Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. It's strange to think that we are not going to be home, but we are going to make the most of it here! We have bought a Christmas tree here in India. Our Indian tree is so cute! I will keep this entry short...just want to say Merry Christmas and that we miss everyone very much. Thanks for reading our blog...it's nice to know that people remember us way over here. Be safe and enjoy your family and friends.

Love,

The Hayes

Nana has arrived!

Well, at 4:15 in the morning Nana arrived. It honestly was like a dream. When Martin came in and said "wanna say hi to your Dad" I sprang out of bed and tackled him. Seriously, I couldn't hug him hard enough :-) He looks GREAT! Then we tucked him in bed and we all got 3 more hours of sleep until...Ro and V woke up at their usual 7:30 am. I told them about who was here. It's like they didn't believe me. Then when I took them in the room Veda was scared and Rohin wouldn't come in. So, we didn't push it. I honestly think they didn't believe it was him. Then as we were eating breakfast and Nana was still in the bedroom, I said that Nana wasn't here and then the fun began. They ran back in the room just to make sure and basically haven't left his side all day.

I am seeing a side of Ro that I haven't seen in a while. He was playing show off and following my Dad everywhere. It is the sweetest thing in the world. I saw them hanging out on the monkey bars and my Dad was saying something and Rohin was listening to every word like he was talking about Thomas the Train.

Everytime you see Veda she says...Hi...look Nana here! Too everyone. It's awesome.




Today was a great day! It's like a big piece of home has come to India! Nana has arrived! Yahoo! Let the shopping begin for Rishi and Shreya's wedding!

Mal Dives...Somewhere in the Middle of the Ocean

All I can say is amazing! The trip started out with an airplane ride from India to the islands. From there we took a sea plane to another island and THEN a boat to our island Kuredu! The kids were troopers during all this traveling. After we got off the last plane...Veda actually said "one more plane?" (you have to imagine her shaking her head like a true Indian using her index finger that is bent just a bit).





We had a wonderful beach villa where we could sit in lounge chairs and watch the kids play in the sand in front of the ocean. Yes, it is the Corona commercial...oh, but it was plus Rohin and Veda.









Martin went scuba diving and wake boarding. Rohin and Veda got sand in every corner of their bodies and swam in every location possible! We saw lots of fish and got lots of sun! It is an amazing place!

Lots To Be Thankful For...

First and foremost I wanted to tell everyone we are okay. The images on TV are very scary and makes us a little nervous since Bangalore is a very expat popular place, BUT we are very thankful that we have not seen the type of stuff close. Thanks to everyone that has been thinking about us.

Speaking of thanks!!! Well, we celebrated Thanksgiving in India. Definitely, not the same as with my Mom's yummy turkey, but hey, we did have fun. We actually had two parties to go to, so it definitely was a full schedule.

We spent our first Thanksgiving with our friends at Ozone. Very nice spread of goodies and food. There was even a turkey! AND it was good :-) Here is are some pictures from the night. I hope you all had a good night as well. You were in our thoughts!

Who Needs Language When You Have Laughter

Our driver Krishna invited us to his home a couple of weeks back. We really didn’t know what to expect since again at times I feel that the world around us can be far removed since we are living in our community. We pulled up to an apartment type building which was surrounded by stray dogs and dirt. Krishna walked us upstairs to his place. As we walked in I saw a three room place…kitchen, living space and additional room. It couldn’t have been any bigger than our living room. I was humbled. Krishna and his family were very happy to see us. We also had some gifts for them since it is close to Diwali. Krishna has two sons…Bartha and Adatha. Martin and I decided to sit on the floor with the kids and get to playing. We had a blast. By the end, all the kids were running around and playing inside and out.



In the middle of all the playing, there was lunch. BUT…what I didn’t know was that it was just lunch for Martin and I. Yes, it was VERY awkward. Krishna and his wife just kept bringing food out for us to eat. When I asked if they were going to eat, he said “We are going to eat later”. Again, it was very strange for us, but we appreciated all the wonderful food that was prepared and it all was wonderful! We even had fish…well, at least Martin did. Rohin and Veda also had some food. We sat in the back room that had a table, chair, 16” TV and stereo.



So, imagine this…here we are in the middle of rural India, in our driver’s house, eating a meal that they prepared for us watching…..SEINFELD. It was quite funny.

If I didn’t say it before it was a wonderful experience and I am glad we went. I was very proud of Rohin and Veda who integrated themselves great in the environment. I was so afraid Rohin was going to say something like “Mom, where is the toys?”, but he did no such thing. He just played with Bartha until we left. It was really cool to watch since Bartha knew some English and Rohin and V know a couple of words in Hindi. Point being, they really didn’t have a way of communicating other than laughing. Apparantly, a smile can say many things!!!



Thank you Krishna and his family.

The Busiest Week Ever

Well, it was the first week back to work and we had a very busy weekend as well. Let’s just say I am exhausted.

My first week back was quite interesting. I am working in a great group and I have a lot to learn. I don't want to talk too much about work, but I have to tell you its nice to be back! I feel normal again. And the kids have been wonderful so far :-) I take Rohin to school every morning before work. Honestly, since I am not driving it is great because I get to spend some one on one time with him. And Veda actually kissed me goodbye and said "Mommy...work? Yeah? Okay, bye". All in all great first week. Thank you Ro and V!






Our community had a Diwali function this past weekend. And yes, to those who can relate to this...it was like every Diwali function at home. You know...kids doing Indian dances, random skits, and GREAT singing! We had a great time. Our house is very close to the club house, so we were able to go back and forth between there and house for some yummy drinks. Good times were had by all. :-)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM INDIA!

Yep, it's celebrated here too...well, kind of. Our community celebrated Halloween last week (not sure how you celebrate Halloween not on the 31st, but whatever), so tonight we went to a friend's house and hung out and let off fireworks. Yahoo!



Race car driver and Hello Kitty say Happy Halloween!

Singapore...Any Mode of Transporation and Aladdin?

We just returned from Singapore on Tuesday. What are great city!!! Clean, easy to travel, LOTS of malls for shopping, good food, lots of things to do and two kids who were up for the vacation (most of the time). The weather was extremely humid, so that made it a little hard, but you could catch a taxi or train anywhere in the city, so it was no biggie.

Singapore is definitely the complete opposite of Bangalore, so it was a nice break for sure. As you can see it's lots of tall buildings and interesting architecture. I am not going to bore you with the extensive detail what we did...instead the following are what we all liked the best...

What Rohin and Veda Love about Singapore:
-Plane ride in our pajamas.
-Riding the underground trains.
-Bunch of hula-hoops at the museum.
-Live music near the river.
-McDonalds...yes, between that and Burger King the kids were happy.
-The clock in our hotel - had to make a stop everytime we left.
-Night Safari - It was really cool!
-Water Fountains in the malls. Lets just say we spent WAY TOO MUCH time at these.
-Boat ride to a near by island - Pulau Ubin
-Riding on the back of bikes with Mom and Dad.
-All the lights of the city at night.
-A water fountain where they both proceed to get soaking wet.
-Skittles - they would do anything for a Skittle!
-Riding elevators and pushing the buttons.
-Escalators - any and all in the malls
-Cable cars to Sentosa Island
-Underwater world Aquarium
-The beach
-Singapore Flyer - big giant ferris wheel.
-Sitting in our hotel room to rest and watching Aladdin. I am not exaggerating when I say that we watched the movie at least 10 times in 5 days. AWESOME! "10,000 years will give you such a crick in the neck!"

What Martin and Charu Love About Singapore:
-Fresh fish on Pulau Ubin!
-Sushi at the Japanese diner
-Riding Bikes on the island
-Empty subway car
-Random street dancers in the subway transfers
- Halloween in another country was interesting - it's just not the same though!
- Gimmick of the "Fish Spa". Basically, these fish eat the dead crap on your feet
- Mexican food! With real cheese!