Hi all, I hope the week has been a good one for you. It
has been a busy one here, at least for me; Rae may have a different perspective.
Work is going well but very busy. August and September are the busiest months
of the year on the campus. Even though we start groups all during the year,
because school starting in August and September is normal in India, this is
also the time that students just starting college (called Freshers here) are
also most likely to start. Working adults seem to come anytime during the year,
but Freshers cluster in August/September. Anyway, you combine our busiest time
of the year with the reduced admissions staff I have mentioned before and
things have been a hoppin’.
How busy we've been reminds me of an aspect to life in
India, we haven’t written about (I think). Most people in India work six days a
week; getting to work on five days is quite a benefit. A question you
frequently hear when people talk with each other about work is, “Are you six
day working or five?” Saturdays are sometimes only half days but often they are
also full work days. I was speaking to someone about this once and he said, “A
five-day work week is for established, successful countries. India is still a
poor country so we have to have six days working.”
I will say that in contrast to the number of days and
hours a day they work, the quality of those hours is sometimes quite low. My observation
is individual productivity is low in India even with the many hours spent.
Individual initiative is relatively low as is the accepted pace of work. It
almost seems as if people are saying, well, I may to be at work but that doesn't mean I actually have to do much. Kind of like the quote attributed to Woody
Allen, “80% of life is showing up.”
I don’t know, actually, how they get the basic functions
of life accomplished here. In cities like Delhi or Mumbai, people often work until
7:00. Additionally, it is not unusual for people to commute an hour and half to
two hours each way. You add to the fact that in most families both parents work
and you can see what I mean about getting the basic functions of life
accomplished. Where's the time? I know in the history of the world, people constantly having to
work to survive has been the norm. However, I have been spoiled living my life
in the US and in Japan after they had made the shift from six to five day work
week. I admire those who not only make a living but somehow thrive in such a
situation.
Shifting gears with no attempt at a segue…. Rae has become so desperate, not having any of
her daughters or grand-daughters nearby, that I ended up painting her toenails
yesterday (see the picture below). I must be getting in touch with my feminine side - she didn’t even
have to strip the polish and start over. Well, I don’t know for a fact she didn’t
get up in the middle of the night and do it.
Well, with that I will turn the blontry over to Rae. Who
looks fabulous, if I do say so myself.
Well, at least my toenails look fabulous. Thanks Phil for helping a girl out. My toes keep getting farther away?????
This week has been uneventful, in fact we didn’t even go
out on Saturday, just stayed home and relaxed.
Since we weren’t going anywhere I decided to take the time and make German
pancakes. My “oh so wonderful” toaster
oven holds my 9x13 pan but with little space to spare. I’ve included two picture of the surprises I
found when I opened the oven. First, German
pancakes touching the sides and nearly the top of the oven and second the color. Things always bake in less time, even with
the heat set lower than the recipe calls for.
I was expecting to turn the pan, to avoid the burning that takes place
at the back of the oven, and let them cook a bit longer. Surprise! No more time needed, they were definitely
cooked enough. Viola, blackened pancakes.
We cut off the burned and they tasted
okay.
I’ve tried so many things to make my toaster oven work
better. There is no way to turn off the
top element which seems to be hotter than the bottom one. Even with pans placed on the lowest rack
setting, the top tends to burn and the bottom needs more cooking. I’ve taken the broiler pan, turned it upside
down and places it at the top of the oven to block the element, and that seems
to have helped.
Today I made rolls, I guess I’m determined to figure this
thing out, and so it was time for another experiment. After pondering the burning at the back I
decided that I’d try moving the pan back further in the oven to see if less
heat flow up the back would help. Seems to
be better. I’m sure some of you are
thinking “well, I could have told her that a long time ago”. While they still were darker than I wanted,
and still took less time to cook that I expected, they were more evenly
cooked. Maybe by the time we are ready
to leave here I’ll finally have this thing figured out. I know how I’d like to figure it out, it’s
called the trash.
Well, enough about my cooking headaches. Time to focus on some more positive things. I’ve
started making a list of some of the things that I appreciate about living
here. So, I’ll share a few of those
here.
- Mangoes. There are several varieties, and I love them all. I’ve really become a fan of them.
- The fabrics. They’re so beautiful and by US standards they’re cheap.
- I can call the grocery store and have my groceries delivered. Sometimes the language barrier results in a few surprises, but it’s still nice.
- There are a variety of restaurants that deliver for free. This makes for a very relaxing Saturday at home.
- Reserve seats at the movies.
- Naan and Dal, and Momos and several other Indian dishes that are so tasty.
These are just some of the things that I appreciate about
living here.
Well, that’s it for me and my exciting week.
Namaste.
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