update...

our water is working again! but now i am paranoid that it will randomly turn off again, they will not catch me unawares again. they don't know who they are dealing with.
here's some photos for you to enjoy:

A gift from some friends...

our very own KFC- opening night

all in a day's work.

Water Project

the water is currently not on in our building; don't be alarmed, its on purpose per the management. they have started rationing our water supply in preparation for the dry months ahead. we now have running water at 6am, 12:30pm, and 8pm. the water will come on for about 30-40 min, if we're lucky. when the water comes on, we jump up from whatever we are doing and do the dishes or take a hot shower or try and do some laundry. the water does not always last the length of the 40 min wash cycle so when that happens i usually have to manually fill the washing machine and change the settings so it will at least spin the clothes the rest of the cycle. we have buckets of water lying around the house for use when the water is not running. and if we happen to be out of the house that day we just have to hope the buckets we have will last us another day. its not too bad now that we have formed a somewhat of a schedule. it's weird to have a schedule based around the water supply. last night we went out for dinner and i thought before we left, "dang it, we wont be home when the water's on- we'll miss it again today... maybe we shouldn't go out..." i don't know if my priorities are messed up for wanting to stay home for water or not staying home for the water.... its not a dire need, we have buckets to store it in... its just inconvenient. i woke up this morning at 6 so i could wash our dishes, fill up the buckets of water that were all running low and fill our drinking containers... only water would make me wake up that early.
it got me thinking about water here. during the rainy season; water is in abundance but its not sanitary to drink; which is why we have clean water projects to bring people clean water and inform them they are getting sick so much because they are using dirty water. but in the dry months, especially towards the end of those dry months, people literally have to deal with not having water available. period. they use water for everything here, from cooking rice to drinking tea to washing clothes. how do they cope with that? i get annoyed with having to wake up at 6 to fill the washing machine with water but they cant even drink water. how can we help them in that? build better systems to conserve and save water during the rainy season so it doesn't dry up during the drought that comes every year.

Over Eater

I had a reputation of being able to eat a lot. If someone had left over food or any food for that matter, they could count on me to eat it; especially sweets. My weakness has been food for a long time and, if you know me at all, you know that I can throw down food- fast. Well, over here in this part of the world, I feel like I am out striped when it comes to eating every day. I don’t know where these people put all that rice! They eat plates full of rice at every meal plus other food; veggies, potatoes, perhaps some meat… the point being that I can’t keep up with the locals! I don’t know how many times I have said here, “I can’t eat any more! Or I can only eat a little bit. No more please, I am so full!” and they give me a weird look, shrug and put more on their own plates instead. I don’t know what has happened to me, I was so confident that I could handle the food and when everyone said “be prepared for the rice” I didn’t take them seriously. I figured I could handle it- after all I can put down more food than most… I was so wrong. Needless to say, I have been humbled in my eating habits. And don’t even get me started on the sweets here! I can barely choke down one piece! The reason? They are TOO sweet! Who would have thought the sentence would ever come out of my mouth, but there you go. I have turned down sweets because they are literally too sweet for me. When people talk about there being sweets where ever we are going, I start to worry and turn them down if at all possible… I guess it’s good for my body but so against my mental attitude of all sweets are good for me! hahaha I guess my India diet is finally working for me.

Sorry i haven't updated in a while, i'll try to do better...

here are some sweet pics:

Normal?

Titanic theme'd durga puja model- the model of the goddess is inside- complete with Jack and Rose up front and 'My Heart Will Go On' blaring on the loudspeakers... 

Made out of cloth and bamboo- this is a model of a palace for the durga puja

sidewalk scandal

I've been walking more around town. it's usually easier than trying to find a fair auto or cramming onto the bus and the weather is starting to cool off a tiny bit. maybe i should clarify; by cool off i mean there is sometimes a good breeze that comes through to ease your sweating body... anyway i always enjoy walking by a group of young guys. that sounded weird. i get excited because i love watching them freak out, tell each other that i'm in front of them walking right towards them then trying to dare each other to walk closest to me as we pass... it so funny to watch them work up the nerve to look at me or walk close to me. i can see some of them teasing each other and making fun of each other. perhaps i am making up a lot of this interaction in my head but it still amuses me:) it always makes me want to laugh and say something to them, make a passing comment but i know that that would be really culturally inappropriate (which makes me want to do it more so sometimes) but i refrain...