Goat Snack

Even goats need a break every now and then...

New Photo Blog

I had so many pictures that weren't right for the expat blog that I started a new one.  Here is the link.  Subscribe and you don't have to remember to click on it!!!  :))

http://alliamickphoto.blogspot.in

Expectant Hearts

Mike and I had an awesome opportunity to go out to a small (very small) village with some Indian pastors as they ministered to the villagers. Every one of the families that welcomed us into their homes was open, warm and friendly.  They offered us food and drink, even though they had very little of either. They were hungry to hear about God and the pastors were eager to share with them. 

We witnessed God at work in that village.  Mike and I both feel like we are more aware of Him over here.  We see people who truly depend on Him for everything everyday!  Back in the US, even though we went to church, went to Bible study, had devotions and prayed - we got busy with living our daily lives and were blind to a lot of His blessings.  And even though we knew God was in the miracle business, we still didn’t really expect to see one.  Yet, we have seen and heard of true miracles in India…cancer cured, HIV cured and lame people who can now walk.  

This weekend we met a young mother and her 

1 ½ year old son.  The little boy became ill at 6 months old with a very high fever that resulted in him completely losing his eyesight.  The mother asked for prayer for his eyesight to be restored.  As the pastors prayed over the little boy, I truly expected God to heal him right then and there.  The little boy still cannot see...for now anyway.  However, if we ever visit that village again, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see him running around outside able to see and playing cricket with his friends!

"The rich and the poor have a common
bond, the Lord is maker of them all."
Proverbs 22:2

I don't often approach God with an expectant heart, but He wants me to! 

James 1:6 "But he must ask in faith, without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind."

Inside of one of the homes.  Notice the little boy playing with
my cell phone.  Boys are the same everywhere! 

One of the families that we met.  They were gracious to us
and fed us all lunch - and there were a lot of us!  Lunch for all of us was
probably their food budget for a week.  We had aloo (potatoes),
rice,  daal (lentils) and chapatis (flatbread).  No, I still haven't
acquired a taste for Indian food, but I did eat it.  :)

Washing the dishes

First Auto Ride

Video of my first auto (auto rickshaw, tuk tuk) ride.  This was taken in Old City near Charminar. Watch at the 1:41 mark.

Sorry for the shaky video:

(No bicyclists were harmed in the making of this video.)

Where's the beef..er..venison?

I didn't want to post about this until it was resolved, but we had a bit of a snafu with customs.  We had multiple "shipments" when we moved.  One air shipment, one sea shipment, one to Atlanta with Matthew, one to Tuscaloosa with Weston, etc..  The relocation company wasn't responsible for all of them, but we had cargo going in five different directions.  So, a mistake was bound to happen.

Several items were to be crated for the move.  Only two of the crates were supposed to come to India.  The rest were to go to storage.  Among the crates that were supposed to go to storage was "Rudy", the deer head mount that hung over our fireplace in Collierville.

"Rudy" standing guard over the fireplace in Collierville.

Yes...storage.  Why would we want/need Rudy in India?  I mean, really??

Well, we get a notification that our sea shipment is being held up.  Mike called me, "Hey do we have an animal skin or something in our shipment?"  Me: "Ummmm....no......leather coat maybe? Oh wait! Maybe that lamb skin thing that your parents gave us when Matthew was born?"  Mike: "Uh, ok, yeah maybe."  Mike calls back, "Did you bring the deer head?" "What? No! It went to storage."  Imagine the customs workers' (and our) surprise when they opened up the crate and Rudy was staring back at them!!!  Let me clarify...it is illegal to import animals DEAD or ALIVE into India.  On top of that, white-tail deer is endangered.  (I'm sure we have more than a few in the US that we can ship over to help you out.)  But this is a mistake, I naively thought.  They will just let everything else go and keep the deer head, right?  I mean surely they know that we didn't intentionally try and smuggle in a deer head!!! My imagination starts running wild at this point.  What do they want?  Surely, they will just fine us and be done with it.  I've heard all those horror stories about Indian jails and I didn't want either of us to experience that!  A "payment" maybe?  Well, if that was going to be the case then it was going to be a looong time before we had our furniture.

Because of that little mistake, our shipment sat at the Customs Depot for a month!  The kicker is that none of us even killed the deer in question!  I  bought it off Ebay....for $200!!!  We tried to tell them....we don't want it...just get rid of it...sell it....burn it...take it home and put it over your fireplace...but...no... they had to call a wildlife officer in to determine whether it was real or not.  "Oh my gosh!  Just tell them it's real!  Let's get on with it!  Let us just pay the fine and get on with it!"  But, I guess, technically I didn't know if it was real or not.  I mean, I had bought it off Ebay!  All I knew for sure was that it was from Washington state!  I'm holding out hope that maybe I bought a fake deer mount.

Finally, after much discussion between us and Customs (but not paying any bribes) and finally (after 3 weeks) getting the wildlife officer to look at it, they determined that:

a) It was a real white tail deer mount...and
b) It was a legitimate mistake.

So after a month of waiting, they released our shipment minus the suspect deer head. Thanksgiving weekend, we welcomed a little bit of "home."

Beverly Hillbillies anyone? 

Pretty sure that we wouldn't see Rudy ever again.  We weren't about to "pay" for him.  Especially, since he held no sentimental value whatsoever.  But, the saga continued.  We were asked a multitude of questions and asked to submit documentation that we bought him as opposed to killed him.  (Just FYI...Ebay only keeps records for 3 years, but Paypal keeps them indefinitely.)  Rudy faded from our memory.  We thought he was probably gracing someone else's mantle!

Fast forward 2.5 months.  Mike and I went to Delhi.  Imagine our surprise when we got home to this.  Can you imagine what went through their minds when they laid eyes on the "floating" deer at customs???

Yes!  Rudy finally made it home!  We couldn't believe it!  I guess when it finally sunk in that we weren't going to "pay"for him, they gave up and gave in.  Mike and I are glad to have Rudy home. Robert, our driver, was fascinated by him.  He stared at him, petted him and poked his eyes to see what they were made out of.  He had never seen anything like Rudy before except in the movies.  Unfortunately, not everyone here is so excited.  Satish (who lives with us) is freaked out by Rudy.  He had Robert stay on the front side of the crate while he stayed on the back side when they moved Rudy upstairs to the storage room.  For now,  Rudy is safe and sound upstairs.  We are still trying to decide where Rudy will make his next appearance!  (sheepish grin)  

Coastal Andhra Pradesh

While we were in Rajahmundry for Republic Day, we took the opportunity to visit the other IP mill in the area.  Coastal Andhra Pradesh is beautiful, with its palm trees and lush greenery.  The grounds around the mill were no exception.

On the way into the mill, we were stopped by a train.  Well, we thought it was a train.  The crossing gates were down...problem was there was no train in sight.  Apparently the gates go down if there is a train within 5km or so.  We waited...and waited......got out of the car....looked down the tracks...and waited...watched the people going around and under the gates...and we waited some more.  Finally, it came!!!  Note to self: on the way out of the mill, if possible, have another car waiting on the other side of the tracks.  

In the spirit of full disclosure, I shamelessly stole this off
the web. This is very close to what we saw, though.

We also toured a nursery that claims to be the largest nursery in Asia.  Largest in all of Asia???  That’s a bold claim!  The place is huge, with every species of plant you can imagine.  It very well could be one of the largest in Asia.

Paparazzi?  I turned the camera on him!
Didn't faze him, though.

Wide Load

Republic Day

India’s Republic Day is when they celebrate the Constitution of India going into effect in 1950.  It’s a big deal, kind of like the 4^th of July in the US.  We, along with several others from Hyderabad, traveled down to the mill in Rajahmundry to attend a Family Day celebration at the school.  There were hundreds of people there.  Mike gave a speech and I got to referee the women’s Tug O’ War.  That was interesting!  The people there are lovely and it’s always so fun to be with the kids at the school.

The school children put on quite a show.

Our adorable little helper! 

Snack time after the show

New friends :)

Still can't get Indians to smile for pictures

Ladies' Tug O' War = Serious Business