kids in chennai

Goodbye Malaysia

2009-11-28T20:22:00.004+05:30

We had a great weekend in Kuala Lumpur . Mohanan kindly hosted us in beautiful apartment for the weekend. we also met Chandra Aunty(Appa's Cousin) and family in KL. Here are some photos from that weekend . Thanks Naga and Mohanan, and as Mathi put it- I will be back.

Prabhakar

Chow Kit market, KL- vegetarian side

2009-11-12T14:29:00.005+05:30

I entered Chow Kit Market by chance; when I went in search of finding a Starbucks coffee place in KL, Malaysia. It was a fascinating place with vendors selling everything one would need. These are some of the photos from that visit.

The Eagles

2009-11-04T10:31:00.007+05:30

Bird watching is very popular in Malaysia. Langkawi is particularly well know for its eagle breeding areas. We were lucky to see so many eagles during our visit. Its a must stop for tourist, where you can see the eagles being fed. Mangrove vegetation occupy the whole coast line in that area. Interestingly, the eagles were fed chicken skin by fishermen for the eagle watching experience. Its a bird eat bird world out there.

prabhakar

Tasik Dayang Bunting, Langkawi

2009-10-31T20:26:00.006+05:30

Langkawi is an archipelago which consists of 99 islands and is off the mainland coast of northwestern peninsular Malaysia. Langkawi island has been given the world geopark status by UNESCO. One of the main attractions is the Dayang Bunting Island, which is translated into Island of the Pregnant Maiden Lake. In the first picture you can make out the outline of the pregnant lady outline(head to the right). Tasik Dayang Bunting is the largest freshwater lake in that area and has a great swimming area. Malaysians believe that drinking water from this lake helps barren women to bear children.

prabhakar

Sleeping Buddha

2009-10-29T18:25:00.003+05:30

Malaysia is a majority muslim country. People follow many religions here. During our visit we saw many hindu temples, churches, gurdwaras(sikh worshipping place) and buddhist temples. Here are some pictures from the Sleeping buddha temple in Penang.

Prabhakar

Tanjung Bunga and other attraction in Penang

2009-10-28T11:07:00.005+05:30

Tanjung Bunga is a public beach in Penang island . Its well kept and very close to the main part of the city and we went there since Appa had spent many afternoons there in his youth. Following the swim we went to the Penang Butterfly Farm which includes insects and birds as well. The man -faced beetle and mandarin duck photos are some examples.

Since Naga lives on the mainland , every trip to Penang island ended with a lovely ferry ride.

Western Cemetery, Penang

2009-10-27T22:05:00.004+05:30

One of the places my father wanted to visit was the Western Cemetery in Penang . So we went to pay our respect to my father's mother, an elder brother William who died as a teenager and a sister Joyce who died as an one year old, all of whom were buried there. It was a rainy day and Appa related stories of their lives.

As we were leaving, my friend Naga talked about a well known grave stone in the cemetery with a dog sculpture . Soon we came across this site and the dog looked very real. The story which is passed on is that, after the death of the Andrew in 1931, his pet refused to leave the grave stone and didn't eat and died within days . So to honour the pet , Andrew's family placed a replica of the dog on the grave stone.

Penang , Malaysia

2009-10-19T07:47:00.009+05:30

I have come to Malaysia with my father and nephew Viji for 8 days. My father came to Penang as an infant and stayed till he was 14 years and so lots of memories for him .It was great to meet my friend Naga . who is now a Consultant Surgeon at a Govt Hospital in Malaysia.

On our day 1 here in Penang we got some rest and went to the Pasar Malam(Night Market) in the evening. It was a great introduction to the food culture here in Malaysia. The range of food here extended from fruits and vegetables to cuttle fish and quill.

Naga tells me that the best food is one which hawkers cook near the drainage ( waste management site if you would like clarification). So at 11pm we went to the popular drainage site and ate some Koey Goreng( Flat noodles made with pork oil,prawns, eggs and soy sauce). The food was excellent. The photo of the fruits includes the Durian which has an unmistakable smell, and tastes really good.

Prabhakar

Deepavalli shopping

2009-10-11T10:31:00.020+05:30

Deepavalli - 'The Festival of Lights' falls on Oct 17th this year and is an important festival in the Hindu calender. It's time for new clothes, lots of food (particularly Indian Sweets), firecrackers and kite flying (which had a wide following when I was growing up).

The shopping choices for women is much more than for men . You have stores for sarees, Salwar Kameez, 22 carat Gold jewellery, all kinds of accessories, flowers to be worn in the hair etc.

Over time ready made garments have become the staple for men's wear, though a number of tailors are still doing good business in Chennai. We were lucky to find Bee Aay Tailors, catering to men who like custom fitted clothes. This went a long way in calming my withdrawal from shopping at The Filene's Basement. Have included some pictures when Ashwin had some trousers tailored here in December 2008.

During Deepavalli the fruit shops double as fire cracker stores and you get a wide selection from sparklers to Rockets.Over time bargaining has taken a back seat and many people prefer the supermarket type atmosphere where you can't bargain. To some, this takes away the thrill of shopping. After being in Boston I lost most of my bargaining skills. Maybe that is why I am made to feel like a celebrity in Tana street ; where I do some occasional shopping

However, for the real shopping experience you have to visit T Nagar in Chennai. You have to fight for everything; to park, get in the store, get the attention of the store helpers, eat food etc. Thanks to some new construction and traffic rules there is going to be even more chaos this year.

This year I will be setting off some fire crackers so that Priya and Ashwin could experience it via the webcam

Happy Deepavalli.

Prabhu

The Finish Line

2009-09-29T20:00:00.008+05:30

Having decided to run a half -marathon here in Chennai I immediately started preparing by watching movies which deal with marathons. The Marathon Man is a great movie, but Dustin Hoffman runs too fast . Then I came across the movie- Run, Fat Boy, Run which is an OK movie but has great running tips. Perseverance was the key ingredient.

On a pleasant rainy day (Sept 27th) about 300 runner participated in the race. I ran the race (without Stopping) in 2hrs and 50 minutes. Post marathon there were celebrations, a carnival type atmosphere , a full food court and the Masala Dosai tasted particularly good .

The winners were;

Men- John Wembusa(KENYA) 1:04.04

Women- Nelly Jepkurui(KENYA) 1:15.53

Wembusa has a world ranking of 42 and was awarded 5 Lakhs prize money.

Prabhakar

Happy Birthday Priya!

2009-09-16T19:52:00.000+05:30

Reedemer's Church English Choir

On Sunday , August 2nd, we celebrated Priya's birthday and had a little farewell gathering for Leann, Ashwin and Priya. It was great to have so many of our friends and family who have been such a great help and support over the past year in India. We all had a wonderful time and only one kid fell into the pool(and was promptly pulled out!). Though we did not plan for any games, an impromptu food fight kept Ashwin and his friends entertained. A highlight was a special farewell song by The Redeemer's Church Choir , the choir which Leann has been past of, for most of the year.

Priya really enjoyed her party and we all feel blessed to have made such wonderful group of friends this year.

Home Alone

2009-09-02T11:25:00.007+05:30

As most of you know Leann, Ashwin and Priya are back in Boston, preparing for the new school year. Here in Chennai, I have been trying to keep busy with work and other things. The summer appears to be over with some wonderful rainfall for the past 3 days. So with this we are getting ready for all the holidays(religious and regional) which follow. Most national and regional festivals are school and work holidays. Today is Onam, a harvest festival for Kerala natives. This is a good time to visit Kerala, where they have snake boat races and of course lots of good food.

I have included some photos - Onam flower arrangement from our neighbour's flat (usually arranged near the door step, artificial flowers are strictly prohibited),my trip to Periamalai (a medical camp), Helen's birthday(Ashwin/Priya's Cousin) and my new helmet. My old one was stolen by someone who believes in safety first.

Prabhakar

2009-08-11T21:33:00.003+05:30

We took a trip to Tanjavur(also known as Tanjore) in the last weekend of July to meet with Vanitha(prabhu's sister ) and their family. Tanjore is called the rice bowl of South India and historically had been the Chola empire's capital. There was a lot of greenery and Vanitha's house had a few coconut trees and Guava tree . The fresh coconut juice during our stay was particularly delicious.

We also visited the famous Brihadeeswarar Temple and the South Indian cultural center. Of course this was supplemented by excellent and timely food eating breaks. Thanks Vanitha, Selvakumar,Divya, Joshua , Jason and Jeryl.

Prabhakar

Beach Bums

2009-08-02T21:46:00.008+05:30

Week before last we took a last little holiday here in India. We packed up the car and headed south to Pondicherry for a few days and then and Mahabalapuram, where we stopped so that Ashwin and Priya could see the stone carvings. In Pondy we met up with Prabhu's cousin Babu and family, and stayed at an awesome beach resort the kids loved - it even had it's own small organic farm, where Ashwin and Priya got to feed the animals and try their hands at milking. We had lots of fun swimming, combing the beach for shells, biking, playing tennis and just relaxing together.

Prize Day 7/22/09

2009-07-23T15:07:00.008+05:30

Cant believe its Prize Day again. It was a year ago that Priya gave the welcome speech at the 2008 Prize Day. Ashwin and Priya had a wonderful year (and six weeks) at Jessie Moses in many ways. The icing on the cake was Ashwin being awarded first prize in third standard in Scripture. Here are some pictures from the prize day Fitting the occasion was a celebratory happy meal at the Annanagar Mcdonald's which is still the hip place to go in Chennai.

School's Out

2009-07-23T14:58:00.006+05:30

Here are some pictures of Ashwin and Priya's last day at Jessie Moses school. As some of you may know, Ashwin and Priya came to Chennai in June 2008 and immediately started school without any summer break. To help make up for that, this year they will have two summer breaks. The school year here ended in mid April, followed by a seven week summer break. Ashwin and Priya resumed school, in fourth and first standard, on June 3rd (since all the friends were going back and there wouldn't be much to do at home). We thought they deserved a little break before they started school in Boston, so we took them out of school on July 17th. On the last day of school Ashwin and Priya wore colored clothes and distributed candy to their friends and teachers. We are proud of how well Priya and Ashwin did in a school (both academically and socially) which was very different from what they were used to. Great job guys!

Mango Madness

2009-07-15T16:47:00.000+05:30

This blog post is dedicated to Leann's mom, Naren. Naren LOVES mangoes, but was sad to have missed the season by coming to visit in January. Well Mom, mango season is now in full swing. Everywhere you look someone seems to have set up a cart on the street selling them, and the shops are full of all different types... Rumani, Alphonso, Banganapalli, Malgoa, Neelam, Kilimuku and more. We're eating them up with great abandon - see above!

July 4th, 2009

2009-07-07T16:04:00.006+05:30

What can one do to celebrate American Independence Day in India? Well, go to the opening of the latest Mc Donald's in Chennai, right around the corner from us. It was a grand affair - and it looked like all of Chennai was there! We went with Priya's friends to celebrate. The local paper reported that during the opening "Mrs Aishwarya Danush ( a Tamil actress) gave a traditional welcome to Mr Ronald Mc Donald , Chief Happiness Officer of McDonald's. " Sadly we missed that part.

Ashwin would have liked this venue to be open a year ago and Leann would likethe Paneer Tikka Salsa wrap to be included in the menu of US restuarants. Some of the other Indian menu additions were McAloo Tikka, Chicken Maharaja Mac, McVeggie burger and the Veggie Pizza Puff. Needless to say, a good time was had by all.

Happy Birthday Prabhu

2009-06-25T10:27:00.008+05:30

This past weekend we had a great time celebrating Prabhu's birthday! June 19th was the day, and that evening we took him out for a south Indian fave, dosa at 'Dosa Calling'. The next day we had lots of family over for a celebratory dinner. Prabhu loves shrimp (aka prawns), so he got up early Sat am and headed to the dock where the fishing boats come in. There, he was able to purchase 4kg of large cleaned shrimp fresh off the boat, for a mere 500 rs (about $10). So, we had a great dinner of shrimp curry, fried rice and other tasty Chinese side dishes. Here are some photos from this fish pier, and of the Prabhu blowing out his candles (with some help)!

ps - For Prabhu's birthday gift, I had a suit made at one of Chennai's finest tailors. He wore it to his friend Cephas' wedding - nice, eh?

Extra Photos

2009-06-15T20:34:00.011+05:30

Here are a few more photos which capture the spirit of our time in Sikkim. We had a special night of entertainment arranged through Manoj Chettri our tour guide/friend in Pelling. The Nepali troupe was great and the Millet Beer was the right drink for the occasion.

After a particularly cool and wet day of travelling in search of the Alpine Cheese factory for Priya we were treated to a wonderful meal at Manoj and his wife Tara's home. Prabhu was especially happy to have steamed rice, and Leann loved the pumpkin.. The wet day turned out to be Cyclone Aila which we were thankfully ignorant about.

Priya's is seen on top of the Royal Enfield motorbike with a little girl she befriended while we were staying in the town of Yuksom. For those who haven't heard of the Royal Enfield; its origin is from the Royal Enfield bikes in England. The UK company is no more, but the Royal Enfield bikes based in Chennai are considered to be the oldest motorcycles still in production. Though they are a bit temperamental and not as reliable as the Japanese bikes; the ride has been described as "one which only birds would know of " (a quote from the novel Santharam).

The rafting pictures are from the Teesta river in West Bengal/Sikkim. We had an awesome time - the river was high due to the recent rains, and Ashwin and Priya thought it was the highlight of the trip!

Sikkim

2009-06-06T09:15:00.000+05:30

We had a wonderful trip to Sikkim. Sikkim is India's second smallest state, and one of it's newest, officially being part of the Republic only since 1975. It's sandwiched between Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet in the Himalayas., and is home to the world's third highest mountain, Kangchendzonga. It seemed as if we were in a different country, as the people looked very different. spoke different languages (Nepali, Tibetan and Bengali, as well as lots of English, thank heavens), ate quite different food, and of course the topography, flora and fauna were much different than what we're used to in Tamil Nadu. The major religion in Sikkim is Buddhism, and we got to see lots of scenic temples and monastaries. We had a wonderful time and especially enjoyed the warm, open people. Highlights were hiking in the Himalayas, white water rafting on the Teesta river, touring small villages, and eating momos and other local delicacies! Honorable mention for Ashwin would probably be playing pick up soccer in the Himalayas, and for Priya, a visit to the Alpine Cheese Factory, to indulge in one of her favorite foods (rarely found here in Chennai...) Here are a few photos of the scenery - more to follow.

Not another monastary...

2009-06-05T22:10:00.005+05:30

Sightseeing in Sikkim means visiting monasteries. So, after our first few, Ashwin's refrain became "not ANOTHER monastery?" But really, we all enjoyed them (including Ashwin) - the architecture was striking and colorful, learning more about Buddhism was really intriguing, there was lots of history, and as Tibetan Buddhists always build their monasteries on hill tops, we got to see a lot of great scenery (and do a lot of vigorous hiking) on the way.

and lets not forget the plants...

2009-06-05T21:43:00.006+05:30

Everywhere we went on our trip we saw the most beautiful flowers - even the humblest of homes had flowers that would put Martha Stewart to shame. In addition, the woods were filled with wild orchids and other exotic fauna. Ashwin and Priya kept saying "too bad Nana's not here, she would just love these flowers". So, Nana, this post is for you!

a few of our favorite...animals

2009-06-05T19:34:00.005+05:30

Sikkim is primarily an agrarian society, with agriculture and tourism two of its main industries. Outside of Gangtok, the capital, most homes seemed to have a good sized garden and a few livestock - a goat or two, a cow and chickens. In addition, there were lots of friendly dogs and cats - and some interesting bovine creatures known as 'joes'. They are a cross between a d0mestic cow and a yak, and are used mostly as pack animals for trekkers in the Himalayas. (That's them up near the top of this post - getting their medicine in one picture!)

People of Sikkim

2009-06-05T17:40:00.007+05:30

Another thing that makes Sikkim seem like a different country are all the different types of people there. There are many different ethnic groups in the state, primarily the Lepcha, Bhutia, Tibetan and Nepalese. We met many wonderful people in Sikkim, and were blessed to have wonderful guides - Bohani, Manoj and Moti and a fantastic driver, Kamal, who made the difference between and calm, relaxed trip and a hair raising one! We saw so many cute babies and children, met so many lovely monks and villagers - here a just a sample...

Back to School Time

2009-06-03T16:38:00.004+05:30

After a busy summer vacation; a few weeks of camp, swimming lessons, lots of soccer, Sikkim vacation (pics and blogs to follow), it was time to go back to school on June 3rd. Ashwin and Priya will be going to school until late July, when they'll get a break before returning to the US, and starting school there in September.

A school going tradition in India is to wrap all the note books and textbooks with brown wrapping paper and label them appropriately - a job for Mom and Dad, naturally. No time to ease in to 1st and 4th standard - home work started on day 1.

Going to Guntur

2009-05-15T16:26:00.004+05:30

Over the year, although Prabhu and I have both been working/volunteering here in India, we haven't blogged much about it. However, we have wanted to share a couple of our recent special experiences, thus the last post from Periamalai and this one from Andhra Pradesh. Andhra is the state just north of Tamil Nadu, famed for it's hot climate and food, particularly pickles. It is also one of the states in India with the highest incidence of HIV (about 3.2%). One of the organizations that I have been volunteering with here in Chennai runs two clinics and a small hospital in Andhra, and this week I was able to visit there, with the intent of collecting data that we could use to write a paper sharing the organizations experience treating patients with HIV/AIDS in India. It was a privilege to meet the teams in Guntur and Chilakaluripet, who are doing wonderful work. I got the chance to see both in and outpatients, and of course spent a lot of time pouring over charts. One of the highlights of the visit was a trip to a local fair with a group of children who are affected by HIV - they are either infected, or have (had) a parent with HIV. Like children all around the world, they were ecstatic playing carnival games, going on rides, eating junk food and in this case, watching a magic show. Here are some photos of the kids.

Sadly, while I was in Guntur, HAPPEN, the organization which provides support for the children and sponsored the trip to the fair, was informed that the Clinton foundation, their major donor, would not be continuing their support in the next fiscal year (due to "the downturn in the US economy"). Currently, the Clinton foundation is providing 30,000 rs/month, or about $600 which provides nutritional support and school fees for approximately 85 HIV affected children. If anyone out there in blog land has some pull with the Clinton foundation, could you ask them to reconsider?

The Indian Birthday

2009-05-13T12:31:00.009+05:30

Leann celebrated her first Indian birthday on May 2nd. Following breakfast we went to the Ooty flower show in Chennai (Ooty is a hill station in the state of Tamil Nadu, where we live). The flower arrangements were fantastic as well as the veggie art work. Note the crocodile made from bitter gourd! Following the show we went treated Leann to a vegetarian South Indian food festival, where we all pigged out!!

All this was followed by a family get together with more food and cake, and lots of birthday singing. All in all a great day, and the start to another great year!

Periamalai (Big Hill)

2009-04-29T16:00:00.012+05:30

About to head off on our hike

Priya in the kitchen.

Ashwin and a jackfruit tree!

At Lalbagh Gardens

Bengaluru palace, home to the Wodeyer family, former rulers of Mysore State

Last week we took a short break and headed to Periamalai, a village near Bangalore where Prabhu has been several times to help with a surgical camp. The SMART clinic there was founded and run by Dr Jeyachandran and provides free care to the residents of the nearby areas (many are tribal people) who would otherwise have very limited (if any) access to health care. Over the years the clinic as grown into a small hospital and apart from in addition to medical visits, surgical camps are conducted every 3 months or so.

We had a wonderful time in Perriamalai -Leann saw patients with Dr Jeyachandran and Dr Rohan, Prabhu assisted with some minor cases, Ashwin and Priya had fun playing in the cool fresh air, and we all went hiking in the nearby hills - and got caught in the most beautiful thunderstorm (outside of Minnesota) we'd ever seen. (the thunderstorm did cause a very small stream we had forded on the outbound leg of the hike to become a three foot deep torrent on the way back, which sucked the shoes right of Ashwin's feet, which was a little exciting!)

After two days in Perriamalai we spent a pleasant weekend in Bangalore, where we enjoyed getting to see our nephew /cousin Vijay. Bangalore bears the 'Garden City' title with pride. The world class Lal Bagh and Cubbon parks are oasis in an otherwise hectic urban landscape. We also enjoyed a great Japanese meal at Harima restaurant which included good Chimay beer( worth it even at 7 dollars, says Prabhu).

Report Card

2009-04-28T21:47:00.004+05:30

On April 29th, 2009 the results of the annual exams were released at Jessie Moses School. Students and their parents go to meet the teachers and receive report cards. Ashwin did very well - he scored 100/100 in Math, English, Social Studies, Scripture, General Knowledge and Computer Science. He score 98/100 in Science and 92/100 in Tamil (which was a huge gain from early in the year). What a great acheivement for Ashwin. We as parents are very proud and Priya was also very happy for her brother! After picking up the report card we went out and celebrated with a mini tiffin meal at Hotel Saravana Bhavan .

Archana weds Vijay

2009-04-16T10:26:00.001+05:30

With Archana's sister, Aarathi

Last Tuesday evening we had the honor of attending Archana and Vijay's wedding reception. For those blog followers who don't know, Archana Nagaraja is a second year resident in Internal Medicine who is doing her primary care clinic at my office. I was her preceptor until September when I decamped for Chennai. Archana's family is from Tamil Nadu, and she (and her twin sister) attended medical school here, so she and her fiance planned to come back here for their wedding. The reception was great fun. Ashwin and Priya especially enjoyed the clowns (a first at a wedding for us) and the band. The food was delicious, and of course the bride was ravishing and the groom very handsome. We had a wonderful time - here are some photos from the big day!

Happy Easter

2009-04-11T13:31:00.003+05:30

We would like to wish all of our blog followers a blessed, peaceful Easter (or Passover, or Spring). Thought you might like to see a picture of Ashwin, Priya, and their new friend Sneha (who moved in to the apartment across from ours a couple of weeks ago) coloring Easter eggs. We managed to find some food coloring at the store and the kids did a great job creating beautiful, original eggs! Sending Easter love to all of you!

Leann, Prabhu, Ashwin and Priya

Congratulations Graduate

2009-04-08T09:02:00.008+05:30

This Monday, Priya graduated from the nursery class at Jessie Moses School. We were all very proud of her - she had a great year, learned a lot, including some Tamil, and adapted very well to the academic culture in India. We were fortunate that Priya had a very kind and patient teacher, Mrs Rose Augustine, with whom she is pictured, above. At the graduation, she was selected to give the "vote of thanks" from the students to the teachers and staff, and she did a wonderful job. Congratulations Priya!

Summertime

2009-04-01T20:59:00.007+05:30

Early one morning a few weeks ago, Ashwin asked me why he was sweating even when he was standing still. I put my hand up and answered. Global warming. Thank you Al Gore, I said. Summer was always hot here, but now it's starting earlier. For the next 4 months the temperatures will be in the 35-40 degree C. range. If we are lucky we will have some rain in July and things will cool off a bit.

One thing everyone in South India looks forward to is that summer is mango season. Varieties like alphonso, banganpalli, malgova, neelam, rumani and Killemouku will flood the markets. Mangoes are just starting to come to market, so for now we have to be satisfied with watermelons (which are currently selling for 8rs/kg, or just about 7cents a pound). The photos of mango tree is the view from our bedroom window. Prabhu

Weekend in Colombo

2009-03-20T15:52:00.008+05:30

Downtown Colombo

1,500 year old Banyan tree

National flower of Sri Lanka

'Flying foxes', a very large type of fruit bat

On a field trip.....

Roadside lunch sales...

Flipping roti

I (Leann)spent the first weekend of March visiting Colombo, Sri Lanka. The visa I'm on here in India mandates that I have to leave the country after 180 days, so in order to comply I headed east. Naively, I assumed that Colombo would look and feel pretty much like any big Indian city. I was rapidly proved wrong in this, for there were many notable differences between Sri Lanka and India. For example, the streets were wider and less congested, with sidewalks that you can actually walk on. On strolling through Colombo's largest park I was startled to see dozens of young couples holding hands, hugging and kissing (quite passionately, it seemed). India is quite conservative, and PDA's are pretty much taboo (I hasten to add, however, all the couples in Colombo were male/female - Sri Lanka isn't that liberal)! Most women I saw were wearing western clothes, many fewer saris and only a few salwars. Instead of roadside tea stalls or 'tiffin joints' that are omnipresent here in India, the fast food option of choice in Colombo seems to be 'packets'. Each day people drive into the city and then set up card tables with dozens of lunches they have made that morning at home, all individually packaged and wrapped in newspaper. The going price, 800-100 Sri Lankan rupees - or 80cents - 1 USD. The other major easy to note difference in Colombo is an eerily creepy security presence, particularly in the downtown. In a twenty minute walk along the beach promenade, I counted 67 armed military personnel (plus dozens of what I presumed to be army recruits out for their morning jog). Despite this, I enjoyed sightseeing, shopping and some delicious food. Above I have posted some photos of the Lankan flora, from the Viharmadevi park, as well as some food photos - of one of the street corner lunch sellers, and of the chefs at the wonderful Sri Lankan restaurant at the Hilton making roti - I'm posting these especially for my friends Liz and Carlene. Liz, they make their roti different in Sri Lanka - they flip the dough onto the table with both hands until it's stretched out very thin - they were happy to let me try, and it's harder than it looks!

Travels in Tamil Nadu

2009-03-12T15:50:00.000+05:30

Hey mom, we found out this plant is called 'Crown of Thorns'

Shore Temple in the background

Nana and Grandpa at the five Radha's

More of the five Radha's

Arjuna's Penance

Krishna, milking a cow

Sunset, Mahabalipuram

Pondicherry Promenade

After returning to Chennai with Nana and Grandpa, we soon set off again, but this time for travel nearby. We headed south along the coast of Tamil Nadu to the seaside village of Mahabalipuram, famous for its ancient stone carvings. The Shore Temple there, a World Heritage site, dates to the seventh century, AD and the 'five ratha' carvings date to the fifth. We were struck not only by how beautiful the carvings were, but how well they had stood up after 15oo years. After that, we were on to the Union Territory of Pondicherry (now, unfortunately renamed 'Puducherry'). Pondi was formerly a French Territory, and it has a definite colonial feel to it, with wide shady boulevards, and cafes that serve croissants and french bread. There we shopped, walked the lovely seaside promenade, and Leann was able to take Naren and Don out to dinner as an early celebration of their 35th wedding anniversary.

We Interrupt this Travelogue

2009-03-09T15:56:00.005+05:30

Priya has lost another tooth! This time, a top tooth. It came out last week, and once again, the tooth fairy managed to find her and left a 100 rupee note under her pillow. Congratulations Priya!

We thought that Room 8 from Asa Adams Elementary School, who have been following the blog, might like to see what a 100 rupee note looks like. All the bills here have a picture of Gandhi on them. Currently, the exchange rate is about 50 rupees for each US dollar.

Lazy Days on the Backwaters

2009-03-04T15:09:00.005+05:30

The last several days of our trip around India with Nana and Grandpa (or 'Gramps', as Priya likes to call him) were spent relaxing in the backwaters of Kerala. We were on the shore of Lake Vembanad, the second largest lake in India, and adjacent to a large bird sanctuary. At the lovely Taj Garden Kumakaron (where, fortuitously we were upgraded three times - first to a luxury villa, then a luxury villa with private pool, then right off the resort onto a houseboat), we enjoyed fishing, bird watching, swimming, playing cards, biking, and just kicking back and relaxing.

Kathakali

2009-02-10T09:26:00.005+05:30

Kerala is the home of a number of styles of dance, theater and music. The most famous of these is probably Kathakali, a highly stylized theater performance involving very elaborate costumes and makeup. Facial expressions and detailed body movements are very important in Kathakali, and performers apparently spend years perfecting these. The actors do not speak, but are accompanied by singers and musicians. While in Cochin we went to a show which included some Kathakali, as well as some classical south Indian dancing and some Kalari payattu fighting (a type of martial arts originating in Kerala). Here are some photos from the show...

On to Kerala

2009-02-09T11:11:00.005+05:30

Santa Cruz Basilica

Grandpa (and parasol) outside the house where Vasco lived.

in front of Vasco de Gama's tombstone

Pardesi Synagogue

At the spice shop

See Grandpa help raising the net!

What Ashwin caught in the Chinese Net

After Jaipur we headed south for warmer weather in the state of Kerala, which is to the west of Tamil Nadu and borders the Indian Ocean. We first flew to Cochin, where we spent a couple of days touring the historic old port of Fort Cochin. It was primarily a spice trading and fishing port and has been occupied by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English. Vasco de Gama lived there until his death in 1524. There are numerous historic churches and one synagogue - one of the oldest in India, with a small but still active congregation. We enjoyed strolling through the quaint streets, trying out the "chinese" fishing nets, and shopping for spices.

Did we mention the food?

2009-02-08T15:16:00.005+05:30

We haven't really spoken much about food on the blog, but I thought we should mention some of the great meals we had while travelling. The photo of Prabhu above shows him and his Rajasthani thali. A thali is a typical Indian lunch meal, usually served on a banana leaf with rice and other carbs (chapati, poori, parotha, etc) at it's center, and many side dishes surrounding. Vegetarian is most typical, but some places serve a 'non-veg' option. Pickles, yogurt and of course a sweet are mandatory. The type of side dishes vary from region to region, so here in Chennai we get the typical 'south Indian' thali, whereas in Jaipur you get the 'Rajasthani' thali. By the way thali's typically run from 50-120 rupees, depending on size (or $1-2.50).

In addition to this, on our trip we enjoyed Italian and Chinese food in Delhi, typical north Indian fare in Jaipur, and fantastic fish and coconut based curries in Kerala. Nana especially liked appam in Kerala - rice based crepe type affairs. The first two photos above were taken at lunchtime on our houseboat trip in Kerala.

As in many cultures, life seems to revolve around food here, with conversation at the meal that you're eating often including the plan for the next meal!

Scenes from Jaipur

2009-02-07T21:00:00.000+05:30

Entering the City Palace, Jaipur

Nana, Priya and a friend who wanted her photo taken

Ashwin and the world's largest silver urn (and it's protector)

Salmon City

Next to the worlds largest sundial.

Jaipur is a fascinating city, romantically termed "the pink city" in guidebooks due to being constructed primarily of red sandstone. The 'salmon city' would seem to be a more accurate, if less romantic, description. The mughals had a big presence there, and built walled forts, palaces and one very interesting 17th century astronomical observatory (somewhat reminiscent of a de Chirico painting). Here are some photos...

All This and Kite Flying Too

2009-02-05T13:16:00.003+05:30

While we were in Jaipur, there was a kite festival. The sky was abloom with kites of every bright color imaginable. (Apparently there were many power outages through the city as kites became entangled with power lines, but that's another story...). Some of you who know Prabhu well know of his prowess with kite flying, so of course we quickly had to repair to a kite shop for a couple of kites and some string. An enjoyable afternoon was then spent flying the kites from the roof of our inn.

Out and About with a Camel Friend

2009-01-31T13:56:00.008+05:30

Who is that woman with the drab outfit?

The kitchen where the tea was made.

Milking the goat for tea.

A delicious cuppa!

After many hours of waiting in the grubby Agra station followed by a very slow train from Agra to Jaipur, we finally arrived at our inn at about 3am. The Savista was a lovely place, very warm and welcoming. It's a bit outside of Jaipur, on the edge of a small village. After resting and restoring ourselves with a few hours of sleep and an ample breakfast, we set off on a camel cart ride arranged by our host through the surrounding countryside. We saw small farms, lots of birds, beautifully dressed women, and adorable children. Despite linguistic barriers, we were welcomed warmly by the locals. At one family compound we had fun photographing the kids and then showing them their pictures. After one of the goats was milked, we were all treated to delicious Rajasthani tea! It was a truly memorable day.

More from Agra

2009-01-28T18:11:00.009+05:30

After the Taj Mahal, we visited Agra's other major attraction, the Agra Fort. Building on the fort commenced in 1565 under the emperor Akbar. Significant expansion took place under Shah Jahan. (Akbar liked to use locally available red sandstone - Shah Jahan preferred to import costlier white marble, so you can date the different portions of the fort readily). At the time it was built, Agra was the capital of the Mughal Empire, and the fort served both as military fortification and palace for the emperor's family. Over the centuries the fort has been looted extensively - imagine how splendid it must have been in its heyday!

After the fort, we took a little spin in a horse drawn carriage, and strolled around a local park where the slide had the most amazing view - then it was on to Agra's dark, dirty and depressing rail station, where we had a prolonged wait for our train to Jaipur....

At Last

2009-01-25T15:09:00.004+05:30

Early on the morning of Jan 12th our little party left Delhi station bound for Agra. The north of India often gets foggy in the winter months and this Dec/Jan has been no exception. As the train rolled into Agra, the fog was so thick that we couldn't even see the train tracks... "Oh no", I worried, "all this way and we wont even be able to see the Taj". Well - the worries were in vain, by the time we arrived the fog had burned off and it was a beautiful day. The building itself - well, words cant describe it, and even pictures don't fully do it justice. I was very moved.

You all know, I'm sure that the Taj is a mausoleum that Shah Jahan, one of the mughal emperors, had built for his favorite wife (Mumtaz Mahal), but you may not have known that was after she died giving birth to her 14th child. I'd say that she certainly deserved having this most beautiful building built in her memory.

More from Agra shortly, but we thought the Taj deserved a post all its own.

Delhi Delights

2009-01-23T22:29:00.008+05:30

Ashwin and Don at the Qutb Minar, highest minaret in Asia, circa 1300 India Gate, and Ashwin with Gurkha Guards

Ashwin at the ruins of a Jain temple from the 4th Century, at the Qutb Minar complex.

Scenes from the Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque. completed in 1656. That's Nana in the main prayer hall, and a view of the Red Fort in the distance from a corner tower.

Humayan's Tomb - a beautiful example of Mughal architecture and a prototype for the later Taj Mahal. Priya thought it was a great place for dancing!

The Lotus Temple, which is a Bahai Temple of recent construction, with the reflecting pool below.

Yes, they were lovin' it!!!

Well, we have returned from our epic journey around India. We know you blog followers have been waiting for an update - so here goes. We had a wonderful time, and saw and did so much. Our first update is from our stop in Delhi, where we saw lots of sites that Ashwin has been learning about in social studies, and Nana has been reading about in the Lonely Planet. We also enjoyed Delhi's wonderful restaurants, and an exciting trip to McDonald's - the first one for Ashwin and Priya since they left from the US. The menu is quite different here (lots of options for vegetarians!), but the happy meals left two kids just as satisfied...

Welcome Nana and Grandpa

2009-01-05T22:31:00.007+05:30

We know that many readers are eager to know that Nana and Grandpa arrived safely in Chennai in the wee hours of January 7th. They had an uneventful flight, and amazingly landed on time at 1:00 am and made it through customs and picked up their bags within forty minutes. They were met by Prabhu - we decided that Ashwin and Priya should skip the trip to the airport so that they would not sleep through school on Wednesday, but they got up to greet their grandparents who were here by 2:15 handing out delicious homemade Christmas cookies made by Nana and hand carried from Mpls/StPaul in Grandpa's carry on bag! We're all thrilled to have them here (and we're all enjoying the cookies)!

Now, a couple of days to acclimate, and then off to Delhi on Friday. We'll be sightseeing in Dehli, then to Agra and Jaipur. Following that, back down south to the state of Kerala, where we will first be in the city of Cochin, then on the backwaters and a bird sanctuary. We wont be posting while we travel, so look for another update in a couple of weeks. Cheers!

New Year Kolam

2009-01-02T08:47:00.005+05:30

On New Year's Day we admired beautiful kolam all over the neighborhood, and thought you might like to see some photos. Kolam are designs made with rice flour outside the entrance to the home. Most Hindu families make a new one each morning (always the job of one of the ladies of the household). The kolam are intended to keep bad spirits out of the home, and welcome in good spirits. They are also supposed to be an offering to pests such as ants and crows, the idea being that if they have an offering outside the house, they wont want to come in. (In my observation, this seems to work for crows, but as for the ants.... ). Usually kolam are done in plain white powder, and designs range from simple to quite elaborate, and often highly mathematical. However, on special days, colored powders are often used, and the designs are often larger and more elaborate than usual. New Year's was a special day, and here are the results - HAPPY NEW YEAR all!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-28T16:26:00.005+05:30

We in Chennai had a wonderful Christmas. We started with dinner at the Marriott on Christmas Eve, so that Ashwin and Priya could enjoy the traditional spread not usually available at home here (roast turkey, ham, and to Priya's delight, lots of lovely imported cheeses). Then home to hang stockings with care, and yes, Santa does know how to find Chennai! Much happiness Christmas morning when this was discovered. Then, a lovely church service, tasty Christmas breakfast, and family over for fun, games, and the traditional Indian festive Christmas dish - Biryani - yum! Hope that all you blog followers enjoyed your holidays as much as we did - here are a few photos for you to enjoy.

The Boys are Back in Town. The Old Boys are Back in Town.

2008-12-27T20:52:00.008+05:30

December 20Th, my Alma mater, Madras Christian College High School held an all school reunion, "The Old Boys Meet". It's been 28 years since I graduated. There were quite a lot of old boys , including a student who passed out in 1938. The years I spent at MCC (1973-1980) mean a lot to me, so it was great to meet my classmates after such a long time. As one would expect we have all aged; no hair , white hair, big belly syndrome etc. In spite of the difficulty recognizing them, it was a special to meet all my friends and get back in touch. The group pic includes Dr Clement Felix, our headmaster at the time, in the blue blazer. These days, most of my friend are into Facebook, and because of that I have 12 friends on my Facebook page. Its great to be part of the Facebook generation, though Leann feels it's a bit juvenile for 45 year old men to write on each others Facebook wall.

One of my favorite things about my school is the grounds. The main grounds have been left untouched - one field is used by the Pace Foundation to train the future cricket stars of India. It gives me great pleasure to watch Ashwin play soccer in my school, where he has coaching every weekend, and to see Priya run and enjoy all the open space - a rarity in Chennai!

Dayam

2008-12-27T20:38:00.008+05:30

Priya and cousin Joe, in a police box.

Leela's grandaughters Sangeeta and Shalini, with

grandneices/nephew Priya, Ashwin and Helen.

The dayam board and shells, with Priya throwing the shells, below.

December celebrations also included my Periamma's (translates into 'big mother', ie. my father's elder brother's wife or very close relative as we would say) 80Th birthday celebration. So the weekend of December 7Th, we joined cousins, aunts and uncles to celebrate in Vellore, a city a bit north of us in Tamil Nadu. About 50 people showed up and there were tributes, songs, dance and plenty of food.

A high point of the weekend was Saturday evening's game of Dayam which is a complicated game somewhat similar to "Sorry". 21 players, including Priya and Ashwin, started playing at 9 PM and continued until the game was declared a draw after 5 and a half hours of non-stop playing -though there were plenty of red towels throw in for challenges. I guess one could call it a success since everyone was on speaking terms after the play!

Happy Birthday Periamma.

Gingerbread

2008-12-17T18:05:00.005+05:30

Last Tuesday, the 9th was a national holiday here - Bakrid, also known as Eid-al-Adah , or the 'Festival of Sacrifice'. (It commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac. God was reportedly so pleased, he substituted a ram. Here, Muslims typically celebrate by killing a goat, and sharing with friends, family and the less fortunate).

Since we all had the day off, but weren't planning to sacrifice a goat, we decided to head out to the Courtyard Marriott, where we had heard that they had build a large gingerbread house in the lobby. Large it was - about the size of the average single car garage in Jamaica Plain. Ashwin and Priya were really impressed, and Priya managed to charm the staff into prying a couple of ornaments off the house for them to take home. We had a wonderful meal - there were both eastern and western items, including some favorites that are hard to come by here in S. India, cheese, salami and pizza!

Carols All Around

2008-12-16T18:19:00.004+05:30

Christmas season continues apace here in Chennai - with lots of music! Sunday night the Christmas Choir from CSI Redeemer's Church put on its long rehearsed for carol service. Both the adult and the children's choir performed. Leann and Ashwin, respectively, have been practicing with their groups all fall. The music was wonderful (totally unbiased observation here) and a great time was had by all. Check out the photos at top of Leann and Ashwin in their 'rumba jazzy' Christmas choir attire. ("Rumba" means really, or very and "Jazzy" means jazzy in Tamil).

In addition to the concert, there have been "carol rounds". All the churches here seem to host these - our church sends out a group every night for a couple of weeks, who walk or ride in a van to homes of church families, covering a different neighborhood each night. By the end of the two weeks, every family in the church will have had carolers visit. Ashwin was part of the Sunday school group that caroled on the 5th of December. Leann was part of the English choir that covered the 15th and 17th. Both of us went from home to home, singing and overeating as we politely accepted the snacks that almost every home graciously offered. Ashwin's group didn't return until 2:30 in the morning! The older folks were in by 1am, as we cant stay out as late. (I'm sure, just the start of Ashwin's bedtime eclipsing mine!) Tonight, a group of carolers came to our house from the Lutheran church Prabhu's parents attend. From the perspective of both the caroler and the listener, this is a lovely tradition, enhanced by the balmy weather in the 70's!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-05T22:57:00.011+05:30

Christmas season has begun here - with a grand start at Ashwin and Priya's school. No politically correct celebrations in India. One can expect exuberant celebrations from all religions during their respective festivals. On December 3, there was a Christmas Pageant at school. Priya was in a 100 student strong choir which included all the students of nursery and kindergarten classes. And they sang there hearts out. Ashwin was in the school play, "Follow the Star" and was the youngest member of the group. His selection may have been partly due to the fact that some of his teachers had seen him on TV when he was interviewed on the day of the US election.

Last night Ashwin went carolling with his Sunday school group and returned home at 2 AM, with his pockets stuffed with candy. Next week, there will be a Choir Concert by our church Christmas choir, which Leann is a part of. Then she will we going on carolling rounds a couple of nights as well. (I don't know if she can stay awake)

Prabhakar

Wedding Season

2008-12-05T22:42:00.020+05:30

Winter is the busiest season for marriages in South India, and wedding parties are becoming regular events for us. Last week, we were invited for a special wedding ceremony by my colleague Dr Koka from Boston Children's Hospital. His niece, Sahi was getting married in Chennai. The reception was at a lovely wedding hall call AVM Rajeswari marriage hall . It was so nice to meet Dr Koka and family, and the food and music were great. In traditional south Indian style food was served on banana leaves and eaten with the right hand (no utensils). One of the photos above is of Leann, Ashwin and Priya digging in!

About ten days before the wedding, we were at an engagement party for Prabhu's cousin Jikki (in the photos at top, she's the woman in the lavender sari talking with Ashwin). She will be married in mid January. There was a celebration at the groom's family home in Tambaram, which is just south of Chennai. A large contingent of family and friends travelled there in a minibus. At the celebration, Ashwin and Priya were excited to be part of the procession bringing gifts to bless the betrothed - Priya carried fruits, Ashwin carried a platter of nuts and sweets - all traditional gifts given to wish for an abundant sweet life together. Then, there was a wonderful meal including the traditional festive dish, biryani, followed by music and singing. A great time was had by all!

There are a few photos above from both events

Cyclone Nisha

2008-11-28T17:11:00.008+05:30

kidsinchennai would like to say thanks to all those who have expressed concern for our safety with the tragically still ongoing terrorist strikes in Mumbai. We are all fine, although of course saddened and worried.

We are having other, weather related difficulties - Cyclone Nisha has been causing havoc in Tamil Nadu, the state in which Chennai is located, for the past four days. Rain has been very heavy, and incessant and winds have been quite high at times. The naming of cyclones is quite recent ; from 2004 when 7 nearby countries gave name suggestions to the Indian Meteorological Dept. Apart from the heavy downpour over the past three days at least 70 people have died so far. In Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu a record was broken for the most rainfall in a single day- 26 inches. Thousands of people have been evacuated following flooding of low lying areas in the state. There is flooding in parts of the Annanagar neighborhood where we live, but we are very fortunate to be in our dry second floor apartment and have limited interruption in electricity. Parts of the state lost power for 3 days. Due to the cyclone, schools throughout the city have been closed for the past 3 days . So Ashwin and Priya have been enjoying a mini Thanksgiving vacation here.

This along with the ongoing terrorist strike in Bombay are difficult times for India. Our thoughts are with all those affected by both natural and man made disasters.

Wii Will Wii Will Rock You....

2008-11-23T18:34:00.000+05:30

Once we made the decision to spend this year in India, Leann rashly promised Ashwin and Priya that we would get them a Nintendo Wii to play in India. At the time, of course, we didn't realize that Wii's are not sold here in India, and that it would have to be imported from the US. Leann brought the Wii safely to Chennai and it has certainly lived up to our expectations. Ashwin is clearly the expert in all games, although Priya excels in Wii boxing.

We recently had a minor, actually major Wii crisis when I hooked up the Wii console to a new converter (needed as power supplied in India is is 220 volts, not 110). In small letters it said on the converter "not to be used with computers ,TV " etc. But in keeping with my proud tradition of not reading instruction manuals I didn't read that, and proceeded to plug in the Wii. Needless to say, nothing worked. Ashwin was devastated. Leann looked like she wanted to string me up. Luckily I was able to track down a Wii expert here in Chennai, Mr Saravanan , the owner of a video game store called Game Shoppe. He was able to diagnose the problem (fortunately, only the adapter and power cord were fried) and to get a new power cord which rectified the problem. I have an uncomfortable feeling that this story will become part of family lore. Hope you enjoy the Wii pics.

Prabhakar

Disclaimer: this blog is not being commercially supported by Nintendo (or anyone else, for that matter). We are working on creating interest in the product, so if anyone from Nintendo is following the blog and is interested in doing so, please let us know.

Infrastructure Problems

2008-11-22T15:37:00.003+05:30

So, no major family events this week - no trips, weddings, or presentations (although Ashwin did have exams, and did very well). So, a word about the headaches of day to day life in India. (sorry, no photos here) This week has been rife with problems in day to day services, although most weeks are. The major telecommunications server was down for a few days, so no Internet service. Additionally, almost every day sees a power cut of a few hours - there is a perennial shortage of power here which has worsened in the past couple of months. We are typically without power for a few hours mid-morning every day. We consider ourselves lucky, however, as many homes have cuts a couple of times a day, often at very inconvenient times such as early in the morning and at dinner time. Also, it's much more of a problem for small businesses, folks who work from home, etc. Even some large businesses are affected - this week we read in the paper that one of the largest malls in Chennai has been without power from 10a-10p almost daily. They have a limited backup generator, but that only keeps some lights on - no AC, so as you can imagine, business is down tremendously! The final insult here was that on Wednesday, our tap water went dry. An explanation is in order here - we actually have FOUR types of water available at our apartment. 1 - bottled water for drinking, which is delivered every other day in 20l. bottles, at 70rs/bottle 2- tap water, which comes from the Corporation of Chennai. This is good for washing, bathing, etc, but should not be ingested unless boiled or filtered first, which leads to... 3 - filtered tap water. We have wall mounted filter which we use to filter some of the tap water (#2) for use in cooking, washing fruits and vegetables, rinsing dishes, etc. You could actually drink this water safely, but it has a rather brackish taste, due to the high saline content of the water, so for drinking, go to #1. (also, since the filter is electric powered, if the power is off, you cant use it...) 4-ground water - basically, an emergency backup tank under the apartment with ground/rain water. Can be used in urgent situations for washing/cleaning, but not clean, and only limited amounts available. So, what went this week was #2 (and also #3, since it's filtered #2). And why, you may ask, was there no water from the City? Well - it's a bit complicated, but basically boils down to the fact that instead of distributing the water equally, the city lets some people put their water access point lower on the pipe than other people. So, if you've got clout, or paid a big enough bribe, you get very good water pressure... if not, then your water may be just a trickle. Additionally, since the area that we live in is becoming much more developed, with individual homes being quickly replaced by multi unit buildings, there is a much greater demand for water. So, apparently this week someone upstream from us turned a big faucet on - and ours went off. Now the building is buying water and keeping it in a big tank, until the appropriate official can be bought off, and a new pipe laid. Talk about wasted resources!

Spot Light 2008

2008-11-14T21:33:00.014+05:30

Nov 14th, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's (Independent India's First Prime Minister) birthday, is celebrated as Children's Day in India to commemorate his love for children. All over Chennai there have been festivals, competitions, and other special events. At Jessie Moses school there was a week long celebration with special competitions to showcase the students talents. During the Spot Light 2008 Ashwin and Priya took part in various contests.

Ashwin came in 3rd in the poetry contest for his recitation of The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear. Priya qualified for the finals but didn't finish in the top three in either Poetry or in the "fancy dress" category. The recited a poem by Ogden Nash and for the fancy dress contest played shoemaker's wife from 'The Shoemaker and the Elves'. Parents could attend either the preliminary or final rounds of competition - so Prabhu went for the prelims and Leann for the finals. "Fancy dress" (in which the children had to dress up as a story book character and then tell a little about them) was especially entertaining with a full complement of princesses, cap sellers, hunters(one with two live birds!), little pigs and a tortoise!

There was also a Children' s Day service at church and during this special service, Ashwin sang with the children's choir.

Happy Children's Day 2008.

A Great Day!

2008-11-05T18:43:00.007+05:30

The consul general, commenting on Obama's victory.

Ashwin and Priya with their candidate!

This morning we awoke early and plugged in our laptops. Early returns started trickling in about 0630, IST. At about 0800, instead of heading to school, we took Ashwin and Priya and headed off to the Taj Coromandel Hotel for an election open house given by the US Consulate. A large crowd of expats, NRI's, Indian schoolchildren, consulate personnel and other interested individuals filled the ballroom. We sat in the front row sipping tea and watching the results roll in, and were thrilled when at about 0930 Barack Obama was declared the victor. We stayed to watch his speech, and then went out for a celebratory lunch. There was a large crew of photographers and reporters at the event, and Ashwin was interviewed twice by TV crews. One was the local CNN outlet, so keep your eyes open!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHWIN!

2008-11-01T14:29:00.005+05:30

This past Thursday, October 30th Ashwin celebrated his 9th birthday. He had a fun day - starting with a call from his Nana and Grandpa in Wisconsin. Then, at school he got to wear dress clothes, instead of the usual uniform, and pass out candy to his classmates and teachers. In the evening all the aunts, uncles and cousins in the area gathered for birthday dinner, cake, singing and gifts. Great fun was had by all. Thanks to all of those who came or sent birthday wishes! Next weekend, he will have another party with his friends - the plan is to have pizza, cake and Wii games.

HAPPY DEEPAVALI

2008-10-27T09:18:00.004+05:30

ஹாப்பி தீபாவளி

அஷ்வின், பிரியா, பிரபாகர் அண்ட் லேஅன்ன்

that's "Happy Deepavali,

Ashwin, Priya, Prabhakar and Leann " written in Tamil script, which both Ashwin and Priya are learning to read and write in school!

After the heat, and then two weeks of incredible monsoon rains, it's a gorgeous day - and today is Deepavali, which is the biggest Hindu festival of the year throughout India. Also known as the 'Festival of Lights', according to today's paper, 'the festival basically celebrates the triumph of good over evil', however there are regional differences in the legend behind the festival and also in how it is celebrated. Here in Tamil Nadu,' the day commemorates the killing of the demon king Narakasura by Lord Krishna's wife Sathyabama.'

As Christian's, we don't have to bother too much about the symbolism behind the festivities, we can just enjoy the trappings. The major elements include: a day off school/work, visiting friends and family, lighting firecrackers, shopping, and of course lots of good food - especially sweets!

Pictured above are a couple of photos from our trip to a local cracker shop (that's cracker as in fire, not Ritz) then of course, lighting the crackers. There is picture of Ashwin and Priya and their cousin Pauline admiring sweets and then a visit to some friends who served us wonderful bonda and the absolute best dosa that kidsinchennai staff have ever tasted! Thanks Meena!!

May the lamps of joy illuminate your life and fill your days with the bright sparkles of peace and good will. Happy Deepavali!

How to Bathe an Elephant

2008-10-20T17:25:00.003+05:30

Well, our vacation blogging wouldn't be complete without some photos from the Dubare Elephant preserve. This is billed as a forest home for retired elephants, where you can feed, bathe, and ride elephants who are living a life of leisure. In reality, the preserve seemed like a major revenue generator for the Karnataka Govt, and the vast majority of tourists didn't seem interested in feeding or bathing - just riding. So, the elephants have to walk around in circles all day with large groups of well-fed Indian families, which doesn't seem like much of a retirement. When we visited, however, we lucked out because we found a couple of mahouts (elephant handlers) on their way to bathe elephants which did not belong to the preserve. They were happy to have our help with the bath (along with a few extra rupees, of course). We all had fun getting muddy and wet. What we can tell you is that elephants have really thick, rough skin, they seem to enjoy their baths, and baby elephants are very playful and like to try and headbutt tourists....

Plants and Animals

2008-10-20T10:04:00.008+05:30

While we were trekking, and then on our visit to a bird sanctuary on the way back to Mysore, we saw some cool plants and animals. In addition to those pictured here, we saw monkeys and mongers (gooses?) - but they were took quick for our kidsinchennai cameramen. Quick explanation on two of the photos - we are told that the large round structure up in a tree is a 'white ant's nest'. The hill Ashwin is standing next to is the biggest anthill we've ever seen!

Trekking in Coorg

2008-10-20T09:28:00.005+05:30

Here are some more trekking photos-

Trekking in Coorg - All Great but the Leeches

2008-10-19T13:25:00.007+05:30

Well, since we've had layout problems these past few posts, on the next couple of posts I'm just going to provide a little background text, and then let you scroll the photos. Coorg is an area of Coorg in the hills of the Western Ghats, also home to the headwaters of the River Cauvery, the longest river in South India. It's quite a rural area with forests, coffee and spice plantations. The major activity in Coorg is 'trekking', or what we in the US would refer to as hiking. We took two lovely hikes in Coorg, with the aide of a lovely guide, Chinappa. (a guide is essential since there are no marked trails or readily available maps). After a bumpy jeep ride past paddy fields and pastures, the first hike started in the rain. It was marred only by the presence of a gazillion leeches, which were teeny little critters that dropped onto your shoes and socks looking for a meal. Fortunately, the rain stopped, the trail opened up as we climbed higher, and the leech problem abated.

Out second trek started in the field in back of Chinappa's brothers home, and climbed up through a coffee and spice plantation (photos below of Prabhu with his favorite plant, the coffee tree). Then we were up over a ridge and on to the Abbi falls, where locals love to gather and take a dip - even though the water contains the untreated sewage of the neighboring town of Madikeri (so we stayed on the shore!). We then crossed an exciting bamboo bridge, were up over another ridge and done. Ashwin and Priya were great trekkers! We hope you enjoy the photos.

Lost My First Tooth

2008-10-17T09:08:00.000+05:30

We had to interrupt travel blogs temporarily to let everyone see that Priya has lost her first tooth! Not sure if you can tell from the photos, but any minute now she is also going to loose her second tooth. Although the custom here in India is to bury baby teeth in the garden, Priya stuck with US tradition and put her tooth under her pillow last night - and was amply rewarded by the tooth fairy, who managed to find her here in Chennai.

The Road to Coorg - Vacation Part 2

2008-10-16T12:07:00.000+05:30

Dear kidsinchennai followers - before the next entry, my apologies that I had a bit of trouble getting the photos in a coherent layout in the last entry. I'm trying a new tact this time -here goes. So, after a few days in Mysore we headed off to the Coorg district in our luxurious Ambassador, fortunately, with a reasonably competent driver (more later about less competent drivers. Formerly the King of the Indian roadway, you actually don't see too many Ambassadors now days. Ashwin and Priya thought it was a great ride. Is that the Corn Palace off in the distance? No, on the way to Coorg, we stopped to see the Namdroling Monastery and the Golden Temple. Not the Sikh Golden Temple, which is much more well known, and in Amritsar. This is the Buddhist Golden Temple. There is a large Tibetan community in the town of Bylakuppe. Apparently, after Tibet was invaded in 1959, the Government of the State of Karnataka offered land to any Tibetans who wanted to resettle there. Quite a number took them up on the offer, and now comprise the largest Tibetan community in South India. Since moving there, the community has built a large temple and Buddhist monastery. The Buddha in the center is Gold plated, and 18meters high!

I have to say, that I think I have been suffering misconceptions about Buddhism. In my mind, I expected the temple and monastery to be peaceful, quiet, contemplative. Instead, there was a riot of color, gory pictorial, and monks who were very affable, fun loving, and made a lot of noise! Priya thought the temple made a great dance space.

Monks playing 'hacky-sack' with a balled-up plastic bag! Ashwin and Berma, one of the monks.

Mysore - Vacation Part I

2008-10-15T14:14:00.000+05:30

As Priya and Ashwin had two weeks of vacation from school after their quarterly exams, last week we went on a holiday. We travelled to Mysore, and then the region of Coorg both in the neighboring state of Karnataka (sl north and west of here). We travelled to Mysore on the Shatabdi Express. It's no bullet train, but it was a great ride - with lots of wonderful scenery and tasty food served along the way. In Mysore, a city of about one million which is quite historic as it was home to the Wodeyar Dynasty, they were having a big celebration - Dasara. Here is a little info on Dasara from the tourist brochure for those who are interested:

Dasara in Mysore commemorates the legend of the slaying of the buffalo demon Mahishasura by the goddess Durga. It is believed that during one of the wars between the demons and gods, the demon Mahishasura overpowered the gods. On seeing this, goddess Durga is said to have incarnated herself as the fierce Chamundeshwari, and killed Mahishasura atop the Chamundi HIll near Mysore. Ever since, the Mysore royal family has worshipped Chamundeshwari as the palace deity, and held the annual ten day festival in her honor.

As we arrived during the festival, the city was bedecked with lights every night, and there were lots of concerts, dances and other special events. There were also ten elephants who had been brought to town especially for the parade on the last day of Dasara. (I cant resist one more comment from the brochure "A specially chosen elephant adorned with golden anklets and bells carries the city's patron goddess Chamundeshwari, in a majestic 'howdah'" - not sure what a 'howdah' is,but I thought it sounded good). oops, addendum, just checked wikipedia, howdah is the name of the carriage that sits on top of the elephant.

So, while in Mysore we visited the famed palace (sorry, no interior photos allowed, but it was amazingly beautiful), toured the local market, went out for 'chat' (Indian savory snacks) visited the church of St Philomena (note Mary's traditional Indian garb) and took a trip to the locally famed 'Brindhavan Gardens', the setting of many a Bollywood song and dance scene.

While in Mysore, we stayed at the lovely and funky Green Hotel. It is the restored Palace of a Maharani, which was built in the early 1900's. Ashwin and Priya loved having the run of the common spaces in the Hotel, and the beautiful garden - some photos of the hotel and garden are the last of those you see above.

Field Trip

2008-10-02T14:44:00.000+05:30

This Monday, since Ashwin and Priya are now on vacation, we took a trip to one of the (only) notable sights in Chennai proper - St George's Fort, and St. Mary's church. Briefly, the Fort was constructed by the British starting in 1653 with additions and modifications over the next 200 years or so. It's still being used as an active military site, so a lot of the area is off limits for tourists. However, there is a small museum there, which gave us lots of interesting information about the colonial period here. We were interested to find out that after being run out of the US by the Patriots, Cornwallis was reassigned here in Chennai and had a long, and more successful (from the British point of view) tour. There's a photo above of us with a statue of Cornwallis at the Fort Museum. We were also amazed by the dark woollen uniforms that the British soldiers had to wear - cant believe that they could even LIVE here, let alone conquer.

On the grounds of the fort is the oldest existing English church in South India, St Mary's (1680). It now belongs to the Church of South India. Besides being of historical interest, it was a sweet stone structure with a large beautiful garden. Sometimes when one finds a spot of beauty and sanctuary amid the din, dust and crowds, you just have to stop and enjoy - so included several photos.

Some additional snaps

2008-09-28T09:22:00.000+05:30

Here are a few more photos that wouldn't fit in prior posts (we are limited to attaching 5photos/entry). Here are Ashwin and his beautiful cousin Helen at the wedding, Priya in her school uniform with flowers in her hair, Priya and our lovely cook, Parvathi, making chapatis, and a photo of Prabhu and I going out to celebrate our wedding anniversary (thanks Mom and Don). We went to the Raintree Restaurant at the Taj Connemara here in Chennai. (Taj, the premeir hotel chain here in India, also has an outpost in Boston, formerly known as the Ritz) The Raintree has exquisite South Indian food in the chettinad style (very peppery). It also has a wide variety of wines and mixed drinks, which are available at outrageous prices due to the local taxes on liquor. The amount we spent on dinner was roughly equivalent to the monthly salary for 50% of India($100). Nevertheless, we had a great time.

Our First Wedding

2008-09-28T07:36:00.000+05:30

This week, we were invited to the wedding of Sheba, the daughter of some old family friends. Sheba and her new husband, Robin, were married on Wednesday, Sept 24 at Lutheran Adaikalanathar Church (the church Prabhakar grew up in, with a reception at a nearby marriage hall following. We all enjoyed the wedding. The bride was gorgeous in a red and gold silk sari, with a flowing white veil. The groom was handsome, but looked awfully warm in the sultry 90deg air and his black suit. At the end of the ceremony, the couple was showered with rose petals by all the guests. Ashwin and Priya loved that part - Priya helped distrubute the petals to the guests. At the reception, there were speeches (no toasting - Indian wedding receptions lack the lubricating effect of alcohol generally found in the west...), then the obligatory cake cutting (pretty much like cake cutting around the world) and finally a sumptuous feast with the preferred Indian wedding main dish, Biryani. Thanks so much to Sheba, Robin and their families for inviting us to share their special day. The photos above include - the bride and groom during the ceremony Ashwin and Prabhu watching Priya in her new pavadai, Ashwin in a handsome kurta Prabhu's sister and brother-in-law, Rani and Raja, with Ashwin and Priya

animals in chennai

2008-09-27T10:08:00.000+05:30

This post is dedicated to my niece, Jennifer. Jennifer loves all types of animals, particularly horses and dogs. Along with her parents and elder sister, she is taking special care of our dog, Phoenix, while we are away in India. Thank you Jennifer, Emily, Leslee and Todd - we are so appreciative of your loving care! Historically, feral dogs have been a major problem in large cities in India, including Chennai. These poor creatures roam the streets eating garbage, and I suppose hunting rats and squirrels. They are not treated well by the locals, and are not unjustly feared, given the high incidence of rabies in the country. In the past, we have frequently seen females with a litter of cute little puppies on the streets or in the parks. During our present stay, we've seen lots of strays, but interestingly, no litters of puppies. When we investigated this change, we found that actually significant progress has been made on the feral dog problem here in Chennai. An organization called Blue Cross of India has partnered with the city and for the past several years has been picking up strays, treating them with birth control, and vaccinating them for rabies. Consequently, fewer strays, and less rabies. If you want to read more about this, see www.bluecross.org.in/aboutus.html . They also have an adoption center, where they keep rescued puppies and put them up for adoption. There is a growing awareness of the "Indian Dog", and it's desirability as a pet. They tend to be short haired, 20-30 pounds, and in two basic colors, tan or black and white. The photos accompanying the blog show a guy on our block in the basic tan variety. I also included a photo of the preferred Indian purebred variety, the Alsatian, who was taking a walk down our street the same evening I photographed the tan guy. And now, on to the venerated Indian cow. These too are in much less abundant supply in the city then when I first visited ten years ago. I imagine this is due to increasing congestion and traffic in the city. However, one still frequently sees bullock carts (water buffalo) pulling loads through town, and the occasional stray cow. One of the latter is pictured here. I took this photo across from the entrance to Prabhu's sister's house. It's in a neighborhood called Pursawalkam - a very crowded area with lots of shops and neon. Think Times Square with vastly narrower streets - then impose a cow in your image! Finally, there is a photo here of a lovely katydid, approximately 4" long. We found him (or her) in the corner of a bedroom one night this week. It seemed to have strayed indoors from the mango tree just outside the window (a quick web search informed us that katydids are nocturnal, and some Asian varieties are very fond of mango and hibiscus trees, both of which we have nearby). Prabhu went and hid in another room while Ashwin, Priya and I trapped the offender, and then released it on our balcony. If Ashwin's science teacher, Mr Cassie, reads the blog - we included this picture especially for you! Cheers to all - Leann

Happy Onam!

2008-09-15T10:57:00.000+05:30

Greetings all - Here in Chennai we have had an unexpected four day weekend. All you parents will love how school holidays are announced here. Although there is a calendar for the school year, holidays can be added at a moment's notice. So, last Thursday, when I went to pick up Ashwin and Priya at school, I got a notice that school would be cancelled on Friday in honor of the Onam Festival(more on that later). Additionally, since the next two weeks are exams, school would only be half days that entire time. So, we settled in to enjoy a long weekend. Then, this morning we awoke to find that the state government had decided to declare today a holiday too! (this is in honor of the one hundredth birthday of Annadurai, a renowned political leader here in Tamil Nadu). Of course, Ashwin and Priya were crushed to hear that school had been cancelled!

So, Onam is a Malayali (people from the neighboring state of Kerala) festival which celebrates the harvest. People decorate their homes with elaborate floral creations, but the thrust of the celebration seems to center around a lot of eating. Apparently 36 dishes are customary, with several special types of payasam for dessert. It started last Friday, and goes on for ten days. We hated to pass up the opportunity to celebrate a holiday centered around food, so on Friday night we went out to a local hotel for an Onam Buffet. There were literally dozens of dishes, all wonderful - 10 or more salads to start, appam (special coconut based crepe type items), many types of vegetable and meat curries, special rices, and of course, the kids favorite, a dessert bar with at least eight types of dessert, including a special cake and ice cream. The photos accompanying this blog show us with some typical Onam decorations in hotel lobby. There are also pictures from this Sunday's harvest festival at our church. After the church service, large numbers of the congregation adjourned to an open area nearby for a festival with games, a bazaar and lots of food (of course!) There are photos of Ashwin and Priya playing some of the games(Ashwin is trying to knock downcoconuts with cricket balls,and Priya is playing kids roulette), and also of our friend Rebecca making what must have been one of hundreds of dosa (another crepe type snack, this made with a lentil/rice based batter). Yum...

Breakfast with Champions

2008-09-14T18:45:00.000+05:30

Thanks to ESPN and Rupert Murdoch ; we get live events on TV from all over the world. For example the English Premier League has a big following in India now. ESPN India also telecasts Yankees baseball games during the weekends ( some link with the YES network). Ashwin likes to wake up to those games, and the games which end at midnight in the US conveniently finish at 8AM Indian time. It was also great that Ashwin got to see the home run derby during the All Star Game.

Prabhu

A Joyful Reunion

2008-09-06T08:49:00.000+05:30

On September 2ND, at 2:30 in the morning, I finally cleared Indian immigration in Chennai and collected my 135.5 pounds of luggage. No visitors are allowed in the airport, so a large throng waited outside of the international terminal. As I exited the building, standing atop the gates were Ashwin and Priya with the colorful welcome signs they had made, and Prabhu, our family photojournalist right behind. Needless to say it was incredibly wonderful to be back together, with giant hugs all around. The next morning, Ashwin and Priya eagerly combed through my luggage - Priya was thrilled with the birthday gifts and Ashwin was elated that the Wii had survived the trip unscathed! Thanks so much to everyone who sent packages from the US - they are being thoroughly enjoyed.

I have spent the last few days adjusting to the time, heat, etc. I am so impressed with how thoroughly Ashwin and Priya have adjusted to life here - they are very comfortable at their school, both are learning Tamil, and both have made new friends. I am also amazed at the fact that in the time that they've been here they have never complained about the heat. I have been struck at how hot and humid it is - with very little cooling at night. Prabhu told me that he had hoped that by September, it would have cooled off more, but a friend explained to us last night that "September is our second summer in Chennai". You would have thought that one would be enough.... Ah well, so happy to be here in spite of the temp.

More soon. Leann

September 1st

2008-09-01T21:15:00.000+05:30

We have been waiting for this day for a long time. We are all so excited to go and meet Leann at the airport. Two and a half months has flown by so fast. Ashwin and Priya have been working on the welcome signs. Incidentally Priya is sitting on the Indian version of the lazy boy chair called the easy chair.

We had a couple of birthday celebrations in August ; Helen and Raja ( Raja Mama to Ashwin/Priya). Have included pics of Priya choosing a gift for Helen and one with cousins and friends who attended the party.

Ashwin had a disappointing loss 3-2 in the soccer league semifinals. It was a great match and the game could have gone either way. Ashwin scored both the goals and set up some great chances. Coach Doug would have been proud of the play.

The Autorickshaw

2008-08-17T19:20:00.000+05:30

Driving in Chennai has been a challenge, especially while driving my scooter. Most car drivers consider two wheeler, a nuisance they have to deal with on the road. Two wheelers include motorbikes(mostly 100- 250 cc), scooters which make up for more than 70 % of the vehicles on the road. The Autorickshaw is a motorised version of traditional rickshaw and is probably the most common mode of hired transportation in Indian cities. Its not the most comfortable ride , but widely available and for extra payment would be willing to take as many as 4 or 5 adults. Its quite common to see 8-10 school children travelling together in a single autorickshaw, after school returning home. There a picture of Ashwin/Priya going to school in an auto before we bought the scooter. In the other pics Ashwin and Priya were going to a mall called the Spencer's Plaza with their cousins.

Soccer League

2008-08-10T22:42:00.000+05:30

Sundays are busy with church , getting ready for the week and Ashwin's soccer league. The game today was one of the best and Ashwin scored 3 goals in a 6- 0 victory. The league should go on this early September and will keep you posted. To check their standing in the league you can check www.ashrayaindia.org as well. Ashwin plays with the Tigers in the 7- 9 yr old group.

Priya's Birthday- Part 2

2008-08-04T10:10:00.000+05:30

Later in the day we had a small party with a couple of Priya's friends from school and our neighbour Shiva joined us. Following some games we celebrated with the singing candle and snacks.

Later in the evening we had our relatives come over. Priya and Ashwin had fun playing with their cousins and their families. The singing candle made its appearance again, with the cake. And following the birthday song(the extended version) and eating, the party went on till 2245 hrs.

Priya's Birthday

2008-08-04T09:42:00.000+05:30

We were eagerly counting down to Priya's birthday on August 2nd. Apart from the celebration, it reminded us that Leann's arrival here is imminent. As per the local custom Priya got to wear coloured clothes to school on Friday and distribute candy sweets to all the children in her grade and to her teachers.

On her birthday we took part in a carnival at her school in the morning. There were a few games In the pics you can see Ashwin playing a game where you use a tennis ball to bring down the tin cans which were placed on top of each other and shaped like a pyramid.

Spherical objects

2008-07-30T18:41:00.000+05:30

After we reached Chennai; I was a little worried when Ashwin didn't seem interested in throwing any ball around. That thankfully lasted for only 2 days and since then some of his favorite activities have been playing tennis at school, bouncing a foam ball on a table tennis bat inside the flat and tennis on our terrace. Also he leads a group in playing catch at school( may go up to 30 boys at times).

In non sport related news , Ashwin took his monthly test in 4 subjects last week. He scored 50/50 in all of them except for English in which he got 49/50.

Bay of Bengal Part 2

2008-07-23T21:12:00.000+05:30

Following our visit to the beach resort we visited the Madras Crocodile Bank which was close by; before returning home. According to their website The Madras Crocodile Bank started out with 30 adult crocodiles in the 1970s and currently hold over 2400 crocodilians of 14 different species. They also work on protecting the snakes and turtles. I have been here many times and I was happy to see the place thriving well.

Bay Of Bengal

2008-07-22T09:47:00.000+05:30

These are some pictures of trips to the local beaches. Marina beach is along the coast of the Bay of Bengal, which is part of the Indian Ocean. Its about 10 Km from our place , a 20 minute drive if you are driving at 1 AM, and being colour blind would help or if you drive like our Formula none maniacs(a driving description in the The Times of India). The beach is very popular, a must see for any tourist visiting Chennai. We always go to the shore to get our feet wet and soon Ashwin and Priya get wet with their clothes on and have a great time.

The other pictures are from a beach resort about 1 hour from home in a place called Mutukadu. The big attraction here is the swimming pool and we spent most of our time swimming. Helen came with us and we are enjoying her company till she starts work in August. We also ran into some Bostonians at the beach here (identified by the Ellsbury Red Sox shirt) and had a little chat. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Prize Day 7/12/08

2008-07-15T20:42:00.000+05:30

Priya after her first week of school announced she was one of the Bama girls in Kindergarden. It turned out that she was in a play on Prize day at school, so was one of the drama girls. After quite a lot practice the play 'The selfish giant " was played to a wide audience. Rani (Prabhu's sister) and Helen came to watch Priya. Following that we went out to celebrate. I have included pictures from practice; as well as the actual play performance

Prabhu/Ashwin/Priya.

Amma's Birthday

2008-07-15T09:36:00.000+05:30

Amma(priya/ashwin's grandmother) celebrated her 75 th birthday on 7/6/08. After the customary birthday saree purchase at Nalli Silks; we had a few relatives join us for the celebration. The high point was the candle which burns with a brilliant flame and then opens up to the tune of the happy birthday song.

Chappathi Girl and Dosai Boy

2008-07-11T21:56:00.000+05:30

Hotel Saravana Bhavan has replaced JP Sea Food Cafe as our favourite place to eat out in Chennai . Ashwin and Priya have been trying different South Indian food and seem to enjoy the Idly, Dosai, Chappathi, Coffee(Priya). The coffee at Saravana Bhavan is probably one of the best coffee I have tasted. It comes in one size with milk and sugar ( Sugarless only by special request, no milk would require a more detailed explanation). Priya is preparing for her play at Prize day at school. More posting on that later.

New School

2008-07-03T10:13:00.000+05:30

Ashwin and Priya are attending the Jessie Moses Matriculation School here in Chennai. We are adjusting to the new school , home work etc. The temperature has been high of 98 F and low of 84 F almost every day. This doesn't seem to affect the kids and have got used to the climate here.