My camera never lies, so I put you in the picture and cut it down to size…

This weekend we have had the great joy of having Cameron Blair visit us. Cameron is my first 

cousin, twice removed. Specifically, he is Terry Boswell Hummel’s son. Cameron has been in 

Bangalore with his work with Ernst & Young and is getting ready to go back to the US to join his 

family. I hadn’t met Cameron before, I don’t think. I may have been introduced to him at Pat 

Boswell’s funeral, but neither of us remembered it if we were. Cameron is a lot younger than us 

(he’s between Becca and Sarah in age) and as mentioned, we didn’t have any previous relationship. 

Despite all of that, we had a great time. We went to Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, and Red Fort here in 

Delhi, with some time wandering the streets of Old Delhi.

The old saying of a picture's worth a thousand words will be tested today. No more text (or very little) here are some pictures of our adventures.

Taj Mahal

So this was new. You have to put disposable booties on before you go into the Taj. Now they have automated booty fitters!

Agra Fort

 

Yes this is the Taj, but it was taken from Agra Fort, so that's why it's included in this section. The signficance of this view is that Shah Jahan, who built the Taj was imprisoned, until he died, in Agra Fort by his youngest son.

Red Fort (in Delhi)

Old Delhi

If I remember correctly, This Sikh Temple is over 1,000 years old. The city has grown up right next to it and all around it.

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The building with the turrets below was an army barracks during the British occupancy of India. It has now been taken over as apartments.

There is a saying in Japan, “Never say beautiful until you’ve seen Nikko (a National Park). I think there should also be a saying, “Never say amazing until you’ve seen Taj Mahal.”

Namaste  

I mainly taught myself, And you know I did pretty well, Except there were a few mistakes…

So, bear with me now, I am not going to fool you. This is going to get a bit messy. Today’s blontry title comes from a song, “Building Steam With a Grain of Sand”, performed by D.J. Shadow. This song was played at the end of an episode of the American television show, Person of Interest.  The name of that episode was, “Bury the Lede”. All of this makes sense because we don’t want to bury the lede tonight: JEREMY PASSED THE OREGON STATE BAR EXAM!

(I know, pretty convoluted, right? Once I get an idea, there are no limits how far I will go to make a joke.)

Well, with that out of the way, on to the rest of the week.

The big activity at the campus this week was a flag making contest. On Friday afternoon, students were given the materials and asked, either in groups or as individuals, to create a replica of their countries’ flags or those of another country if they would prefer. Here are a few pictures of the process:

What I can’t convey in these pictures is the sound of the event. There was music from Africa, Afghanistan, India, and Nepal playing VERY LOUDLY! That caused everyone to raise their voices in order to be heard. Of course, then the music had to be raised so everyone could hear it, which led to louder voices, louder music, etc. And then, as often happens when music and our students mix, dancing broke out. What energy! What fun!

Once the flags were done (and we could get everyone to quieted down enough to hear) we lined everyone up to judge the best flags. Here are some pictures of the line-up.

Turns out Nepal won first place, Afghanistan won second place, and Kenya won third place. It was a great activity. Lots of fun, laughing, music, and creativity. It was a nice way to end the week.

That’s it for me this week. Here’s Rae.

My part of the blog is going to focus on a picture also.  Last evening there was a Relief Society Social.  Because it was not announced in Sacrament Meeting and I go to young women during the 3^rd hour, I was not aware of the social until a few hours before it took place.  Phil and I had already made plans for our afternoon and early evening so I didn’t attend.  One of the women in attendance sent me the picture and I want to share a bit about the sisters in the picture.  

Each of these sisters have their own story and while there is a lot that they have in common there are also unique things about each one of them.  I have had more interaction with some of these sisters than others so I will have more info on some than on others. Because this blog is a history of our time in India I want to post this so I don’t forget their names and faces.  These are not all of the RS sisters, but most of these sisters are the ones that are among the most faithful. 

Back row far left to right: Sonia Yates, Amy Paul, Jean Slocombe, Sister Mani’s mother-in-law, Rimpy Juriel.

Middle row left to right: Ruchika Massey, Vimala Mani’s daughter, Vimala Mani, Asha James.

Front row left to right:  Rebecca John, Shanti Thukhl, Rekha Dhikao, Trija John.

Sonia Yates is married to a Scot, Robert.  Robert served his mission in Cypress and met Sonia there.  She was a student there at the time.  After Roberts mission he returned to Cypress and they started dating and were later married in Cypress.  Six weeks after they were married they moved to Delhi, where Sonia is from.  While here they went to the Hong Kong temple and were sealed.  In June Robert had to go back to Scotland and Sonia is still here trying to get her visa so that she can join him there.  Her visa keeps getting rejected, by the UK, for various reasons.  So this newly wed has been here since June without her husband and continues to try different avenues to get the visa that will allow her join him.  She is the only member of her family and gets resistance from them regarding the Church, but she never misses a meeting or an activity.  She is so strong and always optimistic.  Right now it looks like she will be going to Spain where she will go to school while she waits for her visa to be granted. Sonia has a degree in Psychology and speaks English and Spanish.

Amy Paul is a single sister.  She is a nurse and is our district Relief Society President.  She tries to make it to a temple at least once a year.  Right after I moved here she talked about being in New York for several weeks and attending the temple there.

Jean Slocombe is a senior missionary serving here with her husband Eric.  They are from Canada.  While this is not common, they have been back to Canada twice while they’ve been serving here.  The first time was because of the accidental death of their youngest daughter, Emily.  The second time was to spend some time with Eric’s father who was expected to pass away at any time.  They will be here until mid-January, 2015.  They have become dear friends and we’ve spent time
together seeing some of the sights of Delhi.

Vimala Mani’s mother-in-law is visiting from southern India. Vimala’s daughter,Stella, has just had a baby and she came to help with the baby. 

Rimpy Juriel is married to Vinay, our branch president.  She was the primary president until just a few weeks ago.  She just had their first baby, a little boy that they named Ryan. She’s very sweet to share him and let me hold him.

Ruchika Massey is married to Navin Massey who is a counsellor in the District Presidency.  She was the YW President until a few weeks ago.  She was released from YW’s and called as the new Primary President.  They have a 3 year old daughter named Rachel.  Ruchika is the only member in her family.  Her family is Hindu.

Stella, Vimala Mani’s daughter, is actually a member of another branch here in Delhi, but has been staying with her mother and attending our branch.  It is not uncommon for Women to go to their mothers homes for the delivery of their babies.  Stella came to stay with her mother a few week before her baby was due and will be here for about a month after.   I haven’t seen her husband, but I expect he has come for visits.  He hasn’t come to our branch though.

Vimala Mani’s (they pronounce it like money) has been a member of the branch for quite a number of years.  She has three daughters, Stella, Caroleena, who is at BYU Idaho and Stephanie who is one of our YW.  Vimala also has a son whom I’ve never seen.  The granddaughter (Megan) that she is holding is her 1^st grandchild.

Asha James is someone I’ve not gotten very acquainted with.  She doesn’t speak much English.  She is a faithful member who always makes a point of greeting me and shaking my hand.  She is married and has one teenage son, Arin.

Rebecca John is the RS president.  Her husband Johnson is the Elders Quorum President.  Rebecca's maiden name is Massey.  There are a lot of Massey’s here that are members.  She has one son Joshua who is a deacon.

Shanti  Thukhl is another sister that I’ve not gotten to know.  She speaks limited English but is always one to come shake my hand and say hello.  I only see her at church by herself so don’t even know if she’s married

Rekha Dhikao serves in the RS Presidency.  When I first came to the branch she was the RS President.  She is a return missionary and not yet married.  She is currently dating a young man (Joshua) who served his mission here and has now moved to Delhi.  I think he’s hoping to marry her.  We’re all waiting to see what happens.
 

Trija John is married to Gagan who serves on the High Council..Trija is in the RS Presidency and also teaches the gospel doctrine SS class every other week.  Trija is employed by the church and works at the mission office.  She has two children, Bhoomika who is in YW and Saransh (10) a son. 

All but a couple of these women speak English well and that certainly does make life easier for me.  They have been welcoming and as I come to know them better I come to love them even more.  These women and others that are not pictured are the early pioneers of the church here in India.  Hopefully I can collect some other pictures of some of the women that make up our branch.

Namaste  

Oh, put me in, coach - I'm ready to play today, Put me in, coach - I'm ready to play today…

Thanks to John Fogerty for the lyrics that are the title for today’s blontry. It is apropos because of the first topic. This week we had a Sports Day. We rented a large sports facility that was built for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. We actually just used the warm up hall, but that gave us access to a 400 meter track, full basketball court, four badminton courts and table tennis. Our students really wanted to play football (soccer) but due to the rains we have had, the field was in terrible condition so we’ll have to have a separate day for football matches another time. We had about 100 students who participated in one or more sports and more who came to observe. Some brought friends from other colleges and they seemed impressed that we would sponsor such an event, so who knows we may get some transfers because of the event.

Most of the activities would have been immediately recognizable to any of you. As noted, basketball, badminton, and track took the biggest roles. However, there was one activity I had never seen. It developed spontaneously, I think, after the badminton contests. On a badminton court, teams competed against each other in what looked like volleyball. I thought, huh, the lowered nets for badminton don’t make volleyball much of a challenge. Then they started to play and I realized. They. Were. KICKING. THE. BALL! They were playing volleyball with soccer rules: any part of the body except arms and hands were acceptable. So here they were heading it back and forth, doing scissor and bicycle kicks; receiving off their chest to control the ball and then setting up a team mate to make a kick. Pretty freaking amazing. In any case, a good time was had by all. Here are some pictures.

 

Friday night I represented the University at a conference about Japanese and Indian partnerships and investments. Joining, as it did, my first foray into Asia (Japan) with my latest (India) I found it quite interesting. I am sure it was not quite as interesting for Rae as it was for me. I lured her to come with me on the hope there might be good Japanese food. She was a good sport (as always) but I doubt that it was all that interesting. AND there was sushi, after a fashion: tuna roll, vegetable roll, etc. It wasn’t great but it was sushi. Makizushi AND dal makhani at the same meal was a bit strange but I have had worse.

This was actually quite a high level event with the Japanese Ambassador to India, the Minister of Commerce as well as the heads of a couple Indo-Japanese joint ventures spoke to us. They all spoke English, with one exception, but they had simultaneous translation set up for Japanese to English and English to Japanese which was more required. It was an auspicious time for the conference. Prime Minister Modi has just finished a very successful tour of Japan at which he and the Japanese Prime Minister announced several joint initiatives. It was interesting to hear the strategy that Japan Inc. has for India Inc. and the Indian reaction to those plans.

Japan sees India as both a market and a launching pad for further interaction with other markets in Southeast Asia and Africa. India would prefer a more balanced relationship in which Japan is as open to Indian products and services as Japanese companies want India to be to their offerings. This is unlikely to happen anytime soon. Japan is still a semi-closed market in which it is essentially impossible to have success unless you have the right local partner. Oh, wait. That is exactly the same description one could use for India. Except Japan has a much better developed industrial base. Japan sees the relationship as one in which it will help India grow and develop so that it can buy more Japanese goods and maybe buy some raw materials and food (rice and fruit primarily) from India.  There is an example of Suzuki developing a car for the Indian market that it then took to other developing nations. Suzuki did not, however, take the car back to sell in Japan, which is what India wants.

There was also a fair bit of discussion about why Japanese companies do not take on Indian leadership for its Indian subsidiaries. This is a fair point. There are now Indians who lead large multi-national companies. It is not that there aren’t qualified Indian managers. The problem is the lack of trust that Japanese companies have in anyone who is not Japanese, or at least who do not speak Japanese. On this last point, I did hear a few Indians who spoke Japanese quite well. There are, according to what we heard, about 30000 Indians living in Japan. There are undoubtedly some more living here who speak Japanese, but compared to a population of 1.3 Billion people, it’s a pretty rare skill.

Not many pictures of this event but here’s one I took.

My final contribution to this week’s blontry happened at Church today. We had gotten word last night that there was to be a photo shoot after Church. It turns out the Church wanted some pictures of our branch to include in some publication or another. So, after Church was over, everyone reassembled in the Chapel. The photographer had arranged the room to maximize it photographability and had placed lights, diffusers, and synchronized strobes around the hall. After getting people where he wanted them (“we need a family over here; a few single adults over there; let’s put those two older sisters in that row”, etc.). He would take a few pictures and email them to the main photographer back in Salt Lake, who after reviewing the pictures would make suggestions on lighting or balancing the shots. This went on for about twenty minutes or so until they achieved the look they wanted. (I will say that I was put clear to the back where I may or may not be in the pictures so he clearly had a discerning eye.) Rae missed this fun as she was teaching the young women at another branch.

Once the right look was achieved, they had us sing songs, and act as if we were listening to a speaker. They wanted us to look happy, engaged, and not look at the camera. So we tried for the next half hour or so to achieve that magic combination. The biggest problem was getting people to not look at the camera. The photographer and his assistant kept waiving towards the front of the Chapel (and away from themselves) to get people to not mug for the camera. They must have shot a thousand pictures (maybe a slight exaggeration) so I hope they got something that is usable. Here’s a photograph of the photographers.

With that I’ll turn the blontry over to Rae.

As Phil mentioned above, I was visiting another branch today.  Friday evening I got a call from the district YW president telling me it was district conference at Pitampura branch today, a branch I’ve not visited before.  She needed to tend to some other things at a different branch and the 2^nd counsellor is out of town so she asked if I could do the lesson for the YW.  Yes, I can do that, so I went to my branch for the sacrament and then headed to Pitampura branch, about an hour away.  Traffic was good and we got there is record time.  I met with the young women and gave the lesson.  There were 5 young woman and 2 leaders beside myself.  We met in the tiniest classroom I think I’ve ever been in.  There were also 2 classroom table in the room so by the time we got 9 chairs in there we barely had room to move.  

As is often the case, Sunday School went over time so of course YW’s started late leaving me with a lot of material to cover and not nearly enough time to cover it. I gave the lesson and felt that it went well, but thought of so many things that I wished we’d had time to cover.  Here’s the really good part.  As I was waiting in the hall for the YW room to become available I visited with the District President, Pres. Suku.  President Suku told me that the Branch conference had been cancelled and so it would take place some other time.  WHAT, how is it we didn’t get that word?  

So, I gave a lesson I really didn’t need to give and I missed all the fun of watching the photo shoot take place.  Having said all that I’d like to say that each time I meet with the young women here in Delhi, I’m so impressed with them.  Being a member of the Church here is not easy, for many reason, and getting to church can also be a hardship.  They show such strength of character, their testimonies are so sweet and their knowledge of gospel principles impressive.  In my eyes, the strength of the church lies in this young generation.  They will really make a difference in the church here in India in the future.  I meant to take a picture of the class, but in the rush I forgot.  Sorry I can’t show you their sweet faces and the tiny classroom. 

It’s been a good week, hope yours was too. 

Namaste.                         

Ba de ya, say do you remember, Ba de ya, dancing in September…

Yes, that’s right. We’re starting this week’s blontry with a little Earth, Wind, and Fire. It’s the first weekend in September and, while not cool by any means, there is a definite change in the weather. By the end of the month, I hope we’ll be comfortable. You’ll be able to tell it is comfortable because New Delhi natives will have started wearing sweaters and coats.

Here’s an update on ambulances in Delhi traffic and what appears to be a pretty good solution. The other day we were going somewhere, by which we were dead stopped in miles of traffic, when we heard a siren. However, this one somehow was gaining on us. How was that happening? Nothing was moving and we knew no one was going to move over and let them pass. The sound was right next to us; now it was passed us; where was it? Again, how was this happening? Then we saw the solution: they were driving on the other side of the road, driving the wrong way into traffic. By driving the wrong way into traffic, cars just parted, let them pass, and drove around them. Brilliant!

So, Delhi traffic, huh? What’s up with that? One advantage of Delhi traffic is you have plenty of time to look around. And think. One thing that I have observed is how different Delhi cars, trucks, etc. are from Singapore. I am not sure why that comparison came to mind, exactly but perhaps because of major Asian cities, these two are about as different as any two cities can be. In Singapore, it is rare to see a car older than two or three years old. Also every vehicle seems to be clean, well maintained, and without bump or scrape. Whilst in New Delhi, there is an amazing range of brand new luxury vehicles and heaps that barely seem running. Further, almost every vehicle has some evidence of the demolition derby that is the daily commute here. There is hardly a car that doesn’t have rippled quarter panels, broken lights, scuffed bumpers, or gouges and slashes of paint that are the remains of a side swipe.

This has been a frustrating few weeks at work. Why is it we always seem to have two steps back for every one step forward? In some respects we are making, clear, measurable progress. On the other hand, the pettiness, back-biting, posturing, and constant fighting for any tiny amount of increased prestige or power for one’s self (or equally as rewarding the diminution of the same for others) is a perpetual handful of gravel in the gears of progress. It is hard not to despair. But I won’t give up. In the words of Emily’s favorite movie Galaxy Quest (oh come on, Em. You KNOW you LOVE it), “Never give up! Never surrender!”

With that, here’s the beauty of a thousand galaxies, Rae.

Oh brother, I’d say I’m more like the fizzled out falling star. 

This week I’m going to talk a bit about sizes of things here in India.  Mostly I’m referring to food items.  I’ll enclose a few pictures to help illustrate.  I’ve shown in the past the picture of the bananas and how small they are.  In the US we are so used to super sizing, large portions, buying in bulk, and getting the large economy size.  Here those things do not exist. 

When I first arrived here and started trying to cook it became clear that following a recipe from home might require buying two or more of something to get enough to follow the recipe.  Let’s start with vanilla.  The bottle that Christina had purchased for us was much closer to the bottles of food coloring that I used back home.  Maybe it would be enough for a couple of recipes.  I’ve taken a picture of the vanilla I brought from the US next to the bottle of vanilla from here.  Well, that small bottle of vanilla is long gone so I used the bottle of almond extract to illustrate, same size though. 

This next picture is of a cake mix from the US, angel food by a cake mix from here.  Notice the size difference.  I added the peanut butter as a comparison.  This is the large jar of PB.  Yes, there is a smaller one. 

In this picture I’m trying to give some frame of reference.  The juice container pictured is equivalent to the containers that you would get soy or almond milk in, not too large.  It’s setting next to our water glass and next to that is the “large” size of mayonnaise that we can get.  On the smaller of my two plates you will notice one of the small bananas and a yogurt, or curd as they call it here.  I've never seen a yogurt (curd) any larger than this, that doesn't mean they aren't out there somewhere, I’ve just not seen them,  I have a recipe I want to try that calls for 1 ½ cup yogurt.  I’ll have to calculate how many of those I will need to make that recipe.  Any guesses?

  

I’ve wondered why everything here comes in such small sizes and here are a few of the reasons I’ve come up with.  First, space, a lot of people, if they have refrigerators, have very small refrigerators. So, large containers would take up too much space.  People live in small places and storage space is very limited so storing large containers or multiple containers just isn’t an option.  Second, if things come in single serving sizes you can buy what you need for that meal.  I think a lot of people shop for their food for that day’s needs and maybe even that meals needs and nothing more.  Third, cost, if you only have a few rupees you can usually find some small thing to eat.   These are a few of the practical reasons I’ve come up with for smaller sizes.

I've always liked knowing that there’s a roll of TP waiting when this one is done and there’s a container of peanut butter, or mayo, or juice waiting on the shelf so I don’t find myself without.  This is something that I’ve been fortunate enough to experience most of my life.  It is an eye opener for me to see how most people here haven’t had that be their experience. How blessed I am to be able to have the space, money and ability to buy the food I want, when I want, maybe just not in the size I want.  Can’t complain too much.  Just something to make you say, “Hmm”.

  

Namaste.