Andrew: Mosquitoes

Hi! I want to tell you about something that I really, really don't like. It is called MOSQUITOES!!! You can see from these pictures how painful they are. They don't have them much in America, but here, since we are closer to the equator, there are lots of them. Mosquitoes like warm places, like Hawaii (I read that recently in Soul Surfer). I hope you don't get bitten a lot. I get big, big welts from the mosquito bites. Abby, Mommy and Daddy get bitten but don't get the welts because they are immune to them. I get welts and itch and itch and itch and it drives me crazy. I have 20 bites right now!

P.S. from Mom: "He is getting the biggest welts I have ever seen- 2 inches across on his arms! I have to give him Benadryl to sleep at night." :-(

Abby: House

My Balcony

 

 

 

 

 

 

The View from My Balcony- the black line is part of the mesh screen

My Desk Up...

....and Down

Sorry it's been so long since I've written! The reason why is that we have been really busy lately with furniture coming and people coming to install appliances. We just woke up from our second night in our house! My grandma (on my dad's side) came a week ago and brought some utensils and kitchen basics. So we don't have to wait that much longer to be somewhat set up! Another great thing is that our landlord was getting the apartment painted because the old paint came off when you scrubbed the walls. So he was nice enough to let us pick colors for the paint! My room is about this color Abby, Andrew's room is about this color, Andrew and the rest of the house is this color, House. Here are some pictures of the apartment:

Andrew and Dad: just relaxing 

My Bed

We are settled yet unsettled- still waiting on the second bed

.       

My Frog Trash Can

Abby: Indian Clothes

Yesterday we went to a clothes shop. Now in India, as many of you know, the clothes are different, and as you probably also know it is pretty hot here. Now this you may not know: it is considered "coloring out of the lines" for women and girls wear shorts that show even a little above the knee. So I have to wear capris and my mom has to wear pants even in the summer time when it is a hundred degrees!  People here are very used to it but I am not. But people here make really thin comfy clothes that are really nice bright colors. The ones that I am wearing in the pictures look like things that you would wear to fancy things (and you do), but I see little girls at the playground rolling in the dust wearing things that are even fancier! Don't get me wrong, I wear my American clothes all the time and no one stares at me because Easy Day and other supermarkets sell them.

Here's the red one...

Here's the detail on this top.

You can probably tell, this one is my favorite! It's so cool and comfortable!!

The boys' clothes are a different story altogether. The fancy ones are usually long-sleeved and can be very thick material but they are very nice too. Their other clothes are like American clothes, and boys can wear shorts. We are going to a wedding on Friday, and we'll see which outfit Andrew chooses to wear. Maybe we can post a picture then.

 

Abby: Dosa

The dosa is rolled up in a hollow thin tube. Here it is served on a banana leaf. (sorry about the sleepy look for Andrew!)

Dosa is an Indian bread that is one of my favs. My favorite kind is paper dosa which is very thin and well, papery. The picture shows you what it looks like. The dosa always comes with coconut chutney (the thick white creamy stuff in the smaller cup) and sambar (the thinner red stuff that has vegetables in it). Here is how you eat it: First when it arrives you karate chop it and fold it over. Then you break it into bite size pieces and first dip it into one of the sauces then use another piece and try the other because I don't know which, to tell you, is better!  I highly recommend that you finish off you meal with a mango lassi. Which is kind of like a mango smoothie but better. The best place for dosa in Dallas that we found is the Udipi Cafe on Belt Line and 75 in Richardson.If you don't live in Dallas just look for a vegetarian Indian restaurant and they may just have it! Write me if you get to try it, and tell me how you like it! (It's not spicy, just yummy!!)        

Andrew: Snakes, Rats, Butterflies

 I wanted to tell you about something that never happened to me in Texas!  The other night we went to a friend's house for dinner. When we got there, my dad saw a large snake in the road next to their house. It was approximately six feet long! We watched it, but when it came near the house, it heard my dad and quickly went away. He tried to get a picture, but it was dark and the tail was all that we really got. The man who was helping make dinner, knew snakes very well, and when he looked at the markings, he said it was a female cobra, most likely. 

This is from another picture he took as it was leaving. Its head must be under the granite fence.

 
Then, while I was with the grown ups, the door was open and a rat came in! It was small, but still a rat. My dad handed me the camera and I got a picture of its tail. They left the door open, and it left on its own a little while later. 

We saw a butterfly today. The dogs here sniffed at the butterfly. As you probably know, dogs have wet noses, and the butterfly was disabled for a little bit. My mom had to pick it up on a leaf and put it in the bushes. When we looked a little while later, it was gone. We were very happy. 

That's all for now! 
P.S. Make sure to bring a bamboo stick if you visit us, in case you also see a female cobra!

Abby: Water

In Bangalore there is not a lot of water for the number of people. The water that comes out of the tap isn't safe to drink most places .So sometimes you have to do some pretty interesting things.

1. What we drink: Most people choose to get a filter, and the people we are staying with fill up bottles everyday for us to use to brush our teeth and drink from. In India, they have a skill that allows several people to share the same bottle. (See picture.)

The purpose of this skill is not to touch your mouth to the bottle- it's not that easy!!

2. Bucket Baths: Sometimes before anyone has taken a bath the hot water is just gone. So you have to put boiled water in a bucket, scoop up water with a cup or bowl and pour it on your head. It actually is kind of fun and uses less water than a normal shower.

3. Strange Water: Yesterday I was drinking some water and noticed that the bottle said Diet Aqua! I guess that they extracted all the calories and fat !

On a different subject, about an hour ago, Dad left on the back of a motorcycle to go half way across a very large, very polluted, and very bumpy city to go pick up our new car! Please pray that he will get used to  driving in Bangalore!  

Andrew: Update

Hello from Andrew! We're having a very good time. We saw our apartment again today. I still really like it.We had pizza again tonight. My mom and Abby had to hold off the dogs before they jumped on the pizza man. My dad and I were inside and we could hear a lot of barking. Right now I am enjoying a very nice cold apple/orange slush that Abby made for me. Instructions on how to make slush: Put apple juice or orange juice in a cup in the freezer. Leave it for an hour or two. Take it out, and there's your slush!       

I know I've told you about Oggy and the Cockroaches, but I want to tell you more. I like the Nick channel in India better than I do in America. Some of you might disagree, but truly, I do. There are new episodes that I watched. Actually I found out that they are not new, they are just new to me, because my cousins told me that they watched them when they were little. FYI, they are not little cousins, they are BIG cousins- they are grownups! I found out that you can watch Oggy and the Cockroaches episodes on YouTube. If your parents help you, maybe you could watch one too! There's another show called Zig and Sharko that I really like. It is on YouTube too. For now I will go. See you next time!

Abby: House and Car

A few days ago we all went to an apartment. It is a three bedroom, three bathroom, three balcony apartment. It is on the ground floor and has a wonderful cross breeze. Two of the bedrooms have balconies and the living room has one too. My dad and Andrew love it. I only want to live there while we find a real house. Mom and Dad think that we will move in in a week or two. If we get this apartment we won't get a German Shepard, we will hopefully get a beagle or some other smallish inside dog.  Today we went to the apartment again to take measurements for furniture.We also decided who gets which room. Andrew and I each get rooms with balconies and there is a balcony connected to the living room. Afterwards Mom and I walked over to the furniture shop to take pictures of furniture that we might like. 

This is my room looking toward the screened in balcony.

This is us standing on the porch. We think the dog will probably sleep out here.

This is us staning near the entrance to the room. The wardrobe is in the "hallway" opposite the bathroom as soon as you come in the room. Yes, we all get our own bathroom!

As for the car, Dad found one that we all like (even though the rest of us have only seen pictures) it's a 2004 Honda CRV. We think that we can get it, Dad even put some money down on it! Until we get the car we will still have to hire a driver and a car. (kinda like a taxi service) We have already found a driver that we really like and will hire him until we get the car. 

Andrew: New Book Possibility

iddi appam image from thasneen.com

Hi from Andrew! Sorry for my short blog posts. There is a book called "Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul". But I said I am going to write a book called, "Iddi Appam for the Human Soul". Now I am going to tell you what iddi appam is, in case you don't know. Iddi appam is something that is like noodles with coconut on top, and it is really good with sugar. Mom says it is made from rice flour that is steamed. I had some for lunch and it was yummy! We miss you! Really a lot.  

P.S. From Mom: If you comment and use the "anonymous" profile, it's fine, but do sign your name and tell us who you are! Just because you use that profile, does not mean that you truly have to be anonymous!