Holiday Wrap Up

So, I guess I missed posting about my big Amurcan Holiday Season this year.  Suffice it to say, we were very busy running around visiting family and ringing in Thanksgiving, Christmas AND New Year's all over the country!  A few highlights in photo form:

 

Spent Thanksgiving at the Correnti household, where Matt was immediately put to work hanging Christmas lights.  

 

Later, we went to Oregon to check up on Ruby's.  Matt felt the need to show off his skills, so we spent several hours hanging these Christmas lights, only to have none of them work because we got them from the thrift shop.  Imagine that.  

 

After that, we returned to Chicago and visited the German Christmas Market downtown. It was pretty authentic, as far as Christmas Markets go, except it was small and as you can see, there were about 10,000 too many people there.  

 

Then we decorated our apartment, for the first time since 2007!

 

For Christmas, we drove to Arkansas with a pit stop in Missouri to collect our gifts (lots of camo) and stir  up some excitement.  

 

Mason methodically tracked Santa's route with a map and an Iphone. 

 

These kids cleaned up! (As in, they got a lot of toys.  They didn't actually clean anything up.)

That's about it.  I don't actually have pictures to prove I rang in the New Year with the Correnti family, but I did.  It was similar to my 2011 New Year's Eve, filled with drinking and game-playing, only a lot more awesome.  

Now we're finally back home, and I'm ringing in this Friday the 13th stuck inside in the middle of a massive snow storm!  Okay, it was only 6 inches, and it actually snowed yesterday, not today, but still.  Six inches of snow and 20 degree weather deters me from venturing outside.

A word about the New Year:  Last year, I completed at least one of my resolutions for 2011 - I ran 10 kilometers continuously!  Actually, it was more like 12K because I was trying to run 11K to mark 11-11-11, but I got confused.  Still, I can check that one off the last.  I don't really know about the rest of my resolutions because they are a little harder to quantify... except that song from Stepbrothers.  I didn't learn that.  Oops.  This year, in the spirit of fulfilling a resolution (because it feels so damn good!) I resolve to run at least 10 miles continuously.  Also, I will find a job and decide what I want to be when I grow up (those are in no particular order).  Bring it on 2012.

As you may have guessed, I still have no job.  Surprised?  Me either.  Never fear, my diligent followers, for I am making the best of this dismal situation.  As I believe I've previously mentioned, I'm making lemonade out of the rotten, putrid, stinking lemons I've been given, and I'm taking this time off to try my hand at cooking and baking.  As a tribute to Rachael (who, along with 80% of the blogosphere, is always listing her cooking adventures... and who is a far more accomplished cook than I), I will now list a few of my greatest achievements:  fancy gumbo (only fancy because I had to stir the roux for 25 minutes continuously until it turned "the color of chocolate"), ravioli from scratch (Katie and I went on a friend date to a ravioli-making class, which was only slightly awkward, due to the fact that everyone else in class was on a romantic date), gooey raspberry granola bars (those didn't actually turn out, but they sound good), and (as of last night) my very own homemade granola with cranberries and sunflower seeds!  Also, I bought a muffin pan two or three months ago, and have yet to use it. Boom.  Chef.

THANKSGIVING

While our Thanksgiving this year wasn't quite as wonderful as I had hoped, it still beat the pants off of last year!  We may not have had football or the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade... or beer... or wine... or turkey... but it was still pretty fun, all things considered.  Mr. Faiyaz at the hotel hooked us up quite nicely with a whole menu of delectable treats made especially for us!  I even met with the chef to plan the menu, never mind that he left out most of the stuff I asked for (cranberries and apple pie, to name a few).

 

Our specially printed menu.  Seriously, Faiyaz told me they had these cards specially printed up for us.  I don't know if that was extremely necessary, but it was a nice touch.  I mean, look at that cornucopia overflowing with delight!  And that sun setting ever so gently behind the mountains.  You've outdone yourself, India.  

It was really interesting to have so many people from other countries celebrating our traditional American holiday.  We had four "American" Americans (Ben, Matt, Carrie, and little old me), and then several other "non-traditional" Americans, as well as some plain old Indians, and Alberto, the Spaniard.  I don't think any of the others really grasped the concept of Thanksgiving... they just know it as the holiday for gluttony, which is basically what it is anyway.  Of course I made everyone to the whole "what are you thankful for" thing, but most of them just said a variation of what I said, which I guess means my answer was the best one (also, I went first, so that might have something to do with it).

 

International Thanksgiving

As far as the menu went, it wasn't traditional Thanksgiving fare by any means, but we did have some "normal" stuff (corn and mashed potatoes), along with a bunch of, shall we say, non-traditional courses, such as "chicken sausages wrapped with bacon rashes" and "silky brocooli soup".  By far the two stars of the evening were the roast leg of lamb, and then whole chicken with "bacon stuffing" which they made me carve at the table.  Yeah, I'm that much of a badass.  For desert we had caramel custard (flan) and shahi tukda (your guess is as good as mine) which wasn't half bad.  When all was said and done, I was feeling slightly disgustingly full, which I think is a mark of a good Thanksgiving.

Obligatory head shot.  Matt is refusing to shave his face until they put VGO in the unit... they just shut down again today, so it could take a while.  I'll keep you posted.  

In other news, I went to yoga yesterday, and while we were doing our sun salutations, the lady next to me let one rip.  Seriously.  I know that downward facing dog can be a little strenuous, but can't you hold that in?  Apparently not.  Later, during our relaxation meditation, she fell asleep and started snoring.  Needles to say, I hope she doesn't come again.

I Love Expats

Don't cry for me, Amurica - things are looking up!  Just when things seemed very bleak indeed (we hit four months in India, my hair started falling out, we're facing a third Thanksgiving in a foreign country all alone, etc, etc...), I met a huge group of women expats, and they are all awesome!  Last week I went to that expat meeting that one lady told me about, and I met lots of women from all over the world!  Ain't that fine?  Apparently these ladies have been meeting at the WelcomHotel once a month for about a year, and no one at the hotel ever thought to tell me about it.  Thanks, hotel staff.  Appreciate ya'll.

In addition to meeting all those wonderful people, I got in touch with a woman who teaches yoga in Baroda, and I signed up for classes!  Yesterday was my first class.  It is awesome, and it is cheap!  I payed about $25 for two months, and the classes are three days a week.  Try getting a deal like that in Chicago (no, don't try.  You can't get one).  While I won't say that I am a natural at yoga (it's quite the opposite, in fact) I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  I'm not horrible, but at one point the instructor, Smita, looked at me and said "Oh.  You need a lot of work."  True dat.  The next class is tomorrow, so we'll see how I do.

Today I was invited to a brunch meeting at a British lady's house.  It was a little overwhelming because there were probably 25 women there, and I hadn't met most of them.  They were all really nice and super talkative, but I felt like I was telling the same story over and over again:  "My name is Caitlin, I live in WelcomHotel... yes, I have lived there for four months... no, I'm not getting an apartment... yes, it's very boring and difficult, etc."  I exchanged numbers with a lot of people, and have already had invites to go shopping and such later in the week.  See, I knew it would get better!  Okay, I know that's not true, but I'm feeling super positive at the moment.  Don't burst my bubble.

Also, Matt talked to our hotel manager best friend, Faiyaz, about setting us up with a Thanksgiving dinner through the hotel.  Faiyaz went paintballing with us the first time, and he was on my team.  I think I impressed him with my natural paintball talents, because he has set up a whole Thanksgiving menu for us... for freeee!  I don't know that it will be a very "traditional" dinner, but anything will be better than last year's Indonesian KFC debacle.  Won't it?  I'll let you know.  At least this year, I have something to be thankful for: expats.  (No offense to everyone else... I'm always thankful for you guys.)

Just like the pilgrims

Our feast

Thanksgiving for us this year was surely almost an exact replica of the very first one.  First, just like our ancestors before us, Matt and I trudged through the dirty and treacherous terrain to meet the natives on common ground: KFC.  We brought our knowledge of crispy fried chicken, and they supplied us with a new twist on potatoes: mashed and fried cakes.  We then road back to our homestead at lightning speed in a mini-van taxi, the sticky night air rushing in through the broken door and cooling us on the way.  We set up our feast outside where we could bond with the environment of our native friends.  Declining our offers to share the Heineken, fried chicken, and peanut butter M&M's, the natives merely stared at us in disbelief as we broke bread with each other, toasting our good health and our good marriage.  Then, our bellies full of greasy meat and cold beer, we retired to our simple room and treated our monstrous mosquito bites, then fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of the day we could return home. Just like the pilgrims.  

Islam stole my Thanksgiving thunder today.  Today is the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, or "Festival of Sacrifice".  Apparently here t

hey sacrifice cows and then give the meat away to their families and friends.  Also, apparently they pray all day.  Prayers started at literally the crack of dawn, and have only stopped for short periods throughout the day.  No one is praying right now, I guess, which is why I'm taking this opportunity to update my blog.  Normally, I wouldn't mind because it doesn't concern me, but the speaker on o

ne of the mosques is pointed directly at my window, so it's unbelievably loud.  You've gotta hand it to them, they've got good sound systems.  It really sounds like the call to prayer guy is right here in my room with me, screaming into my ear.  I've been doing my best to ignore him.  

This speaker is pointing straight at my window.  It doesn't look like much, but it's incredibly loud.

Matt and I went to "teach" at the Grand English Course a couple days ago, and it was less than stellar.  There were only four students there that day, and they were really nervous and shy, and didn't want to talk.  Mr. Muchsin tried to get them to ask us questions, but he ended up talking to us more than the students.  Now he has taken to stalking me, finding me out on the street or coming to the hotel and calling my room to get me to come teach again.  I understand that this is just a cultural difference, but it's an incredibly annoying one.  People here (and in China, and probably many other cultures around the world) don't have a sense of pushing too hard for something.  They'll ask the same question a hundred different ways to get the answer they're looking for.  I hardly ever give it to them.  You'd think I wouldn't be popular here, but I am.  It's probably my charming personality.  Or my light skin/hair combo.  

Matt's job has been going fine, but today they're falling behind because of the holiday.  Apparently everyone takes frequent breaks to go pray.  Their religion is really screwing up my time table.  Hopefully we'll be out of here in two weeks, and we could feasibly get a break between the reload and restart (don't worry, I don't know what these terms mean either) so we might have time to go to Jakarta and get more passport pages.  Only if we're lucky... and we never are.  And now I'll leave you with a picture of Matt's unit that we took from our hotel room.  Impressive, isn't it?  He's very proud.  I would explain it, but I lack the technical terms... and the knowledge.