Sometimes You Just Need A...

Pooja, my friends.

Like when you are out shopping for gifts for your first trip back to the U.S.A and you buy several small clay Ganesh statues and then, upon arriving home, promptly drop the bag on the floor and find that you have broken almost_everyone_one. (Yes, almost...except for the one that your daughter has chosen as a gift for the driver...) Raju picked his Ganesha up, kissed it and said with a grin, "that is because I love the Ganesh, madame!" He kindly waited 2 days before letting me know that it wasn't really *proper*, nor particularly wise, to drop and break him...

Ganesh, being, among other things, the Hindu deity that blesses journeys...beginnings and endings. Ganesha is probably the most popular Hindu god and he is our family's personal favorite, as well.

And then, when you find yourself without a renewed visa ...only days before you are supposed to depart. And you are waiting. And Time Is Not On Your Side... A person might, if they were inclined, start to fret. or Holler. or something that forces others to see your less than admirable qualities.

Yep, given the circumstances and all that broken clay... and the fact that I am quite willing to take God where ever she might meet me:

Pooja Time... Raju thought it was an excellent and very necessary plan and was pleased that I had read his mind: He brought the bananas, coconut and jasmine flowers and we set off for the local Ganesha temple. Pointedly, prior to our Brunch reservation, because, as Raju, pointed out, "Madame, you will be drinking the champagne again?" (ummm...yes...?) "There can be no good pooja after drinking the liquors, madame." (okay... clearly he watches out for us...and is often wise about all kinds of things that I am not.)

We entered the temple, each ringing the bell. Raju conversed with the temple priest about us

and we were asked our names. Offerings were made, Coconut smashed, Incense lit, Prayers were said, and then the car had it's turn. "God Bless You" to each of us from the priest, a mark upon our foreheads and Prasad given (blessed bananas and coconut...which we ate). Limes placed under the car wheels... Jasmine hung in the window. Jasmine around Owen's neck.

And we did feel blessed. And calmer. Even the car honked more peacefully.

God Bless All of You, Too...

Om Tat Sat.

The Fischers

Calmly Awaiting Our Visas...and Packing like mad,

in India

Just A Regular Day...

You're probably going to think I'm odd (because so far, it hasn't been obvious, right?) but you'll never understand the pleasures of the simple grilled cheese sandwich until you're in a place where the cheese is either incredibly bad or eye poppingly expensive and erratically available. Humor me. I'm a Little Insane. Ha-Ha. Really...

See that Cheddar...350 Rupees...$8.50 for a thin little block of it. Imported from the U.K. Missing for the past two months. "Here Only There Is The Cheese, Madame."
And Again... Cheese. Note that nice loaf of bread. Not Homemade. Things are looking up in the bread department here... Instead of sweet, squishy, yucky, preservative laden loaves; we can now get whole wheat and a pretty decent baguette. "Here Only At 1:30 pm, Madame. Come Tomorrow, Come Firstly!"

In between traveling, cursing traffic, procuring consumables (imported or otherwise), and bouncing from one unimagineable craziness to another, our days pretty much look something like this:

Grayce and Owen in our School Room...really an empty bedroom that we're trying to maintain a semblance of organized chaos in. Grayce is helping Owen to show off the Giant Letter "O" which he built from his "connectors" set. Which is a good thing, because, "Mama, I don't weally wike da alphabet...I can wead alweady...you wead to me all the time...I wanna be a Boxer." Yes, he is wearing a dress in the photograph... "My name is Jack, I'm a boy who wikes to weah dwesses!" (though sometimes, Grayce pretends he's her sister "Lucy" which he's pretty much okay with.) Unless it's "Owen, Amazing Supa Boy" Day... Gotta Love a Vivid Imagination :-)

A close up... featuring Owen's Famous Wink. Imagine that in your favorite college bar...Yikes!

Owen's "favowitest, eveh, eveh, eveh caw pwesent fwom my daddy!"

Diva Grayce practicing her Bollywood-Fairy-Princess-Curtain-Closing-Bow...

Some of our favorite "science projects" start in the kitchen...usually with cookies. Grayce LOVES to bake and Owen equally loves making a mess!

'Nuff Said... I bought "The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion" off Amazon and had it couriered to Bangalore for an obscene amount of American Dollars on one of those days when Bangalore was just a little toooooo much of everything. We love cookies. Yes, we do.....

Oh Yeahhhh, Baby... That is my newly upgraded Toaster (i.e. ONLY) Oven... One of the feet melted off last week and today (after baking) the timer/on dial just fell off in my hand...ARRRRRGGGGHHHH. As Vimala would say..."very bad quality, madame!" How the Hell are we gonna bake those COOKIES?!?!?!? I have my priorities, ya know...

Once the cookies were baked and mommy was done having her broken-new-toaster-oven-seizure, the kids decided that it was time for a tea party... Afterall, it's officially "Friendship Day"...so, Tea and Cookies and Playtime with Friends.

The Fischers

We Blog About Cheese!

in Bangalore, India

"Eclipse Shuts City Down!" (Page 2 headline, in the Times of India)

Honestly, this is why I love India...

Such a mix of old and new: The Ganesha Birthday Party Shop and Infosys, automobiles and bullock carts, Spar Hypermarket (home of Belgian Beer and imported cheese and shiny shopping carts) and City/Russell/neighborhood Market (home of Brinjal, Banana, Giant Bags of Rice, Caged Live Chicken and Freshly Butchered Goat), Washing machines and The River, Sarees and Blue Jeans, and that bullock cart driver wearing a longhi with his cell phone pressed to his ear... There is no place on earth quite like it and no other place that could carry off the contradictions with only a well-timed head bobble. Some of these contradictions can be humbling or even horrifying, some frustrating and others so full of mirth and joy that they serve to make life a little MORE...

You may know that yesterday there was a Solar Eclipse. You may even know not to stare directly up at the sky. What you probably have missed, is this:

-No eating after 2 pm, assuming your eclipse begins some where between 4 and 5 pm. Stronger ultraviolet rays may enter your food and cause potential harm. Apparently, it's okay to eat if you are aged, a child or an invalid, which I kind of don't get:

"Honey, mom and daddy won't be eating tonight to avoid too much UV radiation...but you go ahead...dig in! No, no, don't worry about the funny glow your soup has...it's good for you!

-Do not go outside during the eclipse.

-Especially if you are pregnant, nervous, psychologically unwell... (heck, that's at least 50% of the expats!) Or if you're alive.

-Tulsi leaves (a local wonder-herb...also known as Holy Basil,) may mitigate the effects of all that radiation. Put some in your water jug. Put some in your food. Actually, that goes for pretty much all the other days of your life, as well... Just shut-up and take the Tulsi, dammit!http://www.holy-basil.com/30501.html?*session*id*key*=*session*id*val*

-When it's all over...don't forget to shower! Or else... You may become Unwell. Or Cursed. Not an auspicious plan, you fool!

Now, I'm kind of a superstitious person and I'm here, only, to tell you, that living in India has given me a whole new set of variable circumstances in which to test my fortune...

Mythologically speaking, the Hindu story behind the Solar Eclipse is "...the tale of the 'Samudra Manthana' when the divine churning of the milky ocean brought forth the elixir of life. Cleverly disguised as the beautiful Mohini, Lord Vishnu gave the ambrosia to the devathas and not to the demons. Two demons who slipped in and tried to feast on the ambrosia were caught with the help of the Sun and the Moon. And every once in a while, Rahu and Ketu take revenge on the Sun and the Moon by 'devouring them'..." (Times of India)

Scientists say that an eclipse is "a result of the natural movement of the bodies of the universe." Scientists claim that there is no proof that the solar eclipse is dangerous or unhealthful. But then they only believe in things they can see and they sometimes suffer from an utter lack of imagination...

Which story do you like best?

Back to India: Plenty of people in India don't believe the mythology. And, there are alot of Fine Scientific Minds here. That doesn't stop the city from shutting down, though. Or schools from letting out early. Nor does it stop mythology from intertwining with, influencing and easing every day life. You'd never get away with that in the U.S...sure, you're free to believe whatever you want, people...and the major Christian holidays definitely have their own story and influence...but commerce so rarely stops long enough to honor history, much less a mysterious act of nature, in the same way that it does here.

And you never know...you might become Unwell.

The Fischers

Who Do As They Are Told,

In India

What We Have Been Up To...

I've gotten enough guff from my husband about "30 Blogs in 30 Days" to sense that I've missed the mark... Did you know that there are at least 30 Days in most months? Oh. Except that the kids and I leave for the U.S. in 18 days, for 6 weeks and we'll be far too busy sipping really large, extra shot, a-little-on-the-wet-side-Cappucinos, sampling multiple vats of Pumphouse Creamery Ice Cream and eating real, honest, beef to come up for air and post a daily blog.

*Sigh* Which essentially puts us into October...where I am sure to have forgotten any blogging promises made.

Here's an update:

*We still live here.

*We're still going to be living here, for a while.

*Today, we innoculated petri dishes of agar and chicken bouillon with spit samples. Because homeschooling inspires us to really gross our selves out!

*The Monsoon has arrived...and I keep forgetting my umbrella...and Owen loves being caught in the rain so much that he manages to convince me that the dark clouds overhead won't produce rain and we get really, really wet...so wet that the security guards at the Maintenance Office near our villa, laugh. Heartily. Mostly at my expense.

*Grayce remains..."the toothless wonder"

*Mama cat, Ellen...ummm...is shamelessly pregnant again...before I'd managed to get her to a vet. Since 2 of her kittens are still hanging around, she's taken leave for greener pastures.

*Grayce spends as much time as possible outside, carting around Ellen's "mini-me"...our new "cat that isn't our cat"...Her name is Ellie...her brother is Tiger...and they still aren't our cats!

*There seems to be a major cat problem in Palm Meadows. So much so, that we can't leave our long windows open because any variety of cats' push the velcro screens in.

*No sign of the Big Ugly Stinky Rat...but occasional cat-related rat entrails on the front porch remind us of what we are missing.

*My husband is so super-cool that he bought me a set of gorgeous gold bangles...on a Wednesday...when it wasn't my birthday...or my anything. Just because. Yay!

*Did I mention, we're coming home in 18 days for a visit? I have a childbirth educator conference in August and my sister is getting married in September...and the kids and I haven't been home for 11 months and yes, I am really looking forward to doing things, like Driving My Own Car! Drinking from the hose without getting Dysentary! Using Public Restrooms! Opening a Bottle of Beer that Doesn't Spell "Kingfisher"! Oh yeah...seeing family and friends and eating ALOT are also at the top of my list ;-) I came home from yoga the other morning and the kids had laid all their clothes out on their beds..."get the suitcases, mama, we're all packed!"

*Saree shopping...I'm "officiating" at my sister, Alicia's wedding in California. Please pray that I am able to wrap myself accurately, that my Saree Pins do not fail, and that I do not forget what I am about to say because my slip is showing! I ended up going Saree shopping with my driver, Raju...not really planned, but he was so incredibly offended for me that their wasn't a "lady tailor" to measure my blouse. It's a really beautiful Saree, though!

Overall, We are healthy and well and enjoying life here but really looking forward to our trip home!

See you Soon...

The Fischers

in India

You May Be Dead...

But Thank God it's not Fatal!

One might make the assumption from reading this sign that there have been no accidents whatsoever, in Bangalore in the past three years! One might also be led to believe that there are *Traffic Rules*... and that perhaps one's career potential might be fulfilled if one were to do the needful and FOLLOW THE DAMN RULES. Not only can you evade death, nonfatal or otherwise, but you can expect to climb the corporate ladder at high speed...

Convenient. Now, If only we knew what the rules might be...

Rules which can encompass the bus trying to run me off the road; the motorbike, weaving into and out of the smallest centimeter of space; the hugely colorful truck bearing down the wrong side of the road with apparent homicidal intent; the chai and chaat wallahs pushing their wheeled carts sloooowwwly yet industriously along; the bicycle bucket man, buckets stacked 8 feet wide; the traffic "cop" with his 10 gallon hat, wearing the dust and smog-avoiding surgeon's mask and collecting "tips" on the corner; the blessed cow lounging peacefully in the center of insanity; the small herd of goats, hungry pack of feral dogs, and ambitiously hopeful rooster hopping frantically from garbage pile to sewage sludge; the racketeered-child beggar performing tricks in the middle of traffic, the rickshaw man, who might-stop-if-he-hit-you, as long as you agree to visit his friend's, uncle's, sister's, cousin's shop which is going out of business and has everything marked down 100% just for YOU; over 8 million pedestrian out perambulating all at once (footpaths? Are you kidding? Let me know when you find one that's less dangerous than the road!) and me, being competitively driven about in my shiny Innova, leaning out of my car window, misguidedly attempting to photograph the "real" India!

The Fischers
confounded by signage...
in India

Grayce's Seventh Time 'Round the Sun!

Apologies for the lack of Tiny Baby Pictures...Our digital camera didn't come on the scene till Grayce was a toddler.

Grayce, around age 1...Bath Time.

As a toddler, in San Diego!

"Sledding" with her Kindred Spirit, Maggie...age 18 months

Age 2, in Duluth

Toddler Chalk Time!

Sunny and Happy Girl!

The Toddler Twosome...Grayce and best pal, Maggie, age 2

Too Cool, 2 year old.

Just "2"...Up North with Mom and Dad...

Valentine Girl!

Nukkers, Lovey and a whole lot of PINK!!

"2 years, 5 months...shopping with Mama in her "New York" poncho...Stylish!

2 years, 9 months... A Big Sister!

"3" years old...Flower Girl at my brother, Alik's, wedding...

Our "4" year old dancer...Look at those fab pigtails!

Thoughtful Five...

"5" years...visiting the Duluth Zoo at Grandma and Papa's.

Turning "6"...Tea Party at Linden Hills Park and a farewell to friends as we packed for India.

ANNOUNCING "7"!!! July 5th, 2008. Daddy brought her flowers...

Our beautiful daughter is "7"...an age that seems...BIG, somehow. So much has changed in our lives this past year that it rather shocked me to realize how much our girl has grown. She's taken to reading chapter books to herself before bed (I always read to the kids at bedtime...but as she says, "Mama, I just love books so much! I neeeeeed to read!") Since she's had to pull my attention out of a book on numerous occasions...well, you could say she's a girl after my own heart!

The Great Birthday Present Hunt (newly introduced this year by Owen P. Fischer, Age 4...born too close to Easter, it seems!)

Birthday morning presents were followed by a manicure and pedicure at the Cocoon Day Spa with Mama...Her toes are Turquoise, and she nearly kicked the pedicurist in the head, her feet were so ticklish! Shopping at Fab India for the auspicious, "new dress"...topped off the morning.

"7th" Birthday Lunch at Sunny's Restaurant in Bangalore... Grayce's favorite. She always orders the "Chicken with Saffron and Leek Sauce"... After lunch and cake we headed back home for some quiet time and then had Family Movie Night...watching "Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone" and eating homemade pizza and ice cream. "A Wonderful and The Most Special Birthday Ever," quoth the birthday girl!

Sunday, July 6th...Waiting for Friends to arrive for the Birthday Tea!

"7th" Birthday Rickshaw Ride! Courtesy of her best Bangalore Buddy, Lucia's Dad, Dave...

Fellow expat friends and Birthday guests...waiting for the Rickshaw!

All the girls...having lunch and too much fun!

Birthday Tea Arts and Crafts...

"Happy Birthday, dear Graycie....and Pink cupcakes for all!

Speaking of hearts...Grayce has a tender one. She is kind and loving and compassionate. A perfectionist. She is funny and has an imaginative flair for the dramatic. She can be shy and hates to be "put on the spot." She is, as she has been since birth, cautious and occasionally anxious. Crowds and loud noises are not her thing. She loves art and wants to "be an art teacher...a small class in our house." Grayce is a fabulous story teller! She is a wonderful big sister and friend to her brother. She can not yet imagine a world in which she would want to ever be apart from us...

We love you, dear one :-) Happiest of all Birthdays and Blessings for your new journey towards eight!

The Fischers

Humming Along Happily,

In Bangalore!

Finding Our Homeschooling Rhythm...

We've only been homeschooling for one month but throughout the journey toward the First Missed-First Day-of-School-and-Run-To-The-Bus-Stop, I became certain that we would identify our "style" of homeschooling as "Holistic Eclectic"... What does that mean??

My friend (and the person who coined the term,) LakeSuperiorMom says ..."to me holistic eclectic homeschool is combining those philosophies that treat the child as a whole being rather than an empty carton to be filled. waldorf, montessori, piaget, and others are included here. unschooling philosophies fall in this category as well. anything that treats the child as a whole person and meets that childs needs through his head, heart and hands and uses artistic or aesthetic qualities to teach these lessons. combining the elements from these fabulous philosophies to create an individualized learning experience that meets our child's individual learning style and creates a wonderful learning experience falls in here! using multi-cultural stories and hands on activities as well as natural materials alongside mainstream is part of holistic eclectic homeschooling."

Grayce attended Augsburg Park Montessori School (http://www.augsburgpark.com/) for three years, when we lived in Minneapolis and we are *big* fans of APMS and Montessori education. Still, I didn't want to be spending all my time making Montessori materials and when I started researching homeschooling styles and curriculum choices I found that I was drawn to a wide variety of secular philosophies, resources and curriculums. Pieces of each resonated with my desire to provide my children with a unique, literature, nature and arts-based school experience. I wanted it to be multicultural. I wanted it to by rhythmical. I wanted to draw our everyday experiences here in India into our "classroom" and draw our classroom out into our everyday lives. I wanted it to be respectful of my children's differing needs, of their humanity, and their wholehearted joy. I wanted it to be child-centered and child-led. And spiritually oriented without being Religious. I wanted it to be flexible, to foster cooperation and peaceful living and thoughtfulness and creativity. I wanted to read really great stories! I wanted to do a lot of art! To go to the park if we felt like it! To drink coffee in my pajamas while the kids played every morning! But, I also didn't want to feel constrained by dogma. Cuz' dogma tends to suck the living, breathing, metamorphical life out of pretty much anything. Cuz' dogma gives me hives...

Understand that these are my High Ideals and Tall Orders. In actuality, we are having a great time just getting to know one another in a different way. We don't sit around congratulating ourselves for our choices. Some days I lament them. Some days I dream that the bus pulls up right to our front door! And whisks the children far, far away while I have lunch and a pedicure or at least a moment in the bathroom, alone. Perfect days which embody ALL of the above have happened only...never. But there isn't a single day where my child cries and tells me she hates school and doesn't know anything. Nobody is spanking my preschooler for hiding under a table. We all make our share of mistakes, we all have moments of frustration that accompany the great parts...but the kids are learning and having fun and so am I. We're committed to these moments, this space in time...school outside the home may be in their future....or maybe not.

The other day, I called them in from a "play break" and I heard a chorus of "Awww, Mom...we're playin' ancient history!" I looked outside to see Owen trying to make a fire with two rocks...he'd painted red mud on his face and arms. Grayce had pieces of palm leaves all over her hair and body, "This is the ancient culture of Treetola...it's older than Mesopotamia and used to be where Minnesota is today." Owen mutters..."I gotta get this fire started so we can cook our panther," looks up at me and notes, "don't worry mama, I won't start a real fire without a grown up" and goes back to his work.

I got myself a second cup of coffee, put my feet up and smiled. Guess they're learning something.

The Fischers

Playing and Schooling, in India