Baby Victories...

There aren't many things that make me excited in India. I'm daily fighting for my life with the Nature, trying to forge for food to sustain life, or attempting to communicate with the locals. However, we all joke about 'baby victories'. A 'baby victory' is very small thing that makes our day. I don't mean 'makes our day' for a moment, I mean 'makes our day and we keep talking about it for weeks victory'. I’m not sure why we call it a ‘baby victor’, but it just sounds cute. An example would be Bebi (our house mom) killing a huge spider and then exclaiming "SPIDER NO LIFE!!!", not getting caught in a monsoon, getting off at the proper bus stop, eating a decent meal, or even having a conversation with someone and understanding the content. These are all ‘baby victories’ in my life in India.

However, a ‘baby victory’ that comes almost everyday from someone in the States is mail. I want to thank all of you for your postcards, letters, packages, cards, and little notes. Biju, the guy in charge of us, joked with me today that he is going to start charging me handling fees because I’m getting so much mail (he really just wants American chocolate). I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone!! The Janer for all the food, Jennifer (John, Spencer, and baby Carty) for all the countless hilarious letters, Caitlin for all your many packages (I cannot wait to see you in 2 weeks), Suzanna for your cute card, Ryan for my drinks and new pint glass (I drank this afternoon for you), Philip for your bootleg copy of my favorite movie (I still haven’t gotten it yet, but what do you expect with the two countries we are living in), Dancing Mandy for your wedding invitation, and Lyndsey for your fun card!!!

Thank you all so much for everything!!


(thank you Ryan)

Envy...

Today was a very special day after a rigorous session of learning Malayalam (the language) Biji brought me my first package!!!!!


I was overjoyed to open my mail and find nothing other than a book...and a vampire book at that!! Life could not get any better today. Caitlin you are one amazing person!!!


I also had an awkward encounter with a our local chef. I was watching him butcher some fish for what I assume will be our lunch later on and I witnessed a cat stalking the fish. I tried to inquire if they were going to feed the cat the scraps of fish, but I think he thought I was asking if he was going to cook the cat with the fish. He shook his head back and forth saying 'Oh no!!'. However, later on I saw him feeding the cat the leftover fish. I hope he doesn't think I'm a weirdo now.