One Great Thing About India - The View from Our Apartment

Home Delivery

I love that I can call the supermarket (more like 7-11 than Safeway) and order groceries. And I love that they know who I am by the things that I buy. So, almost every time I order, I order diet coke (I like it as much here as I did in the US). And every time I get to that part of my order, the guy on the phone chimes in Nav Bahar (that's the name of my building)? Tonight, the phone order went like this:

Me: I'd like to order for home delivery.
Grocery Guy: Yah.
Two nestle milk - blue box
Nestle Milk?
Yah.
Blue box?
Yah.
How many?
Two
Two?
Yah.
OK.

Two nestle yogurt - plain
Nestle yogurt?
Yah.
Plain?
Yah.
How many?
Two
Two?
Yah.
OK.

Two apple juice - Ceres.
Apple Juice?
Yah.
How many?
Two.
OK.
That's all.

What building?
Nav Bahar
Nav Bahar?
Yah.
Diet Coke?

Guest Blogger - Momma Croom

Mom is here visiting for three weeks. Last week, she wrote up a long email for her friends about her trip here. Since I'm admittedly lax on writing about life in India (as opposed to life with Luis), I thought I'd share her story.

Greetings from India! It’s early morning and I am sitting in MC’s office with the sun coming up and a nice breeze coming from the patio- 67 lovely degrees outside. I certainly did pick the right time to come!

We arrived in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. Diego was at the gate to meet us with two helpers. The first was a lovely young lady who worked for the airport who expedited our way through immigration control and baggage collection and inspection. The second was a man to carry our carry-ons and Luis’ car seat. Once we collected all the luggage- and there was a lot of it- Anwar, Diego’s driver and another driver he had arranged for took all our stuff to the cars. Yes, it took two cars to carry all of us and all our bags. We arrived at the apartment, took showers to rid ourselves of the grime of 24 hours of travel and off to bed. It has taken us several days to shake off East Coast time and acclimate to India time, but I think we are now all set.
The apartment is the only apartment on the seventh and top floor of the building. It was cleverly designed so that all the rooms except this study and the kitchen have ocean views, for the only thing between the building and the ocean is a street and a jogger’s park. Lovely. The Indian Ocean here seems quite mild, no surf and only a few gentle waves over the rocks. The land slides off gently into the ocean, so the tide covers a lot of territory. Not much sand, just rocks and some low bushes with what looked like big white flowers on them. I asked MC if she knew the name of the flowers and she said yes: white plastic bags! They are prolific, and do look lovely from a distance.

The apartment itself is large: about 2800 square feet. All the floors are cool, smooth marble that feels wonderful on bare feet. The walls are brick covered with plaster painted creamy white. All the rooms have built-in chests, desks and wardrobes that somehow remind me of Mackie’s apartment in Daytona… it must be a 50’s Florida look that makes the connection for me. The living/dining room is large and the wall facing the ocean is all windows. You could spend all day watching from them. One of my favorite times is sunset, when the huge orange/red sun points a golden/red path across the water towards the beach. Diego had a dining room table and chairs made before MC got here and they are beautiful. The leather couches they had in Falls Church fit right in and look as tho they were chosen for this very room.

In front of the building, besides the parking area, is a small yard with a slide and a swing waiting for Luis to get a little bigger, and a bit of garden. There are always two or three “guards” by the elevator or gate to assist or just to greet you when you arrive or leave. The gate is securely locked at night. Abbas, the owner of the building lives on the floor just beneath MC and Diego and he is very nice.

Just up from the building is a promenade stretching north quite a long way, maybe a mile or so. Four lanes of busy traffic hem it in close to the ocean and it is a busy, busy, busy place. We usually take Ashley and Luis for a long walk there after breakfast. I skipped this am so I could write this letter. Along the promenade one sees a bit of everything. I will try to describe what I saw one day. First of all, people, all kinds of people. People in running shorts, people in saris, in salwar camizes, in business clothes, in rags, in various and sundry uniforms, in just about everything you can imagine. Many are exercising, walking slowly or fast, doing normal and weird exercises, chatting with friends, watching the ocean or working at a variety of things, like street repair, fish drying. Parts of the promenade are lovely, others not so. Sewage is a problem in Mumbai, and you note it in some stretches more than others. Also many use the ocean to do their morning business and are not shy in the least, if you get my gist. You also see lots of dogs, most strays, but curiously they are not at all aggressive. There are also many dogs on leash, mostly cocker spaniels and other medium-sized dogs, although I have seen a German shepherd and 2 Irish shepherds. Towards the end of our walk is an open air crematorium! It is a busy place and makes you pick up your step and perk up for the day.

The other day MC and I went down to South Mumbai, the center of shopping, and monuments and such. Anwar the driver took us down, and it was an hour and a half EACH WAY! Going we went what I call the industrial route, past literally thousands of tiny shops and businesses, with pipes and fittings and engines and lumber and rags and parts and everything else you could imagine. Besides all the people in each of these places there were people on the street, and I do mean people. There is a series of children’s books called Where’s Waldo? Each page is full of a zillion people doing things with a theme for each page and the reader is to find Waldo among all the busy-ness. That is what I thought of as we drove that morning. Another comparison would be with an ant colony. Creatures everywhere, working,working. There is a vibrancy, and energy that really peps you up.

We did a good bit of shopping at the government-run shop for Indian handicrafts, which was enormous and enticing. Afterwards we went to lunch at a very spiffy rooftop restaurant overlooking the Gateway to India, a colossus of a monumental arch built by the British, and part of the harbor area.

On the way home, Anwar took a more scenic route and gave a wonderful running commentary on the places we passed. Among the most interesting were the following: an enormous museum built in the British neo-Gothic/Arabic style, lovely old apartments, Hindu temples, churches and mosques galore. One is a tomb of a revered Muslim saint, built out in the ocean. When the tide is in, you cannot get there, as the causeway is completely covered. I was surprised at the hilliness of part of the way. On top of one of the hills is a Parsi Tower of Silence, where they leave the dead to the elements. Because of pollution, there are many fewer vultures in Mumbai to take care of the bodies. They have installed solar panels to help expedite the process.

I have not talked about the transport in the streets. In MC’s neighborhood there are zillions of auto rickshaws that run on natural gas. The engines are tiny and make much noise, but they are a wonderful and cheap way to get places: a ride is about 10 rupees, about 25 cents. These cannot go downtown. There are also many, many taxis, all tiny and everywhere. Cars of all makes and models, many Hyundai and Honda and Indian made Mahindra. Trucks are of all sorts and sizes, often gaily painted with a guy on top to keep people away from the goods they are carrying. In addition you see oxcarts drawn usually by only one ox, horses and horse carts, cows and goats wandering about and there is an elephant in this neighborhood, although I haven’t seen it yet!

On Wednesday we are off to Rajasthan to visit, Ranthambore, a national park WITH TIGERS, and to Jaipur, the pink city of rajahs. When we get back, Suzanne is coming from Kenya and she and I will have an adventure to Goa, a former Portuguese colony and currently a favorite beach place.

Where Does the Time Go?

I'm having a hard time keeping up with things these days. In my last post on Luis, I forgot to mention that he is more and more interested both in finger food as well as using a spoon to feed himself. I'm both excited about his new development and a bit terrified of the potential mess. I think I'll have this feeling many, many more times over the next decade or two.

Luis is also doing more and more and more walking. I bought a little walk-behind cart for him which he's enjoying. For the first week or so, he'd either walk behind it or sort of walk on his knees behind it. Yesterday, he discovered that he could put stuff into and take stuff out of the basket. The only catch is that the basket has to be properly weighted down to counterbalance the weight that Luis puts on the handle. Learned that lesson the hard way. Oops!

Catching Up

I feel a bit disconnected from the blog - it feels like a long time since I posted regularly. Looking back at the posts from our trip to the States, it seems like all of the facts were covered, but that there was so much more. I will try to be better about more regular updates. That being said, we leave tomorrow for a four day trip to Rajasthan to spend 2 days at a tiger preserve and 2 days in Jaipur...

Luis is growing everyday. He's almost walking now; he can take up to about 10 steps at a time. He's not completely convinced that walking is better than crawling, but he seems to be willing to give it a try. He still loves to play with the broom. And Pavarti is still very sweet to humor him with it when she comes. Everyday. Here, Luis takes the broom for a stroll - one of his longest single walks yet. I still can't quite imagine Luis as a walking boy. I can only see him as the crawling guy he is now. The other big new thing is how vocal he is. Luis doesn't have any actual words yet; at least not words that anyone understands. But he seems to have his own language and he's very proficient in it. He has a running commentary going on most of his day. He just babbles and coos and giggles and goes on and on. It's fun to listen to. Though, I'm a bit nervous about what life will be like once he actually masters words...

He's also getting better at climbing. Yesterday, he figured out how to climb up onto the divan by himself (previously, he always needed a boost up). This picture actually captures the first time he made it up. Now, he tries to climb onto everything. And once he's up on the sofa or a chair, he tries to climb up the back of it to get to the top. I don't think he's thought about climbing out of the crib yet, but that may only be a matter of time.
I'm guessing that he's a bit taller too. Now, he can easily reach the things that are on the kitchen counter. Yesterday morning, he reached up, grabbed the handle of my coffee cup, pulled it down, examined the contents and then poured it all over the floor. All in about 10 seconds. This new ability is definitely going to require a new level of vigilance around here. We hand wash all of our dishes, and tend to let them dry on a towel on the counter. We'll all have to be more careful about pushing back the edge of the towel. I don't like the idea of Luis grabbing hold of the towel and pulling an entire "load" of dishes onto his head.


Diego took Luis down to play on the slide in our little yard, while I threw the frisbee for Ashely. Let's just say that EVERYONE had a good time. We tried Luis on the swings, too. I think he liked it - but he doesn't quite realize that he needs to hold on (it's more of a big-kid swing than a little-kid swing). All things in good time, I suppose. There is a nice playground at Joggers Park with swings, slides, climbing things and things to ride on. Once Luis gets a bit better at walking, I plan to take him there more to play. But for now, I'm not too excited about Luis crawling around there and putting everything he counters, including his fingers, in his mouth...








I was curious about how much of our Mumbai life Luis would remember. How would he react when he saw Pauline, Pavarti, Shabina, Babu - his Mumbai friends? I got my answer the moment we walked through the door. He was super, super, super, super excited to be home, to see his room & crib & toys. The next day, he was beside himself to see Pauline, Shabina & Pavarti. We went for a walk on the Promenade on Wednesday morning and he was excited to see those sights as well. I was a little amazed that a one year old kid could be so homesick. Though, I should add, that as we got closer and closer to Mumbai (on the plane), I got more and more excited to be home - to see MY room & bed & toys. And Diego. It was great to see him. He very sweetly had a porter and the terminal manager meet Mom, Luis and I the instant we stepped off the plane. Ahhh, the advantages to being married to a muckety-muck airport guy! :)

Cousins Come to Annapolis

Dodie, Alison, Maggie Lou (7 1/2), Franklin (4 1/2) and Solomon (2 1/2) came down to Annapolis when we returned from SC/GA. I am pretty sure that Luis had a fun time with his big cousins - he certainly worked hard to keep up with them and to be around them. In return, they were super, super sweet to him. Several times, Franklin would walk up to me and say, "Aunt Mook; I love Luis." Solly is only about a year older than Luis. Right now it seems like such a big difference. Soon, I know, they will be the same age. I imagine them being this generations version of Dodie & Will McDow. Watch out!

Atlanta

Thursday (1/4), Jeanette flew down to Charlotte. Luis and I picked her up and then hit the road for Atlanta. There, we stayed with Randolph & Lauren (& Shadow). Jason, Cara & Evan Terreri came up for a visit on Thursday. Evan is about 18 months now and (I think) the spitting image of his father. Cara is about 6 months along (carrying Evan's brother to be) and looks so fabulous that I'm a little bit jealous! On Friday, Jeanette, Luis and I went to visit Grandfather (who will be 99 next month!!). Unfortunately, Randolph and Luis were both sick while we were there (Luis's first real cold). None-the-less, I felt that we had a great visit with all of our Atlanta friends. I think the highlight of the trip for Jeanette was finding a drive-thru Starbucks in both South Carolina and Georgia.

Rock Hill

Luis and I flew down to SC on 12/31. Luis very kindly slept the whole way on the plane - and settled in nicely to life at 314 College Ave. Before heading down, I asked Thomas what the weather was like. He told me it was beautiful and 60. So I packed accordingly. Unfortunately, the first night we were there, it got down into the teens with a high in the mid-20's. It was COLD.

New Year's night, my cousin Mary Kathryn hosted a McDow family dinner at her place. With about 25 of us, it was SRO. The evening was great. I especially enjoyed hearing Thomas and Aunt Nell tell stories about when they were young.

On Wednesday (1/2), Mary Kathryn and her son Bo (9 mo) came over for a visit after lunch. Bo is one of the cutest babies I've seen. It certainly helps that he has a pretty mom!

Later that afternoon, Lucy invited Luis and I to come out and visit her horses. Both Luis and Shortstop were very patient for this picture. The second photo is one I loved because of the late afternoon winter light.

Aunt Nell and her children, Chuck & Nellie (both college students) came up from Columbia for dinner both 1/1 and 1/2. Luis absolutely adored Chuck & Nellie. He had endless smiles and laughs for them both and was always willing to play with and sit on their laps. It was very sweet to watch.

There is no picture of Thomas and I playing Yahtzee, though we did every night. Yahtzee has replaced bridge for Thomas and me - and I think I enjoy it more than when I was playing bridge.

Visiting in Northern Virginia

We were in Northern Virginia 12/28 -12/30 for Luis's one-year check up and to do some visiting. Luis and I stayed with the Rimicci's. Luis had a lot of fun watching Matthew (10 mo) and Will (4 1/2) and trying to keep up. I had fun watching all three of them interact. In general, Luis seemed to enjoy all of the kids we saw on our trip. And it made me realize that I need to make plans to get Luis together with other kids in Mumbai.

Matthew & Luis play in the kitchen

Will gives Matthew & Luis toy pointers

Saturday afternoon, Emily and Maggie (15 mo) Poulin came over for a visit. It was a bit crazy with the four kids running around - but it was also loads of fun.

Emily, Maggie & the back of Luis's head

Luis admiring Maggie's lounging abilities

Later that evening, we went for the super-early-bird special at my favorite sushi restaurant. I don't have any pictures of the mayhem there. Let's just say it is excellent that the parent-to-child ratio was 1:1. We wouldn't have made it otherwise.

Home, At Last

Luis, Mom and I arrived last night into Mumbai a bit late, but in good spirits. Luis was a FAN-TAB-ULOUS traveler, sleeping 4 hours on the first leg and almost 6 hours on the second leg. I, as a result, slept about 3 hours on the first leg and 5.75 hours on the second leg. YEAH!!

Again, lots of pictures to post and stories to tell as I get settled back in at home.

A Quick Ta Ta!

Luis, Mom and I leave in a couple of hours to head back to Mumbai. I'm surprised and sad that our trip is over. In just under 4 weeks, I estimate that we covered about 1,000 air miles (domestic) and about 1,000 driving miles to visit almost 65 people. It was a great, great time. A super big thank you to all who traveled, changed their schedule, and opened their homes to visit with Luis and me. It was wonderful.

Luis, for the most part, was an ideal travel companion. He slept (mostly) well in the six different places that we stayed (with 12 sleeping location changes). He charmed everyone we met - even the night we met friends for dinner in South Carolina and he was fevered and sick.

I'm a bit worried about the trip home. Mom will be on our flight, but not sitting with us. Luis is almost over his cold, but I am still feeling crummy from my sinus infection (that is my diagnosis, not that of a medical professional). Everyone, please, cross your fingers that Luis will sleep some on this trip.

It will be good to get home to Mumbai - to Ashley & Diego, our home and our routine. Stay tuned for pictures from the last 2 weeks of our time in the US, as well as tourist-y pictures as we show Mom around Mumbai, Rajasthan and Goa over the next 3 weeks.

Happy New Year

Luis and I are on the road again (still?). Yesterday, we flew to Charlotte, where we'll spend 3 days with Thomas and Lucy (and the 4 dogs and 1 cat) and see most of the Rock Hill McDows. Thursday, my friend Jeanette joins our travel team here and we all head to Atlanta to see Randolph & Lauren, Grandfather and the Terreri's. Saturday, we drive back to Rock Hill and then Sunday we fly back to MD. We'll have a week more before returning home to Mumbai.

Luis did great on the flight down, sleeping almost the whole way. I'm very impressed (and grateful) at what a great traveller he's been. The two overnight trips we took in India were sleep disasters for Luis - so I was nervous about all of this travelling in the US. But in the last 2 weeks, he's slept in three different houses (and on two airplanes) and hasn't fussed once. Yeah! And with the sun coming up almost an hour later here (than in Mumbai), he's sleeping an hour later each morning. Another Yeah!

Last week I took Luis for his one year check up. The pediatrician said that he looked great, seems very healthy and is on track for all his milestones. I was pleased to hear that Luis is doing so well (by medical standards). And in a way, it made me feel like I'm doing a good Mom-job as well. That's always nice to hear.

Luis was 21lbs 14oz (35%) and 31" (85%). For those of you who got used to metric (or just want to compare) that would be 9.92kg and 78.74cm. I'm pleased that he's put on almost a pound in the last month. I personally think he's grown more than 1/2" - and that measurement is much more subjective (have you ever tried to get a height measurement on a wriggly baby?).

Luis's best new trick is giving hugs. He tends to give them at bedtime after I read him a story, or if he gets frightened by something. It's a big, strong wrap around the neck with a couple of squeezes for good measure. They are awesome! Occasionally he'll give a kiss, but that's not so nice - a big open mouthed, slobbery suck on the jaw bone. The intent, I suppose is good. He's still not walking, though he'll take 2-3 steps between furniture several times a day. I continue to think that his proficiency in crawling leads to a lack-of-interest in walking. All things in good time... Luis doesn't have any recognizable words (nor anything even remotely resembling Mama or Dada), but he has a HUGE vocabulary of sounds. And he uses them all day long. His most recent addition is babababababa. Luis mastered a bye-bye wave a couple of weeks ago, but he's just now using it to actually wave bye-bye. This morning while Luis was having breakfast, Lucy's cat left the kitchen. I asked Luis, "Where's the kitty?" His response was to wave bye bye.

One not-so-endearing new trick is the way Luis clings to me and cries when I leave the room. He learned this somewhere on the airplane between Mumbai and Baltimore. He particularly likes to stand behind me when I'm doing dishes at the kitchen sink, wrap one arm around each leg, and kind of chant "eh, eh, eh" which I think means, "Mommy, pick me up - or at least, pay more attention to me".

But even that's hard to complain about when I think of what a happy and easy-going child Luis is. He's still a good eater, eating a mixture of pureed veggies and finger foods like pasta, cheerios and cheese (he stopped nursing three days shy of his birthday). He's a good sleeper taking two 2-hour naps each day and sleeping about 12 continuous hours at night. Luis is curious about the world around him and engaging. I'm really enjoying all of this time with him.