the least to loose.� Generally that means that the bigger your vehicle, the less you pay attention to what anyone else is doing, unless you are in an auto rickshaw then you do not pay attention to anyone.� The surprising thing is that there do not seem to be any accidents with all of this chaos.� The drivers use their horns all of the time.� It seems like a protective shield, if you beep your horn, no one hits you.� Horns on cars seem to be more important than lights.

After work we dropped by a bakery.� The driver of Marsha's car purchased a puff pastry, a local delicacy.� He offered me one saying it was not spicy.� Wrong!� One little bit burned my mouth and Marsha's too ~ and she is NOT a wimp like me.� I was trying to explain to the driver and Marsha's friend that I am not able to eat really spicy foods but they did not seem to understand until I said that I did not like anything spicier than "mother's milk."� In a culture where I am told that people nurse for years, this made sense to them as far as the spiciness but they did laugh and tell me that I would be very hungry over the next two years because that is not how food is here in Tamil Nadu.

I figured out this morning that the room air conditioners have small breakers next to their controllers.� No wonder it was getting warm and wet in here.� I have had no AC since Thursday, I think.� Well, I need to get dressed, showered and a list ready for today.� Marsha is taking me shopping for some household necessities that did not come on the plane with me.� I will have to borrow rupees from her or use a charge card since I did not get to the bank and purchase rupees at work yesterday.� I think I will also get to see some of the temples.

I have a few minutes while I wait for Marsha and her mom to get ready to go so I thought I would write about the gardener.� On Thursday afternoon a little old man showed up on the doorstep.� In very broken English he explained that he was the gardener.� I found the information left by the former tenant regarding this gentleman.� He has a binder that has recommendation letters from former employers going back to 1952.� He looks like he is less than 4' tall and he looked as if he were 100 years old.� I explained that I was not ready to hire anyone yet since I had no rupees.� I also am not sure what to ask of him or what his usual duties will be.� This whole idea of domestic staff is a bit daunting.� It seems that he has decided that he is not going to wait on me to hire him though.� He has been here every day since I arrived cleaning the yard, wiping any dust/dirt from the patio furniture and making himself useful.� It looks like I have a gardener.� The next thing will be a housekeeper.� In only 3 days, there is mold growing on the bathroom floor and although I can keep it up for now, it looks like I will have long hours at the consulate and will not have time for long to do this.� A gentleman at the Consulate said that his wife can help me with hiring domestic staff and I think that I must take her up on the offer.

April 22, 2006, 5:25 p.m.��

We went shopping today.� I am still totally lost when I go somewhere.� I have never seen so many 6 way intersections before in my life.� First we went to one of the shopping districts to visit the store where one purchases plastic ware to get a couple of buckets for soaking the vegetables.� One needs a wash bucket and a rinse bucket evidently.� I need to have Marsha's mom tell me exactly how they are used this evening.� I also picked up a garbage can.� I have barely used the one that I have but I anticipate that I will need it soon.� This particular store also had some cleaning supplies.� The store was very small and crowded by American standards.� There were 4 rows of merchandise and, at most, 30" between the rows.� There were store clerks in lavender shirts everywhere.� If you picked something up to purchase, one of the store clerks would take it from you and carry it.� If it was a large item or her hands were full, they took the items to the front of the store and brought you a receipt for them.� Instead of carrying your purchases through the checkout line, you carry the receipts.� The man behind the counter tallies the receipts charges you for the total and returns you the receipt stamped.� The stamped receipt is taken to the front of the store and from behind the last counter in the front you get a bag or bags with your purchases ready to go.� Quite a system.� There are dozens of these shops behind the sidewalk and on the street edge of the sidewalk there are booths where more stuff is sold.� Marsha tells me these are permanent locations even though they look very much like the cart vendors in the center of the malls.

Going into the stores, the smells on the sidewalks were intense.� There were smells of fresh and stale urine along with feces odor.� I thought I might gag when going in to the store but by the time I got out it did not seem quite as intense.� I was wearing sneakers and jeans.� I changed out of the jeans as soon as I got home because they drug the ground slightly.� I am going to have to do something about my wardrobe soon.� (Jeans are too warm and too long, shorts are considered suggestive here.)� As we entered and left there were beggars asking for money.� I have been told that it is a bad idea to pass out money to the beggars since it encourages them to continue.� It is sad though and hard to say "no" to them.� Marsha gives some money to her driver to give the beggars.� She says that she only gives to women and her mom gives to "cripples."� Evidently word has spread since those were the kind of beggars that surrounded her car.�

Next stop was the bread store.� There is a chain store here called Hot Breads.� It is a very clean store and has small tables where you can eat.� There is someone who speaks English waiting in the middle of the store to help you find what you need.� There are breads and pastries and some chicken filled pastries.� The chicken filled ones were not refrigerated.� Kind of scary to me.� I purchased a sweet that had a bottom made of short cookie dough and the top was cherries and cashews.� It was very good and I ate it on the way home because I was hungry.� I also purchased a small piece of carrot cake for later.� Both of these together were only 41 rupees.� There are about 44 or 45 rupees to an American dollar.�

Next stop was the green store.� I picked up a guava.� I was told there are very good here so I am looking forward to trying it.� I also picked up some Armenian cucumbers.� They were smaller than I am used to but sounded very good.� The bananas that I bought are shorter than American-style bananas but fatter and they have a slight taste of either lemon or pineapple, I can decide which.� I also got some zucchini and a potato for dinner tonight or tomorrow.� Again, only 30 rupees for the lot.� They had something called a "snake gourd."� Evidently it is cooked but I am unsure how.� I think I will need to find a recipe before I try it.

Next stop was the equivalent of an American supermarket.� The most interesting part of this store was their deli.� Everything was made of chicken.� From chicken they make:� ham, bacon, salami, steak.� I think I am going to really enjoy steak when I get back to the US.� I did find some real ham (at least I think it is real) and some mustard to make sandwiches for next week.� I also bought some yogurt.� Nestle.� I am really in a quandary on what to do about the Nestle issue here.� It looks like there are a lot of foods that are safe only if they come from Nestle.� It is almost as bad as Disneyland in that respect.

When we got home, I thought I would close my eyes for just a minute and slept for about an hour.� Maybe I am still feeling some jet lag.� I know that I need to find out now how to get the veggies safe to consume.� I probably should sign off for a little while and get some dinner fixed.

April 22, 2006, 7:13 p.m.��

I visited for a few minutes with Marsha's mom to find out what the rules are for cleaning vegetables.� You need two buckets and a pan of water.� First the vegetables are cleaned in soapy water to remove any debris (night soil is used for fertilizer.)� Next they need to be soaked in the first bucket which is filled with water and bleach.� Last they are rinsed in distilled water then they can be prepared and used for cooking.� The chicken can be soaked in distilled water with salt, lemon or vinegar to be cleaned.� Armed with the new information, I returned home to start dinner.

Well, so much for dinner at a reasonable hour.� I opened the tap at the sink and it only hissed.� No water.� I tried other taps and there was no water there either.� When I went into one of the bathrooms to check the water there, the room was wet and the floor had mud streaks like water had come up from the hole in the floor and flooded.� I called the neighbor to see if she has water.� She has water and told me I needed to call the Consulate to see if they could help fix the problem.� I have been told that in emergencies here, expect about a two hour response time.� Hopefully they will get here so that I can have dinner before midnight since it looks like it will take a couple of hours to prepare dinner.� (The idea of a cook is sounding better to me.)� I will probably eat that piece of carrot cake to tide me over until I can get some real food.� Marsha offered me some dinner but I hate to continue to impose.� I had been looking forward to perhaps loosing some weight.� Between the spicy food and the difficulty with making my own, maybe I will loose some soon.�

This afternoon we also had the second power outage that I noticed since I have been here.� It looks like the AC breakers on the wall are not really breakers as much as relays.� When the power goes out, it trips the relay and when the power comes back, the relay must be re-set to start the AC again.� That makes a lot of sense.� If all of the AC units came up at once, there would be a power surge and might take the power off line again.� Each room has a small AC unit that can keep the place very cold if set to a low temperature.� Even without the AC for a couple of days when I did not know about the relays was not too bad though.� It kind of feels like the humidity of an Arizona monsoon day in August but about 30F cooler.� Not too bad, all in all.� Living here is going to be a grand adventure; I still cannot believe that I am here!

The maintenance guy is here already!� That is FAST!� I told him what was happening and he is working on fixing it.� When you talk to an Indian, they acknowledge what you say by moving their head back and forth in the direction that we Americans would consider a "No" direction but their chins move in more of a figure 8.� When they mean no, the chin stays level but it sure looks similar.� I want him to look at the bathroom too since I do not want the rest of the house to flood like it obviously did in the bathroom.

I have a guest. . .there is a small lizard in the kitchen.� Hopefully if I do not disturb him, he will take care of the ant problem.� Marsha's mom suggested moth balls to control ants but I am afraid the cat will eat them and get sick.� I need to figure out how I want to handle Otis' food too.� So far no ants but I am sure it will not take long for them to find his bowl.� I know I can put it in a pan of water to protect the food from the ants but then the mosquitoes will gather there.� He may need to start eating on a schedule but he already eats so little that I want him to be able to eat whenever he wants and I do not want to be a slave to a schedule.

It is very quiet here.� No radio, no TV yet and no internet.� The most noise I hear is the sounds of the birds and the cat when he wants attention.� This is way too much writing; I am definitely lonely for Bill.

At 8:20, I found out what the problem with the water was. Simple, really, the water tank is empty.� Evidently the household water comes from a cistern in the yard that needs regular filling.� Once it is full, I should be in business!� By 9 pm, we know WHY the water tank is empty ~ the pipe in the bathroom broke and the water in the cistern is flooding the bathroom.� Maybe dinner will be a couple of slices of cheese and the yogurt that I bought.� I am sure happy the distiller is full of potable water.

April 23, 2006, 12:35 p.m.��

Mary Lou took me to church at the "National Shrine" of St. Thomas.� It is the basilica in the area.� Supposedly St. Thomas the Apostle is buried under the altar.� (Yes, the same one that wanted to place his fingers in the nail holes and his hand in Jesus' side after the resurrection.)� I made it through communion but had to leave before the end of mass.� I was turning white and nearly ready to pass out from the heat and the smell and from wearing polyester.� I am DEFINITELY going to need some cotton clothing.� I needed a nap after church to recuperate.

Well, time to get the kitchen cleaned and safe.� I need to have the dishes and shelves clean enough that I can just grab something and use it.� Right now, I am not comfortable with that since some of the dishes had creepy-crawlies when I first tried to use them and if I want anything other than cereal and milk to eat, I had better get busy.

April 25, 2006, 7:33 p.m.��

As expected, I am writing less often now that I have internet and am working during the day.� Today was a pretty big day.� I had to take the cat to the Animal Control.� It is about 45 minutes by car from the house.� The driver talked to me the whole trip, pointing out landmarks.� I am still SO lost.� Usually I have a pretty good sense of direction but right now I feel like I could not find my own nose in the dark.� We went outside of Chennai to see the Animal Control, along a "country" road.� There were cows wandering the road as if they had not a care in the world.� There were a lot of cows outside of what appeared to be a landfill (hard to tell, dirt and garbage is everywhere.)� We passed a funeral procession on the way, the mourners followed the casket on foot and the entire road was covered with flowers.� We saw the outside of the Governor's compound.� It was HUGE - maybe a square mile or more.

At work, I spent a lot of time meeting people.� I also finally got some Rupees.� We have an exchange inside of the post where one can get currency.� Unfortunately, I forgot to ask for small bills so, when I went to spend some, no one could change the bill and I had to borrow money again.

Probably the biggest change today was being approached by a maid and a cook regarding employment.� Evidently the cook is very good and has been recommended by a couple of other families in addition to his glowing recommendations in his referral book.� It appears to be the custom to write a letter of recommendation for someone when they leave your employment at the end of a tour.� He will come tomorrow and we will discuss menus.� In addition to cooking, he cleans the house and irons and washes clothes.� He will probably work half of a day, weekdays.� I never got him to tell me how much he expects to be paid.� I guess I will have to figure it out for myself.� It is very hard to tell someone how to wait on you and even harder when they say what ever you pay will be OK with them.

The poverty in this country is astounding.� So many are barefoot and nearly skin and bone.� Here, a motorcycle is a family vehicle.� The father drives with a young child sitting on the gas tank and the mother sitting side-saddle behind dad with a baby in her arms.� Fewer than 2% wear helmets from what I have observed.� As crazy as everyone drives, I have yet to see an accident.� Lines are not needed on the roads; nobody pays attention to them when they are there anyway.� If there are no other vehicles coming, there might be as may as 3 vehicles side by side going the same direction on a 2 lane road.� If something comes the other way, they fall into line and let the other vehicles pass.� There are also roads where they have trees in the street - not a center divider, just in the middle of a lane with a sign nailed to the trunk instructing the drivers to be careful because there is a tree in the road!� There is a lot of honking and it was finally explained to me today by the driver that took me to get the cat checked.� Evidently, people do not have side-view or rear-view mirrors so if you plan to pass a vehicle, you honk your horn to advise the other driver that you plan to pass.� Some of the vehicles have signs that say: "Sound Horn."� With all the honking, I had to ask why and that was the reason.� Kind of cool and it makes a lot more sense with the explanation.� With the crazy traffic and the honking and everything, you would think that driving would be quite stressful but, from the looks on the faces of the drivers, they are not stressed at all.� I think I will watch another episode of Quantum Leap and check the e-mail and go to be early tonight.� Last night was WAY too late with trying to get the website set up.

April 27, 2006, 6:46 p.m.��

I can get used to this.� Today was another hot, sweaty day that ended with opening bags that had been shipped in the belly of an airplane and dragged along the tarmac and, I am sure, rolled in dirt for good measure.� I locked myself out of the computer and had to call someone to unlock it for me and I was late getting out of work.� But, at the end of the day, I walked into the house and it smelled WONDERFUL!� The new cook was here and had dinner ready 15 minutes after I got home.� He set it up on china in the dining room, in serving dishes.� My bed was made (not by me), the clothes were in the washing machine and dryer, the floor was swept and the kitchen was cleaner than when I left it this morning.� He made a chicken dish with tomatoes, potatoes, and onions.� I normally do not like onions but these were great.� The whole meal was delicious.� Made even better by the fact that I am sitting here writing and he is doing the dishes.� Like I said, I can get used to this.

There is so much to learn at work, I am worried that I will not be able to get everything committed to memory before the boss leaves.� With everyone being so nice to me, I am worried that they will not let me know if I miss something.� Tomorrow they are throwing another new employee and me a welcome party.

April 29, 2006, 4:36 pm��

Wow, another terrific day in Chennai!� All of the Americans are complaining of the heat but it is really no worse than Phoenix in August.� In fact, it feels very much like home in that respect, about 109F and feeling like it will rain any time.

The family that has the car that we plan to purchase loaned me the car and driver for the afternoon.� He took Marsha and her mom and me to the beach where I walked in the Indian Ocean and saw the local fish market.� I will be brining an ice chest down in the future to purchase some of the fresh fish from the fisher wives.� It appears that the men take out their boats and fish during the night and the women sell the fish during the day.

We also stopped at a roadside fruit market.� Everything here is specialized so they did not sell vegetables or packaged goods or anything else but there were 5 different vendors there selling fruit.� I got a mango (they are awesome here) and a papaya - did you know that papayas are the size of soccer balls?� I thought they were small like mangos.� I also got the nicest looking pineapple that I have ever seen and a small brown fruit of some sort.� I could not quite catch the name but the guy gave me a taste and I bought two.� They are the size of baseballs and taste similar to a fig but have pits the size of plum pits.� I have to find out what they are from the cook when he comes in on Monday.

The driver also took us to a vegetable stand (that was on the other side of the city) and I got some vegetables there.� A kilo of potatoes runs about 50 rupees ($1.25) but the asparagus was 380 rupees per pound!� That is nearly $7 which for here is an exorbitantly high price.� He was happy that I bought about a dozen stalks anyway.

After we brought back the produce we went to an American transplanted hamburger stand where we had cheeseburgers, taco salad, wings, chili and regular fries, and apple cobbler.� The guy who opened it is from Tacoma and it reminds me of one of those 50's diners but with class.� I am so looking forward to sharing this experience with Bill and the boys.

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