Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Crazy Day in India...

Hello,
Yesterday was quite an adventure.  Mom, Me and Sam planned to take a trip to MG road to get some souvenirs and gifts for people. Mom and Leigh had gone before, but had not seen so many beggars as we did this time.  We stopped at a scarf stand to look at the scarfs, found some nice ones and started to buy them.  Then 3 beggar kids come up about Mine and Sam's age asking for money.  We gave them some fruit snacks and then turn back to the scarfs.  Along with the little beggar kids, these guys that sell drums come up and start bartering with me.  I asked him 100 rupees and he said 450 rupees.  We bartered down to 230, he gives it to me and then when I'm holing it he says 250.  So he was obviously cheating me, but oh well.   Then the beggar kids kept touching mommy and asking for money.  The boy had some really loud snaping things that popped my ear. We left very quickly and went the other way.  We saw there to our left a Husband, Wife, and Daughter sitting on the ground.  Then we went to the edge of the street and saw an old lady who looked very sickly, laying on the curb with a baby.  That was a little much, so we decided to walk on the street.  It may be busier on the street, but there are no beggars.  They all know that people with money walk on sidewalks and that why they stay there.  We found a store that was pretty nice and we spent the rest of our time there.  We got some nice things.  Then to kick that of Mommy's phone died so we couldn't call the driver.  We walked up and down and up the street looking him, but still coudn't find him (it wasn't Santoash),  So we just caught a rickshaw and took that home.
It was quite an exciting day!
M












                                     
 Crazy RickShaw ride...
 Piles of trash everwhere.




 Chinese Fast Food



Monday, March 12, 2012

My 70th post!

I had to do this post just to say that I am at 70 posts now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will keep writing till 100 and then keep writing some more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bye for now...

My other Blog

If you don't already know I have another blog,  www.mystories-mak-school.blospot.com
It is also on the side of my blog...
Feel free to post comments!
Thanks...

India is hard on Violins

Hello Everyone!
India is not very good on violins.....
For starters my violin comes untuned after about 1 minute.  It'll be perfectly intune when I start to play and then 1 minute later the G string is an A string and so on.  Super annoying....

Sam's violin on the other hand is a lot worse...  Her A string broke about a week ago, and then here E string broke and now her A string broke again and that is her last one....  We are going to try to find one here, but if not daddy will pick one up when he goes home.
So that's a bit annoying, but besides for that, everthing is going great!






Talk later...

Friday, March 9, 2012

Hotel Kidz Program!

The kids program was fun!  Although they did things that only about a quarter of the kids could actually do.
1. pillow sack race
2. lemon and spoon race
3. hoolahoop contest
4. frog hopping race

The fact is, is that most of the kids there were under the age of 5.  Me and Neha did it, and Jacob (pronounced Yah-cob.)  But the rest of the kids were 3 and under, so ti was kind of hard for them, but they had fun.  Especially when they brought out the popcorn and juice!  It was fun!  They are going to do it again on March 23.


Dirk Nowitzki...

Bye for now!

2 things

Do you ever follow the NBA basketball teams?
If you do, there's a guy, Dirk Nowizki! He plays for the Dallas Maverics.  He was originally born in Germany on June 19 1978! Last year they won the playoffs against the Miami Heat!   It was pretty fun to watch and I am looking forward to this years playoffs!!!




Today Maggie is coming over and we are going to watch her for a little while.  The hotel is starting a kids program from 4:30 to 5:30  this Friday! (which is today)  we are going to take Maggie and Zac to it!  The playground gets busy around 4:30 and I think that's why they're doing it then!  FINALLY they observed something! So I think that will be fun!  I hope!  I'll post about it tomorrow!


Talk soon!
MaKaela!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Colors, colors and more colors!

Hi,

As you know (if you have already ready read Sam or Leigh's blog) we played Holi at Forest Castle yesterday for the holiday Holi! It's kind of weird that you say, you played Holi, because you don't say I  played Diwali or I played Christmas. It's a little strange. Anyway it was a lot of fun, we threw water and powder at each other for about and hour and a half! I got powder in my mouth so I had colorful teeth, yuck...
Here are a few pics!!!



 Hunting down Janelda!


 Linda and Sam!



 Hee Hee!


 When we were done Linda had a very pretty shirt!
 Nora, the cutey pie!!!!!

 Nora and I!


 Janelda and Zac!


 The powder!
 Patrick's camera must have been clicking very fast, because we only stood there for one pic and he got about 10!!!
 Our group photo after the water and powder! Then the sprinklers came on!

 Nora!
 Maggie pouring powder on Grandma Helen!





 Maggie!
 Pria!
 Maggie and Zac!
 Leigh and Benjamin!
Linda and Patrick's Mom!

Here is some history to read about Holi fi you'd like!
Don't worry about reading it though, it may be a bit boring!



Holi (Hindi: होली), is a religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus. Holi is also known as festival of Colours. It is primarily observed in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, [1] and countries with large Indic diaspora populations following Hinduism, such as Suriname, Malaysia, Guyana, South Africa, Trinidad, United Kingdom, United States, Mauritius, and Fiji. It is also known as Doḷajāta (Oriya: ଦୋଳଯାତ) in Orissa and Dol Jatra (Bengali: দোলযাত্রা) or Basantotsav ("spring festival") (Bengali: বসন্তোৎসব) in West Bengal. The most celebrated Holi is in the Braj region, in locations connected to the Lord Krishna: Mathura, Vrindavan, Nandagaon, and Barsana. These places have become tourist destinations during the festive season of Holi.[2] Large parts of South India, however, do not celebrate Holi with the same fervour as in other parts of the country.
The main day, Holi, also known as Dhuli in Sanskrit, also Dhulheti, Dhulandi or Dhulendi, is celebrated by people throwing scented powder and perfume at each other. Bonfires are lit on the eve of the festival, also known as Holika Dahan (burning of Holika) or Chhoti Holi (little Holi). After doing holika dahan prayers are said and praise is offered. The bonfires are lit in memory of the miraculous escape that young Prahlad accomplished when Demoness Holika, sister of Hiranyakashipu, carried him into the fire. Holika was burnt but Prahlad, a staunch devotee of god Vishnu, escaped without any injuries due to his unshakable devotion. Holika Dahan is referred to as Kama Dahanam in South India.
Holi is celebrated at the end of the winter season on the last full moon day of the lunar month Phalguna (February/March), (Phalgun Purnima), which usually falls in the later part of February or March. In 2009, Holi (Dhulandi) was on March 11 and Holika Dahan was on March 10. In 2010, Holi was on March 1 and Holika Dahan was on February 28. In 2011, Holi was on March 20 and Holika Dahan was on March 19.
In most areas, Holi lasts about two days. One of Holi’s biggest customs is the loosening strictness of social structures, which normally include age, sex, status, and caste. Holi closes the wide gaps between social classes and brings Hindus together. Together, the rich and poor, women and men, enjoy each other’s presence on this joyous day. Additionally, Holi lowers the strictness of social norms. No one expects polite behavior; as a result, the atmosphere is filled with excitement and joy.
Every year, thousands of Hindus participate in the festival Holi. The festival has many purposes. First and foremost, it celebrates the beginning of the new season, spring. It also has a religious purpose, commemorating many events that are present in Hindu mythology. Although it is the least religious holiday, it is probably one of the most exhilarating ones in existence. During this event, participants hold a bonfire, throw colored powder at each other, and celebrate wildly.
Originally, it was a festival that commemorated good harvests and the fertile land. In addition to celebrating the coming of spring, Holi has even greater purposes. Hindus believe it is a time of enjoying spring's abundant colors and saying farewell to winter. Furthermore, Holi celebrates many religious myths and legends.
Rangapanchami occurs a few days later on a Panchami (fifth day of the full moon), marking the end of festivities involving colours