Happy Thanksgiving!

 

I'm skipping the beginning of November and jumping ahead to our Thanksgiving spectacular. We continued with our tradition of inviting both American and non-American friends. This year our table included the US, Armenia, Finland, Poland, France and India. It was a wonderful day that helped make being away from home during the holidays just a little bit easier...the tequila shots helped too.

 

Nothing says Thanksgiving like...

 

 

some time on the ipad

a funny picture with a baby (care of Sonia)

an awesome spread

tequila shots

 

a ceremonial turkey carving

opinions on carving technique

bedroom chaos with a pteradon

sweet smiles

silly poses

chocolate milk for the kiddos

The Grinch



a tryptophan induced slumber

 

Girls Weekend in Pondicherry

I finally had a chance to see Pondicherry, a small town a few hours south of Chennai. A Girls Weekend was organized through the consulate and about 15 of us travelled down to see Auroville, do some shopping, and buy some yummy bread from the French bakeries that make Pondicherry a place worthy of a return trip! It's not that different from Chennai, although quite a bit smaller so you can actually walk down the streets (no sidewalks there either) and not worry about being hit by a car or bicycle. The French consulate is there so there are some French influences in buildings, and of course the bakeries. We took one by storm on Sunday morning and bought them out of bread!

party bus to pondicherry!

the golf ball - kind of hard to explain so check out the website: www.auroville.org

photo-op!

the old banyan tree, the center of Auroville

beautiful old doors waiting for restoration

cotton candy boy on the beach

Gandhi statue along the Promenade

another cotton candy guy

loving the pink accents of pondicheery!

 

Olivia weds Jowan

Olivia, the nurse at the consulate, got married at the end of October and Livi had the honor of being one of the flower girls. She was a little skeptical when we were talking about it, and we weren't sure how it was going to play out... She loved her dress and basket and that helped us get out the door. Sameera, her fellow flower girl, helped give her the courage in the end to walk down the aisle.

still not sure she's ready



she warmed up to the idea when she met her fellow flower girl (she was supposed to have silver shoes but refused to wear them...)

There's our girl

ready for the event

taking her cues from Sameera

hanging out in the front with the big girls

chatting with the lady behind her

Livi was a champ and made it through the hour-long ceremony that started an hour late. She sat in the front row with the rest of the wedding party, until just before the end when she melted. It was 7pm at that point, and her witching hour had come. At least they got some good photos before the ceremony!

A sharp contrast on the street just outside the church courtyard

Playing tourist

Dana outside Nalli's

Dana and I snuck out for some shopping during Halloween weekend and I had a little bit of a chance to play tourist...

There are countless "stations" like this with guys ready to help
you with your selection by laying out the sarees in your color of choice

a typical Saturday morning close to Diwali



Just around the corner from the madness

 

Halloween!

It's the day after Thanksgiving and I'm only up to Halloween! Only a month behind....

Getting into the Halloween spirit in 90 degree weather is just hard for me. We did our best to decorate the house, but without the change of seasons it just doesn't feel quite right. The kids fortunately do not see it that way, and were all a buzz about dressing up for trick-or-treating and going to our Halloween party through the consulate!

We had the added bonus over Halloween weekend of having visitors in from Calcutta. Stephanie is 4, and hit it off with both kids. They tore up the house and hit the proper sugar high!

the 3 amigos

big hug for the candyman

Mama and dada were poor planners this year and failed in the costume department.
I tried to pull together Buffy at the last minute, but I lost my stakes,
and really needed a Spike or Angel to pull the costume off....next year!!

The gaggle at the consulate trick or treating event

Prior to trick-or-treating, Dana and I did a little shopping. Well, we actually did very little shopping, but a lot of looking. A friend's visit, it's a great chance to play tourist! Pics to follow in the next post...
 

UN Day

proud boy

On October 24th, Oscar's school celebrated UN day. In preparation for the event, Oscar made a USA poster to share with his class. I guided him on content a little, and some spelling, but otherwise it's all him!

Around 31 countries are represented in the student body of Oscar's school, and to kick off UN day the kids walked out with their country while the national anthem played. We had a little while to wait for Oscar's turn but how fun to see him when he finally had his turn with the USA contingent!!

After the parade the kids all visited booths set up for each country. For each "country" they visited they learned a little about the country and got a stamp in their passport. The one thing Oscar told his teacher he wanted to learn at school this year? Languages!!!

patiently waiting for Oscar

 

South Korea

our friend from Poland



still hanging in there...around UAE...
 

there he is!!

all the flags after the parade

Oscar with his multi-cultural class

2 out of 3 is just about right...