White-Indian Living in India

Well... Its been over a year! Opps!

2010-02-18T18:56:00.002+05:30

Well so much has been happening in the last one year. I had completely forgotten about my blog.
As you know I have changed the heading of my blog to something more suitable ( I think). LOL

However, my weight for one has stayed the same. To be fair, I have not really tried losing weight. Just been content. Which off late I decided to really break down and do a diet I can stick to, and really make some life style changes.
SO as for the diet, its been 3 weeks and still holding strong, and im down 7 kgs already. Yeah for me.

The kids have really grown. We also welcomed a new member to our family this past July. Her name is Julia and is the cutest black lab. We have really fallen in love with this dog, and she seems to be the center of attention all day and night long. It was too funny, last weekend I took her to the vet for her checkup and also her shots, and this time I took the kids. They refused to wait out in the waiting room, and wanted to be by Julia side. They asked the doc a million and one things about why she needs shots, and will it hurt her. It was so cute, it reminded me when I use to take the kids to the doc as babies asking a million and one questions, and being an overprotective parent!

Now Zach and I are on the path to homeownership ( this changes with him weekly) However, I cant wait to move out of his parents house into our own. Im telling ya,,, joint family living should be banned!
However, the kids are very excited about the hope of moving. They really are stressed about all the friction in the house, and they just want to be kids. Me too, I tell them at times!
But I will keep you posted about all that in the near future! ( Hopefully)

So what else has happened? Well I quit my sucky job with Gateway..... and joined a new school called Gurukulam. It's a free school for kids who are poor. I LOVE my job so much,,, and it so refreshing working for a cause that can really make the changes in the development of people, city and hopefully nation at some point! I was hired to the be the principal of the school. In the beginning I was really scared, as I have never really had this major role before, But I gained the trust of my team and we have all blended well, and the job got easier. Yes it does have it trying moments, but overall,, I love it. You can check out the website to know more about what we all do to help these 128 kids. www.trustchildren.org.

Well that about it for today. I decided that I will continue to keep up my blog, and keep who ever reads this updated. However, due to my Facebook addiction..(lol) you can get updates there to.. till next time! Cheers!

2008-09-12T22:01:00.002+05:30

Well..... Zach and I made it 10 years! We celebrated our 10 years on Aug 18th. I know really late to post this. But life in India can sure take extra time needed from your daily life of just reconnecting.

Well, in our defense , the TNEB ( Tamil NAdu Electricity Board) has not been that nice to us in the recent weeks. We were losing power for like 3 hours a day. It's sad, we sold our power to other states, and when we needed extra power, the other states were like " no way" so 3 hours a day. Now the wonderful part of India is, we all dont lose it during the same time. So here was my typical day with out power.

Morning 9-3 school school loses power at 2pm-4pm
Home 4pm. Our loses power from 4pm-6pm
Night Home lose power again from 9pm-10pm

So my total day's loss 5 hours..... You heard that right... 5 freaking hours. And let me tell you all, that 1 hour a day is bad, let alone 5 hours. No fans, no A/C nada.!!!

Now, what happens when the state loses power every day for 3 hours, well companies then start using their generators and that includes using diesel and then we have a shortage of diesel and reg gas, because all the diesel is going to generators and then the trucks who need to bring gas from other places cant run because of no fuel then it takes us 3 hours to find a gas station that has reg gas..... it's not well thought out from our government people..... Love it.

So you can see why I have not been in touch with the world.... Thanks INDIA POWER!!

So this week, we have not lost any power. So its been a good week.

SO now we can find gas ( as of now) we dont have power cuts ( lets not count my chickens till next week) and life is good again.

Well thats all from my side! Hope to hear from you all soon.

Oh, Ya! I forgot.... Zach is now on facebook... vivekzacharaiah! I know... he is so not tech savvy. But i love the fact he is trying! Way to go Zach!!!

See ya!
C

A Friend Came to town.

2008-07-03T22:44:00.002+05:30

Well after 4 long years, my husbands best friend came to India for a short trip ( 12 hours). I was so happy to see our friend Phil.
I realized at that time that I am still not ready to go back to the U.S.
I don't know if its because I miss our friends, or I miss home. It didn't hit me till I saw Phil.

I know that sounds silly, but don't get me wrong, I love living here in India. But I do miss my home, my friends, my son. But I just don't think I could go to the U.S. and then come back to India. I'm just not ready.

I think this way because I have not really gained anything out of India to miss to come back. Not sure it makes sense, but it does to me.

The kids, well Brandon had a good time meeting up with Uncle Phil. They were talking about the good old times of hanging out at PhilAir. Oh, those were good times. I have such fond memories of Philair.

So I started thinking, in the last 4 years, what have been the good times? I really cant think of any. I mean I have fun daily, but its not something to remember, or significant. I know I have been trying to build new memories here, but I find it so hard. I guess it was because when Zach and I were in the U.S. ; he didn't have his family there, I didn't have mine, so our friends became our family. So now that we are back in India, I feel more alone then ever before.

I have made new friends, and I love each and everyone of them in a special way. But it's different. I don't know how to explain it. I could say though on a plus point, my friends here have no major drama like our friends in the U.S.

I also think a big portion of my feeling of being alone here is that I have to share my husband with his parents. Which I never had to deal with in the U.S. I know that sounds selfish, but I like having Zach to myself, not sharing him with other family members. I think thats the hardest part of living here.

So as of yet, I have not made any fond memories of living in India as of yet. I just hope one day I can look back and say " it wasn't a mistake to move here" and fill in that empty void of not making new and lasting memories that are not forgettable.

GET OUTA MY WAY.........I NEED GAS!!!!!

2008-06-30T18:47:00.002+05:30

Well there is nothing like heading home and on the way, stopping to get some gas for the week. Well thats what I planned on doing today after work. On my way home I thought I would get some gas because I was to lazy in the morning to wake up on time. YEAH RIGHT!!!!!!! 30 kilometers later, found gas and smiled!!!!

You know living in India has been great so far. I have enjoyed everything about it, but today was one of those days I wished I was back home in the U.S. I know gas prices are really high, but at least you have gas!

But it's my fault really for not reading the paper talking about the shortage of getting gas supplied in Chennai. Basically we have gas, but the delivery drivers refuse to bring the gas here, in hopes of that their protest will bring the gas prices down..... don't think sooooo.... Retards...

You know India is the only place I know that does not change gas prices daily, weekly or even monthly. Ours is changed yearly. With that being said, its not like a huge jump in gas prices either. Like 3-4 rupees. Which is like 2 cents in usd. Not bad really on a yearly price hike. But the un-educated part of India, believes if they protest they will win....

Basically it's like that old saying " I'll bitch and moan and take it up the tail pipe because there is nothing I can do!!"

So needless to say, I got my gas, had to fight with the gas guy to give me Rs. 1000.00 but got it and said thank you! Then called my friends to let them know where they could get gas.

OH MY LITTLE INDIA!!!!

Oh Questions??????

2008-06-19T23:07:00.000+05:30

The number 1 question everyday for me is, will I be able to stick to my diet. I know- what a silly thing to ask, but for most of you that know me, I have been,,, well overweight. So much so that I have just forgotten what I look like from the bra line down.

So much so, that Brandon, my sweet handsome 9 year old baby has also gained a bit of weight him self.

That’s when it struck me, stop asking and start doing. So today was the 1st day of our new “lifestyle change”. Yes I said lifestyle change, and not diet. Diet to me sounds so restricting and hard. I just decided, we (Brandon and I) are going to watch what we eat and how much we eat. Along with that we are going to exercise daily. Well not everyday, but 5 days a week. We will wake up 1 hour earlier and go for a walk.

Although today, I was only able to walk for ½ hour, due to the heat. It gets to hot in the morning. I think maybe I need to wake up 1 ½ hours earlier. Maybe just as the sun is coming up. To funny though, because I was only able to walk for 30 mins, I decided to jog the last 200 meters back home…. Well things jiggled and wiggled in places that should not be jiggling and wiggling.…… probably TMI for ya….. (TMI- TO MUCH INFORMATION)lol Anyways, I felt great in the morning after my walk. I came back had 2 cups of water, read the newspaper, made breakfast and had a shower. I was done by 8am with everything.( I have been in a cooking kind of mood for the last one week….. American food all week!!) Which works great for me, because that gives me more the enough time to get ready in the morning and get ready for school.

Then I woke up the kids, and we started our day. Then it occurred to me, that maybe I could do the housewife thing. But just for the moment I had that thought!

But as the day progressed I realized that there are many things I would like to do, and I want to do. With working full time, I don’t see myself ever doing or completing those things.

So I thought, okay, If I can stick to my lifestyle change for 3 months, lets re-access that thought in 3 months and then see how I feel.

But as I write this blog now, I realize there is so much more to life then making money. My husband has his dream job, really there is no need for me to work. Don’t get me wrong , I really love my job, but is that something I want to do. Do I really want to continue with that path in my life? Do I want to make changes now?
Well my husband always says I never stop to just really think about what I am going to do, and I think he may be right. ( don’t ever let him know I said that.!!!) So that’s why I am giving myself 3 months.

I want to make change within myself, but also, I want to make change in India. Where to start, God only knows!?

So I wont tell ya, how much I weigh, because I feel the scale is giving wrong readings. But I will tell ya, my goal for 3 months is to lose 40 lbs. Yes it seems like a lot, but it’s a goal….. If I lose my target, I will buy myself something nice.

No shopping or overeating for 3 months from today’s date…..

Pray for me I can do this…. I really want to buy something new….. lol lol

Life and Meaning include weight. – By Crystal

2008-06-16T01:32:00.001+05:30

You know I have been struggling for the past 9 years on two major subjects of my life.

Weight
Am I a believer? What do I believe?

Let’s talk about #1. As you all know me, I have been overweight and seemed happy. Well in a way I guess you could say I am happy. I have a great husband and 3 super boys. But I am not happy about my weight and why am I not happy to do anything about it? That is a million dollar question. I never used to be a heavy girl, I really don’t know how it started. But it did, and it’s in the past. I am now looking for the future. I was sitting on my laptop this evening looking threw different weight loss diets, calorie counters, good food bad food, I realized my problem I eat to feel happy. Who doesn’t??? But it gets worse.

I watched this U-Tube video of this lady who was trying to lose 100lbs in 30 days. I know – never going to happen. But anyways, she did this one segment about why she is the way she is. Its because she binges eats when she is sad. So I got to thinking….. Hmmmm. I also do it to… but not because I was sad all the time, because I was bored.

Now my second question to that was, why am I bored. It’s not like I don’t have stuff to do, kids to take care of. Then it hit me.- I am bored because I don’t have faith in my self or faith to believe. Which brings me to # 2, but not yet.

So how did I become bored?? No idea really, I guess if you are bored for a long period of time it just becomes a way of life. But is that really how I want my life to be? Bored? Unhappy?

Man, I tell ya when you finally have a light bulb go off in your head it sure does put things in perspective.

So what did my light bulb tell me…. Well it told be to get off my cute, but large butt and stop talking about it and do it! So I am going to do it. I am making a total lifestyle change starting now at 1:03am on Monday June 17, 2008. This includes:

No more drinking soda, including DIET!
No more eating fried food.
No more eating after 7pm
I must walk for 15min in the morning and 30 min in the evening 5 days a week.
I must love myself everyday, even when I hit a detour.
this one is big for the ones who know me,,,,,, stop fighting the fact I want a relationship with GOD! Okay for # 2

#2. I know that came to a shock to most of you. But I don’t think anyone knows how I lost it or even had in to begin with. I had religion forced on me when I was a teenager. I went to church 3 x a week. Never accepted GOD in my heart, knew I really wanted to but was pissed that I had to attend church so much. So in the long run, I wanted to hate the religion aspect. So I became agnostic. I new there was a god, but what god?

I felt when I wanted to do this, it would be on my time and terms. No one else’s! I wanted to do things in my life, and did not want to be judged because I did them. ( By the way I was in a die hard Pentecostal church family ) As per my guardians, half the things I have done in my life and some I continue to do now were deemed evil and wrong. I was told I could not love GOD if I drink or smoke. So I wanted to drink and smoke, and decided not to love god.

But then I met this little blond spunky mother of 2 here in India. Her and her husband have had “somewhat similar pasts” as I and they have relationship with GOD.

Then I went to dinner last night, and my spunky friend said something to profound to me. “ We can enjoy our life and still have faith there’s nothing wrong with that”. It was just a casual comment. But it left me thinking and wondering. If she can do it why cant I. I can still enjoy my life and still be with GOD. Why didn’t someone say this to me 9 years ago????

Why am I trying to fight what hurts so bad in my heart. Just thinking and writing this down brings such strong emotions and my heart is so heavy. Why? Why am I crying? I don’t even know. But I know it has something to do with GOD!

Now where do I go from here? What do I do? What do I say? I don’t know…… What will my in-laws say…. They think i’m the devil. What will zach say.

So this is it…. My lifestyle change. I know I a little rusty in this area but I am going to do this now.

My talk:

God, I’m sorry I was a retard for the last 9 years. I finally figured out what I was missing in my life. So if we can start over, I want to accept you officially, on my own terms into my life my heart and sole. I don’t know what to say after that. So good night, I will talk to you again tomorrow. Amen.

-Crystal

SOMKING SAGA ---- PART 2

2008-05-18T18:09:00.000+05:30

Well..... I did it! I quit smoking.

I have been smoke free for 15 days!!!! Let me tell you it was not by choice this time. I got really sick and come to find out it was do to smoking all these years.

So doctor said, GIVE IT UP!!!

So I did. I feel great! I can breath and my cough is almost gone.

I feel great! Although I have put on a tiny bit of weight, but other then that I am doing well.

But I do miss smoking! But I think that will pass after some time.

Just a quick update for ya.

Will let you know how I am doing in 15 more days.

Cheers-

Spring Break and KERELA- BACK TO SCHOOL AGAIN!

2008-04-28T22:54:00.000+05:30

You know, I really do love going to Kerela on my vacation. You have many advantages of visiting a place called “Gods Own Country” I am going to share with you the benefits of going to Kerela. Keep in mind these are my thoughts only.

My Skin Clears up within two days. ( thanks to the smog in Chennai, I look like “connect the dots’.)
You learn to appreciate the luxury of air conditioning! ( keep in mind, when we go to Kerela we stay with families who don’t have a/c’s)
Mosquitoes are HUGE!!! Also I think they enjoy the bug repellent because they seemed to be getting high off the stuff!

But with all that said and done. I guess the main part of my trip, was I did not do any work related things. Which I planned on doing with all the spare time on my hands! But decided to just play computer games with the boys. Which I have to say, I got pretty good at! There were a few times that I was fighting with the boys to let me play and it was my turn.

So now I am back to work really I should say back to school. You know , I have never felt so overwhelmed with work agenda. I seem to always have things under control and can find a solution, but these days I am feeling confused.

Although I love my job and love working with kids, I think the major issue with me at the moment is the lack of teamwork with my other teachers. Everyone seems to fend for themselves. Which I have never worked in an environment like this before! I know I can take this as a learning challenge but my god its hard at times.

My goal for the summer is to help my co-workers bridge into teamwork. Cross your fingers for me!

Here is a quote for ya till next time:

“Coming together is a beginning.

Keeping together is progress.

Working together is success.”

-Henry Ford

- Crystal

We are FAMOUS!

2008-04-05T23:20:00.000+05:30

Well Zach and I are happy to report that we finally made it into the Newspaper. We had our dose of being famous for a week or so..... But I have to tell ya, no one asked for our autograph!!
So I guess we weren't as famous as we thought!
LOL...
Well nothing new to really report in the last 2 months.
I am still smoking. But less then before. Dillon and Brandon are doing well in school. So the report card says. Christopher is doing really well. We are waiting for him to come for a week during his summer vacation. We all miss him very much. I am sure that he will have a blast being back home for a week and spending time with his brothers. I know Brandon has all ready started planing out that week of fun. Poor Chris, not sure if he would have time to sleep!

Zach is doing very well also. He is very close to finishing his training. Only 20 more sectors to go and one day and night check! Wow..... 2 years to get a type rating in an Airplane!!! That should go into the world records for sure! Gotta Love IT!!!!!

Well I thought I would include a picture of Zach and myself in the newspaper!

Also to all you lazy people out there!!! Drop us a line sometime to say HELLO!!! FORWARDS do not COUNT!!!

Love to everyone!
The Zachariahs

As told by Crystal: The Smoking SAGA!!!

2008-01-06T14:51:00.000+05:30

Okay I thought an update on the “No Smoking” should be addressed. As you know I have tried… yes I said tried to quit smoking. It lasted a whole 2 days. On my second day I decided I really needed a smoke. So I decided that it would be best if I walked down to the store- which I named 7-11. Because the name of the store is so hard to say, and it made sense to me to name it something I am use to seeing home in the states, and since its open from 7am to 11pm 7-11 became the name.

Okay so I walked down to the 7-11 and there you don’t have to buy a whole pack of cigarettes, you can buy one single cigarette and I thought that should do the trick. Well my maid along with Dillon on his bike came with me. So as I proceeded to buy my smoke and to enjoy the pure pleasure of the sensation of the nicotine that I have longed for in the last 48 hours, my maid at this point try’s to reason with me on the fact that I have quit!!! Her exact words were “Sister, no you buy cigarettes you see quitting. I’m telling brother” Now I know this sounded very strange, but when you live in India, most of the lower class of India, who can speak English, speak in this manner. Even some of the educated call center reps speak in this manner as well. That’s a whole different story!!!! The maids in our house address the young women like my self as sister, and the young men like Zach, as brother. Zach’s mother and father are addressed as mummy and appa. Which mean the same as mom and dad. Now don’t worry- we address the maids as Selvi and Elizabeth, and yes those are there real names, Okay, back to my story----

Well for all you smokers out there, you know as well as I – if someone try’s to reason with you on the fact that “you can do it” within the first 48 hours of trying to stop smoking, you are either going to hurt that person, or in my case and give them the yelling of the life time to SHUT UP!!!

So on my way back home I call Zach and let him know that I did have a smoke and that not smoking is not going to work for me. It’s really hard. I thought childbirth was hard- but I was really wrong.... I would rather birth a child everyday then not to smoke!!!!

So I decided while I am at school and teaching English to Koreans and French kids, I won’t smoke. I figured I can wait till I get home in the afternoons to smoke! My thought is, if I can wait till the afternoon to smoke, then my smoking would be less, then within a few weeks I can quit completely. I do have some medication I am taking that is both an anti-smoking and anti-depressant, which works for me while I’m at work, but it wares off by the time I reach home.

With that being said, I have changed my “goal” of quitting to a later date! A date that I am trying to figure out! That’s another “goal” lol…

Till next time-

--C

As told by the A320 Capt.---- Happy 2008!

2008-01-06T14:49:00.000+05:30

This is my first post on the blog. The blog theory and the posts are all new to me, so I think I will improve as we go along (at least I hope). The New Year was brought in with the usual whim and vigor but with one exception – the party theme was different from the norm. We had a karaoke party. As expected, the party was a huge success! With about 20 or so people in attendance, the group was the perfect size for a karaoke party. Everyone had their chance at singing and there were no physical struggles for the mic at any given point (at least not during the first hour when I was sober). We will post some pics from the party in the next few days and also look forward to hosting a similar event in the near future.

The New Year has been uneventful thus far. Chennai has been playing host to an ATP tennis tournament and I have spent almost every evening of 2008 watching the matches. Last night I watched the semi final action between Carlos Moya and Rafael Nadal. It happened to go on for a record setting 3 hours and 54 minutes. I am certain that it was the highlight of this year for many thrilled fans at the stadium.

I’ll close for now and eagerly wait to hear from all of you………

- Zach

- As told by Crystal--- Happy New Year 2008

2008-01-02T16:19:00.001+05:30

I have been trying to figure out for the past year how to set up a blog. I started it back in December 2006, and it has just been sitting there doing nothing-collecting cob webs I am sure.

So I thought- I am going to make that a goal for 2008 to get this blog up and going and to be part of the tech savvy world that we have all come to know!

With addition to that I decided this year to make 1. New Years Resolution…: My new years resolution is……… “not to make any resolutions”. Simple!!! This will save me the hassle in keeping them and then breaking them.

The reason I came up with this is because every year I make “resolutions” and I never keep them. They last for about a week. Then I would regret that I made that resolution and feel like a failure for not keeping it! Why do we need “New Years Resolutions?” As if we are able to predict the future to know we can succeed at it! I personally think they are a waste of time. Lets make goals instead. Make them relistec and try to target on completing those goals!

So I decided to make some goals. I wont list them because that would take to much time- but one of my goals are on the right track for success.

My other goal that I started before the new year.. Like 5 hours before 2008, was to stop smoking and each day I don’t smoke is a success! So its been 2 days. Yes I really want to smoke, but I also want to complete the day with a successful goal.

Lol

I have also been asked from a dear friend of mine- ‘ what was profound in 2007’

Well I have so many profound things that happened in 2007!