Out of the loop here

Sorry I've been out of the loop a bit with posting. DH and I went to Bangalore for 6 days and had fun with lots of our friends. Anyways, that's not what I planned to blog about.

A friend of ours had her baby a few days ago. Twins, a boy and a girl. Well, they are home...just came home today, and I want to buy them a gift. Well, seeing as how I've never bought a gift for a newborn baby in India I am sort of out of my element. I don't know what things are needed here, what sort of clothes I should purchase for the baby. I asked the mother, and she said, "Their aunty is buying them something, there is no need to ask. Whatever you want to buy." Well, as nice as that question is...it didn't answer my question. I don't know if they need anything, although I doubt it. So...what will I buy? It remains to be determined by what I find at the stores. I will post about that later.

This also brings me to think about the differences between India and in the US in regards to visiting after a new baby comes home. I remember when my friends and family had babies they wanted only immediate family to come the first few days to give the parents and the baby time to settle in to their new surroundings, and their new life. That's fine...that's what I'm used to. So, when I called today and asked and the father said, "chole esho" (come over) I was a bit shocked. I don't know why, I mean, here family is a big thing. So everything and anything is shared by family, and friends. So...this is just a culture thing.

But still...it remains to be determined is it a good thing?

I think, personally, that it might be a bad thing. The mother is probably worn out and wants some peace and quiet after being in the hospital, but this is their culture. :-) Lets see how it goes...hopefully DH and I will be going to visit the babies tonight!!

New layout...

I am having a friend make me a new header tonight...lets see how it turns out, oh, and I'm hoping I can get him to make the layout too! ;-)

Let me know what you think of this new layout, and what you want to see!

Funny things

So...a friend's son had his 4th birthday party on Sunday (27th) and we had purchased him a gift. There was some ideas to make given with the gift. Here are some "examples" that made me laugh and grab my camera!!

This looks more like a loaf of french bread to me than a hot dog?!?!

Um, since when do we carve watermelons? and since when do they look more like pumpkins, and have a stem??

Ok...this one i can't figure out how to flip it on here...but seriously, a clown that looks like a freaking snowman, and a lamb, that as DH puts it looks like a baby moose with a "with either a wardrobe malfunction or an off-shoulder dress" rofl...

I mean seriously...do the people who make these things up even know what they are drawing? or so do they just draw what they "THINK" something should look like??

Seriously, did that just happen to ME?!?!

Sunday and Monday I had the pleasure to meet Sharell who also blogs about her inter-cultural relationship. Monday we went out and around and we got accosted by little beggar kids. At one point we were in a taxi, and there were these 2 little kids who came up and were like, "aunty, aunty, chocolate!" and "money". After the kids became enough of a irritation, Sharell rolled up her window, and then they proceeded to the other side of the cab. Then the other window went up, and then they went to the front window. Hmm, I've never seen them like this!

But today I was walking around at Gariahat today running my errands when I stopped to buy something at a corner stop, nothing abnormal about it. I paid and as I'm putting my things in my purse, the storekeeper calls "Hey!" to this bunch of 4 beggar kids. I just hold on to my stuff, and keep walking, ignoring the calls of "aunty, aunty" and other things meant to make me give them money.

Well, the next thing that happened completely shocked me. I felt this little hand grope my **ASS** and I mean hard enough for me to feel that he had cupped his hand and did it. I thought in my head, "Did that really just happen?" Not knowing whether the appropriate thing to do was to slap the kid upside the head, or whatnot I glared at the kid and sped away, especially since I wasn't sure which kid was the culprit.

After this I came home and discussed it with DH. Next time, I will smack the bugger and drag him to the police station. Just because I'm white doesn't mean I'm easy prey. So, if you grab my ass without permission again, you better watch out!

It seems a bit strange to me...

Today I was eating lunch by myself outside. Which gave me plenty of time to people-watch because I didn't have to keep up my side of the conversation.

This is what I saw.

There was 3 people sitting at the table next to me, 2 older ladies and a boy. Well, the boy was addicted to his game boy, and his mother was feeding him. The boy wasn't even looking up from the game, and just opened his mouth while his mother shovelled the food into his mouth.

I was aghast! I mean, this may be a cultural thing...but seriously, it if was my kid, he would have turned off that game and ate himself. geez!

Look Mommy I spoke to a white lady!!

Today I was running around doing errands. I needed to pick up a cd for a friend coming to visit next month, and I had not been able to find it at South City Mall or Highland Park, so the next step was Park Street.

After dropping off the necessary papers and having a fresh lime soda with a friend, I headed off to the metro. While sitting on the bench, minding my own business and  waiting for the train to come this is what transpired :

Young Man: Ma'am what country are you from?
Me : US
YM : Ok, are you working here?
Me : No
YM : How long have you been here?
Me : Almost 2 years
YM : Where do you stay?
Me : My house
YM : What do you do here?
Me : My husband is Bangali.
YM :Oh, ok

*silence*

YM : How do you like Kolkata?
Me : I like it fine
YM : I don't like it. Kolkata is an ugly city.
Me : No its not
YM : Yes, Kolkata is an ugly city. Mumbai is pretty.
Me : Um, ok, sure

um, what the heck? This is the first time I have anyone in the last (almost) 2 years tell me that they hate this city. I happen to love this city. The noises, the smells, the people. Everything!!! :-)

Multi-race children, confusion or clarity?

Today, DH was reading this link, he had gotten from a friend's facebook page. I saw the title and was instantly interested and made him pass me the link. The article talks about people who are multi-race.

I've been thinking about this for a while. Will my children be completely confused? Will they be dominated by their dad's Bengali culture? How will their Bengali culture affect their actions? How will their upbringing be? Will they be confused?

Well, in this article the subjects go on to say that they know they are Asian and proud of it.

I'm more afraid because here in India, the aunts and uncles are more specifically labelled, as per their age / line on the totem pole. Like, the oldest aunt (or uncle's wife too) is called boro maima or boro mamima. And on (I am not entirely sure of all the names, so I am not giving them all...) and in the US we call our aunts and uncles, as Aunt GivenName and Uncle GivenName...so you can see how it would be a bit confusing for the children. But, then again, given that they will be brought up with both cultures, maybe it won't be so confusing?

While DH and I were discussing this topic just earlier, we had compared our friends situation to ours. Our 2 friends live in the US, and have 3 year old twin boys. While both of them can speak and understand English perfectly, one of them can speak and understand Bengali quite well, while the other one can understand it but not speak it. I believe this is because of how they are brought up, (our children will be brought up to speak both Bengali and English from the time they are born). These kids are essentially US citizens with Indian heritage, but their exposure to English and American culture is much more than the 1 month they spend in India every year or so.

Any thoughts? I will write more about this later, its just 1am, and I'm tired :-)