Back in the US - a little bit of culture shock

Well, we made it back to the US without any problems. Although, I am still a little irked that the line at immigration at the airport was longer for US citizens than for foreigners. Speaking of, it is nice to be in a place where I am no longer a foreigner. I think that US citizens should have the shorter lines and then even less waiting time for those who have been out of the country the longest.

Jet lag is getting the best of us. It is 4:30am right now. My goal was to stay up until 10pm last night, but made it to only 8:15pm and then I woke up at 3:15am. Jerry's sleep schedule is even weirder. Not only did he stay up past 10pm, he did not go to bed until 4am! So, now he is sound asleep and I am wide awake.

It is weird being back here. So far, the strangest thing for me is seeing no people on the streets, but LOTS and LOTS of cars - big, new cars! And because of window tinting, I cannot really see the people inside. It's like I am in some kind of futuristic place, which compared to K, Houston IS futuristic. And driving around in my parents' neighborhood, it feels abandoned. There are not many people walking around and hardly any cars either, driving OR parked on the streets. And it is so quiet.

When Jerry and I are in the car together, all of this makes me feel like we are the only people around. Which is the strangest sensation after living in K, where there are zillions of people, animals and vehicles of all shapes and sizes crowding every street. And the noise - people screaming, horns honking, cars creaking/clunking and animals being herded.

We are also going through another bit of culture shock - the kind where you sort of romanticize your home country, only to go back and realize it has problems, too. Case in point - mailing a package at the FedEx/Kinko's in Rice Village.

One of my US friends in K asked us to mail her family's Christmas gifts. We were delighted to help her out. We go to FedEx and a woman comes to greet us and asks if she can help. Well, we tell her that we want to find out the cheapest way to ship a package that arrives before Christmas. Well, she replies that we have to fill out a shipping bill first. Well, there are several different shipping bills, so it would make more sense to ask the shipping clerk which way is best and THEN fill out the form. But the first lady was insistent so we made an educated guess and then asked the shipping clerk. Fortunately, we made the right choice. And you know what - all the shipping clerk needed to know was the zip code.

Anyway, we told the shipping lady we needed to buy a box. She said no problem and said that the boxes are really cheap. She then looked at gifts to be mailed and suggested a particular size. Well, that box was three times the size of the gifts! We found a much more suitable size and packed everything up. So, she rang up the cost of the shipping and as we were about to go, she said that she forgot to charge us for the box. She scanned the size and it came up $9.69. Golly!! I said, "Are you sure?" And she acted as if that was a really great price and even went so far as explaining that it was a good deal. I asked again, "$9.69 for THIS box?" (Remember, she said that the boxes were cheap, so I initially thought, well, I have not lived in the US for 15 months, maybe I just don't know what cheap is anymore.) Anyhow, she replied again that the price was correct and we paid for it. Meanwhile, Jerry found a placard near the shipping supplies with the price list and it showed $2.00. He showed it to her and we could see that she was not ready to concede that $9.69 was not the right price. Jerry pointed out the box, dimensions and price listed a few more times and then she said that she would give us a refund.

Well, guess what!? It took four employees and about 15 minutes for us to get our refund. I could have sworn we were in S Asia. If I told someone boxes were cheap and then a box rang up over 9 bucks, I would have said something like, "Hmmm.... that can't be right," and checked into it. Jerry says that what she did is what happens when people do not have critical thinking skills because "the computer cannot possibly be wrong!"

But, we are glad to be back. It's been nice to hang out with family and we have already eaten Chick-fil-A, Vietnamese noodle soup, sushi and steak. And Jerry has also gotten to eat a JUMBO beef hot dog and drink lots of Starbucks coffee.

If you are interested in either sharing a meal with us (we've got a list of things we want to eat) and/or taking semi-leisurely walks for exercise (me only - Jerry is training for the marathon and will be running), let me know!

Goodbye, worms!

Jerry and I went to the hospital yesterday to get our Hep A/B boosters and decided to go ahead and get blood tests to check for malaria since there has been an outbreak in our area. Because of some symptoms Jerry has, there is a chance that he has worms (gross!) and because of my proximity to him, there is a chance (albeit slighter) that I have them, too (double gross!).

So, the doctor said that we should go ahead and take a de-worming pill. If we have worms, they will get destroyed and if we don't have worms, the pill will not harm us. We went to the pharmacy and paid only 35 cents for each pill. You do not swallow these pills with water; instead you chew them down and then swallow - like candy.

Well, we ate our pills last night. Jerry opened his and marveled at how good the de-worming pill smelled. Then, he ate it and said it tasted like orange sherbet!

Today is Jerry's birthday. Last year on his birthday we found out we were invited to Thanksgiving dinner at the US Consulate. And for his birthday this year, he gets to be de-wormed by an orange sherbet-tasting wonder pill!

Beef - it's what's for dinner

We enjoyed our best steak in S Asia tonight and it was only $10. The tenderloin was cut like filet mignon and was cooked the way we wanted - RARE. We have had steaks a few times here, but they ALWAYS overcook it. Even when we ordered the steak rare tonight, the waiter wrote down well-done and I had to correct him and added that we wanted it red inside.

Since the steak was so well-cooked and tasty, I summoned the waiter to tell him that the beef was delicious and prepared really well and to please tell the chef. Right after he left, I remembered that we are in the land of "hit a cow on the street with your car and get attacked by a mob." So, maybe telling the staff that I loved eating the beef was not such a good idea.

food daydreams

One of our conversations 2 nights ago...

Mitzi: I love you, Honey.

Jerry: I love you, too, sweetie pie.... Mmmm... pumpkin pie

M: Ahh... apple pie

J: Fresh strawberry pie from House of Pies

M: Chocolate pie with bananas on the bottom

J: Mississippi Mud pie

M: Banana Cream Cake

We'll be home Dec 18 - Jan 27th. Who wants to go out for dessert with us?!

One is the loneliest number

There is only one gorilla in this entire sub-continent of a country. His name is Polo and he is 36 years old. He was a gift from the Dublin Zoo. The folks here are trying to find him a sweetheart, but none of the other zoos in the world want to part with their gorillas. He has been "alone" since 2000, the year his former gal pal, Sumathi, died.

From the article...

"He is not very happy. The few joys he enjoys are bathing and searching for food that his keeper hides in blocks of ice or in bamboo to keep him energized," Singh said.

For the prospective mate, Singh says Polo is good-natured and responds to commands in both the local Kannada language and English. (Polo is also 6 feet tall, dark-haired and bilingual.)

"He is in fine health, but lonely," Singh said. "After eight years, anyone would be."

Too bad there is no speed dating for gorillas. And guess where I read this? On the Houston Chronicle website!

Hair Fall

You remember how I told you that people said my hair would fall out here? Well, they were right. It has been frightening for me (and Jerry) to see all my hair on the bedroom floor, clogging up the bathroom drain and in my hairbrush. People also said that the hair fall would be very noticeable to me, but not to those around me, which has been the case.

The reason for the hair fall (the phrase used here) is the bad quality of water. There are lots of minerals and some arsenic in the water here. I have even heard of some expats using bottled water to shower/bathe. And it is not just expats who are affected. I see many commercials on TV for products to prevent hair fall all the time. And interestingly enough, I see product displays for these "solutions" in places like bookstores.

Last month I had an ayurvedic body massage, which is basically ayurvedic herbal oils massaged into your skin all over your body, including your scalp. Well, I noticed that my hair did not seem to fall out as much after that. Then, I learned that several of my co-workers massage oil into their scalps at least once a week and leave it in overnight. So, guess what? I am doing that now, too. And guess what? It is working! Here is a picture of the oil I am using. And Himalaya is pronounced "hi-MAH-lee-ah" here. The featured ingredients are bhringaraja, amalaki, methi, neem and bilva.

Zac Efron night at the Mak flat

It did not really start out that way and we not even fans of his, but we ended up watching two movies with him in them. So, here is the story of Zac Efron night and being cheered up by musicals.

One of my dear friends Lindsay was just cast in a production of High School Musical (HSM) in New Hampshire. We are so committed to seeing Lindsay in all her productions AND we love HSM, so we were trying to figure out a way we could go to New Hampshire during our furlough this winter to see her. However, we talked to her tonight and the show is in late November and we do not get to the US until Dec 18th. We did look on the web for things to do in the NH town and we could have also enjoyed brewery tours and Bingo games in addition to seeing Lin in the musical. (I guess we will have to settle for St. Arnold's Brewery and Family Bingo Hall in Houston.)

Anyhow, all the talk of HSM made me want to watch it, so watch it we did. We have the encore edition on DVD and watched the sing-along version. It is not the best of musicals, but it is so cute and entertaining. We even went to the concert tour in Houston at the Toyota Center! Sharpay is my favorite, followed by Ryan. And their rendition of It's Hard to Believe is my favorite song followed by Stick to the Status Quo. It was so fun watching a fun musical, that I thought of watching Hairspray afterwards. I love that movie. I remember going to the theater and from the first line of the opening song, my mouth turned into a big smile and I KNEW that I was going to enjoy the movie.

Well, I just finished watching Hairspray and felt so uplifted in my spirits. (Mimi - a big thanks for buying it for me!) The songs and dancing are great and the storyline is funny and inspiring. It made me feel like I could tackle the city of K. It reminded me of something I learned in a training on self-care. Of course, we all need to take care of ourselves, but this training was specifically for people in abnormally stressful situations and I think ours fits that scenario. One of the suggestions was to watch more comedies, to laugh more, because laughter reduces stress. Well, I think that fun musicals do that and even more for me. My heart literally felt lighter and more inspired by watching these two films, especially Hairspray because the plot and songs involve standing up and fighting for needed change.

So, thank you High School Musical and Hairspray!