Back to Incredible India (Incredible Thailand just doesn't right)

For those of you like me who are tired from hearing about Thailand and would like to hear a little more about what is going on in India, this post is for you. No laughing now; you might not want to admit it, but Incredible India really is better than Thailand (I think Mary just needs to spend more time here to realize it).

So while Mary has been away partying in this "wonderful country" of Thailand, I've had to learn the basics of surviving on my own again. All those chores that Mary despises (but lovingly does everyday), I have had to do myself. I've had to do laundry (putting it in bag, giving it to housekeeping and it comes back clean and folded), clean the room (letting house keeping come in once a day), and prepare my own meals (calling room service or going downstairs to the restaurant). My appreciation is now that much higher.

Who says you can't order a steak in India? Check out this tenderloin filet that I acquired yesterday. It comes with a cylinder of mashed potatoes and vegetables. Not a home grilled steak, but not too bad either.

Today is the last day of a ten day holiday here in India (surprising right? I think there is a holiday at least once every two weeks here). Dussehra celebrates the Hindu god Rama's victory over the demon king Ravana and the triumph of good over evil. The epic Ramayana tells the mythical story of the Lord Rama who wins the lovely Sita for his wife, only to have her carried off by Ravana, the demon king of Lanka. Rama and his brother Lakshamana later fought a battle to rescue Sita. The monkey god Hanuman and a huge army of monkeys helped them (I wonder if my father-in-law was in that army).

The Mahabharata is another series of Hindu myths that play a role in the Dussehra festival. The Pandavas were five brothers who fought evil forces with a set of distinctive weapons. They abandoned their weapons and went into exile for one year. They hid their weapons in a Shami tree and found them at the same place when they returned from exile. They then worshipped the tree before going to a battle, which they won. This epic is also commemorated during Dussehra.

One of the events that take place during this holiday is the blessing of household and work-related tools, such as books, computers, cooking pans and vehicles. What this means for us at work is another excuse not to actually work. The workers all take their tools, from wrenches and welding equipment to trucks and cranes, and place them at the temple. They then remain there during the holiday to be blessed by the gods. As one now has no tools, they now cannot perform any work.

This picture isn’t very clear, but you can see where all the “tools” have been placed near or in the temporary temple in our unit. The rate we are going with strikes, holidays, tea breaks, etc…. we might be here a year before this project is complete.

This is Jason Peckenpaugh, signing off.

P.S. Nice job Panthers in taking down the Wildcats (and Mary).