An emu farm?

This weekend Liz and I were invited to visit an emu farm, run by one of the students currently in new-hire communication training with another trainer. We were both surprised to hear that there was such a thing in India, so we readily agreed to go...even though we had to leave at 6:30 AM to get there!! (Ugh! I haven't been up that early since I got moved off of the morning shift!) The farm was located about 2 hours away from Chennai, a bit across the boarder in the state of Andhra Pradesh, with only a smallish town nearby. It was a big occasion because it was the second anniversary of the farm and it seems as if they had really done quite a bit with the land in that time. Besides the emus, they also raise turkeys & cows as well as several fields of corn and rice. The place seemed quite scientifically run-we weren't even able to enter the hatchery because it was a sterile environment. [It has to be since the eggs can each run upwards of Rs. 1500 (~US$35)]. We were, however, able to go into the pens and pet the adult birds, which were a bit softer than they looked. After our tour of the farm, they treated us to a nice lunch (Andhra food is generally spicier than that in Tamil Nadu!) and we headed for home to find our own animals crying for dinner. :)

Meow, meow, meow, meow

So in addition to all the Christmas shopping, Liz and I have also acquired some company in our apartment. We have adopted two six-week-old kittens that were birthed on Liz' friend's porch. Pet ownership, especially of cats, does not seem to be very common here in India; although stray animals roam freely in the streets. It some areas, these animals cause big problems. Some celebrity here (Amitabh Bachan?) needs to take up Bob Barker's crusade ("have your pets spayed or neutered") Although, I guess it would have to be "have the strays in front of your gate sterilized!" :)

But I digress. Yes, we now have two lively kittens running around our apartment. We wanted to give them good south Indian names, so we have chosen Lakshmi and Priya. Apparently, this many of our friends are shocked by this-they feel that pets should only have cutesy pet names, not real person names. For the first couple of days, we also referred to Priya as "the noisy one". She was constantly crying from the time we put her in the box to take her to the apartment to the time we let them out in the living room. She hated to be picked up and hated to be put down. It was a long night and it made me repeat my mantra ("this is why I don't want kids") over and over. :) Lakshmi was much more pliant. She reveled in the attention and was calm about being handled. However, after a few days of settling in, it seems as if the personalities have been reversed. Priya still doesn't like to be picked up, but she settles in next to you on the sofa without too much protesting. Lakshmi is now loudly demanding more and more attention, as if she has just now realized that she's not going to get to go back to her mother.

It definitely has brought more life to our apartment...especially the amount of time we have to spend cleaning up the messes!!!! UGH!!!! :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Well, the cyclone seems to have passed us by or petered out somewhere before it hit much land. We all were a bit tense to know whether we would get stuck at work Friday night again, but luckily the rain didn't hit too hard.

Liz and I were quite happy because it meant that we could spend Saturday shopping for Christmas decorations for our apartment. One of our friends lent us an extra tree and we found a Christmas store in Egmore where we could buy trimmings for it. And buy we did! :) We got lights, garland, and ornaments to cover our 5-ish foot tree. Without planning it purposely, we ended up with a patriotic red, blue & white (the lights) tree. Hmm...maybe we are a little homesick!!!! We got stockings, a manger scene that lights up & plays 'silent night' and even mistletoe!!!! Afterwards, we went to dinner at the American diner that opened up recently. Sparky's diner is great-real American food at reasonable prices. I've been there twice now and had a real burger (with no extra spices added) and a meatball sub on homemade Italian bread. MMMMM!!! One of the best parts is the ambiance. It's decorated all over with Christmas lights and Christmas decorations. And they play real, honest-to-goodness Christmas carols the whole time. The owner of the place-an American himself-is even having a special Invitation-only event that we are planning on checking out on Christmas Eve. I never really thought of spending Christmas Eve in a diner, but I am really looking forward to it.

Please Pray!

This is an update that we are still being plagued by rain and flooding in Chennai. On Sunday, our pastor said that if the water rose another 3 feet, even our church building would be in the water. The water in the rivers is so high, officials are worried that any one of the bridges could give way at any time. Crowds were gathering on the bridges just to see the depth and the current in the river.

Not only is it a spectacle, but the flooding has already displaced the many people that lived in huts along the river. Our pastor pointed out that the more the flooding continued, the more money would have to be diverted for flood relief from other civic necessities.

Cyclonic storms are again predicted for the next couple of days, so I'm asking-PLEASE PRAY FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY!

Aloha!

I just got back from my quick trip to Hawaii and I'm feeling great! (Well, except for the jet lag, that is!) I guess a vacation to a tropical paradise is always good for the soul, no matter where you come from! :) I had a wonderful time in Hawaii celebrating the union of my friend Heather to her partner Alexis. They had a beautiful ceremony on the beach and all of the events were full of love from the family and friends surrounding the couple. They both made the guests feel loved and valued as integral parts of their lives. I greatly enjoyed getting to know Alexis' side as well as meeting Heather's friends that I had heard so much about during our time in college.

After the wedding, I was able to meet up with one of my close friends from elementary through high school. She now works as a dolphin trainer at Sea Life Park. I remember her saying that she wanted to work with dolphins from the beginning, so it is pretty exciting to see her now living out that dream! We even got to go "backstage" to meet one of the penguins and one of the dolphins and learn a bit about their training. It was such an awesome experience to be that close to both animals! I managed to survive my 7-hour layover in Singapore Airport, even though almost all of the shops were closed (which may not be a bad thing in terms of my budget!). Luckily I managed to find the movie theater to keep my mind engaged for some time. The trip back to India really reminded me of what I had been missing while I was gone. Indian Airlines has got to be one of the worst airlines ever! Everything about it was bad: the plane itself should probably have been retired at least 5 years ago-I was sitting next to the emergency exit and I could hear it rattle the entire time, the seat covers were all torn and falling off and there was no movie screen at all (for a 4 hour trip.) The food was horrible-completely unrecognizable and tasteless! I didn't know what to say when the steward who collected my tray said, "I hope you enjoyed your meal!" :)

One of the more amusing parts for me was that while we were descending for the landing in Chennai, the Indian passengers were all standing up in the aisles, opening the overhead bins for their carry-on luggage--completely ignoring both the seatbelt sign as well as the instructions from the crew! Then, the two people next to me got up and moved to seats in the front of the plane so that they could be sure to be one of the first ones to get off!

When I got through customs at the airport and was waiting for my luggage, the power went off! Welcome back to India! :)