Sunday

Sunday I woke up feeling a little stronger and excited to watch the Iowa/Iowa State game. We record games and then watch them first thing Sunday morning since they're on in the middle of the night, India time. Normally I make some eggs and other snacks for football, but I've been on a diet of toast and Gatorade, so I stuck with that. Brad had coffee, I was jealous.
But not so long after kick-off the tables had turned and it was Brad feeling bad. In case you don't know, the Hawkeyes STOMPED the Cyclones. It was ugly, and beautiful. I think this will be a particularly good year to be a Hawkeye.
Here's what football morning looks like at our house:

Our TV system is a little complicated, but it mostly works. There's a slingbox connected to the TV in my parent's laundry room, which is also connected to their internet. So we get their TV on our computer through the internet. Then it's just a matter of hooking up the computer to our TV. The other, small problem, is that all the controls are on the computer, so to fast-forward, pause, rewind or change channels, one of us has to get up. Not a big deal, and a small price to pay for such quality entertainment.

This is our Buddha, Buddy.  Buddy the Buddha.  We got him at the weekend market in Bangkok.  The gold thing is an ashtray that we use when we burn incense, which I do a lot.  It's India.  That's just what you do.  On Saturday I used the "harmony" incense.  There's also a "healing" one.  Brad says I'm a hippie.   

After the game I thought I was feeling pretty good.  Good enough anyway to run one errand.  Brad got a gift certificate to a bookstore from his students last year that expired on Sunday.  So we went to spend it.  I also used the opportunity to get some blog material. Almost all of these pictures were taken on the main road by our house. 

This is our street corner, and these are some celebrators of the Ganesh Puja, going on right now.  The only thing I can tell you about the celebration of the Ganesh Puja is that it's loud.  Saturday morning Brad asked me, "Did you hear that person ringing the bell all night?"
"Yep."
"And then did you hear all those other people ringing bells come down the street and the one that rang the bell all night marched off with them?"
"Yep."
"Can you believe that?  What time did that happen, like 4 in the morning?"
"Yep."
Mostly I think the noise is coming from the neighborhood temple, which is just on the other side of our house.  Last night they set off a bunch of fireworks and then furiously played the drums for a while.

I'm going to have to get a better picture of this. I think this used to be a store or something, but now it's just a huge stack of mannequins, starting on the roof and ending near the street.  It puzzles me every day.

Not going to go in the beef stall.  Not ever. 

This is what traffic look like on Sunday, a light day.

This is not an unusual sight.

Sari, skirt, or pants, women seem to always ride side-saddle.

 Sunday strolling

The line at the bookstore

This Ganesh statue is at the end of the street.  From what I can tell people bring a smaller Ganesh statue and any other offerings to the big Ganesh.  Can you see the little statues lined up in the back? 
Probably by self-appointment, the boys take the offerings and put them around the altar. Here's another view:

So, I said I thought I was well enough for the outing, but I was wrong.  By the time we got home I was exhausted and feverish again.  I went to bed right away, but before I fell asleep I gave Brad my final instructions: "Don't marry anyone after I die, tell my family I love them, and goddammit tell those bell-ringers to shut the hell up!!!"