Charity & NGO in India "warning"

Before you read the rest...my heart is with the poor and needy in India.  I have worked with Indian non-profit organizations in India since 2005 and this is my advice.

Westerners, especially Christians are easily cheated and fooled by their wish to help.

- Always demand written documentation for purchases and investments. For every purchase you get a receipt and everything is documented in this country.

- Corruption and family ties (big families here) can push even the most good hearted local Indian person over the edge where they will misuse your donation.

- It's the law of the jungle here and don't believe people tell the truth.  The truth is very flexible here for everyone.

- Don't use western goggles to view this country.

It may seem harsh to say these words, but believe me, I have learnt the hard way.

The needs in this country are huge and there are ways to help....but be careful.

Perfect dentist haha

I guess I found my matching dentist. .."We cater to cowards"

Your good name

People ask for your good name here. That is your first name, not your family name.

I guess I have a good name cus I'm good.  Everyone is good and worthy. 

Dental Master Chef

I'm afraid of dentists,  what are you doing! It's water all over my face. Am I taking a shower at your office!  Ouch. Stop. Yuck...it's dirty everywhere.  I feel like vomiting. .it's tooth pieces in the spit cup! There, there, there...you see. So much for tooth whitening!  I can buy that on Internet for 800 rs. I act like a three year old because I'm so afraid.  Ok let's pay. Bye

This was my monolog at the dentists office today.

No pictures of myself

That's why I rarely post pics of myself.  I don't even like taking pics of myself.  This is about my thoughts and my life. ..not my looks.

I want to share my perspective of life here with family, friends and others.

It's irritating enough when I leave the house. This morning a stranger wanted to give me a "lift"...don't think so! Men send me poems, tell things on the street and stare.

I have to be able to live my life so I defy uncomfort leaving the house.  I swore an oath to myself. ..never let fear control my life. Don't tell me to relax. Think of an old man...then talk to me the same as you would him. That's all.

Hindi letters

See these...I know all of them!  All the vowels and a few consonants. Yippi.

Bananarama

Anyone remember them? Well, this is not about the pop trio, but about Lil Baba's first "real" meal.....a bowl of mashed bananas.

He's been eye balling our food intensly for a while now so now it has begun. ..the golden era for our dogs. The time when the can sit under his high chair and catch whatever falls down from a sloppy baby.

Weight loss milestone

Losing weight is like the most boring thing. It takes dedication,  hard work and time... Long time. ... You feel the results before you see them.

It is so easy just to give up,  especially when you have a baby and don't feel like you have the time or the strength to exercise.

I have to exercise since my back is not so good.  That is my driving force....because I have to.

Tonight I was able to wear both my wedding rings for the first time in like 10 months!

Tuning a Stradivarius

Getting my baby to sleep in the afternoon is like tuning a Stradivarius.

The pic says it

Harvard baby MBA

Yesterday I saw "Princeton Public School" in a shady back alley. Hmmm wonder if it is part if the Princeton University?

I'm coming back to the topic over and over again....the random use of names. It would not surprise me if there's a "Harvard baby MBA (management of baby affairs)"

VIP Zoo! !!!

I've had one of the most fun days of my life...at the zoo. I've seen two king cobras,  white tigers, normal tigers, lions and lots of other animals.

I was so excited I forgot to eat, even to drink. That I should be working with animals is to obvious.

They took out the cobras for me tjohoooooooo. I usually don't take so many pics...but this is a treat for the eye..

I will post so many pics.

Yuuuuck

Fresh blood on the floor at the lab.

Shivering. ..

3 day migraine

Dude. I would not wish anyone this headache. ..migraine feels like someone stuck a knife behind your eye.

It runs in my family and I got it some years back.

My problem is that sometimes it lasts for days. ..and not it's nr 3.

"Venom to bring down an elephant"

Tomorrow,  one of my dreams come true!  Ok, maybe my dream is odd, but I'm going to see a real King Cobra!  Tjohooo. 

Ever since I watched a show on Animal Planet,  this has been on my to do list.

"King cobras rarely attack humans, but one bite contains enough venom to bring down an elephant."

Unwanted guest!

Funny and not funny.  Did he think he could hide the tracks. ..a little pile of wood dust....and just hack into my Rajasthan sideboard like that? !!!!.

O noooo....I like the living but this guy picked the wrooooong mam to pick with.

He's on my RADAR.

Sheriff's building

Dude, I've had it with my current bicycle.  It leaks air so I have to always carry a pump to fill the tires.  I'm about to take it to have it demolished like in the movies;  in a giant car crusher.

So I'm going to....apparently the Sheriff's building where there's a big bicycle shop...to buy a new one. This is one aspect of India that I greatly enjoy. ...how things are named. 

There is a Viking restaurant in Malleshwaram (no one I've ever met knows what a Viking is). The tiniest "hole in the wall" shop is called "luxury unisex saloon"....could also be endorsed by Zac Efron...hmmm wonder if he gets in on a cut? Ooh. Yesterday I saw that Hillary Duff sold a local table stand fan. Hehe

What difference does...

A black straw of hair do? Well, nowadays. ..not much.  You remove it and keep on eating the cake. We're so used to so much it's not worth the tension getting irritated and complaining.  This is India, not Sweden. 

This example just shows what I'm getting at from one side. It just happened to happen when I started thinking about the topic.

You just can't expect things to be the same as home.  Of course nobody likes human hair in their cake, but what happens afterwards. ..that is where the difference is. It's not worth the hassle to argue.  Most of the time you "don't pick the fight" cus then you end up fighting all the time.

Why, the culture is so different.  If you've lived in one country most of your life and move...just don't expect the new country to change to fit your standard....especially India. India is sooo special. We love being here. I love the life, the vibe, the people.

Auto on meter

I'm becoming a local!  Four times in a row the auto Rikshaw drivers have accepted using the meter with absolutely no objection. That is almost a miracle in Bangalore.

Nine months ago, they wanted 3 or 4 times the money at least.

Now I do the Indian finger wave with palm facing the ground....and voilà.

Visa approved

Our Visa extension got approved after a full day at the FRRO office.  So many foreigners complain about the VISA process,  but I disagree. I think they're doing a good job given their work environment and circumstances. Imagine a small building crammed with stressed foreigners from all over the world showing all sort of documents trying to make "their" case special in the eyes of the FRRO officers.

The smell of sweat numbs your nose for days.  Each time this guy in a glossy Disco shirt moved his arms, it burnt my sinuses....and he wore some Rayban copies throughout the day.

The world's biggest Espresso

Well, I did order a double. ....

From XXL to M

I guess the diet and exercise is working.  Today they offered me a size Medium instead of the "horrifying" XXL (that I got pre and post delivery) at the store.

From the clerks perspective,  I was just a regular customer. However,  from MY perspective,  her question was a huge milestone.

Noni juice

It's to expensive in Sweden,  but here I can try Noni and other stuff that I'm to cheap to buy otherwise. ....let's see if it cures everything,  removes every wrinkle and makes me 10 years younger. ...haha

Finally. ..

A way to hang the beautiful mobile Lil Baba got. Dude. He's mesmerized.

Snakes on a plane

You know the movie?  I've seen it so many times. It's like one of those movies that always show when you turn on the TV. Not always,  but you know it's one of those movies when you think - This one! Again. It's always on TV

Armageddon, Gladiator,    especially Armageddon! Two other examples.

A little bird tipped me of a local snake charmer aka wildlife expert. ..oooo I'm waiting for his number. Yes I will be careful. I just at least want to see a real King Cobra for once in my life.

Hindi

I was never a good language student but now I'm crazy motivated and realized that motivation is better than talent, money or hours spent with your learning material.

Motivation makes me feel "hungry as a wolf" like we say it in Sweden.  I'm swallowing my letters, words and pronunciation like some mad woman. ...and it's fun!!!.

It's hilarious seeing my tutor laugh when I twist my tongue saying the vowel/consonant (or what it is) "rdh". You're supposed to say all the letters together in a flow using your pallet and rolling your tongue in an exhale. Well, something like that. ..I don't remember exactly,  but he's strict. The goal according to him - you should sound like a Delhi lady.

Snapdeal or Crapdeal

Well, I can always dream of my blue Hercules bicycle cus it's never going to be delivered from Snapdeal.  Read other comments on their Facebook page...hysterical.  One guy received his ordered book with like 172 pages missing. ..haha.  It's so bad it's funny.  One guy was so angry he wrote U BLOODY SNAPDEAL and lots of other stuff.

Poor customer service woman.  She tried to help but has no authority and only allowed to say things according to a pre written manuscript.  She offered a 300 rupees coupon, yea right! Like I'm ever going to buy from them again.

Crapdeal is a better name for that company.

Trust me

What a week.  To many things to do all over the board. We've felt bad cus we need to take our dogs to get their teeth cleaned.  The Pomeranian breed has bad teeth period. The problem is that I don't trust vets here unless we reaaaally have to go.  The only time my dog got fleas was after a vet visit and the clinics look, well it's not a place to leave your dog unattended.

I have the vet tools for removing tartar...so I decided to do it myself instead.  Yesterday,  after a visit to a vet, when he spoke about surgery and said - trust me. Well, that's when I decided to trust my own skills instead.  My own dentist has removed tartar on my teeth for twenty years so I know exactly how to do it.

It went great and my conscience is much lighter. Actually,  it was easier than trimming their claws....and the glory of this story is the dogs trust me.

39 degrees!

Haha...no wonder I am covered in a sticky film of sweat.  It was 39 degrees yesterday.

Funny pic

It looks like he's drinking but he's NOT.  I drink these bottles though,  tons of them. ...and my lil dude is so fascinated by my water bottle and especially my Diet Coke can. I keep the can out of his range but the capped bottle he could play with.  It's funny cus he seems to understand how to use it.

Hmmmm

We had lunch at one of our favorite Indian restaurants today.  In clear site, some of the employees are using the guests plates, stacked in a pile, as stools. ..hmmm...

I don't care that much anymore but still told the waiter as nice I could be....maybe, it's not such a good idea to have the plates on the floor like that because I can see it and I'm also eating on one.

Hot weather and hot temper

I don't know how much I sweat these days, and our landlord must have has a shock seeing our electricity bill this month.  It's the AC. Even local people complain about the heat.  Since I'm so exhausted it is difficult to find time (and inspiration for the blog).
One really fun thing though. ..I got a Hindi tutor!  Two times a week I'll see him and I'm very excited. I need to do something just for me and I really want to learn an Indian language,  both spoken and written.  For the written I use those books we had in first grade to learn the letters. First you trace the letter and then you write the same over and over.

The lil dude is also getting more and more fun. He's got such a hot temper and knows what he wants (instantly)...kind of like me. He loves walking around in Baby Björn and this is how angry he gets if you put him down. Hahaha.

Smart Lenovo

Finally,  my new laptop and it's a Lenovo. Others have tried to sell me display products,  laptops I don't know what they look like, and even tried to have me pay in advance for one...ok so I got really cautious. 

See the sticker? ? Smart! Tamper proof sticker since the Lenovo letters only show once you open the box....and it's impossible to reverse the process.  Ha! My kind of company.

Truck with better days

We went for a three hour walk in gazing sun, and gazing stares from Indian people thinking we're nuts walking during the hottest hours and in the sun. (De-tanning and being fair is big business here). Walking around as a "rich" madam as they perceive me, is also very unusual.  The norm is to semi lay down in the back seat when your driver takes you places. (Remember;  labor is very cheap here. Don't wear "western goggles" judging this. With more than 1bn people. ..you have to invent jobs for everything.)

Your senses are exploding from input and I managed to get this picture of a truck that should have been "retired" like a few decades ago.

Russian Roulette. .Indian style

Well for Swedish people at least. You take 6 water bottles and refill one of them with tap water, shuffle around and drink one...voilà. ..

Vote for Coconut!

It's really funny and really smart during current election time.  Since a lot of people are illiterate,  the candidates use different symbols from daily life that the person can choose.  They use a hand, grapes,  glass, pot....and coconut! 

The candidates travel around with some form of vehicle,  a microphone and a speaker so everyone can hear their message.  I don't have a clue what they're saying, but it makes me laugh when like...- bla bla bla VOTE COCONUT bla bla. I do think it's really smart also.

Mango Madness

It's mango season. Tjohooo. I loooove mangoes. I really love mangoes.  Mangoes here rock! Even my husband who always used to tease me saying - how can you like something that tastes like perfume? .....eats mangoes here. Hahaha. I bought them and found my husband going through MY entire stash.

Morning meal...happy dogs

We're out of dog food (that's another shopping adventure) so we shared our breakfast. ...oatmeal porridge

Dirt

You see. This is from Penguin in ONE room in less than a month.  In Sweden,  the filter for our full house (2 floors) is like 1/3 as dirty as thid. That filter is cleaned 4 times a YEAR.

Strong and exhausted

There it is,  Penguin, our ac with a nick name. It is so hot here in Bangalore now. I ran some errands with my new bicycle today and my whole body evaporated in mist and sweat.

I've been a mother four months now and we need a break my husband and I.  We're exhausted. I know it comes with being a parent.

Not only do we take care of a baby. We clean the house every day. Imagine the type of once in a week clean you do at home,  well, we have to do it every day. The dust, dirt, bad quality water etc.  It makes every task more difficult. Add laundry, endless shopping (which I'm so sick of because water is in one place,  food 3-5 other places,  baby stuff 2-3 shops etc)

Then add the boring mission of loosing weight with lots of exercise.  Ok, then the pain that I'm not gonna talk to much about. Finally. ...unexpected events that I refer to as "energy vampires". They come unexpectedly often all at once and take up your precious time.

Nag, nag, nag you might think. Now to the good part. I've discovered something about myself (that I kinda already knew). I'm really strong.  Even if emotions play many tricks,  nothing brakes (breaks) me. I keep on going. I learn and get over it. Even though I'm super tired right now,  I'm also the strongest I've ever been. I've learnt so much since I moved here. I have faced my biggest fears. Ok, I cry for a while,  but then I pull myself together and keep on going....because I'm strong.