The Maldives

The Maldives is basically a group of several islands of the southern tip of India.
The area has very strong ties with the Islamic faith and obeying the traditions and religious rules is of the utmost concern. Translated several of the Island paradise destinations due not serve alcohol or meat so they were crossed off the list and Summer Island became the chosen destination.

Webster’s defines tranquility as: quality or state of being tranquil; calmness; peacefulness; quiet; serenity.

Which is nice however a more up to date definition is, no kids, large Target cups filled with ice and the drink of the day, a book, chaise lounge and the sound of the ocean waves gently rolling onto shore.

The all-inclusive choice is the way to go and while the food is ok, the cocktails, water and free soda more then make up for it. We basically read books, took naps and snorkeled, everyday. We were lucky enough to go night fishing and caught several fish. The next night they prepared them for us for dinner!

The three nights and four days were about all you can handle, as on each Island there is only one resort and that is it! Even going for a walk entails. Walk for 5 min’s, hit the end of the island, turn around, walk for 5 minutes, hit the other end of the island, turn around. You’d get dizzy before you got in shape. So if you decided to go to the Maldives bring a large glass, several books and American dollars, the Maldives does not accept Indian Rupees! Here is our suggestion on a sample itinerary…..

Sample Itinerary
Schedule: eat read snorkel drink sleep eat read snorkel drink sleep eat read snorkel drink sleep.

Duration: 3 days is heaven, 4 days is hell

Attire: swimsuit, sarong, sunscreen, and preferably lots of tattoos (no need to bring shoes or even a clean t-shirt)

Guest List: Germans and Australians (see above note on swimsuits and tattoos, there were people here that shouldn’t have been “sporting” either) we were only the 2nd Americans that had ever come to this island.

Sue's Here!! Let's get Busy (aka another trip - to Kabini)

Well... our string of visitors continues. This month it is our wonderful Aunt Sue! She is with us for 3 weeks and the kids are in heaven (again!).

She landed in Dehli on Monday 4/9 and we quickly adjusted her schedule so that she could get a quick, hand guided trip through the Taj Mahal. Then she flew into Bangalore (4/11) and we wisked her away for a weekend at Kabini Jungle Lodge. So in her 1st 6 days here, she was on some sort of sight seeing tour for 5 of those days. We aim to please!

Kabini Jungle Lodge is exactly what it sounds like. An old hunting lodge in the middle of the Indian National Forest, filled with wild elephants, peacocks, boars, buffalo, striped deer, mongoose, birds, birds, birds, crocodiles and even tigers. We were lucky enough to see everything but a tiger.

The basic premise of the camp is ... eat, relax, have tea, go on a safari (6pm), watch a nature film, eat, sleep, go on a safari (6am), eat, relax, sleep, have tea, so on a safari (6pm), etc.

Now, in case this doesnt sound very adventurous, let me assure you, ANY travel with 3 kids under 6 is an adventure.

The 1st safari trip out, it was POURING rain. Not just a nice sprinkle or a cooling mist, but a full on downpour with thunder and lightning and the works. However, we seemed to the only ones that noticed since all the guides continued to get the jeeps packed up and our fellow travelers settled themselves as if it were a perfectly sunny day. Did I mention that these are open air jeeps with no sides and no roof? We also did not have rain coats or umbrellas. Tom and I debated on how many animals would actually be wandering around in the middle of a storm. I mean, I may not hunt, but I have listened to him enough to know that NOTHING comes out in the rain, just stupid humans. Fortunately, the rain lasted just long enough to get us soaking wet and then it cleared up. So... We did get to see tons of elephants, etc. Kay was amazed by the size of elephant poop and pointed it out the rest of the weekend (elephants poop a lot in case you are wondering).

The next day we passed on the 6am safari and opted instead to sleep in. For ONCE in my parenting years, the kids cooperated. They actually slept until 9am. Must be something about the fresh air and rain. It was heaven.

Once we had eased into the day, our good friends/neighbors invited us to swim at their lodge. They were joining us for the adventure, but we were unable to stay at the same lodge. This turned out well as they had a pool and we didnt. It wasnt as great at night when we wanted to relax with a glass of wine on the patio and the kids werent cooperating with bedtime, but not all is always accomodated. Of course the kids LOVED the pool and we had to drag them out by their teeth. Once again, I am sure this was Jimmy's favorite part of the whole weekend.

We did the evening safari and this time, rather than a jeep ride in a thuderstorm, we got to enjoy a boat ride in 110 degree heat with mandatory life preservers. They didnt mention that this weekend was also a spa/sweat lodge experience. I think I dropped 5 pounds on the 2 hour safari alone. But... the highlight was seeing the crocodile. That made it ALL worth it. Billy could hardly stand it, he was so excited. Very cool.

Sunday am we braved the 6 am safari, by this time, I have seen my share of elephants and wild life, but this safari proofs to be "different" as we get to do the jeep trip AND a boat ride during the same safari. The "boat" turns out to be a bamboo donut covered in a blue tarp (noting another use for blue tarps). Each boat seats 3. We are about 1 foot out of the water and I am remembering the crocodile we saw the day before. PLUS, I have both the boys with me, alone. Needless to say, it was not relaxing. The boat "driver" also thought it was fun to spin the boat in circles. I was trying not to hurl as the boys were screaming in joy (no wonder we didnt see a crocodile).

We headed home with 3 exhausted kids and 3 equally exhausted adults.

Another fun Indian adventure.

Annnual Day/Report Cards

One thing that continues to amaze me is the amount of energy the Indian people put into celebrations, like this one may be the last, so lets go for it.

Annual Day is the accumulation of the previous years learning all round into one on stage performance for the kids. The performance has nothing to due with the studies but everything to due with, performance.

Starting about a month before the last day of school the children are given the roles they are to play in the upcoming performance and then practice that role exclusively for the remainder of the year. Terse warnings are given to the parents as to keep the child under the allotted tardy days as "Jimmy is are star dancer" and if his misses one more day we will be in trouble, who knew.

Kay must be well rested and please give her a bath because she is our best "Egyptian Princess" and princesses must be well presented and proper, what?

The Annual Day performance was based on a trip around the world featuring all the continents and music from each. It was quite long in fact when the key note speaker got up to talk his 40 minute speech about topics best suited to a Harvard or Yale commencement ceremony, started to wear on even the most patient person.

So after much ado the day finally arrived. Jimmy was splendid in his "Elvis Costume" complete with this guitar and led the class to a standing ovation we are truly proud. I am mean what a great beginning to a wonderful air guitar career!

Kay went to the local beauty parlor and was doted upon for an hour. She had a hair piece put in, make up, a bindi along with several other facial ornaments and then gold glitter all over her. This is the only time in recent memory where she sat still and cooperated. She did as fabulous Egyptian dance and we again we proud. What a way to launch a career as a infomercial star.

Not to be out done Billy decided to get into the act. He has been listening to the story of the three little pigs and decided to make it four. He spent the entire evening crawling around in the dirt. Push piles of dirt around, rolling in it, picking it up and pouring over his head, we pretended to ignore him and when people would look at us we just shrugged our shoulders. What a little darling. The best is when he started crawling all over us and the chairs and then fell off hitting his head with a loud "thuwnk" on the hard dirt. Fortunately, he wasnt permanently hurt and it gave a good excuse to leave the event before the end.

I am proud to say we "made it" through 3 of the 4 hours of the annual day event. Next year we will be prepared!

Now the following day it was time to have the parent teacher conference and find out how well the little darlings did in scholastic participation, The Report Card.

Jimmy received such acclimates as "my super sixer" "Wonderful wonder boy" for his command of English. Mathematics drew him, Super performance, Superman!, Fabulous James I am proud of you. Environmental studies started out with Wonderful wonder boy and ended with "keep it up your almost there"? He received " shows a lot of interest in learning" along with, "keen learner" for his interest in Hindi. The activity based part of his studies garnered showing progress in sports, music( he has the music "in him"and in crafts/art he received the highest accolade, master!

Jimmy had a great first year at Gopalan and proved that he indeed is a school ager!

Kay was rated on several levels of creativity , personal work habits, social habits, participation and finally cognitive and language development which I dare say is a tough ciriculum for a 3 year old in nursery school.

She was not deterred and received the highest marks and her teacher stated that she works well with others, follows directions well ( yea right) and is careful and neat. In her social habits she partakes in informal conversation as well as respects other people's property. At this point I asked for a picture of the child in question for just that morning our Kay spend several minutes on a time out for biting Billy over a puzzle right after she snuck into the freezer and ate a Kit Kat bar for breakfast! I am sure the 2 incidents are not related.

Gladys Ma'am (Kay's teacher) did indeed confirm that child in question to be Kay Marie Jeon Murphy so we continued with the assessment. Kay loves music and excels in arts and craft enjoys reading and even taught the entire class a song about the 7 days in a week. (Thank you Sandy!!) The children to follow in Kay's footsteps will also be taught, "Sunday, Monday , Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. There are seven days there are seven days there are seven days in the week".....The closing remarks about Kay and her ability to be stubborn were summed up as " Kay is creative and exhibits and expresses her ideas very well".
Gladys Ma'am will miss her "little butterfly" and is even trying to maneuver her way into being Kay's teacher next year. Who knew Kay had that kind of pull.

Hampi

The loudamericans plus two( Grandpa Jeremiah and Grandma Kay) headed off to the town of Hampi. Hampi is a religious town in the deserted area of Vijayanagar, of which Hampi is the capital. It is India’s most evocative ruin. It lies about 5 hours north of Bangalore and you can not bring your American Express, Visa, or any other card, Hampi excepts rupees, cash.

The way to Hampi is quite an interesting view into India. Many villages, no electricity and Government ration water supplies keep the people and tourists survival instinct alive!

Hampi itself was destroyed in 1565 after the battle of Talikota, in which the Vijayanagar army was defeated by the Bijapur confederacy. There are many temples and ruins highlighted by the World Heritage site. The backbone of trade came from the wealth of spices and cotton trade, and at one time the population was 500,000.

Among it’s many sites, the Vittala Temples remarkable. The sculptural detail is awesome. The Royal enclosures house the remains of the Lotus Mahal and the domed chambers of the Elephant Stables.
Enough history.

We set out full of adventure and the van full of gas. We arrived to find a somewhat Bohemic group of people and the area was borderline a state fair gone bad, that however did not deter us. We found our hotel only after our driver Saravanna forced our way into the gated city where no cars were allowed.

The rooms were 500 rupees per night; around $10.00 and that did not stop us either. Although it should have warned up.

There is a picturesque view of the river Tungabadhra where many of the locals do laundry and bathe.

We were in need of lunch and some cold water, alcohol here is forbidden. Surprisingly the menu had a great deal to offer, Chinese, Mexican and Western along with the usual array of Indian food. We consulted with the waiter/owner only to find there was only veg items, no meat in the religious city.

Noodles for everyone seemed the hunger cry. We actually had some additional Indian items that were bland and really disappointing. We toured the city walked to several great ruins and through a real Indian village, which was both beautiful and impoverish.

Dinner was much the same as lunch and then off to our rooms for what became a hot and restless affair. The Millers whom also traveled with us had no air conditioning and no lights. What can one hope for at $10 a night?

We had negotiated with a local guide for a tour via rickshaws son after breakfast off we went. We toured the Lotus Mahal, the underground Virupaksha Temple, and the Queens Bath. They used to keep crocodiles in the moat around the queen's bath to keep people from disturbing the ladies while they swam....

The tour was awesome and definitely worth taking.

We headed back to Bangalore with a stop in Hospet for a quick lunch. One and a half hours later we finally got our “to go” lunch and were on the way. We used the last of our rupees for lunch but figured we would not need any more being we were going home, wrong.

One hour out of Hospet is the beginning of nowhere and it does not end until you reach the outer limits of Bangalore. This was the spot Saravanna informed us that we needed gas. !7 gas stations later, none taking credit cars, we ran out of gas. On the highway, in the middle of nowhere, with a temp of about 95 and 8 people in a 6 passanger car. Why didnt we stop for cash, you ask? It was a public holiday and all ATM's were closed. We had three American dollars and several frayed wits!

Luckily for us the Millers were ahead of us and we were able to call them and they brought us three water bottles full of gas. That only took an hour and a half; they were a ways in front of us. The next stop a gas station, which of course did not take a card. We then ran out of gas again. The Millers returned with more gas and more importantly rupees. We made it the gas station and finally back to Bangalore. The original 5-hour journey became nine.

A final note:
Dangers& Annoyances: quoted from the lonely planet India book page 841:
Hampi is a safe place, generally free of any aggression. That said, don’t wander around the ruins at sunrise or sunset, particularly on the climb up Mantaga Hill and don’t wander alone, as muggings and violence have been on the rise in recent years. Foreigners should register at the police station inside the Virupaksha Temple upon arrival. This is a simple process involving logging your details in a book –it’s routine as a hotel check-in. The station, which is just inside the temple entrance on the right, has a photo gallery of crooks.

For another view of Hampi visit www. WACMiller.blogspot.com

Rhythm of Life - Plagarized from www.wacmiller.blogspot.com

So... I read this on my friends site and it really hit home. So, I am going to take a couple liberties with editing it (my comments in bold) and cutting bits out for clarity. If you want a full version, check out her site - see above. She is pretty dead on and this should give you a good overview of the day to day here...The highs and lows ...

Just in case you were starting to think that our whole life was a series of tourist adventures:)

".. the rhythm to being an American expat in India. The roller coaster analogy is probably the most helpful at illuminating the general feel of it in most things.

Some days are awesome - relaxing in Palm Meadows, exploring the Vijayanagar ruins of Hampi, champagne brunch, no laundry or cleaning or cooking....

Some days just suck - sitting in traffic next to a cow, the utter dirtiness of India, days spent in the bathroom and the subsequent lingering fear of eating, the frequent cold showers and warm beverages.

But the roller coaster is about more than just cool adventures and minor (and some major) annoyances. There's just not much middle here - no gentle sloping part to this ride where you go peacefully around the corner and reflect on the rest of the park. That's because it's entirely unfamiliar - there's so little that isn't extremely cool or really crappy; living here generates a near-constant unsettled feeling.

For instance, you are never alone to reflect or be with yourself... having a driver, cook and maid seems simple enough to explain and a luxury at that. What's hard to explain are the days that drive you to drink....

You have to wait for your driver to show up to go anywhere, you have 5 people, 1 car and potentially 5 destinations. NONE of which can be done in under an hour ..you have no control over when you leave or when you get there, never alone in the car to turn up the music and jam out to a song you can actually understand, or alone to fight with your husband about his/your parenting style.

Our cook now is actually really, really good, everything is fresh, from scratch... but there's days where I would kill to actually have a decision in what I'm eating. Taco's, fahitas, lasgana, the grill... nope, you get what they decide to cook. They also have an opinon on what you should eat, drink and how you look. I have been told 3 times in the last 2 weeks that I am looking dull and need more fruit/protein in my diet. So... what do you think I get for dinner?! Not hard to figure out....

The maid sound nice, and generally are - but they are there constantly. In six days of two people working nearly full time, they get less done than our housekeeper/friend did in two hours. Part of it is not their fault. The red dirt here is EVERYWHERE and you need to sweep, dust, mop, everyday. Not a small task with 8 people tracking dirt in and out...

Now, since I realize this sounds like me bitching about our pampered existence, I am bitching about a full-time staff of three people in a palm-tree lined resort. I know. There's times I just loose all patience.- I CAN DO MY OWN DAMN LAUNDRY AND DRIVE MY OWN DAMN CAR!!! Stop calling me "ma'am"! And... stop calling my 2 year old "sir".

Last observation in this theme, is the sense of time. There's really only two times here - now, or later. Not too many clocks (why would there be when the power goes out every day?). Either there is a sense of urgency, real or imagined, that it must be done NOW or it can wait until LATER (which is never specified). Our days at home too are either a whirl-wind of activity or a complete lack of it (refer to above and the stigma tied to doing your own chores). It took us 4 months to get a bank account opened and its been 8 months and we STILL dont have screens on our windows. But...you can call a party planner on a Wednesday and throw a full blown St Patricks day themed party 2 days later."

Over all, we are loving the experience, the adventures and the growth its given us as a family to be living in India as Americans. However, its not easy. Fun, exhausting, stressful, invigorating, adreniline pumping, but not easy. Sort of a roller coaster ride as my friend states above:)

Monkey's

The thing about this creature is that they look so cute but in reality they are mean as hell.

They steal things, attack you and generally are a pain in the ass.

However no matter where you go people stop and say " look Monkey's" what I do not understand is why?

We don't stop and say "look rats" or "look crows", I mean they are the same when it comes right down to it, right.


I will grant Darwin some slack I mean look at the comparison..

However by these photos you can clearly tell that Billy had the Vada first, no question.


It's not like I hate monkey's, it is just that I never really cared for them in the first place.

Grandpa Jeremiah and Grandma Kay in Bangalore

We finally returned home to Bangalore and settled in. The Grandparents spent a day or two getting acquainted with Palm Meadows and Raj and Florence.

We toured Bangalore and saw the pathetic Bangalore Palace, Cubbon Park which is very nice and the old and new Parliament buildings. There are so many things to see here that days go by just experiencing everyday Bangalore.

There was a moment during our visit to Iskcon Temple, better known as the Hari Krishna, you know the people from the airport, that the Catholic Church skipped a beat. Jeremiah actually went into the Temple and donated money and said a prayer, although brief, a prayer, to the god Krinshna and received a bindi for his effort! Out of respect for my dad I will not publish this photo however Jeremiah just so you know it does exist!

With Jimmy and Kay off to school Tom and Billy took Grandma and Grandpa to Mysore. We first visited Chamundi Hill which over looks the entire city and upon which rests the Sri Chamundeswari Temple. There is a gauntlet of street vendors one must navigate through in order to see this beautiful Temple. We were fortunate enough to arrive on a day in which there was a bundt and therefore no vendors! I can not tell you how to anticipate when a bundt will be called they just simply happen.

We then paid for our offering of flowers and banana's and proceeded into the Temple where Grandma was promptly attacked by a cow looking for her banana! The attacks did not stop there after fending off the aggressive cow a mother monkey sprung from the rafters and after a fierce battle Grandma gave up the banana to save Billy who innocently entered the foray, Whew!

The zoo provided us with some interesting views as Wednesdays must be mating days. We were treated to Lions mating, monkeys and finally turtles. When you think about it what else is the really to do in a zoo, sleep, eat and mate.

After a spectacular tour of the zoo Billy and the Grandparents were tired so we had a break then for lunch.

The palace is really something and as is custom the Grandparents took Billy on an elephant ride.
We then headed back to Bangalore and to rest up for our journey to Hampi.

I am going to continue with Jeremiah and Kay in Bangalore and then post the "hampi" tour.

So after we returned from Hampi we only had a few days left.So the Grandparents took each Jimmy,Kay and Billy separately to the pool for swimming and lunch. They also got to visit school however it was the last week of classes and the kids were busy practicing for the Annual Day show and Jeremiah and Kay were lucky enough to see the entire dress rehearsal!

The last tour day was probably their favorite being that they visited Murphy Town, Russel Market and Jeremiah even got to see a hardware store!!

It was a sad day when they had to leave.It was fun having all the Grandparents here. The kids sure enjoyed themselves and Tom and Tracy were very happy and proud of our parents travelling over here and doing as well with the "challenges" as they did.
We love you!!

Delhi

The next day we headed back to Delhi in the van. I think for the kids the highlight of the trip was stopping at McDonald's for lunch. Yep right in the middle of now where India on the highway was McDonald's, go capitalism go.!

The entire day was taken up with the drive as we had to wait to leave until after 1:00 due to the Festival known as Holi. Basically you dress up in white get drunk and then through paint at each other, cars, buses, buildings or anything else that you feel needs to be painted. Then starting around 1:00 in the afternoon you go home and pass out, sound familiar to anyone, Happy St.
Patrick's Day.

We arrived in Delhi with no problems checked in and spent the afternoon hanging around the hotel. We then went to the world famous American bistro..TGI Friays. It was very similar to back home with the one exception of the noise. The music was so loud we could not even talk to each other.

Delhi which is currently the capital of India has not always been so. The city which is the center of North Indian travel and commerce has been attacked with the same voracity as the other cities having in common with the that the English were the last to be booted out.There have been eight Delhi's created over time. The eighth Delhi, New Delhi was constructed by the British. They then moved the British Capital of Calcutta to Delhi in 1911 however the construction was not done until 1931 and then in 1941 it became the Capital...

We toured the Red Fort which Shah Jahn was trying to build when his pesky son put him in jail.
We also saw Humayun's Tomb which is quite impressive. For us however the bike powered rickshaw ride through the commercial are of Delhi was fantastic. We saw things from tailors, flower shops, food markets and so on. The streets were so narrow that the bike could barely make it through. There was a school bus that was powered by a cyclist and the colors we saw and the wares for sale were incredible.

Then we were off to the hotel so the Grandparents could watch the kids and Tom and Tracy could go to dinner and what a great dinner we had. It was a sad ending to the day however because Grandpa Jim and Grandma Bunny were off to the airport and back home. We missed them already. Hugs and Kisses were exchanged and safe travels.(At the time of publishing the Hickeys were playing 18 holes of golf with their friends in Florida).

The next morning the rest of us headed out for a small tour of the places we missed.The first place we went to is called Bahai Temple. This is shaped like a white lotus and quite striking.

We visited a ceremonial gardens which is the exact spot where Gandhi utter his last words"My God". The final temple on our tour was a brand new Mosque which was completed in 2005. The place is a very ornate Temple with 1300 hand carved elephants surrounding it. It was built in honor of a young Swami who at the age of 7 set out bare foot and crossed India over a 20 year period and became one the they most revered Swami's. Unfortunately I can not remember his name.

We then returned to the hotel and collected our stuff and headed to the airport where thankfully we had no delays and returned to Bangalore with Grandma and Grandpa Murphy!

Fort Agra

This is a massive red-sandstone structure that was begun in 1565 bu Emperor Akbar and completed in 1658 by his grandson Shah Jahan. It is on the banks of the Yamuna River and was primarily used as a military structure. When Shah Jahan came into power he updated the place using his favorite building material you guessed it, white marble.

The Fort itself is an ear shaped structure with walls that are 2o meters high and the circumference of the walls is 2.5 kilometers. That would be 65 feet tall and a mile and a half around for you metrically challenged Americans! Inside the Fort is a maze of many different buildings and structures giving the appearance of a city with in a city. the Many of the structures have been destroyed over the years by all the attackers the last being of course the British.

The only entrance to the fort is called Amar Singh Gate and allows for entrance from the south. The entrance itself and dog-leg design are to confuse attackers, a lot of good that did!

The main hall of the fort called Diwan-i-Am was used primarily by Shah Jahan for domestic government business. Perhaps one of the most beautiful internal structures called Nagina Masjid, built in 1635 by Shah Jahan, is a marble monument dedicated to the ladies of the court.

Now the interesting historical part of the Fort in my opinion was what the son of Shah Jahan
used this place for.It seems that the eldest son of Shah Jahan and the next ruler to be was upset that his Dad had spent something like $70,000,000 bucks to build the Taj and was in the process of spending another boat load of his inheritance on what would be called the Black Mahal. The Black Mahal would become the burial place for Shah Jahan and would be right across the river from the Taj Mahal, which as you know is white.

Well not if Aurangzeb had anything to say about. So in 1658 he seized power from his Dad, Shah Jahan and then threw him in prison in the Fort. Aurangzeb must have been a real troubled man because in the fort there is a room called Musamman Burj and Khas Mahal this is were Shah Jahan was kept and could not even see the Taj and his beloved. Shah Jahan was ingenious and figured out that if lay a certain way and used a mirror he could then see the Taj.
There are beautiful gardens and monuments to all the different religions of the times. Seems like old Aurangzeb, after ousting the old man took no chances and prayed using every religion avaiable.

More on Delhi next!

The Taj Mahal

Seldom in ones life does the opportunity to travel with your parents and their parents come along. However for the loudamericans kids such a trip is upon us. Not only are we able to do so we did it at the Taj Mahal.

Grandma and Grandpa Hickey along with the loudamericans headed to the airport to fly up to Delhi to meet Grandma and Grandpa Murphy whom have just arrived from Florida. Good thing too because it is hot here now...

We got to the airport just as our cell phone informed us our flight was going to be late and it turned out several hours late. We were to meet the Grandparent Murphy’s in Delhi at 3:00 and then drive to Agra which is we were told about 4 hours from Delhi. No problem. We finally arrived in Delhi and meet them around 5:00 in the afternoon. We exchanged hello hugs and kisses and loaded up the “van” to head off to Delhi.
I must explain our transportation.
Here in India most things are done via the mobile phone and computer, as were our transport plans from Agra to Delhi and back. When we arrived at the airport we were met by this nice young man whom spoke no English (we are used to that) and he led us to the 15-person van. WOW! It was as small tour bus. It had ac, drapes and most importantly storage, we do not travel light. We were way high and somewhat impervious to those whom need to knock on your windows for food or to sell you something, perfect.

So in the bus and off we went. It became known to all of the adults fairly soon that the suspension was not the best but hey we are going to see the Taj. Four hours from Delhi to Agra, not in our van. It took about 6 hours, several speed bumps and all of our cash to get there. It seems that when we booked this luxury van I just assumed that we would pay for it when we were finished, not so. We had to pay for tolls, boarder crossings, food for the driver and the cabin boy. Of course all of this came out of the total. It reminded me of a car I had fixed back in college that was sent in as a fuel injection motor and came back with a carburetor that is another story.

We saw several unbelievable things on Mulberry Street that day but the one that was the most unusual was the donkey riding in the back of the auto-rickshaw! Camels are a common mode of transportation on the highway as well:) The kids loved that.

We finally made it. The Hotel was good and more to the point the restaurant and bar were still opened. So we had dinner, a welcome to India drink for Grandma Kay and Grandpa Jeremiah and hit the hay.

The Taj Mahal tour is something that we will remember for a long time, perhaps as long as the Christmas Story Dinner.

The construction of the Taj began in 1631 and was completed in 1653. There were 20, 000 people whom worked on the project for the designer and then ruler of Agra, Emperor Shah Jahan. The Shahs second wife whose name is Mumtaz Mahal died in 1631 giving birth to their 14th child. They say the emperor was so distraught by the death of Mumtaz his hair turned silver overnight. The Taj is constructed of World Heritage Marble and has countless beautiful pietra dura, which are inlays. It is truly gorgeous. There are two monuments on either side of the Taj of which one is a Mosque and the other a jawab, which house travelers and are identical in design and construction. The four pillars (minards) of the Taj were made to slope slightly outward in the event of an earthquake they would not fall on the main building.
The inside of the Taj is lined with all the verses of the Koran Below the main dome is the Cenotaph of Mumtaz Mahal which is an elaborate false tomb. There next to her is the Cenotaph of Shah Jahan. The real tombs are locked in a chamber below and are no longer able to be viewed by the general public.

We spent a good deal of time here until Jimmy declared "lets get out of here this place is boring and I am never coming back!" No kidding...

The only way to get to the Taj is to walk about 1.5 miles from the carpark. It seems that in 1994 they outlawed vehicular traffic due to discoloring of the Taj. We walked in but took a horse drawn cart back with Jimmy at the wheel and Kay and Billy singing Jingle Bells at the top of their lungs.

Off to the fort which is a story and a blog of its own!

St. Patricks Day

I am well aware that we are several posts behind however there are certain events that when the occur they supersede all others and St. Patrick's Day as such an event!

So here we are in beautiful Bangalore and celebrating this event not only with our new Irish "Indian " friends but the Grand Marshal and his bride, Jeremiah and Kay Murphy have graced us with their presence!

We did not have to deal with snow,ice and the other elements so critical to the success of the event however here in India we had to deal with the Sun, and man it was hot.

The day stared with the party planners, yes here in India one uses a party planner, showed up to decorate our street. We had green and white balloons and Styrofoam shamrocks on each of the palm trees along with two face painters and custom made Happy St. Patricks Day 2007 wristbands, party planners think of everything!! Grandma and Grandpa brought with them several trinkets and such so all were dressed superb!

Then of course there is the cake. Jeremiah and I went to the local bakery and explained what we wanted which to someone who has no clue about St.Patrick let alone speak English, we were unsure what to expect. There is never a function here that does not include a cake and as you can see by the photo what a grand cake it was.

Perhaps the highlight of the day came when we decorated an auto rickshaw and lieu of a parade all the kids and adults took rides around palm meadows, it was quite the scene.

We managed to make the day such a success that two other bloggers posted our parade on their blogs,here are the links http://www.wacmiller.blogspot.com/ and the palm meadows wiki http://palmmeadows.pbwiki.com/

The palm meadows site will give you all the in depth details on St. Patrick himself starting the moment he was born onwards..

The party was the usual success opening the first beer around 11:00 am and pouring out the last unfinished one at 8:30pm. Man it was hot!

Happy St. Patricks Day to you all and to all a good night.

One last thing, where's Kay?

Temp Blog

Ok, consider this a "temporarly blog" sort of like "temporary tatoo" - cool but not the real thing.

Here's the deal on why we've had so few blogs posted lately. Visitors that are staying in our computer room, the computer was down for 3 days last week AND we've been traveling with our visitors...

So... I wanted to at least get a few updates out there for all you that are thristing for Murphy news...

St Patricks day... As you know, this is our MAJOR holiday/party of the year. We are currently planning our annual St Pats Day parade/party in India for Saturday. Should be interesting, we'll post pictures on the blog next week:) We have arm bands being made, 4 meter tall shamrocks being decorated and are trying to "source" a caterer that will try to make us Corn Beef and Cabbage. If we find a keg of green beer, it'll be nirvana. True Indian experience. Wish us luck!

In terms of family updates....
Billy has started to say "I love you" and when you ask him his name, he says "Billy!". His verbal skills amaze me. He's really fun, except for the hunger strike he is currently on and the fact the very question is immediately answered with 'no':)

Kay is hysterical (as always). She is into cooking her own food now and will go into the refrig (when we aren't looking) pull out all the food and mix it together. Nice big fat mess. She also sings non stop. Currently we are still stuck on Cmas carols, (BNL Jiggle Bells to be specific) but I am hoping we find a new obsession soon.

Jimmy is LOVING school and has developed this habit of speaking in an Indian accent with Indian people and a regular (i.e. Minnesotan) accent with everyone else. He is their "ace" dancer and will be an Arab dancer in their annual program, they are even asking him to "play" guitar in his dance sequence. I have visions of Napolean Dynamite....

Tom is getting WAY involved in the charity committee here (through the Overseas Women's Club) so I'm glad that we aren't just living and working in India but actually giving something back. There is so much need here. Its truly mind blowing....

We are in the midst of visitors. My parents were here for 3 weeks and now Tom's parents are here for 3 weeks. We get a 2 weeks "off" and then my aunt comes for 3 weeks and I just found out my sister is coming for 3 weeks in May... Its fun but hard to balance work and home when you really want to be home with your family.

The 1st week of March we had our family adventure to Delhi/Agra and the Taj Mahal. We had a great but busy time. It was truly a once in a lifetime to have both sets of parents at the Taj Mahal together with our kids. Amazing! I feel so lucky that Mom and Dad and the Murphys are healthy and adventurous, that they get along and that, that the kids are (relatively) good travelers and that we got to have such an amazing life experience with our parents and our kids. We really feel blessed. Be on the look out for some good blogs on the experience:) Jimmy's comment on the Taj was "I'm never coming back here". He was much more impressed with the game room at the hotel. I am not sure why we bother taking him anywhere. He's just 5 I guess. My Mom's comment was "This was the best experience of my life". That about sums up that trip!

Love to you all and I PROMISE TONS of blogs are coming in the next week....!

Grandma and Grandpa Hickey

The Hickeys have arrived! We are in the middle of a Grandparents invasion and what fun. Jim and Bunny arrived fresh off a not so wonderful trip to Paris. They were given wrong directions,were treated rude,terrible service but good food. Sounds like Paris to me! The highlight of their Paris experience came when they finally got back to their room and had a Happy Birthday Grandpa voice mail from the Loudamericans, Happy Birthday Grandpa.
They have been getting to spend some great time with the kids and us, more Tom than Tracy as work is very busy. They did have a little of an adjustment to the "atmosphere" here however we are having a wonderful time.

They have been all over Bangalore and then made the trip to Mysore, a great Bird Sanctuary,a Hindu temple and tamed the wild beast, yes they rode an elephant!!

I think the highlight so far has been Grandparents day at school because the only Grandparents there of course were Jim and Bunny!! The kids love it and the teachers thought it was fun to.

The food has been painstaking prepared by Raj and Florence and I have to believe that they have never made food with this little spice or curry before.

We are getting ready to head up to Delhi to meet the other set of Grandparents,Jeremiah and Kay. Then of to Agra and The Taj Mahal.....

The kids are LOVING the attention and we really appreciate all Grandma and Grandpa's extra help and attention. Stories are being read, hair combed, outfits coordinated.... You know all the stuff we dont get time to do with 3 kids:)

Next Blog... Welcome the Murphy and we ALL go to the Taj Mahal!!

The Flat Stanley Project

Here is our friend Claire and she lives by us back in the USA.

Claire asked us to help out on a school project called Flat Stanley. This is a cool new way for kids to learn about geography,different cultures and places in the world that are not on the beaten path. So when she asked we jumped at the chance.

We have taken Flat Stanley to an India engagement ceremony,to a limestone cave in south Australia as well as a sink hole in a town called Mount Gambier. Flat Stanley visited the Melbourne Zoo and will soon be at the Taj Mahal and in New Delhi , India!

Thank you Claire giving us the honor to be part of you project and don't worry Flat Stanley will be home real soon!!

We are hoping to win the prize for "most creative" and "most adventurous" Flat Stanley travels in her grade school class. Wish us luck!!

Georgia Sunshine Village

Georgia Sunshine village is situated in shivanasamudram skirting the cauvery wildlife sanctuary 120 kms. away from Bangalore and 60 kms. from Mysore.
Shivanasamudram is a small hamlet town surrounded by forested hills and lush green valleys. It is here that the river cauvery divides into two and plummets into a 75 meter deep , rocky gorge to form the picturesque Bharrachukki and the Gaganchukki waterfalls
Downstream from these waterfalls is Asia's first hydro electric power generating station established in the year 1902 by the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore with the intention of feeding power to the former kolar gold fields .......really it is true!

So off we went for an overnight of fun in the sun,camp fires and fishing.

The drive is quite treacherous and the road is about the worse one we have been on here in India, however the place was very nice. We arrived in the afternoon on a Saturday in time for lunch. The place had a buffet lunch and was very kid and non-spicy food eater friendly.

We had a lazy lunch and then Billy and Saravana took naps while Tracy, Kay, Jimmy and myself went swimming in the pool killing time until 4:30 when we could go fishing!

The pool was clean and cold but Jimmy did not mind and soon he learned how to dive! Kay was busy collecting rocks and looking at the sheep and generally not caring about the pool at all!

After naps and swimming we met the guide to go fishing. The anticipation was in the air Jimmy was going to land a world record fish, Saravana had not been fishing before and the gleam in his eye told the story. Meanwhile Tom was wondering what kind of fish are we going to catch on poles that were made out of tree branches and hooks that were barb less,small and rusted?

On we went...

It turns out that what you catch is too small to get the hook in its mouth, jumps out of the water to eat the bait off the hook and generally it was a nuisance! The good news is that there are a lot of these aggressive minnows and we had fun seeing how far out of the water they would jump to get the "bait".

The night was great fun with a bonfire, great dinner and Billy playing with the nine dogs that ran all over the place. He was more interested in sitting on the floor playing with the dogs than anything else. Well besides the 50 or so rabbits they had in a "hutch". (They had started off with 2 rabbits and now have 50, go figure)

We retired for the evening and had a great night sleep. We woke the next morning for a nature hike that ended abruptly because we could not tolerate Jimmy and his constant whining about his legs hurt....Never take a 5 year on a nature walk before breakfast. Lesson learned.

So we had breakfast packed up and returned to Bangalore rested and ready for the Grand Parents to visit!

This is a HIGHLY recommended stop if you are ever in the Mysore/Bangalore area...

Bangalore Supper Club

The mere idea that this group of Ex-Pats needs another reason to get together and party in itself explains a lot about this group.!!

We have had the good fortune to meet several like minded and adventurous and fun people here in Bangalore.

The idea behind the Supper Club was to get the group of about 15 of us out to a different restaurant once a month. This way we would be able to see experience many types of food and have a nice night away from kids, work and the other pressures one faces while living abroad.

The first event was a smashing success so much so that after the dinner the group returned to Trish and Kens house and partied until 7:00 am, dancing to Madonna and singing songs from The Sound of Music !!

Before I go any further I will take a moment to introduce to you the "Supper Club". In honoring anonymity I will be using only first names and then taking writers privilege with the rest.

As I mention our fearless leader Claude, who was born here in India and then moved to France and then Canada. Claude is the favorite of all the girls and Kay is no exception. She runs to him every morning yelling "Hi Claude". He falls all over her and it is quite cute.

Claude has a roommate named Damien whom I have dubbed "Inspector Clouseau" as he is from France and his accent is so French , obviously as he is French, however you can not understand a word he says. Particularly after a few drinks (I am sure that its his accent that gets worse as the night goes on and not our ability to understand....)

We then have a couple from Ireland Ken, Trish and their three kids. They have a constant flow of kids and neighbors and help flowing through their house it is a wonder they have time to play!
The next group hails from Germany by way of Bavaria, Gerald and Petra along with their three kids and newly acquired cat and dog which they found in a garbage pit behind one of the local "food stores".

We also have a couple whom are from England/California respectably, Peter and Gemma. They have just had their first baby and her name is Kyra. She is a doll!

Our neighbors Larry and Claire and their two child hail from New Jersey via Philadelphia which of course is America.

Carol and her two children are from Montreal and her husband Davis is a frequent visitor which in itself is another reason for a party!

Simon and Debbie have two children as well and are the longest family of the group staying here 18 months already. They come to Bangalore via England and have just found out they will be permanently relocating to New York in May. Very sad for us.

Of course last but not least is The LoudAmericans...

There are some fringe guests that come periodically and add some excitement however this is the main cast.

Now if I were try to describe a typical " Supper Club" event it would take way to much space so the following are a couple excerpts of different Parties...

Everyone was gathered on the terrace at Tom and Tracy's there is a nice wood fire going cocktails and dinner have been had when one couple announces "we have a new hookah" lets fire it up! For those who do not know a hookah is a water pipe that you smoke " flavored" tobacco with. This is truly tobacco for the record. Well the hookah is going all the adults have tried when I look over and there is a 7 year old taking a puff! The parents response was " well there a great deal of things that happen here in India that if people knew about back home we would be in jail for it". It is best to let what happens in India stay in India....

Another club gathering was at Carols home. She by far and away has the biggest and best house here.! We were sitting around here gazebo when Tracy says "I am going to go in and see what is going, I will be right back" 30 minutes later and no Tracy I had to go in and see what is up. Gerald and Petra had recently purchased a play station which included competion Karoke. (for some reason this game isnt being sold in the US yet. It rocks!) Tracy had challenged Petra to 99 Luft Balloons in German and was winning until Claude snatched the microphone from her hand. She was NOT happy... Claude says... "your wife isnt at all competitive is she?!"

Occassionaly we do venture out, like for Thanksgiving dinner at the Only Place. But... we've found that going to someone's home and having dinner catered is WAY cheaper as we all provide the drinks and dont need to pay restarant prices for alcohol. PLUS the kids love playing together and have their own "kid" party while the adults are also partying. The only scary part about this is, we came downstairs at the last party to find Jimmy pouring scotch and waters for all the kids. Another (older) kid had asked him too. It was funny in a really bad parent/call social services sort of way. At least we caught them at it before anyone tasted it. Although, I suppose after one sip they'ed stay away from the stuff for life as its nasty!

The group is now discussing taking the show on the road. They want to hop a flight to Bangkok or Singapore or Sri Lanka (all 3 hr flights) get hotel rooms, eat at the hotel and party back in the rooms. Fly out one day and back the next is the plan.

God help us.....

Sports Day

Not since the likes of Mark Spitz, Mary Lou Retton,Jim Thrope and that speed skating guy who's name it can't remember, has the fanfare for sports been as over the top as was displayed at Goplan International School.

We woke early as Jimmy had to do some exercises to warm up. Sit ups, push ups and four hard boiled eggs were enough to prepare for his upcoming event.

Kay dragged her bum out of bed gave us the " look" and then said give me what Jimmy is having. A bowl of cereal, some melon and chocolate were the base Kay needed to attack to field.

We then broke out the brand new sports day uniforms. Jimmy in his black spandex shorts,white spandex shirt, white shoes and yes because even at age five perspiration will become an issue, black wrist bands. I could hear Tracy in the background humming "lets get physical,physical"

Kay was meanwhile trying to raid the refrigerator for another crumb of something clad in her black spandex pants and blueish green spandex top, no wrists bands for her!
Billy meanwhile was not in any uniform as he was not competing on the field.

The kids as usual took the bus and Tracy,Billy and myself arrived with Saravanna. When we approached the Sporting Field at what we were told a very diverse school it was comical to be the only people there with out black hair!

The stands were packed and we pushed our way into "the spot" to see the kids take the field and to marvel at our children's athletic ability..little did we know.
Meanwhile the band began to play the Indian National song , the master of ceremonies was announce. His honer The Minister of electricity for Whitefield, the applause was thundering. Nervously we awaited the arrival of the combatants. The again the band began to play and the House Captains began goosestepping around the track as the Master of Ceremonies followed with the Flag. A moment of silence and the up went the Flag along with several white doves and I believe I could see a tear shed by the lady next to me. Overcome with emotion we took our seats because now was the time for SPORTS.

The children of Nursery A,B,C came out first. Jimmy is in Nursery C. The kids were lined up by order of size there must of been at least 45 kids,and of course Jimmy was at the end of the line. The biggest kid! How proud Dad was as they took the field anticipating that which ever event Jimmy would enter he would take first place. The practicing, or whatever it was ,that led to the middle of the night sit ups and push ups was about to pay off! Then the band begun to play and to our horror, I mean , surprise the children of Nursery all 45 of them were handed pomp pomps and began to lead cheers.
We will not take this moment to bring up "Glory Days"

The children did rebound after the cheer leading event and began to do some track and field related events. Now we know why they needed the wrist bands. Jimmy and the rest of the class made the traditional trip around the track waving at the fans and screaming parents and were lead off for water and a treat. Later we properly chastised for not sending him with the "right" after sports day treats, so he was very hungry and thirsty.

Kay is in Playgroup1 of which there are 3 playgroups. The children were also lined up by size and how proud we were to see Kay KAY at the front of the line! She is so smart and listens to Mam so well that is why she is first. The kids of the playgroup astounded us with their ability to slide down slides,quack like ducks and sing Old MacDonald"s farm. Who says sports have to be all contact.You should have seen Kay attack the slide and belt out "Had a Yamb" EiEiO

Now I will acknowledge that there could not be a Sports day without having a bunch of jocks around. There is a misnomer that because one is a "jock" they tend to hit on the ladies. Well in the case of William Francis Kim Murphy that is true. While his brother and sister were out there giving their all for old Goplan International, Billy was on the playground giving his all trying to catch the attention of yet another unsuspecting coed. We had to drag Billy away and finally were able to corral the "athletes" for a sports day picture.

The vision of the "releasing" of the white doves at Gopalan Sports Day will remain with us as inspiration as our children strive towards their Olympic dreams...

My sister had a baby today!!!

Yippee!! My sister had a baby boy today!

He was 9lbs 4oz and 21 inches. He was born at around 7pm during a full fledged snow storm in Michigan. Both Tammy and he are doing really well. He has a little dark curly hair and is just adorable. Photos will soon follow. Here he is the newest cousin...Herbert Merrill!

The kids are VERY excited about their new cousin and Kay's 1st question was "What type of shoes does he have?"

I know his sister Georgia and brother Joey are very excited as well for their "Mommy's new baby".

I just couldnt wait to share the news with the world!!

Welcome to the great big world! We love you!!!!