Weekends

Last weekend we went to Qutb Minar. There is still a long list of sights in Delhi that we haven't seen. We've been saving them for when we have visitors, but we're starting to despair of ever getting any... well at least when I'm willing to go outside (the weather's been perfect the last few weeks).

Why yes, it is the worlds tallest brick minaret.

Some "snaps" of N, since it's been a while since he made a Blogburn appearance. And one of the random guy below. There were a couple of women in fabulous sarees posing here. We asked them if we could take a picture as well and the man below (who was accompanying them) said no, but we could take one of him... um... okay...

Phil and I went to an event at the school last weekend, which was Indian Dress, so here we are:

This weekend we're invited to an Indian wedding. Cool.

Hazards of Marble and Irregular Electricity

2/26, This never got posted:
I was a half hour late to pick up S from school today. School is only 3 hours long.

Last night I took off my watch to do the dishes and it slipped from my hands, from slightly higher than normal, onto the kitchen counter. The glass broke and the watch stopped. So today I was keeping my eye on the clock on the microwave and at 3:04 I headed for the door. Then I pulled out my phone and saw that it was really 3:37. The electricity had cut out for... well I think it must have been 33 minutes... while I was out earlier.

Thank you marble and irregular electricity.

With the extra half hour I finally got the pictures we had framed up on the wall.

Chalk it up to culture?

Or does that make me some sort of prejudice? Here's a few confusing/frustrating, possibly cultural, experiences:
Indian
Last week our driver told me one evening that he had a family emergency and he was going to have to go to the village for a week or so. He introduced me to a substitute driver (who incidentally didn't speak English nor know his way around Delhi, but that's another story). He has not come back. We had our help, Christina, ask around. He got another (much better paying) job. I'm glad, I don't feel that he owed us anything (Phil's work hires the car company, the car company hires him)... except maybe honesty. I can't figure out why he would tell us that story? What does he gain by it?

Today I took the boys to the zoo. As I got in the 10 person line to buy tickets, I noticed that there were no other women. None. On a Monday afternoon. I get in line with N, in stroller, S, and one of S's friends. We're moving along just fine, until a man behind me starts saying stuff to me. No idea what he's saying, I say, "I'm sorry I don't understand." The man in front of me translates, "He says you should wait over there." As he gestures to the side. "Why?" "Because you are disturbing the line." Then, the man behind me, and the man behind him, push past me. It took a lot of restraint on my part not to shove them as they went by. A lot.

& Mormon
I recently started teaching the teenage girls at church. I think it's a pretty good gig as far as church jobs go. I'm supposed to teach twice a month, and the girls in our branch are a good bunch. But I am a little irritated with the manual. It's not real solid in the scripture department. So far, I haven't felt that there's a whole lot of the "meat" of the gospel in the lessons. Then the last lesson was on homemaking.

I met my all around domestic helper (I can't quite figure out how to refer to her) through church. She calls me Sister Kathryn. It startles me every time. It make me feel old. Like Emma Smith old.

Sorry for the series of posts with no pictures. And yes, I did just mention my driver AND my maid. At some point I'll get around to a post defending why I need all the help.

They are watching

So, we got a bill from AT&T for $2,769.85 for phone calls and blackberry usage here in Delhi, AFTER Phil had his blackberry unlocked, AND he'd changed his sim card to an Indian network. What? How did AT&T know what calls he'd made? Who told them? Suddenly I'm a conspiracy theorist. And maybe all those spy movies really could happen...

Paper or ...er...

Here's an interesting article on Delhi's new law against plastic bags and some of the other challenges of life in this city.
What the law means for me, is that I have to start buying trash bags.

Kurta Pyjama

Friday was Indian dress up day at school, the capstone to India week. Here's S in his kurta pyjama. He was way excited to wear it to school.