Misc pictures of India

I have a collection of pictures that really don't fit into a specific story, but are nonetheless interesting. Some of the pictures speak for themselves. I know that you're supposed to experience the food of the country you're visiting, but I think India can be added to that exception list. This Pizza Hut actually served Mountain Dew! Best glass of Mountain Dew I've every drunk.I drove around the city yesterday doing some souvenier shopping and saw some of the slums of the city that really shocked me. As you can see, these shacks are all that many families have. As I drove down this corridor, it was about noon and I saw many a naked little child getting bathed in buckets just feet from rushing traffic. It's hard to see, but these people have no electricity and no running water. Many of them had 50 gallon water drums that they used.



Some classic outfits worn by women all over the place. Very colorful outfits and always with a scarf of some sort. Ocassionally you'll see the women that wear all black and cover their faces, but it's not that common.Driving still just blows me away. There are lanes on some of the highways, but why use them. Why restrict one car per lane when you can easily put two in the same lane. Fortunately all drivers wear seatbelts, but most of the cars I ride in do not have seatbelts in the back seat. Asking the Lord to help me "travel to work in safety" has taken on a whole new meaning.

Elephanta Caves

So Sunday was the first opportunity to do some sightseeing in India. I started the morning with my own little personal Sacrament Meeting held in my hotel room. (There is a branch about an hour and half away that I'm going to try to hit next Sunday). I went with another Novell employee named Nitesh and we headed down to the Gateway of India right in downtown Mumbai (a.k.a. Bombay). It was a pretty warm day, but the ocean breeze kept me from looking like I had just gotten out of the shower. Little did I know that would change later on in the day. The gateway was built in 1911. It is where we boarded the ferry that would take us to Elephanta Island where the Elephanta Caves are located. Here are a few pictures of the gateway from land as well as the ferry. Click HERE for a satellite view of the gateway and then zoom out to see where in the world I was.
The ferry ride took a lot longer than expected. About an hour. You can't expect much when you're only going 8-10 mph (I had my GPS with me. Click HERE to see the proximity of the gateway and the island. It is the largest island shown in the upper right quadrant of the screen) Upon arriving, the sea breeze once again kept me dry, but I had no idea there was a good climb up a stone corridor to get to the caves themselves. You can see that the corridor was full of little vendors trying to get you to buy little trinkets and charms just itching for me to stop and buy something. By the time I got to the entrance, I was pretty much a wet mess. Luckily I had a handkercheif I had carried with me to dry myself off. Seemed like I was using it every 30 seconds or so.

At the entrance to the caves, there as an Indian woman there that immediately ran up to me asking if I would take her picture. I though it was a cool photo opportunity. There were about 5 others that saw me taking her picture and suddenly ran over to me. I thought it was a little odd, but then it clicked when my Indian companion paid the first woman and pulled me away from the crowd. What a clever ploy. . . Get these foreigners to think they're getting a cultural photo and then take their money. I made the mistake only once but got at least an interesting photo.The caves themselves were fascinating. Carved right out of the side of the mountain. The many pillars positioned both along the outside facade and all through the interior were very interesting. A lot of work went into carving these. There were a total of 4 different caves, some interconnected but most did not. It reminded me of the cliffs at Petra in Jordan, but not nearly as ornate.

For those of you who don't know, I love geocaching and of course I looked up the Mumbai area to see if there were any around. Fortunately there is only one in the area and it happens to be on Elephanta Island. It was actually a good thing that I had planned on finding it because there was a path that I would have never seen nor taken if I didn't know there was a cache on the other end. The path took us up about a 1/4 mile to the top of the second largest hill on the island with an incredible view of the entire bay. Once at the top, it was just a short 200 foot trek through the thick of the jungle to find the 35 mm cannister hidden under a small outcropping of rocks. I was pretty stoked that I found it. This picture is the kind of folliage I was going through. Surprisingly I didn't receive a single insect bite while on the adventure.Monkeys are also considered sacred on the island so I had to catch a quick shot of one of them running around.It was time to leave the island in order to catch the last boat and seeing that I had no intentions of spending the night on the island, we hurried down the mountain and jumped back on the ferry and in about an hour we pulled back into the port by the gateway. At that point I felt so sticky and dirty that I just wanted to get home. Luckily the car waiting for us had a very nice air conditioner and I was able to somewhat dry out. However, the sun was just setting and so I was able to jump out of the car and grab this beautiful shot of the sun setting on the Arabian Sea, a view not many people have the chance to see with their own eyes. India may be a little dirty and rough around the edges, but if you look passed that it really is a beautiful part of the world.

Daily life

It's official. My body has officially thrown in the towel. It's had enough curry and spices and it's definitely letting me know that. Thank goodness for Imodium A/D. I'm doing much better now. Decided to put in some more pictures. Here's a shot of the swimming pool. I've been in it once and if it weren't for the fact the temperature feels around 80 degrees, it would feel much more refreshing. I believe I mentioned that the only thing that separates the poor from the rich is a wall. Hopefully you can see that from this next picture. This area on the other side of the hotel wall is actually one of the nicer little neighborhoods.My normal day consists of getting up and heading down to the hotel buffet, the only chance I have of eating somewhat familiar food. The driver then picks me up out front of the hotel and thank goodness the cars are air conditioned to compensate for the 95 degree/90% average humidity outside. There's a constant dust cloud that hovers over the roads due to the lack of paved roads on many of the side streets. Pedestrians, bicycles, cars, busses, and motorized rickshaws all have an equal right of way on the main roads. I'm amazed that the cars all have their side view mirrors still. I wouldn't be at all surprised if people were wearing secret body armour underneath their clothes for the occasional side swipe by vehicles. It still amazes me that I get to the office without hitting anyone. Here's some pictures of the thousands of rickshaws on the road including some other forms of transportation. Here's a shot of a typically dressed Indian woman walking down the street on the way to the office. These potholes are pretty mild compared to some of the roads I travel on. This road already has something going for it . . . it's mostly paved! The Indians at work claim that the roads are bad here because there's a lot of construction going on. Uh . . . nice excuse. Here's a typical street corner that doesn't look too bad. Coming back to the hotel is actually very refreshing. However as the car comes through the gates the security guards stop and take one of those convex mirrors at the end of a long pole and walk around the car looking for bombs. I like to think they're looking for people clutched to the underside of the car hanging on for dear life just to get into the gates of the hotel. That's one thing that everyone has around here . . . their own personal security guards. It's comforting, but sometimes I wonder how much security they really provide. Back in the hotel room I turn on the TV and am bombarded with the World Cup on almost all channels. Don't forget the Cricket 24 hour channel. Someday I may actually look up the rules and try to figure out this strange sport. I have gotten pretty good at understanding the heavily accented English that the Indians speak here. Just a final tid bit . . . thanks to Brett, my colleague at work for giving me a copy of Angels & Demons (the prequel book to the Da Vinci Code). I stayed up until 3:30 in the morning finishing it. By the way, very very good book. I just started the Da Vinci Code this afternoon. I've been ordered by Brett to read the book before seeing the movie, which is fine. I like Dan Brown's style.

Indian Theaters

I had some extra time after work today to run down to the local theater to catch a movie. They're playing Mission Impossible 3 and so I had to check it out. After about a 45 minute drive through the thick of Mumbai's traffic, I arrived at the Fame Adlabs theater. They charge different prices for seats in the theater, so I asked for their nicest seats, which cost me 180 Rupees (about $3.80). These "expensive" seats were only on the very back row of the stadium style theater and the seats were very nice and very comfortable as you can see in the picture. (There were probably about 15 of these seats on the back row) They even give you these cool satin pillows and blankets. The theater was air conditioned, but not cold enough for a blanket. The movie was in English and there were no previews at the beginning. What was strange though was that just before the movie started, everyone in the theater stood and sang the National Anthem of India. I respectfully stood until the song was over (I was the only non-Indian in the whole theater and people definitely noticed that and watched to see what I would do. Luckily I was sitting on the very back row). I was really getting into the show when suddenly after an hour, the house lights came on and the "Intermission" sign displayed on the screen. Everyone left the theater for food and the restroom, which I actually was glad for. That's when they ran all the previews. Kind of backwards from the U.S. but I guess it works. For those who haven't seen the show, it really is action packed from the very beginning. I really liked it. Highly recommended.

Greetings from India

So, sorry about no pictures this time but I haven't had a chance to take many yet. I'm here in Mumbai, India and it couldn't be more muggy. I thought Tokyo was bad. It's the monsoon season here and temps are in the upper 80s and close to 100% humidity. The 20 hours in a plane were pretty long and it's 11:50 pm and I'm not a bit tired. There is a very stark difference between the hotel grounds and what is on the opposite side of the wall. I thought I experienced "poor" in Venezuela, but I've never seen anything like this before. But the people look happy even if they are sleeping in a 3-sided shack on dirt floors. The hotel I'm staying at is 5-star and it lives up to it's rating. It's very nice. Driving down the streets is something else. Luckily I have a designated driver that drives me to and from Novell. I swear that there are sometimes only inches between the car and those on the street. I saw a motorcycle with what looked like a whole family on it. Mom, Dad, about a 4 yr old and then probably a 1 yr old sitting way up front. Pretty crazy. I'll see if I can take pictures and post them. But I am safe and sound and hope to have an enjoyable time. By the way, the house is done and we moved in about a week ago. There are a few items that need to be finished on the exterior, but other than that we love it and so do the kids. We had lots of help from the ward and from home teachers.

A busy week

This week I was able to stay home during the day (because I was on call with work at night) which left us a lot of time to celebrate Mother's Day, our 8th anniversary and my 31st birthday. We began the week going up to the cemetary in Salt Lake where my niece is buried. Mother's day would have been her 1st birthday. Isaac and Brooklyn sang Happy Birthday at the grave site and placed flowers on the head stone. Monday (our anniversary) we took the kids bowling. You may be wondering why we would spend our anniversary bowling with the kids, but our options were limited with me being on call in the evening. This bowling alley we went to was very kid friendly with automated bumper lanes and ramps to help direct their balls. In fact, the kids almost broke 100. For my birthday, we took a picnic lunch up Provo Canyon and hiked to Bridal Veil Falls. Isaac loves riding in his back pack carrier and Brooklyn of course loves riding piggy back. It was a perfect day for hiking. And now that the week is over, it's time to head back to work unfortunately. It's always fun to spend time home with the kids.

Isaac's Gymnastics

Over the past 7 months, Isaac has been going to a gymnastics class, which he seems to really enjoy. It's a great place for him to release all of his energy. He loves to do flips on the bars, walk on the balance beam, jump on the tumble track and go through the obstacle course that his coach has set up for him. His favorite word for the balance beam is "tricky". He's quite the little athlete. The pictures are a little fuzzy, but that's because they're all action shots.

Ogden Marathon 2006

Finally, after months and months of training, Tami can finally cross "marathon" off her list of things to accomplish in life (Remember that a marathon is 26.2 miles). She has been training pretty heavily over the last several months running with some friends and this morning was the big morning. The weather could not have been better. The course was amazing and the fact that she ran with her brother Brian and her Dad Patrick was icing on the cake. Very much a family affair (though none of them finished together). We don't know her official time yet, but we estimate it was about 4 hrs 10 minutes (about 9 1/2 minute miles maintained for 26 miles . . . definitely better than I could do!) Although she hasn't convinced me to run a full marathon, there is what's called a marathon relay, which splits up the 26.2 miles between 5 people. Definitely more manageable distances. We'll see how it goes. This was Patrick's 9th marathon and Brian's 7th marathon. However I don't think Tami will follow in their shoes (at least in the immediate future). We'll see if she catches the marathon bug again someday once her body forgets about it all. We're all very proud of her!!!

Father and son's day out

Tami and Brooklyn went up to Salt Lake on Saturday for a bridal shower which left Isaac and I by ourselves for the majority of the day. We started out by going to the park to play on the toys there.
We rolled down the grass hill, which Isaac loved doing and then watched some park goers fly kites. After the park we were driving by the grocery store and noticed that the Spanish Fork Fire Department had set up in front and were letting people tour the vehicles. Isaac loves trucks and so we had to stop. He looks so small standing next to one of the fire trucks.
Isaac also got to sit inside the ambulance. We went inside the grocery store and had lunch at the little deli area. A hamburger, french fries and drink for $2 . . . not a bad deal. From the grocery store we headed out to Spanish Fork Airport (a small private airport) and watched some some planes take off and land. From the airport it was off to a large intersection that is out in the middle of nowhere that is used for model airplanes. As we arrived, there was a plane just taking off. Isaac (and I) loved watching this model airplane do all sorts of aerobatic stunts. After it landed, we headed back to the new house to see what was going on. They started on the brick exterior on Friday and it really is coming along nicely. The entire inside of the home has a primer coat of paint and hopefully the color coat will be done this week. Isaac fell asleep in the car and slept for about 2 hours after getting home. We were only gone for about 3 hours, but it was a fun three hours.

House update

Here's a pretty recent picture of the house. We sure are anxious to get moved in. I would post pictures of the inside, but there's nothing terribly exciting about sheetrock. As of this weekend, they have pretty much finished the texturing and hopefully will begin to paint soon. As you can see, the roof is on and fully finished. We chose out a brand new color of stucco called "plywood". We're going for the natural look. It's very realistic looking and if you get up close enough, it looks just like plywood :) And as all construction normally goes, we're being delayed yet once again. They're now saying we should plan on the end of May to close and move in. We're so ready to get moved out of this little 2 bedroom apt and into our own home again.

Easter Pictures

I know, it's been a long time since I've posted anything. We took Brooklyn and Isaac this last week to get their pictures taken for Easter. It's been about a year since we've had professional pictures and felt it was about time. The kids did an awesome job. Definitely the best sitting we've ever had. And hopefully you'll agree that the pictures came out super cute. (Click the image to zoom in).

Fingers and Toes

Recently if I'm in the bathroom with the door locked, I'll hear the kids outside the door and they love trying to get my attention by saying "Daddy, are you in there?" and then they stick their fingers and hands under the door. Of course I'll play games with them and try to get their fingers and toes, which they get a kick out of. They're funny kids.

Trusses and snowmobiling

Two good things happened this weekend . . . . The trusses on our home were finally put up and I got to go out snowmobiling with a friend from work. Unfortunately the completion date of the home has been pushed back one final time to the end of April. Boy we're getting anxious to get moved in. Anyway, my friend and I took Friday off and headed up Spanish Fork canyon to try out the new snow that had fallen just the day before. There was absolutely no one on the mountain and the weather couldn't have been any better. We eventually made it to Strawberry Reservoir and back and found some freshly groomed trails that let us cruise through the trees at about 55 mph. It's very cool to go flying across the snow that fast. Our final trip total was 77 miles and we only got stuck 4 times. That's not bad. It was the first time taking out the snowmobiles since both of the clutches were rebuilt and both machines ran pretty smoothly. I don't care what others say . . . Utah mountains are the best in the world!

Home progress

While we were on the cruise, the home did make some progress although this week it really has started to take shape. Framing is usally something that happens quickly, so it's been fun to drive by on the way home from work to see what has happened that day. It will be cool once the trusses are lifted up.

Disney Cruise, see ya next time!

We're slowly recovering from a week long adventure sailing around the Western Caribbean sea, enjoying tons of good food, mingling with Disney characters and more than anything . . . relaxing. It sure was a great trip. I would highly recommend a Disney Cruise to anyone that is contemplating taking kids on a cruise with them. They cater so much to families. I'll include some pictures here in the blog, but if you want to see a better snapshot of our cruise (no pun intended), check out the shared pictures (and even order your own if you want!) from our most recent print order at Wal-Mart.

We started out in Port Canaveral on Saturday the 28th. We actually stopped by the Kennedy Space Center before boarding since we just happened to be there on the 20th Anniversary of the Challenger explosion. There was a service going on at the space center for family of the astronauts, hence the picture at the end of the blog with the flag at half mast. We left Port Canaveral Saturday evening and sailed through the night to Key West, FL. Since it was Sunday, there wasn't a whole lot we could do but walk around the city. We got back on the boat and sailed all day Monday enjoying the tons of activites on teh boat and arrived in Grand Cayman Tuesday morning to some beautiful turquoise water. We spent the day swimming with stingrays on a sandbar about 4 miles off shore and snorkling the nearby reefs. Isaac wasn't too thrilled about being in the water with "Mr. Ray", but Brooklyn seemed to enjoy it. We then sailed all day Wednesday and arrived in Nassau, Bahamas Thursday morning and had a local Bahamian show us the island including a small zoo where we fed birds, walked with flamingos, and a beach where the waves crashed right on the sand due to the steeply sloped beach. Brian (my brother-in-law) got beaten to death by the waves and has the scars on his back to prove it. From the Bahamas we sailed through the night to Disney's own private island, Castaway Cay (pronounced "key"). The island was beautiful and very much out in the middle of nowhere. Isaac enjoyed burying himself and others in the sand and playing in the waves of the lagoon. We rented bikes and biked around part of the island. It really was a nice end to the whole trip. We sailed through the night and arrived back at Port Canaveral Saturday morning to some pretty heavy rain. We really did luck out with good weather and fairly calm seas on the entire trip. Since our flight didn't leave until later Sat. evening, we headed back to the Kennedy Space Center and got to see the Space Shuttle launch pads and other rockets up close and personal. The kids loved seeing the astronauts and rockets all around.

Luckily no one got sick on the cruise. I only took some motion sickness pills the first night, but didn't have any problems the rest of the week. The food was outstanding. Our dinner servers were awesome and really had fun with the kids. The "Pirates IN the Caribbean" theme night was fun. With Disney's huge outdoor movie screen, Brian and I watched "Pirates of the Caribbean" while sailing under the stars of the Caribbean Sea. Bet no one else has ever done that before.

Because Disney does own several of the new movies out in the theaters currently, we were able to see movies onboard such as "Chronicles of Narnia" and "Glory Road" in their very nice 1,000 seat theater. Now back to normal life as we all know it. It sure was fun to live the VIP life for a week though. Can't wait until next time.

Disneycruise Here We Come!!!

Two days and counting before we're sailing on a cruise ship on our way through the Western Caribbean. It's something we've been talking about for awhile and finally decided to do. We're going with Tami's immediate family, grandmother and our kids of course (11 of us all together). They can't wait to go on the boat with Mickey Mouse. I'm sure they'll have a blast. We plan to swim with stingrays, do a fair share of snorkeling and more than anything, get away from the cold and enjoy some nice warm humid weather. We set sail Saturday the 28th, head to Key West, then down to Grand Cayman, then to Nassau Bahamas and then to Disney's own private island, Castaway Cay. We'll arrive back at Port Canaveral on Saturday, Feb 4th (Brooklyn's birthday). I'm sure I'll have plenty to blog about when we get back.

Nothing terribly new on the homefront. The house looks about the same as the last picture I posted. They do have the basement slab poured and the suspended slab laid over the garage. Looks like they must have trucked in the slab already poured and just lowered it into place. We've been told they'll be starting the framing any day now. Hopefully we'll get back from our cruise and find an actual home. We'll keep you posted.