New Friends

Mom has been meeting lots of new people. She met lots of the faculty at Kala Bhavana. When she was at the Central Library on Wednesday, she met a lady named Arpita is a librarian there. She is a photographer too, and has a daughter named Gunja who is nine. She invited us to go to her house that night so we did. It was very fun. We looked at houses and talked and then went to a music concert. The next night, we looked at more houses, but Gunja had to go to bed because she had school. On Friday, we spent some time together and did lots of drawing. Then we hung out on the roof. After that, we went to a traditional Indian dance concert. It was really good. Last night, we hung out for a little while, then Arpita helped me ride a bike. Mom say's I'm getting better, but I don't think so. Today, at 4:30, Gunja and I have painting lessons. I'm really looking forward to it.

On Thursday, we also me the Auntie of one of Mom's Indian friends back home. She owns a cafe called Alcha Cafe. We went there and had these things called egg rolls that are eggs rolled in a rotie with chillies and onions. I also had some of their crepes, they were delicious! The lady's name is Kaya. She is very nice. After we finished eating, we saw the store that she also owns. It is very nice. They have all these beautiful hand-made bags and clothes and pilliows. There are embroidered boxes, kamises, and doupatas, tyedied fabrics, leater bags, and they make some things from old sariees woven together. It's all very beautiful. On Friday, we went to her house for breakfast. It was very nice. They live right across the street from where we are now. Then after breakfast, mom went to an exibit at on of the museums and I went to the workshop where they make all the things for the store with Kaya. It was lots of fun. I got to watch how they get all the fabric together for the bags, how they do the embroidery, and I got to make some petique key chains. It was lots of fun.

Critters

The place we are staying is really nice. The only problem is the critters.

On Monday or Teusday, we descovered the lizards. On Sunday, we saw two lizzards between one of the screen. Mom was going to try and free them, but it turned out they were in there because it was cooler than outside. They could leave easily. I saw the fist one (insiede) in the bathroom only becasue it ran up the wall. We tryed to trap it, but it hid behind the water tank, so we couldn't get it. The next time I went in the bathroom, it was right by the light. We left it alone. Then, mom was in the bathroom trying to makesure it didn't escape, but it was behind the door and ran out when she moved them. It then hid in the cabnets in the hall. Later, when we were going out, I saw one crawl under the couch. Apperently, they're always sneaking in. They're not even scary, it just startles me. Like a few minutes before I started typing this, I opened a cabnet to turn on the fan, and one was running around inside. We'll just have to get used to them.

Mosquitos are evil! All bugs are. Every time I see one, mom has to come and kill it for me. Except these little ant-like things I keep finding on the sink. I drown those in water. The bugs really just freak me out though. We have these plug in things that have chemicles that keep the bugs away, but when the power goes out, they don't work. Mom bought this coil thing that burns and gives off chemicles. It's suposed to keep them away, and it's working so far.

The birds aren't really a problem, or even a critter, but they're loud. There are birds calling all day long. There are ones that chirp, like back home, but there are some really strange ones too. There is one that sounds a little like a scream and it'll call about 5 times in a row, getting louder and louder with everyone. But there are some birds that keep flying by the bathroom window and startle me when they hit against it. They're not that bad though.

We'll just have to adjust to all the creatures.

-Celia Echt

Yummy Food

We have been waking up around 7:30ish every morning to have tea. It's really good. I like to put sugar and milk in mine, but mom likes her tea plain. We also have tea in the afternoons.

After our tea, we have breakfast. We usually have eggs and toast and bananas.

For lunch, we have been having toast, curd (yogurt), bananas, and potatoes. I love the potatoes. They're like little square hash-browns with really good seasoning.

At dinner, we always have rice, curd, and chipate or rotie. Then, we also have some kind of veggie dish. We have had different ochre dishes, potato dishes, squash, eggplant and ones with lots of other veggies. We also had a chicken one at one point (I had that, mom didn't) and we had fish once. We also have salad, cucumbers, oranges, and bananas.

The sugar here is really good. Instead of being little tiny specks like in the States, it's like little pieces of rock candy. I like it a lot. It's very sweet, but it's not like overly sweet like sugar back home.

The milk is amazing! It's way better than back home. My theory is that back home, the cows are tied up and kept in fenced areas, so they don't like the people who own them. Because they don't like the people who own them, they give them bad milk. But here, the cows love their owners because they get to be free and they are highly respected. So, because they like all the people for letting them roam around and respecting them, they give them yummy milk. Just a theory :). Mom is in love with the curd, and I think it's pretty good too. The cheese and butter is a lot better too.

The bananas are delicious! Back home, mom and I don't like bananas (I'll eat them sometimes, but they're not my favorite) but we eat at least one each at every meal. They are way better than back home. It's amazing. Yesterday, mom bought a really big bunch of them because we have eaten almost all the ones in the house.

All the food here seems to be better. The milk, the sugar, and the bananas are all better. I haven’t had them yet, but the mangos are supposed to be better too. What good food we have!

-Celia Echt

Catching Up- March 9th-March 13th

Tuesday, March 9th- I spent most of the day sleeping, reading and watching TV. I was really tired. In the afternoon, we went to town with some other women to go shopping. We got these pretty, hand-dyed saris. Mom also bought me a multicolored doupata. When we got back, there was a concert before dinner. It was really long. There was lots of singing, Indian dances, and music.

Wednesday, March 10th- Mom went to meetings and I hung out in the room. After lunch, we went on a tour. We got to drive around town, then see the City Palace. It was really beautiful. Mom has lots of pictures. Then we went to a puppet show. It was... interesting. The puppets were pretty.

After that, we went to a garden. It was really nice there. Me and lots of other kids got our pictures taken in old fashion Indian clothing. It was fun. At dinner, there was a dance party. It was so loud, but very fun. We said most of our goodbyes because we were on the early flight to Delhi the next morning.

Thursday, March 10th- Mom and I got up really early for our flight. We had a small breakfast in a special room they had set up for the Fulbrighters. A few other people were there too. After breakfast, we all met and took a bus to the airport. The flight was nice. Short. This time we flew through Jaipur. On the first flight, they served us muffins and croissants with filling. I had a muffin on the first one and a croissant on the second. When we landed, we had to wait to get our luggage. Then, we ran into Adam and got a ride with him to the Fulbright House, then the car took us to our hotel. It took a long time, but would have taken much longer if we had to get our own taxi. At the hotel, we relaxed and mom tried to use the computer to print out our tickets. We went shopping at Fab India and we both got two outfits. Around 6, we met Phyllis and went to dinner at the United Cafe. It was fun.

Friday, March 11th- Mom and I had to get up early to go to the airport. We ended up getting there really early so we bought food. The flight was really nice. I got a food box because it turned out they had paid extra for my ticket for me to get food. It was really yummy. When we landed, we had a car waiting to take us to our hotel. We saw lots and lots of cows on the way there. It was a nice hotel. We had an air-conditioned, a television, a fan, and a western bucket toilet. We both took naps, then I slept while mom went out. She bout Indian chips, cookies and cereal.

Saturday, March 12th- We had breakfast at the hotel. It was really good. We had eggs, toast, bananas, tea, and cereal. After a little while, we went out in search of a internet cafe and a copying place. We got all of moms papers copied, but couldn’t find an internet cafe. We went to an air-conditioned grocery store and had lunch. Then we bought groceries. Mom got me an ice cream, but it was really different than back home. They added chocolate chips, what we think was cookies and chocolate sauce. It was really tasty. For dinner, we went to a Chinese restaurant with Ed. It was fun.

Sunday, March 13th- The car was over an hour late coming to pick us up. We drove with mom's adviser, Sanchien, to Santiniketan. The car kept breaking down, so we stopped a lot. It took about 4 hours. When we got here, he showed us the University campus. Then, we went to the house. It's very nice. We have a western toilet, a shower, lots of fans, and a nice view of the garden. It's very big. The family who rents it to us is very nice. We got settled a little then had lunch. It was really good. It was a little weird being served though. We unpacked our bags, then went to the University to use the computer labs. Mom couldn't get her computer to connect, so she had to use the only working one. I read my book (again). We went back to the house really late. I showered while mom finished unpacking. Then we had dinner. I went to bed after.

-Celia Echt

Catching Up- March 7th-8th

Sorry I haven't written in so long. We had bad internet in Udaipur and none in Kolkata.

March 7th- After I wrote on Sunday, Mom and I finished packing and getting everything ready for the trip. We left the house early, so we could drop our bags at the Fulbright House. When we got there, it took a while for the guards to make sure we had permission to drop our bags there. After we dropped them, we went to the airport. We checked our bags and went through sucurity really fast. I think it was the cane :). After we went through sucerity, we sat with Carol, Megan, Phyllis, and Cari. We met them at the hotel at breakfast that day. I got french-fries from McDonald's.

When we boarded the plane, we had to take a bus to get there. It was my first time at an airport like this. It was cool. The plane was small, but comphy. We had a connection in Jodhpur, but only had to wait about 20 minutes. The flight from Jodhpur to Udaipur was only half an hour. I spent both flights reading. They gave us really yummy food. We had containers with rice, palak paneer with kofta (excuse my spelling), and another spicy saucy thing. I had fruit and mom had veggies. For desert, there were these sweet dough balls. Yummy!

When we got to Udaipur, everyone got their checked baggage, and we had a bus to take us to the hotel. It was a nice drive with lots of interesting things to look at. We saw lots and lots of cows!

The hotel, as I described it, was "like the white house but bigger." It was huge and white with big pillars. There were fountains with elephants spouting the water. It was so cool. Our room was really big! We had two beds, a western toilet, a shower that didn't spill, a television, and a beautiful view. Mom read some of the book about the confrence while I relaxed and watched t.v.

We found out that there is this really good bug stuff that is a cream called Odomos. It works great! Dinner was really good and we met lots of new people. After dinner, we went upstairs and I fell asleep really fast.

March 8th- I woke up around 5, and we went to breakfast around 7ish. I had lots of good juices, eggs, smiley face potatos, and these little pastries with jelly. The meetings started late. First, all the Fulbrights and other people there introdced themselves. Then there was another presentation, but I just read. After, we took the confrence picture. During tea time, I left and took a walk around and took lots of pictures. Then, I went to the pool and met some of the kids. We swam for a while, then played capture the flag. Lunch was really good, but they didn't have any chairs to sit in. It was very irritating. After lunch, I read by the pool, then me and some of the other kids swam until we were too cold. The water was freezing!

Mom and I took naps during her break and ended up being late to the concert before dinner. It was old fashion India singing. During dinner, we met new people and made plans to go into town and shop the next day. I got tired and went to bed early.

Early Start

Today, I woke up at 5ish in the morning our time. At about 6 AM, I started checking my email on my iTouch. Mom woke up at 6:30, and got on the computer because she couldn't sleep. Now she's resting. The breakfast here opens around 7:30, so we'll probably go eat then.

Mom finished the packing last night, but I have to repack my backpack. We are planing to be at the airport at noon, but before that, we have to drop off some of our bags at the Fulbright House. Our flight is at 1:30. It's about 3 hours and we thought we were going through Judhpur, but it doesn't say anything about it in the new itinerary.

Beginning our 4th day in India

-Celia Echt

Preperations For Next Week

Today, I woke up at 3:30 AM and stayed up until 8:30. Then we got ready and went to breakfast. I had chocolate cereal that was like Coco Puffs. We sat around while mom drank her coffee, and I got hungry and got an omelet. After we finished, we went for a walk around the block. We saw more construction and other things. But the most interesting was a dog. That was purple. Probably left over from Holi.

We went to the hotel and watched some t.v. while mom tryed to get the computer to work. The internet didn't work properly, so we went downstairs while they were fixing it. I fell asleep while mom was working on the changing plans for Kolkata.

She woke me around 12:30. We went out for a walk, and ended up in a furniture market. We went to the Mall. We got a "demonstration" of the fancy hand-made rugs. It was kinda interesting. Then we looked at the clothes for me. There were lots of pretty salwar chamise. But they were expensive and not good for going into the towns. We ended up buying a pretty top. We headed for the hotel, but lots of people stopped us, giving directions to stores. When we got near the Connaught Place, there were lots of people saying to go to the Cottage Emporium.

By the time we got back to the hotel, I was really tired and hot. I was a little dehydrated too. I drank lots of water and then fell asleep. Mom couldn't get the t.v. to work though.

She woke me up at 5:30ish. There is a concert sort of thing going on outside. I'm not completely sure what it is.

Day 3 in India

-Celia Echt

A Nice End to Our 2nd Day

We just got back from dinner at the Bonsai Restraunt downstairs. But earlier, we had our meetings. Mom met with Dr. Kaul (program officer), then with Dr. Grodsky (director of Fulbright India). Then we had to wait because we are changing flights so we can leave our bags in Delhi while we are in Udaipur, and get them on the way to Kolkata.

When we got back to the hotel, we had to get the safe fixed. Mom accedently got the code wrong, so we had to get it opened. Then, mom went out to the balcony and I tried to read my English book, but ended up falling asleep.

Mom didn't want me to get no sleep tonight, so she woke me around 8:30 our time. We got dressed and went to dinner in the restaurant downstairs. It was peaceful, and the food was yummy. (There was some bad techno music though.) I had meso soup and stemed rice. Mom had tempora, spring rolls, and spicy shrimp. We talked lots about India and home.

End of Day 2 in India!

-Celia Echt

Waiting For Mom's Meetings

We are at the Fulbright House, in the student computer lab. Mom's meetings start at 3, but we arrived at 1. Mom wanted to get here early so she could intruduce herself to people and we could use the computer lab. It's pretty boring. And really hot and humid. I think a window is open. Mom's computer has a bad keyboard, her s, w, and @ keys. Now the controle isn't working either. So, we might go do something else.

Day 2.5 in India

-Celia Echt

A Good Start To Our Secound Day

2nd day in INDIA! Last night I slept for about 7 hours. I woke up at 6, and couldn't sleep, so I listened to podcasts on my iPod for 3ish hours. We had a really yummy breakfast this morning. Mom was right, the dairy products are amazing! The milk was great and the yogurt (technically called curd) was delicious! Then we went for a nice walk around the block, it was warm and very sunny, but not to hot or humid. There were lots of people with suggestions/requests for places to shop and visit. When we got back to the hotel, I showered and now we're getting ready to go to mom's conferences and meetings today.

Day 2!

-Celia Echt

WE HAVE ARRIVED!

I'M IN INDIA!!!!!! It's awsome to finally be here. The flight went by fast. we upgraded to bisness class because of mom's foot, and it was so cool! Big seats, movies and t.v. shows when we want, an food! I slept lots (but wasn't very rested). Immigration and costoms were slow, but didn't take forever. The drive was amazing! We saw the India Arch and lots of embassies and tons of hotels. We're staying at the Corus Hotel, and it's very nice. When we arrived, it looked kinda bad, but inside, it's amazing. We have a t.v, a shower, hot water 24/7, a balcony (that we share with two other rooms) with a nice view and lots of comfy chairs, and a WESTERN TOILET! It's been so nice so far. :)

Day 1 of our adventure.

-Celia Echt