April 16, 1998<\/p>\n
Bombay Update<\/p>\n
Dear Mom and Dad,<\/p>\n
Our new servant is working out very well.\u00a0 Her name is Patsy and she is only a few inches taller than Katie.\u00a0 We have employed her for three weeks now and are starting to get over the uncomfortable stage.\u00a0 Nita is growing into her role as the boss\/ home manager.\u00a0 Thankfully, she’s also taking a little more active role in cooking.\u00a0 Patsy is a good cook, but her style is not completely to Nita and the kid’s liking.\u00a0 She only worked for Indians before, whereas Muthiah worked for other Americans in the past and had learned to cook more for American tastes.\u00a0 The differences?\u00a0 Indian cooking tends to be very oily.\u00a0 Also the types and combinations of spices Indians use are very different from what we’re\u00a0familiar with\u00a0on a day-to-day basis.\u00a0 So Nita puts together menus and also specifies how certain things are to be prepared.\u00a0 Frankly, Patsy is much happier that way.\u00a0 She wants to be told what to do and she also wants to please us.\u00a0 All she asks is that we treat her with respect and kindness (a former employer did not), which we do. Patsy is very sweet and pleasant and clean (not a given among domestics, here).\u00a0 We think it is going to work out just fine.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Another change is that\u00a0Muthiah worked all day Saturday, but\u00a0Patsy cooks for the week\u2011end on Saturday morning then leaves.\u00a0 We are going to let her leave Friday night so we can really cook for ourselves on the week\u2011end.\u00a0 I am coming to think there are so many different things to experience here, we should put a little more emphasis on the familiar when we’re in our apartment.\u00a0 For example, Nita made some French bread this past week\u2011end.\u00a0 It was a real taste of home.\u00a0 Also we are getting back into the pancake routine (I make pancakes for breakfast every Saturday).\u00a0 And besides, Patsy has a 5 year old daughter and a husband, so we are happy to give her more time with them.\u00a0 She feels slightly guilty when she leaves early.\u00a0 Yesterday we were invited out for supper, so Nita told Patsy she could go home to see how her daughter, who had been a little sick, was doing.\u00a0 Before she left, Patsy asked Anita if it was o.k. with “sir” \u2011\u2011what she calls me\u2011\u2011\u2011 if she left early even though Nita had said she could. I think Patsy sees me as the ultimate lord of the manor and wanted to make sure I assented.<\/p>\n
All of our belongings have arrived except the car.\u00a0 We can’t wait for that to get here.\u00a0 We are familiar enough with at least our side of town that we want to get around a little easier and more comfortably than in taxis or sharing a car with a colleague.\u00a0 Everything arrived in good shape, though we had a couple of disappointing but hopefully not unfixable breakages since we arrived.\u00a0\u00a0For example,\u00a0our Macintosh printer stopped working.\u00a0 Oddly, the boys used it for a few days before we were unpacked, setting\u00a0it up temporarily in the living room.\u00a0 Then Aaron, who is careful with this sort of thing, moved it to our bedroom where our computer desk is and from then on, it did not work.\u00a0 The tech people at my office determined the plug was burned out but the printer itself was o.k.\u00a0 We will be able to get a new one.\u00a0 Electricity is another thing we have to get used to.\u00a0 The outlets are 220\u2011240 volts.\u00a0 For us to use our own things, we need a transformer to reduce the voltage to 110.\u00a0 My employer provided a few, we own one, and\u00a0we are trying to round up a few more.\u00a0 We bought a medium-sized one in D.C. for $65.00 that could handle up to 500 watt appliances.\u00a0 We attempted to use it with our own microwave (5,000 watts!) and needless to say we burned it up.\u00a0 Thankfully, India is a great place for repairs, including technical ones (Aaron even had his portable C.D. player fixed), and we were able to get the transformer fixed for 200 rupees ($5.00).<\/p>\n
We have been dealing with a little sickness.\u00a0 Eric was ill over this past week\u2011end with an upper respiratory infection that gave him headaches and dizziness.\u00a0 Katie has had tonsillitis.\u00a0 Aaron has had a combination of ongoing gastrointestinal ailments.\u00a0 We take him to a doctor tomorrow.\u00a0 We are trying very hard to get healthy.\u00a0 Even I (Iron Dad) have a cold, though our doctor says it’s very typical for newcomers here to get sick for a while before getting used to the local germs.\u00a0 I think similar things happen to Indians who move to the U.S.<\/p>\n
We recently sent a letter via regular mail describing some of our activities.\u00a0\u00a0We fill the evenings after eating supper with homework, watching a movie, or playing a game (we are learning Mah Johng), or reading\u00a0and being read to. We have also started taking more walks.\u00a0 There is a park close to us where many\u00a0local residents\u00a0take their evening constitutionals.\u00a0 How colorful with all the bright saris and salwar chemises worn by the ladies and generally lighter colors by the men.\u00a0 On a running track , a walking path, and several sidewalks there must be 500 or more people at any one time.\u00a0 We do get looked at a lot and maybe I’ve said this before, but next to all the lovely shades of brownish (many Indians describe their color as wheatish) my pasty, whiteish, pinkish, pale skin looks positively anemic!\u00a0 Of course Nita gets more looks than me, a lovely whiteish, pinkish lady next to paunchy, balding me.\u00a0 But the champion of head turners is Katie.\u00a0 Maybe it’s her redder hair, or her even paler skin, or just her natural cute good looks.\u00a0 But I think people recognize us as locals.\u00a0 Maybe we\u00a0are starting to fit in a little.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
April 16, 1998 Bombay Update Dear Mom and Dad, Our new servant is working out very well.\u00a0 Her name is Patsy and she is only a few inches taller than Katie.\u00a0 We have employed her for three weeks now and … Continue reading