Why it can be frustrating living in India

This past weekend has been...well, it's been a little frustrating for our family (especially my dad). We had the usual problem of power turning on and off all weekend, but then it got worse on Monday morning. On Monday morning, as Mom went down to do her exercises, she began to smell something really bad. And the smell just kept getting worse. Trying to discover where the smell was coming from, Mom discovered that our septic tank was full, and the motor to the septic tank was broken. Basically, our sewer was backing up, and making it's slow, filthy way into our house.
In order to try and cut the smell, Mom poured two large bottles of Clorox bleach into the drains of our basement. It didn't really help. So, Mom then started calling workers who should have been able to come and fix the problem right away. Of course, nobody would come and help. You know why they couldn't come help? Because they couldn't be bothered to come help. ARGH!
And this is why we tend to get frustrated while we live in India. Because nobody really cares about anyone else--they hardly care about themselves. Their work is shoddy, and whenever something breaks, or doesn't work properly, or doesn't work at all, they just stare at you and give that strange head-wobble (the one where you can't tell if they are saying yes or no because it's a combination of both) because they're thinking "Ha! It's not my problem anymore. You figure it out, white girl."
At least we got to stay at the Hyatt for a night.

P.S. Dad came home from work and yelled at the company who is supposed to come fix the house whenever there's a problem. While the problem isn't completely fixed, workers have been working on it for two days straight now. Hopefully it will all be finished soon.

Fairytale Princess

I attended my final Prom on Saturday. Thankfully, it was simply amazing. I had so much fun this year at Prom, and I was actually really sad it's over and done with. I got to hang out all night with amazing people (including my date, Ben Smith), dance (although it probably wasn't very good dancing), and look pretty, and, come on, who doesn't want to do that on a Saturday night? I had my dress tailored (for the third year in a row), and it was stunning. I was so happy with the way this dress turned out--it was exactly how I had imagined it. While I was wearing it, I felt like a fairytale princess going to her ball. I know some of these people probably won't read my blog, but I wanted to thank:

Mom--for going to every fitting with me, for being with me while I got ready, for helping me get in and out of my dress, and for just being my mom

Dad--for letting me get the dress, and for letting me go to Prom

Ms. Bahel--for making the most gorgeous dress on the planet (every girl was totally jealous, even if they didn't say anything)

Ben--for being an amazing Prom date.

Thank you everyone for making Senior Prom epic!

Thailand!

This trip was incredible! It definitely made my "Top 5 Vacations" list (in case you were curious, here is the top 5 list: 1. Mexico, 2. England/Scotland/Italy, 3. Thailand, 4. Ireland, 5. Italy). Both Phuket and Bangkok were so much fun, in their own way. Phuket is definitely a beach island--besides the beach and beachy outings such as scuba diving or snorkling, the only thing to occupy a tourist's time is the very small markets found here and there, and, of course, Thai massages. Bangkok is a major city, with all the attractions, including Australia beef (!), of a very nice, very clean, very efficient city (those attractions also included huge malls with IMAX theaters). Of course, the best part was the Tiger Temple. I don't think words can describe how amazing it is to have a sleepy (but not drugged) tiger laying it's head in your lap. Here are some of my favorite pictures from our trip (all ten albums of photos from Thailand can be found on my Facebook page):

Heat Waves and Rain Showers

Weather is awesome. No, seriously, if you think about it, weather is actually very cool. It's hard for me to say that I have a favorite season--although I always claim I love winter the best. Now, I'm not really sure what season I love best since they all have their merits.
Spring:

• Flowers
• RAIN!
• Everything smells good
• There's lots of baby animals, which are always pretty darn cute

Summer:

• No school
• Summer nights feel so good
• You can go swimming
• Everything is very green (unless there's a drought, and then everything's dead)

Fall:

• All the leaves turn pretty colors
• Days and nights are still pleasantly warm
• Lots of good still growing

Winter:

• Snow makes everything pretty
• Ice skating
• Snowball fights
• It's nice and cold

Anyway, my point is that every season has it's good points. Here in Delhi it seems like there are only two seasons: a cold autumn and a very long, hot, humid summer. I like every kind of weather, but when it feels like one is dragging on for over half the year, that's just too much. Here in Delhi, summer starts at about the beginning of April, and it lasts until about the middle of October, and we get some pretty crazy heat waves during that time.

Right now, while it is starting to warm up considerably, the weather is still very nice and warm. This is helped by the infrequent rain showers that occur in Delhi. Take today for example: it was getting hot this morning, but then the clouds rolled in, a breeze picked up, and it drizzled for about 3 minutes. Now it's absolutely gorgeous outside. I'm just glad I won't be here during the summer vacation, when it's so unbearably hot, foreigners tend not to stray outside the comfort of their air conditioned living rooms.

Ok, so I'll cut through all that babbling, so you can get to the real message of this post. To put it simply:

Heat waves=BAD

Rain=GOOD

And I'm just hoping for a little more rain showers, and a lot fewer heat waves, for my last two months in Delhi.

Game on, Chelsey

Chelsey tagged me in this inter-blogger photo game. The rules are that you have to post the 4th photo from the 4th folder of your pictures folder. Here's mine:

I didn't say it was going to be pretty. This was taken January 2007, the night before I left to go back to India. Hannah came over and we took some pretty crazy pictures. Here are some of my favorites from that night:

Hannah and Kiera making silly faces.

One final hug goodbye.

Long story short, I used to make Hannah leap into my arms while we were walking down the halls of South Jordan Middle School, just to see if I could catch her. Good times, good times.

Fish faces (this is possibly my favorite photo of all time)!

Now I tag Maddie (since she's the only other blogger I know besides Chelsey). Go post some photos!

Have an awesome HOLIday

One good thing about India is that it has incredible holidays. Take Diwali for example. Diwali--the festival of lights--is like the Fourth of July on steroids. It simply amazes me that the city hasn't burned down in all these years because there are so many fireworks and candles, and everything in between, being lit in one night. Indeed, I have heard of many cases where batches of fireworks have gone AWOL say to speak and flown into the house, after it was lit. Inspite of all the potential dangers, Diwali is still an awesome festival (and not just because you can buy fireworks that are illegal in the States).

One of the coolest holidays I have ever taken part in, however, is Holi. Holi is a lot of things--it's the festival of spring, love, and color. And Holi doesn't just happen, like every other holiday. You have to go play Holi. It's pretty easy to play; all you have to do is buy colors (they typically only come in yellow, pink, blue, green, and red), go outside, and throw colors at everyone and everything (including cars, dogs, and cows). Here are a few photos of what people did to look like at the end of this absolutely incredible holiday (a holiday which I plan on continuing to celebrate when I move back to the States):

Play!

I just got finished with my last play in high school, which is kind of a depressing thought. The good news behind this is that the play that we did was absolutely hilarious, and simply amazing. The play was called "You Can't Take it With You", and it's about the wild, crazy, fun Sycamore family. Penny and Paul Sycamore have two daughters, Alice Sycamore (who is the least crazy of the entire family) and Essie Carmichael (that's me!). Essie is married to Edward Carmichael (we call him Ed) who "...came to dinner one night, and just stayed." Ed plays the xylophone, does calligraphy, and makes masks, while Essie dances ballet and makes Love Dreams. Penny writes plays, but she also used to sculpt, and Paul makes fireworks in the basement with Mr. DePinna, who was the milkman eight years ago. Nanna, in whose house the Sycamore's live, retired thirty-five years ago, and now goes to circuses, commencements, and catches snakes. Alice is in love with Tony Kirby, whose parents are the complete opposite of the Sycamore family. The whole play is about Alice and Tony's engagement, and how the two families try to get along, although each family has very strong, opposing, views on how lives should be lived. Here are some pictures from our incredible version of the play.

This is the lamp in Essie's dancing corner. Ed's chalkboard.

Penny Sycamore, as she concentrates on her latest play.
Paul Sycamore (in the bow tie) and Mr. DePinna (in the lab coat) show off their newest fireworks. Rheba, the resident cook/maid/bell hop.Ed Carmichael, Essie's husband, after he has had a stroke of genius while composing a piece of music on his xylophone.

Rheba and Donald, the "almost couple" of the play.

Mr. Wilbur C. Hendersen, who comes to get the income tax Nanna has not been paying for 22 years.

Nanna decides to completely ignore Mr. Hendersen's pleas for her tax money.

Mr. Kholenkhov, Essie's delusional Russian ballet teacher.

Alice and Tony Kirby come home from their date at the ballet.Miss Gay Wellington, who has come to read for one of Penny's plays.

Mr. and Mrs. Kirby have an argument over a game instituted by Penny (Nanna is trapped in the middle).

The Department of Justice interrupt the night.

The Grand Duchess Olga Katrina graces the household with presence.

The whole cast together for one last shot.

This play was incredible, and it will be one of the highlights of my high school career. It will definitely be a memory that will live on for years to come.