I want to live inside this video

Yay!

Thanks to everyone who sent good wishes to my dad. He's home from the hospital and seems to be doing just fine. Let's hope he stays away from the pickles and bacon from now on. In other good news, we are super excited about the Phillies!! They showed the NLCS here on Indian ESPN LIVE - which meant that the games were on at 5am! I got to see them win this morning, just before I got picked up for work. I'm admittedly not a huge sports fan, but I can't help being proud of my hometown when I am so far away! Go Phils!! By the way, explaining just what exactly the Philly Phanatic IS has proven to be somewhat awkward.............

Light.....and darkness

The weekend began on a good note - Diwali started, and Tim and I accepted an invitation to celebrate with my co-worker Viny and her boyfriend Farouk. The rickshaw ride to Viny's apartment was almost terrifying,as our driver had to dodge exploding firecrackers and showers of flaming bits of paper in addition to the usual anarchy of traffic and stray animals. When we arrived, Viny's small street was like a war zone, blasts and flames making it difficult to even get to her door. Once inside, we were treated to crunchy sev mix and traditional sweets, and I settled in to what I thought would be a relaxing evening of conversation. Ten minutes later, Farouk had convinced Tim to hop on the back of his motorcycle and go buy firecrackers of our own, from one of the many firework stalls set up all around the city. They came back bearing an arsenal - sparklers, mini crackers, giant, deafening crackers the size of sausages, "flower pots," rockets, round coils that spin around on the ground spraying sparks....basically, enough loud, firey goodness to convince me that someone was going to lose at least a finger. Luckily, there were no injuries, and even the small, unattended children whose antics had me continously cringing through the night appeared to go unscathed. Those of you without Facebook can view our pictures here.
Then yesterday I found out that my Dad is in the hospital with congestive heart failure. I've talked to him, and he claims to be fine, and doesn't want me to come home. But I'm worried and I suddenly feel the distance between Bangalore and Philadelphia more acutely than I have in all these months of being away. I wonder what the hell I am doing here, in this chaos and filth, this place full of frustrations and staring strangers..... If it weren't for these guys, the people I work with, I might have come back months ago. I feel paralyzed with indecision - should I stay or should I go? If I come home to visit, will I be able to leave again and go back to India? I'm not sure what to do right now.....just waiting to see how he is and trying to send good thoughts 8,000 miles across the world. I love you, Catman.

Linus is shooting blanks

Poor Gulabi. He thought getting adopted would mean a life of lazy American housecat luxury....obviously, he was unaware that being owned by a crazy cat lady can also involve profound degradation. Aside from the mandatory turban photo shoot and the loss of some "Charlie Browns", we've all had a pretty fun week. Our new friends Erin and Matt from the Rainforest Retreat came to stay with us for a couple of nights, and Tim and I were extremely grateful for their company. As much as I love being here and meeting new Indian friends,hanging out with really cool people who also happen to be from Philly was a huge relief for my increasingly painful homesickness. We also finally got our refrigerator repaired after two weeks of takeout and wastefulness. Tim made one of my favorite dishes tonight, using this recipe, and it was the spiciest thing I've had since moving to India. If you decide to make this, and double it like he did, I would recommend NOT using 6 chili peppers (Dad, you'd probably be ok with 8 or 9). Other than hanging out, abusing the cat, and eating delicious foodstuffs while watching Arrested Development reruns all week, not much else exciting happened. I was in charge of a contest at work, so I got to read lots of exciting idea suggestions for improving our document review process, including a proposed ban on curd rice in the office and a sweet poem that I wish I could post here. I also played teacher and created a lesson on writing skills - I need to make sure that none of my "pupils" read this and see the godawful run-on sentence style that I refuse to change. We have another three-day weekend coming up, thanks to Diwali, the Indian festival of lights (which kind of sounds like Indian Chanukkah)! I have been promised three straight days of deafening fire crackers, fireworks, and other illuminating festivities, so more on that later.

Slumcat Millionaire

Gulabi Tucker-Foley has been rescued! Tim and Jagadesh went back to Nandi Hills today and bought "Pinky" from his captors for a whopping Rs. 300 (six bucks). He was still tied up to the post, and was reportedly very happy to have the rope around his neck cut off at last! I am told that he did pretty well in the car, although he managed to pee directly into Tim's crotch. He went to the vet right away for a flea treatment and shots, and he goes back tomorrow for his transformation into a feline eunuch. I love him and I can't wait for him to get really, really fat.

The Annoying Thing's THING

I bought a lighter today. It has a weird looking little cartoon character on it called "The Annoying Thing." I asked Debra if she knew what it was, and she didn't, but she was quick to point out that The Annoying Thing is anatomically correct. Apparently, he has videos. Also, he likes to move it, move it.


Crazy Frog - I Like to Move It - Click here for more blooper videos

Free Pinky!

It's Sunday night here in Bangalore, I'm cooking up a big pot of daal, and I can't stop thinking about stealing this little girl's cat. It was another three-day weekend, and although we took it easy and stayed around the neighborhood on Friday and Saturday, we decided to hike Nandi Hills today. The road close to Nandi is peppered with shacks, and the people who live in them often have little stands set up to sell fruit and snacks. As we passed one stand, I got a glimpse of a little orange kitten that appeared to be tied up, but our driver was going too fast for us to stop. I thought about that kitten the entire time we were walking around, and vowed to stop and see if he was still there on the way back. After walking around for a few hours, taking in the incredible view from the top, seeing the Nandi Temple, and hanging out with a GAZILLION monkeys, we got back in the car with a mission. Of course, since he was tied up, it wasn't entirely surprising that he was still there. We got out and I immediately was in cat heaven while Tim talked to the little kids who lived there. We found out that the cat's name is Pinky. The kids keep him tied by the neck to a wood pillar, and he didn't seem very into that at all. Although I got him to purr, he meowed pathetically the entire time we were there, and I think he was trying to tell me to steal him. I told Tim to go back this week and see how much the kids want for him. I'm pretty sure they would sell him to us for the right price. Poor Pinky is hungry and sad and covered in fleas and ear mites! I already have a new Indian name for him - Gulabi, which means "pink" in Hindi. I love Gulabi so much, that even this picture I took of a monkey eating a worm out of another monkey's butt isn't making my heart stop hurting.