Christmas

Christmas was as it should be: with family! We all came to my sister's house for Xmas dinner on the 26th. She has a big house with a spacious living room and a huge table, so we fitted easily. The kids had fun in the play room and we were our usual loud selves.

We were all set to go to A's mum on the 25th, when A pulled a muscle in his back and couldn't move anymore (just because he put a cup in the dish washer). He spent most of the day in bed and could only move like an old man for days after.

No, I am not from Holland!

I am Dutch because I come from The Netherlands. I am NOT from Holland, because I was born in Groningen, but I do have a house in (South) Holland. Any non-Dutch readers that still understand?

This You Tube clip might explain it (click on the link):

Holland vs The Netherlands

Holiday Hysteria

We are in NL for the Christmas Holidays. It is cold, it is dark and it rains. The house is warm and cosy. Let the Holiday Hysteria begin.....

Procrastinating

Today is one of the rare days that I don't have to go out, so I decided to make today the day to pack the suitcases.
I have some mega packing to do. The boxes from Libya contained a lot of clothes. They have all be washed, ironed and sorted. Many of them have gone to new homes (I have seen gardeners cycling around in t shirts from the boys' school uniforms from Libya), but part of it has to go to NL. I have lovely woollen cardigans from Ireland, that I won't be needing here in India for instance.
So after all the washing and sorting I now have to sort it all out again... The aim is to take things to NL that can stay there, so in future I won't have to pack so much, because A and I will have a complete wardrobe in each house. Sounds like a plan...problem is that I don't like packing at all.

So I am procrastinating (love that word): I first checked my email and read blogs, then decided I should write this blog, now I will have coffee with Kavitha and THEN I will start...I think...

Miracles might happen (but I won't hold my breath).

Yesterday we received a mail on our Vista Yahoo group, from someone in a neighbouring community, who had spoken to our local MLA. This MLA is the brains behind the whole road works disaster that I wrote about in my previous post.

Some quotes:

'I questioned the logic of taking  up the logic of sealing us at both ends, by initiating the roadworks at the Nilgiri/BEML side as well as the Basavanagar bus stand side. He explained to me that this decision was taken because of the contractor's commitment to finish the entire project within 2 weeks. One at a time would take 4 weeks.'

TWO weeks people, only two weeks!!!! Wouldn't that be a miracle? And not just a usable surface to drive on, no it gets even better:

'In 2 or 3 weeks, he promised that the road would be a mini highway!:).'

OK, maybe it can be done, I shouldn't be too sceptical, but I will not hold my breath.

Will this be our road in two weeks time?

Navigating the roads (or rather the lack of them)

Ever since we moved to Adarsh Vista, we have been complaining about the road leading to our neighbourhood. At best is has been a bumpy ride, navigating our way around potholes and wading through the water of yet another burst water pipe.

A lot of the Vista residents have complained to our local politicians about the state of the road and with elections coming up in about 6 months it seems like they recognised a vote winner if there ever was one: widening and resurfacing the Basavanagar Main Road and Vibhutipura Road (same road, just outside our gate).

We can approach Vista from two sides so what did they decide in all their 'road work planning wisdom'??? YES, let's start work on BOTH sides at the same time, so nobody can go anywhere anymore....
The little bit of tarmac that was there has now been turned in to gaping holes and at least half a meter deep tranches, with just enough free road/dirt left to try and manoeuvre your car on.

This would not have been a mayor disaster if the same 'wise men' had made it all a one-way stretch, but NO! Cars, buses and trucks are literally at logger heads fighting over every square inch of road that is still usable. The result is that we never know how long it will take us to get out of our neighbourhood. There are some back roads, but they also barely fit one car and a rickshaw, so running into a water truck (for instance) means one of the two has to back up all the way out of the street, while other traffic is trying to squeeze in too...
The boys are on a smaller school bus, because the regular big bus can't make it here, and still they arrive at school almost 30 minutes late and the same coming home...

To top it all off it has been raining a lot in the last few days (and nights), so the whole miserable state of affairs has become nice and muddy too.

OooooooooooMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

The car in front of us is backing up to give the truck some space. We couldn't back up because of the traffic behind us...The truck decided to be the wise one and took the dirt part (like the yellow school bus just behind it). That would not have been possible the next day, after it rained:

On the up size: I am getting to know the neighbourhood just outside Vista a lot better, with all the detours we are taking ;-)

Sinterklaas

Our weekend was filled with the celebration of Sinterklaas, a great Dutch tradition. Saturday we celebrated at home and Sunday we participated in the celebrations from the Dutch Club Bangalore. And participate we did: Adriaan was dressed up as Sinterklaas, Simon was one of his helpers (zwarte Piet) and yours truly slapped on their make up and helped them getting dressed (my nails are still black..yuk).
Great fun was had by all!

Ready for action!

Simon was playing 'the new Piet' and his big wish was to sit on Sinterklaas' lap

This boy LOVES being on stage and performing. He did an awesome job yesterday and I think he looked really cute

Busy, busy, busy

What's going on with the Spaanders?

It is that time of year when it seems like all activities are squeezed into the last few weeks of the year. Farewell parties, End of year get togethers, Xmas bazaars, test week, etc etc. On top of that there are still 'some' boxes to unpack in the garage, piles of clothes to wash and sort out and before I know it our suitcases will need to be packed to go on our Xmas holiday.....

I bought a puzzle the other day, it has 5000 (!) tiny pieces. I started looking for the corner pieces and the side pieces and then gave up. I would love to start on it, but can't find the time and peace of mind to do so. Maybe in the new year, when the boxes are gone and it is less busy?

Good on you!

One of the blogs that I check every day is called Edenland . At the moment Eden is in India to visit projects sponsored by World Vision.
A few days ago I sent Eden a message on Facebook:

Dear Eden,

Just want to let you know I read your blogs and I love them. I often feel like sending a comment, but then I think 'why would she be interested in my 2 cents worth?'
Your blogs on India are great. I live in India (in Bangalore) and I know what you are talking about, I know the smells, the sights and how overwhelming it all can be. I love the way you describe what you see and do and I can relate to it. Here in South India it is not as bad as in Delhi and Mumbai for instance, but I have seen the slums there too.
I do volunteer work in a slum for a project that empowers women by running their own company. They make bags out of used tetra packs and cement bags. It is great to see how they can provide for their (extended) family and how their children can get an education.

Thank you for your blog and for your view on things!!!

Fokkelien


And...she replied :-D

Fokkelien, thank you so much for emailing me! The most favourite part of my time here so far has been meeting women who are getting empowered. It's just fantastic, I love it so much. Today we travelled out to some "nicer" slums in Raipur, met with some women who are sewing curtains and clothes and earning enough to start businesses. Good on you for living in this country .. how do you even do it?! Amazing.
Love to you xx


That question: "how do you even do it?!" makes me feel a bit awkward. It isn't hard for me at all to live here, because I love India with all it's colours and chaos and mess and when it gets too overwhelming I just stay at home. I have the luxury to live in a gated community: as soon as I enter the gates I leave the 'real' India behind and enter a different world.

I think what Eden does is a lot harder. She is visiting the worst slums in the worst areas and gets confronted with people that live in horrible conditions, children that can't go to school or go to a doctor, because there is no money and they have to beg or steal to get something to eat.

It is very daunting and discouraging to see such poverty and on such a large scale. It is easier to close your eyes and refuse to acknowledge it than to get up close and try to find a solution. It seems to be a problem that is impossible to solve.
Over the years Adriaan and I have always tried to help on a small scale. Our idea has been to make sure children can go to school and get proper health care. It is a small drop in the ocean, but a lot of drops do make a difference I am sure.

Good on you Eden for being an ambassador for World Vision and for writing such an inspiring blog! I hope it will get a lot of people to add some drops to the ocean.

Nothing much and a whole lot going on...

It has been a week again since my last blog, but there is nothing much to write about. I have been very busy, mainly with unpacking boxes, making a mess and tidying up again. I have made quite a dent in the stack of boxes, but am not finished by far. All the clothes have been unpacked now and ready to be washed and sorted. A lot of it will go to find a new home, because we have outgrown them or because our sense of fashionable clothing has changed.

The boys have been studying over the Diwali break and the weekend for the test week. Nervous times for this Mum again...

This morning I spotted these in the supermarket:

Not something I would buy to decorate my house for Diwali or Xmas.....

Diwali Holiday

Friday it was Simon's birthday, he turned 12 (how did that happen, he is my baby?). He had to perform with the school band at the Diwali celebrations at school and it sounded really good.

Saturday we were invited by the parents of one of Ruben's friends. Ruben had had a sleepover and we went to pick him up and stayed for tea and snacks. They organised for Science Adda to put on their display and the kids and parents had great fun with all sorts of experiments about sound.

This was our favourite of course. A keyboard was connected to a tube with flames and the flames danced to the music.

On Sunday we went out for lunch to Simon's favourite restaurant so he could have THE-BEST-PIZZA-EVER! (Margerita, without tomatoes and basil but with bacon).

Yes, I know, eating with his hands and his elbows on the table...but I have been told that that is THE way to eat a pizza.....

In the afternoon Joshua decided to burn some dried banana peels (as you do) and used the ashes in an experiment. His father joined in the fun and apparently they got the results they were after.

Tomorrow it is Diwali so the boys have a short break from school. Kavitha made a rangoli with flowers in our living room. We will light the oil lamps tomorrow as Diwali is the festival of light.

Kavitha also made a rangoli (with coloured sand) on our doorstep, but right after she finished it, the gardener from next door decided to put on the sprinklers and ruined it....

HAPPY DIWALI!

It has arrived!

Mmmmmm, neatly packed truck? NOT

Garage with walking space for a skeleton

I unpacked 3 boxes with clothes, never before my laundry looked like this.

Halloween

My darling husband still hasn't sorted out the Sri Lanka photos, so that blog will have to wait a bit longer...(I know, I could sort them out too, but it is something A loves to do and he is very particular about it).

Today I am sitting at home waiting for the movers to arrive with our personal belongings from Libya. Part of it was delivered to our house in NL and the rest of it will arrive on our doorstep in Bangalore today. Unpacking these boxes will give us final closure. This is it, what we get is all that is left from our possessions. Scary much, cause what is not there will never be returned...but at least is is closure after almost 2 years.

Another scary thing was our Halloween celebration here on Adarsh Vista. We never celebrated till last year when we jumped right in and helped organise and participate in the hunted house. This year our American friends transformed their house into a hunted house and we had great fun being ghouls for the night. Thanks Sheri and Darren for letting us be part of this and thanks for the photos!

Simon, myself and Ruben, ready for action

Simon, tied to the stairs, jumping out when people walk past

Ruben 'hiding' behind the bar

The lovely hosts....

Pumpkin art!

The rest of the crew

Sad

Last Monday we got the sad news that my father's younger brother, my Godfather, had passed away at the age of 66. Unexpected and very sudden. Yesterday he was burried. Gone, just like that, leaving behind a lot of people that will miss him so much.

Back from Sri Lanka, but no time to blog...

This sort of sums up our holiday: elephants and Buddhas.

But there was more, much more. I have to sort out the photos first and then I will blog about our 8 days in Sri Lanka.

Visitors, part 3

After our mega day trip to the Jain temple, we were forced to spend a day at home because of a state wide strike. Adriaan, Ian and Joshua kept themselves busy with constructing a hot air balloon from a bin bag, copper wire and tea lights. They managed to let the balloon fly up for a few metres, one or two times and to burn the grass in our garden to a crisp.

Monica made her delicious Singapore Laksa for dinner.

On Sunday we went to Nandi Hills, just outside Bangalore. Again we took the small roads, through the villages and farm land.

We visited a temple at the foot of Nandi Hills and then drove up the hill and walked down through the botanical gardens.

We ended the day at Costa Coffee, Ian's favourite coffee place, and picked up KFC hot wings on the way home (Monica's choice junk food, jammy!)

On Monday I took Ian and Monica to the Bull Temple and we went Saree shopping. To finish off their sight seeing in Bangalore, we went to the uber luxurious UBCity mall for lunch.

I love having visitors (hint, hint) and it was wonderful to spend time with good friends. Who can we welcome next????

Visitors, part 2

After all the sight seeing in the villages, we finally made it to Sravanabelagola, to visit a famous Jain temple with the Gomateshvara statue.

Lonely Planet India:

A steep climb up 614 steps (once at the top we were sure it was double the amount of steps) takes you to the top of Vindhyagiri Hill, the summit of which is lorded over by the towering naked statue of Gomateshvara. ....carved out of a single piece of granite...in AD981.

We were greeted by several men who wanted to sell postcards and little trinkets. They showed us their merchandise and said "Maybe later?" instead of "Would you like to buy xyz". We had to laugh, but they didn't understand why it was funny.

At the bottom of the hill/rock we had to take off our shoes, but we were allowed to wear socks to protect our feet from the boiling hot stone.

The climb to the entrance of the temple was long and steep so we had to pause several times on the way up, to catch our breath. Inside the temple walls, we had to climb up even further to get to the statue, but it was worth it.

View from halfway up 

Almost 18m high, made out of 1 single block of granite!



We were blessed

Close look at the statue from the roof of the temple

This is what you missed, Monica ;-)

Because we took a long time getting to Sravanabelagola and a long time to climb up to the temple and look around, there was no time left to go to the other places we had planned to go to, but on the way back we got held up by a Ganesha procession. Another great photo opportunity!

Typical Karnataka dancers outfit

Ganesha on tour

All accompanied by this Indian Ghetto Blaster, if it is not loud it is not Indian

Visitors part 1

On the morning of my birthday, I went to the airport to pick up our friends Ian and Monica. They stayed with us for 6 days and I have a strong suspicion that someone somewhere shortened the days, because they flew by.
We have known Ian and Monica since our time in Tripoli. Ian was Adriaan's boss till the reorganisation, when Ian made the smartest move ever and retired at 51, making Adriaan really, really jealous. Monica and I have been friends since the day we met and are never out of topics for a nice, long conversation and a good laugh. We have spent many hours over coffees and lunches and I love her Singapore Laksa.

On Wednesday we celebrated my birthday, so poor Ian spent the afternoon having lunch with 11 women while trying to battle a jet lag. He soldiered through like a trooper!

On Thursday I took them to the slum, to show them the Anu project and to buy some handbags (Monica will have her very own handbag-room in the near future).

Embroidering cement sacks to make into bags

Browsing through the tetra pack bags

After the shopping spree in the slum, we went to the Phoenix Mall for lunch, to experience the more luxurious side of Bangalore.

Adriaan had taken Friday off so we could go to see some sites outside Bangalore. We left with an ambitious plan to see 3 temples, but ended up only seeing 1, because we got side tracked in some little villages along the way that there was not enough time left.

When we go out on day trips, we prefer to take the smaller roads. This gives us the opportunity to see the villages and their people. We often stop to take photographs of village life.

Taking the outer skin off of the coconuts



A silk worm farm, the caterpillars are fed mulberry leaves

Adriaan was walking across the play ground of a little school on his way to a temple and the kids spotted him. They were very keen to have their picture taken by the tall, white Uncle and all of them wanted to shake his hand. It must have been at least 25C at that time, so I can't imagine how the boy in the jumper and woollen hat must have felt.

If the boy in the sweater and hat was warm, this guy must have been boiling. He was sitting inside the hut, keeping the fire going to cook the sugar water that the men outside were pressing out of the sugar canes.
We could only stay inside the hut for a little while, because the sticky air and the heat made it hard to breath.

The sugar cubes being stacked and packed

All this just on the way to the temple...to be continued