new name, same chicken, the Chennai Chicken Center, in video!

Over Christmas Brad's parents kindly lent us their video camera.
Last weekend we bought a new grill.
Tonight I realized too late that we were out of chicken.
The store with the chicken breasts was out, the grill was hot...what other options were there?
Not for the faint of heart, animal lovers or pregnant women (Mic, you're all three, but I hope you watch it anyway!)

rickshaw day

groan

I just got back from a whole week-long field trip with the 8th graders. Grades are due Sunday. Professional development day on Monday. Will be a while till I have the energy to write...

SuperStars

The Peso Millionaires are hot stuff in Chennai. Click on the picture for a better look.

I'm still here!

I haven't quit blogging, I just can't find the picture uploader gizmo, and blogs are a little boring without pics. It might be a while, I've searched the house up and down for that thing.
I've also been searching through the school's newspaper archives because several people have told me that Brad and I are in the paper. We went to a party/ fashion show on Friday night where we had our picture taken about 20 times. It's so funny when that happens. At the Taj Mahal people wanted their picture with us too, and even though I obliged I kept thinking, "You're at the TAJ MAHAL! You want a picture of this?" But it's nothing to get a big head about. It could happen to anyone who looks even remotely American.
But if I ever find the newspaper clipping I'll take a picture of it. And if I ever find the uploader I'll blog it.

made

The Christmas vacation post is in the works, I think I will get it up this weekend. But in the meantime, this:
Our maid phoned the other night to ask us to, "Please be keeping the door closed, madam, because there is a snake in your garden." !!!
Of course my first question was, what kind of snake?! There are cobras all over this place. But she assured me it was just a little snake and that she would tend to it the next day.
My lame response: "Ok, well, please be careful."
I was already feeling pretty bad, putting this woman in harm's way, but the next day I got this note:
Thank you mam. Ok mam. Today my birthday. Fridge inside I put some cake. Please take it mam.
Sure enough, there was a full-on birthday cake in the fridge, frosted, decorated, the works.
And she cleans our house top to bottom five times a week.
I love her.

back in India

I asked for a poisoned hot dog for Christmas, or rather, the neighborhood street dog that barks all night long asked for it. But Santa has a policy against that sort of thing, I guess, because while wide awake from jet lag at 3 this morning, I got to listen to his incessant barking for several hours.
The next sound I heard was a loud groan from the kitchen where Brad had discovered five kinds of mold in the coffee pot. Three weeks away has taken a toll on the house, and now on us. Today will be a struggle.