Lessons From A 10-Month Old

A couple of my own observations as we went about our daily business...

1) Sometimes we have to bump our head once, twice...even a thousand times before we realize how to maneuver ourselves, how to know our bodies, or how to make a change.

Penelope is crawling all over the place and continues to hit her head on all kinds of objects again and again; the same table, the same wall, same corner. Finally today I saw her observe her own surroundings and move her head around the corner of the table. I don't know what it is that finally 'clicked' but sometimes it takes a good few mistakes to finally move in the right direction.

2) Stretch,reach, kick and wiggle your way to what you want. Within reason (no, I'm not saying to kick and scream your way to the Twistee Treat just becaue you want ice cream right now...but if you must go, please get me a gorilla cone).

Often times Penelope will be sitting contently in my arms and will suddenly spot something she needs to have. Right away. This little girl will reach out, bend over, lay flat, kick her little legs until she gets whatever silly object she was going for. Leaving me barely able to hang on to her while her body dangles in the air. But Penelope isn't looking at the floor, she's looking at her goal.

3) Observe and be amazed.

I love catching Penelope when she's in a state of wonder. To her, everything is a miracle. She will lay on her back and be entertained by the movement and grasping of her own fingers. She will grab a handful of dirt from our planters and then stare at her closed fist full of soil, looking at it, see it in her hand, feeling it between her fingers and let it go. Then do it all over again with the same amazement.

4) Move to the Rhythm. Which rhythm? Any rhythm you darn well please!

Penelope is a serious mover and shaker. She is always dancing! Whether people are watching her or not, she bounces her little body and shakes her head to the beat of the music. Even if there's no music, she finds a beat and goes with it; whether its the sound of a nail file moving back and forth or even the sound of a skipping rope hitting the floor again and again, I catch her bouncing away with a silly little smile-she really doesn't care where and how she dances, she just does what feels right.

The point is, don't be afraid  of the things that make you weird, if that's what makes you happy; Penelope and I like to sing out loud, even if there aren't words, just silly screeching sounds-make your own heart happy.

“A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.” -Paulo Coelho

I'm Back! With News.

I have come to my page over and over and over again trying my hardest to pull fancy words out of my you-know-what. Something special to say, a funny topic to comment on, even a good segue from my last posting (almost 2 years ago, living in India!)...but guess what? I've got nothing! SO I will leave it at that-a big two year gap between my last post and now, hoping to fill in for lost time as my writings continue. A TRILLION changes have happened; good, bad, ugly, and brilliantly beautiful-all to bring me to life in the here and now.

My family is facing a deployment- a year's separation between Penelope, Abhi, and myself. If I were writing the story of my own life I would never put this kind of family separation in writing. I would keep the pen far away from the pad, lock it up, throw away that god-awful key and keep my husband close and tight every single minute of my life. BUT, as life would have it-I am not always in control of my path- though it is my choice to make the most of what I am given. And I have learned from experience that God's plans are always better than my own-as cliche as that may sound. Its true! The best things in my life have always come from the plans that I never would have made for myself. My best moments in life were thrown at me, snuck up behind me, blasted in my face, or have shocked me with surprise- these are the life-changers, life-improvers, and strengtheners.

So we will move forward one step at a time, with wobbly legs (just as my sweet baby tries to stand on her own), and though we may fall and tumble from time to time, we still move forward. We roll, crawl, stretch out and scratch our way forward, as watching little Penelope has taught me. In the end we get there, in a better place and in better shape than when we started.

Reality Check: You're (Literally)Running Late

For some reason, Abhi and I are habitually late. It doesn't matter what the occasion- morning, day, or night- now matter how much free time we have beforehand, we will probably be late. I don't know if the universe is conspiring against us or maybe we're just extremely irresponsible with our time? :-P

For the past few months we've had to travel to Delhi and back more times than I can count on my fingers and toes; almost always for some kind of important work. That being said, if you have ever seen an Indian-American couple running like hell, pushing aside old ladies and little children, through the Delhi Metro station, Bus Stands, Railway Stations, outside malls, movie theaters, or any random roads...it was probably Abhi and me. AND you're especially lucky if you've seen this fiasco more than once.

Here's our most recent story of running late (it happened two days ago):
Our train was scheduled to leave the station at 3:15pm, it was now 10am and we had all the time in the world to roam around, relax, and have a little fun in the city. We saw a movie, did some shopping, had lunch, and planned to head towards the railway station an hour before its departure- plenty of time to arrive early, find our platform, grab some snacks for the ride and go- or so we thought.

An hour before our train's departure we get on the Metro train (similar to a Subway train) to head for the railway station, a trip that normally takes 30-40 minutes from were we were. Of all the times we've ridden the Metro, it has never faced any sort of complication, until now. That darn Metro was stopping and pausing for minutes on end between every station. We could see that we were going to be cutting it close and knew that we would have to bolt out of the Metro when we got to our station (sadly, we've had a lot of experience with these types of situations).

As soon as the Metro stopped at our station we squeezed our way through the crowds and took off running through the station, pushing past all kinds of people, up the stairs, out onto the road to the railway station. We locate our train's platform number and take off through the station. We arrive just in time to see that our train has left without us on it. (If you have ever seen the Bollywood movie 'Jab We Met,' it was kind of like we were living that scene where the girl is running after her train).

Darn that train for actually leaving on time!! Doesn't the train conductor know what country he's in...that its OK to be late in India?!?!

Lesson of the Day: If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late. If you're late, you miss your train.

Diwali- My First!

Diwali! Festival of Lights! Biggest Festival of the Year! Yeah! Last year I came so close to being in India for Diwali...Diwali was on Nov. 3rd and I left India Nov.1st. So this was my first official Diwali celebration, and it sure was a lot of fun. It kind of reminded me of a blend of Christmas (all the lights and decorations outside) and the 4th of July (tons of fireworks).

As for the meaning behind Diwali, I'm not 100% sure. I do know that the goddess of money, Lakshmi, is worshiped. Many people will clean their homes top-to-bottom (this includes repainting the house)and light diyas (small candles that burn oil) outside, believing that on the night of Diwali Lakshmi will feel more welcomed to enter their homes and bless them. {I guess instead of our version of "Spring Cleaning," Indians have "Diwali Cleaning." Yes, I thought of that myself...}

Before I show you some of our pictures from Diwali, I was reminded of an old The Office episode. :D

If, for some reason, you can't see this video (sometimes videos aren't enabled between different countries), just do a YouTube search for The Office Diwali Song.

Now, onto our pictures :)

This is called a Rangoli and I have no idea of its purpose, other than it looks pretty.

This was painted on our floor with natural colors (made of red rock for red and rice for white) and represents the goddess Lakshmi's foot print.

Me and my boi.

All the diyas lit up, lookin' pretty.

Family photo.

Some fun with sparklers.

Karva Chauth

October really is the month of festivals. Well, the Hindu festivals are according to the lunar calendar, and it just so happens that they all fall into October this year.

On October 15th we celebrated Karva Chauth, a festival for husbands and wives. On Karva Chauth wives fast for the entire day, not eating any food or drinking any water, until the moon comes out at night. They do this fasting and praying for the long life and good health and fortune of their husbands. When the moon comes out, the wives do a special type of worship to the moon, and after this, they can finally eat.

During the day, women come together and read the story of  Karva Chauth from a book and recite other relevant stories to each other. Our neighbors came over to our home during the day while my mother-in-law read the story of Karva Chauth;and even though i couldn't fully understand what was going on(language barrier and all), it was kinda nice having a time like that with all the ladies.

On Karva Chauth it is also customary for in-laws to give gifts to each other. Abhi and I bought surprise gifts for both of his parents, and they also for me.

Me, mother-in-law, neighbors. 

Me with some neighbors, posing for the newspaper cameraman, lol. 

These are our Karvas (clay pots) used to pour water to the moon. 

Me giving mother-in-law her gifts (some bangles and clothes). 

Me giving father-in-law his gift (dress shirt) ((I think he was really surprised because he almost never gets gifts! He wore it two days in a row this week...that means he likes it!)). 

Seeing the moon. 

Abhi giving me food after seeing the moon.

Dushera

About a week ago I witnessed a seemingly very dangerous event. Thousands of people jammed into a small fairground with very small exit doors, with very large bombs and fireworks exploding in front of us. And by very large, I mean 100ft tall statues of fire and explosion.

But no need to be alarmed, this happens every year. And, as real as you are sitting and reading, I am also here sitting and writing, very much alive and safe.

The significance of Dushera is that of good defeating evil. In Hindu tradition there is a great battle in which a god, Rama, defeats an evil demon, Ravanna. Therefore, these flaming statues are statues of Ravanna and his cohorts going down in flames, a reinactment or symbol of good's power over evil.

The following video is a little long, but you can see all three statues explode and just how large and loud the crowd is here in our little city.

Vegetarianism Was Forced Upon Me, I Say!

Its festival season in India. That means one festival after another, after another. Which is fun an all, but unfortunately, during any festival or special occasion in the Hindu religion (and many times daily life), there is a strict policy of no meat-eating, whatsoever. Not even eggs. "**shock, gasp, the horror!!**"


You see, it was difficult for me already with my in-laws being vegetarians for religious reasons; Abhi and I respected that by eating outside whenever the carnivorous craving kicked in (which happens all the time for me!). Though, we would regularly eat eggs and such at home.

Now, I never want to disrespect my in-laws in any way, hence my temporary change in diet. BUT, I think this vegetarian deal is starting to get to my head and it might just be making me a little loopy. Its been almost a month now without any meat or eggs!! Aaahhh!! And before this festival season started my meat intake was very, very slim. Seriously, I would like to see any Puerto Rican/American (I added the Puerto Rican part because yes, we like our pork) try to reduce meat from their diet for 8 months and then walk through life with a big, happy smile =D. I know I may be obsessing a little bit, but I would like to see you (yes, you) try to get through an episode of MasterChef without your stomach growling at every sight of chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, fish, goat, whathaveyou.

All this said in good fun, I'm patiently (not patiently enough, hence this blog post) awaiting my reunion with my beloved proteins (Friday!). That being said, don't call me on that day because I'm sure, I'll be busy eating. ;)