27 October 2011

Travel Photo Friday: Diwali, Hyderabad, India

Wednesday night was the first night of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. To someone not accustomed to the holiday, it's more like the salute to fireworks.

Last year we arrived in Hyderabad on the first night of Diwali. Luckily Muffin was jet lagged enough to sleep through the whole thing. The fireworks continued for several days. Would we be lucky enough this year?

Yes. Muffin loved watching the fireworks for a little while and then she happily settled into bed and slept through the night.

Muffin also enjoyed some of the traditional holiday sweets.

We had a small, toned-down Westernized version of the holiday compared to our Indian neighbors.

Shopping for fireworks.

Laddu, a traditional sweet.

Rangoli, a chalk drawing in front of the house that welcomes any deities that might be stopping by. This is at a neighbor's house.

More laddu pleeeeeeeease!

Watching the fireworks.

The big kids played with sparklers.

Fireworks.

Photo Friday is hosted by DeliciousBaby.com.

This Week

This week I also posted at What I Eat.

13 October 2011

Travel Photo Friday: Bangle Shopping, Old City, Hyderabad, India

I love the bangles of Hyderabad. I bought my first set about two weeks after we arrived. We've been here for almost a year now and I have quite a collection. Babies get bangles here but I was reluctant to give them to Muffin until she stopped putting them in her mouth. The glitter gets everywhere and she's swallowing enough of it as it is without actually eating bangles. Last week, though, she expressed an interest in wearing my bangles rather than eating them so I decided it was time for her to have her own. Grandma is visiting, so it was a good time to go to the Old City, to the bangle district, for a little shopping spree.

A young bangle salesman, for a young customer.

Muffin chooses her favorites.

Photo Friday is hosted by DeliciousBaby.com.

This Week

This week I also posted at What I Eat.


10 October 2011

Welcome to Mold Haven

When we came home from our summer vacation after Labor Day weekend we were greeted by a house full of mold. We had no idea we should have left all our air conditioners running full blast for three weeks while we were out of the house. We left all the ceiling fans on and we left the air conditioner on in our bedroom just low enough to keep one room comfortable for the cat. We were saving electricity. In a house with faulty wiring and a generator that continuously goes on and off, we thought that was the right thing to do.

But the monsoon season won. Mold. Not so much in the walls and ceilings as far as we can tell, but individual objects in random places. My vegetable ivory jewelry that was stored in one place, but not the vegetable ivory that was stored in another. Mike's dress shoes but not mine. One coat out of a closet full of them. None of the clothing drawers, except for the one filled with my bras. One drawer in my bedside table but not the other drawer.

We've had some of the mold tested. It's toxic in large quantities. We don't think we have large enough quantities and we cleaned it up as soon as we started finding it. We think we're okay, but we're not experts.

Maintenance hasn't been too worried. First they tried to tell us it was dust from the construction going on next door. Then they said it was "Just fungus." I'm sorry, just fungus? They tried to tell us the air purifier was a dehumidifier before admitting they had no idea what a dehumidifier was.

That's when we had to start laughing. Dehumidifiers should be handed out upon arrival at the airport here, along with your entry stamp and a cup of chai. But the maintenance guys had no idea what we were talking about. We went to several appliance stores who gave us blank stares and Mike said to one sales guy "If you don't know what I'm asking for, then you probably don't have it." The guy laughed and agreed. A friend tipped us off to apparently the one store in town that carries them. They know they are the one store in town that carries them and can charge quite a bit, but we bought one. They were out of stock and we had to wait twenty-four hours for delivery. When it arrived, our housekeeper was amazed that such a machine even existed. She thinks India would be a better place if more people knew of this technology.

We have washed everything in white vinegar. Most of Sophie's stuffed animals were saved by a spin in a super-hot washing machine cycle followed by a thorough drying. What's odd is that the shelves I keep my fabrics on had mold, but only one of the fabrics actually did. I ran them all through the washer to freshen up, anyway. We removed the carpet from our bedroom; the mold was the worst in there. Luckily Sophie's room was one of the least affected areas of the house; I cleaned up all of her stuffed animals the day we arrived home, threw out some of the clothing that was beyond saving, and the mold has not returned to her room.

The dehumidifier is running day and night. When the power goes out and shuts it down, it only takes an hour or two for the mold smell to come back into our bedroom. Between air purifiers, air conditioners, and the dehumidifier, after several weeks it feels like we have finally gained on the mold. There doesn't appear to be new growth in any of the places we've cleaned up. We are anxiously awaiting an order of silica gel desiccants, those little white "Do Not Eat" packs, to keep in our drawers and suitcases.

Now that we know the mold is toxic, however, we are trying to see what this country can produce in the way of a qualified inspector. No luck so far. We are just trying to stay ahead of the mold until the dry season starts up in a few months.

07 October 2011

Travel Photo Friday: Salzburg, Austria

From the archives...

In August 2007, Mike and I took a European vacation. He had studied in Salzburg and wanted to show me the region, so we spent a few days there. I loved it and would live there in a heartbeat.

Festung Hohensalzburg (Salzburg Fortress)

Festung Hohensalzburg (Salzburg Fortress)

Salzkammergut tour, Wolfgangsee

Year-round Easter egg store. (There's also a year-round Christmas store.)

Salzburg at night.

From Salzburg we took a bus to Berchtesgaden and admired the view from Eagle's Nest.

We left the region via train through Fuessen, where we saw Schloss Neuschwanstein.

Photo Friday is hosted by http://www.deliciousbaby.com/.

02 October 2011

The Littlest Supporter of Breast Cancer Awareness


This morning we attended the Pink Ribbon Walk in Hyderabad, the kick-off event for Breast Cancer Awareness month. It was a short two-kilometer walk and we were surprised at the number of people who participated.

In India the rate of detection is so low that the majority of women who have breast cancer aren't diagnosed until such a late stage that it is usually terminal. In Western countries it's easy for women to talk about their health. But remember a couple of centuries ago, when (male) doctors in the West had no idea what was going on with women's health? In India, because of the conservative culture, it's more difficult for women to discuss health problems with their doctors. It's more difficult for them to seek out treatment because of a lack of trained specialists. And then it's nearly impossible to pay for medical bills. Here in Hyderabad, KIMS (Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences), the organizer of the Pink Ribbon Campaign, is working with corporations and charities to get free and low-cost mammograms and treatments to the women who need them.

The press was mad for Muffin, especially once she got a hold of a sign. This is one time I didn't mind all the photos. If her little mug on the front page of the newspaper helps raise awareness it will be worth it.