A School Closes...

Daniele has finished another school year yesterday! She's officially in 5th grade as of today. The school she was attending has shut down for good. It was designed for kids like ours who's family works abroad. All 3 of our school age kids have enjoyed being a part of that school over the last few years. They've made some life-long friends there beyond just learning their academic work. That school's been good to us.

Danielle will now start her 5th grade in home school on Monday. No rest for the weary!

Nafisa is enjoying life.

Family Photos March 2007

Danielle with Amanda, her classmate at school program
The family with our friends just outside Aurangabad

Maria and Mandi out shopping...who's the dummy? :-)

Danielle's school program

Kids with our house helper, Zaheda

Things I like About Pune, India

• I can drive any way I feel like and still fit in to normal driving patterns.

• Normal Indian life still revolves around family and evening walks down the street.
• I can hear 5 different languages just on my way to pay my electric bill.
• Pune’s dry season which lasts 2/3 of the year usually makes for a very comfortable life. Even if it gets to 110 or 115, sure it’s hot, but not unbearable.
• Power cuts force me to enjoy candle lit meals more often!
• Entertaining small talk with anyone is the spice of life, besides the tons of green or red chilli’s in your rice.
• Sweet Lassi (a yogurt drink) with a dab of cream from that one dairy shop in Kondwa is AWESOME!!!
• Because we’ve lived in this city for over 7 years, we’ve grown to be known by some shop keepers. We pass by and they want to catch up on what’s happening with our family.
• Coffee Jar…need I say more?
• I can drop my electric bill off at a shop and they will take my money and pay the bill for me...at no cost!
• City Parking fee for a car is $0.11
• City Parking fee for our motorbike is $0.05
• KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonalds are all within 5 minutes of each other.
• George’s restaurant…the best Chicken Makhani in town!
• That one electric shop on MG road where I always have to chat for ½ an hour when I pick up a spare light bulb.
• Sagar’s … the best vegetarian food this side of heaven…pow-bajie and their special Mexican mini-tacos full of macaroni and cheese (gotta have one to know it’s value!).
• Zaheyda’s chicken byriani! She’s our house helper and can she make biryani!
• Friends from various backgrounds and countries.
• The hundreds of festivals makes for a very colorful and musical calendar!
• The vast diversity of people we’ve met here: I can differentiate between accents from South India and the North, people from the UK, Australia and South Africa.
• Cheap prescription drugs I can purchase anywhere without a prescription
• A loooong strawberry and mango season!
• The list continues….

Family News

On Saturday, Merrilea and the kids all went to a birthday party for our good friend Melanie and a going away party for her brother, Matthew who will be leaving for boarding school later this year. They had a blast...and got some sun, too.

Our visitors from South Carolina have returned via Delta airlines on a non-stop flight to Mumbai arriving some 12 plus hours later. Just think, if you ever wanted to visit us, you could take that trip as well!

Merrilea is sick but doing ok. Maybe caught a cold from a friend in Aurangabad. Such is life in the fast lane with all the travel we have beeing doing!

Life in India: Some things are really fun: For the last 2 days I’ve been staying in a hotel in Mumbai near the airport. For some strange reason, I’ve received my meals complementary! When things like this happen, it’s wonderful! Yet, sometimes just getting the simple things done…like changing our address for our cell phone provider …I haven’t received a bill at our new address since informing them of our address change 5 months ago! BUT, as Maria revealed to our guests from South Carolina, she wouldn’t want to live anywhere else! Now, that is awesome! I’m so glad that living here in South Asia has been a VERY healthy thing for us a family.

From "Traveling Bill"

Aurangabad Pictures

Who is the tallest person in this picture? :-)

Somebody is on her tip-toes!






Joseph and His Rock!
At the Buddhist Caves which are hundreds of years old.
Climbing on the hills
Talking with some friendly people

Community Challenge

The team from South Carolina has no translator for Saturday’s work! Apparently the translator's had prior obligations that day.
This will force our team to rely on other members of the community.

Joseph and Maria continue to do their home-school work while in Aurangabad. Joseph called and told me he got 100% on his grammar test today! Ata ‘boy Joseph!

I’m really looking forward to joining back with my family and the team on Sunday night. This week's meetings in Bangalore have been very profitable, ensuring I am equipped with the right skills and tools for my work.

More when I hear more about the team!

Bill

On the Train

Our team from South Carolina is now on the train with Merrilea, Maria, Joseph and Nafisa. The train left around 4:30PM from south Mumbai and they'll arrive around midnight tonight in Aurangabad. New sights...new smells, new tastes!

Latest Update: About 6:30pm today I spoke with Merrilea as her train was chugging along the Indian countryside. The children were doing great, though Nafisa was tired and screaming. I’m sure our South Carolina visitors are a bit tired with jet lag. They should arrive very soon to their city and be in bed in about 2 hours from now.
All is well!
Bill for the fam

South Carolina Team has Arrived!

Tuesday Night March 6th
I just got a phone call about an hour ago from Merrilea that the team has arrived in Mumbai. They are awaiting the bus from the airport to the hotel.
Soon they'll be rested and enjoying a train trip to Aurangabad!

More as the week progresses!
Bill

Lunar Eclipse

Pictures taken with Canon Powershot S3 IS with tripod.

(Thanks team from MABC!)

6:05 AM
6:15 AM
6:19 AM
6:27 AM
6:32 AM

I went out with Maria and Danielle a few blocks from our apartment. (Merrilea and Joseph wanted to go back to sleep). It was great but a bit cool in our pajamas. We are back home now...it's just after 7am here...about 8:30pm EST. Hope you all have a great night while we get on with our day!

Bill for the fam

Maria & Joseph's Turn

Maria and her close friend, Meesha making cookies…or playing with chocolate…? Meesha stayed over last night. I don't think they quit talking till about 1 AM...or at least that's when I fell asleep.

Joseph: Tell me how, while coming down a slide, his head hit his friend Matt’s knee? Gotta like his Rocky pose. He’s fine…just looks bad. He REALLY wanted to pose for this picture with Meesah. We love you Joseph!

From Bill - the one who is enjoying being a Dad.

PS
We've got some visitors coming from South Carolina joining us next week for 10 days. We'll all be going to Aurangabad (5 hours north of our home city) so we may not be updating this for a bit. We sure are looking forward to their work with us. Also, we just found out that we may have a young couple joining our work in July! They will be with us for 2 years. We are very grateful for their partnership with us.

A Day in the Life...

Danielle and friend Esther making shapes with home-made eatable play-dough today March 1^st after school. PEANUT BUTTER!

A glimpse into Maria’s life: board at her desk