we're going to England (let's hope this doesn't jinx it)

I originally started this blog to document my adventure as a Foreign Service Officer. Way back when, I had passed all the tests and cleared the security clearance with a single bound and I was all set to be pulled off the list of eligible hires and shipped off to Timbuktu. But I waited and waited and it never happened. Then I was selected as an alternate for their internship program and was never called up for that either.

I went to India; learned Hindi - all in the hopes of getting into the State Department

So to make a long story short, when my dad suggested the Air Force JAG I began thinking, "hey, this might actually be just what I need." I mean, it's the opportunity to serve my country, to travel and granted there's no guarantee they'll send me overseas, at least we'll make it out of Texas*.

So I commenced the application process last February (which is nearly as lengthy as the State Department process BTW). I found out in April that I was accepted and was just cleared medically last week.

But I decided not to post about it because I didn't want to jinx it. I know, that sounds really superstitious, but I hated having to go back after the fact and say "just kidding - guess the State Department didn't want me after all."

They say there's no turning back once you get your assignment. Well, yesterday I got mine. We're going to England! Mildenhall is the name of the base and it's about 30 minutes outside of Cambridge. I feel like I'm tempting fate a little by posting this now considering I don't have all my official paperwork yet, but I'm so excited, I can't hold it in.

I LOVE England. I can hardly believe my luck - who might just go by the name of Mike at JAX.

But I'm so grateful for this opportunity - both the opportunity to serve as a JAG and the opportunity to live in England. And I'm grateful for a spouse that is just as excited for this opportunity as I am.


*I love Texas and we'll probably end up here some day, but in the meantime, I've spent almost all of my 30+ years living here and I need to get out before I start saying y'all.

I think it's weird...

I think it's weird that people keep following my Pyrex Pinterest board. It's just old Pyrex patterns I like. But it's the most followed board that I have. I have 149 followers compared with the 104 I have for my "Cute or Funny" board or my "Recipes to try" board that has 116 followers or even my DIY board that has 118 followers.

Is that weird or is it just me?

Spell check

Why does spell check not recognize this word?

Hey, smell this

Ben: Hey, can you smell something for me
Me: Um, I don't think so. That sounds like a poor life choice for me.
Ben: Come on, I just need you to smell my hand and tell me what it smells like.
Me: Fine, but I really hate this game.
I take a whiff and wrinkle my nose.
Me: Ugh! What is that? It smells like motor oil.
Ben: Well, I'm not sure but Frank (the dog) chased a small creature into the woods.
Me: You mean it's skunk.
Ben: Well, it's hard to tell because it was really dark. And it was pretty slow moving.

Yeah, it was a skunk.

I'll give Ben credit. He did look up the proper way to treat skunk (not tomato juice apparently). And he stood out in the backyard hosing down the dog with the hose and Dawn dish washing detergent on a rather chilly night.

Ben says that the skunk needs to rethink its defense mechanisms. Apparently when Frank discovered this small creature not only ran but also sprayed out this intriguing fragrance, he thought he was having the best day ever. He wasn't even embarrassed that he stank.

The only down side as far as Frank is concerned is that he had a rather cold and lengthy bath. Several cold and lengthy baths. He still kind of smells like skunk.

Heavy Metal and Dress Shopping

This past Sunday I got to attend the Christmas program for my church (that's Naga Christian Fellowship). We met in an auditorium and there was a choir and Christmas carols.

We also had a visiting pastor who was actually from St. Louis (kind of).

Then we had a chai break and the real party started. By which I mean, We had three hours of college students singing, dancing, and acting their hearts out.

Acts included bollywood style performances, beautiful solos, 

And this heavy metal band which did a cover of Metallica's Sandman.

no, I'm not kidding. Really... it was the third to last act and I really couldn't stop laughing. Not because they were bad-I mean heavy metal isn't my favorite, or anything but they did a decent take on the old classic - but because I had been there since 1:30, it was almost 7:00 and it was just too surreal.

Did I also mention I got roped into singing? So I like Karaoke. If you're my friend, you probably already know that about me. I've always said that I like it because I like singing into a microphone. Let me amend that. I like it because it's singing into a microphone, you get music, you get the words in front of you, and they tell you when to sing said words. It's way harder singing a capella in front of five hundred people with two people singing harmony. Aghh! 

I only screwed it up a little bit at the end. Because I sang the wrong words and laughed (just a little bit). But it was only slightly humiliating.

The REALLY embarrassing part happened a couple of days later.

Yesterday in fact. I was trying to find a dress for a wedding I'm attending here. I went to one of the fancy shops up on Rajpur road because they actually have readymade clothes AND dressing rooms. 

I walked into this particular American style store (I say American because the logos on the t-shirts had logos from lobster fishing places in Mane) and was met with three sales guys*. I took a couple of dresses to the dressing room and tried them on with no problems. Until I got to the last one. And the zipper got stuck.

There was no way I was going to ask one of the guys out front to help me get unstuck and I was seriously considering just buying the dress and wearing it home when I heard the voice of a female outside. What a relief!

So I stuck my head out and identified said woman and asked her for her help. She very nicely obliged and helped me get unstuck. As she was working on the recalcitrant zipper, she says "Did you sing at the Naga Christmas party on Sunday?" 

Yes, yes I did. And now Assu (that's her name) you have seen me in two embarrassing situations. 

It's a good thing the people in my life love me for me and not because I'm so smooth. because I'm not. I'm like the opposite of smooth. And here, I stand out like a sore thumb. So you know how when something embarrassing happened to you in junior high and your mom said "don't worry, no one's going to remember". 

Well, here, they remember. And because I stand out like a sore thumb, they remember it was me and not just some random person. Yesterday I was told by a shopkeeper that they had seen me driving my scooter around town... he remembered me because I am the only white girl who drives a scooter around town. He's not the only one to tell me that.

I sometimes wonder if I'm known as "that gori menace who drives a scooter" here in Dehradun. It's like that guy in college who always wore neon yellow goggles to class. 

*side note - if you work in sales, it is very annoying to the customer if, when they enter your store to look at merchandise, you immediately walk over, stand in front of them and say "yes madam" blocking what that customer is trying to look at. Seriously, every single store I walk into, this happens to me. Move out of the way people!

Happy Birthday Aure - more adventures in cooking

November 28th was Aureila's birthday. Aurelia is from Spain and this is the first time she's been out of the country without her family. 

So we decided to throw her a little party.

By we, I mean me and the Yemeni's.

They are so sweet! I put them to work chopping vegetables, while me and Neelang attempted to filet fish. That's really difficult to do without a filet knife.

Then I made hollandaise sauce.

Because on my birthday, I always have hollandaise sauce and I feel that all people should get to eat a bunch of butter on their birthday.

Everyone at the hostel likes fish. We don't really have it unless one of us goes out to buy it but it's apparently EVERYONE's favorite food. So the fish was made short work of as was the chocolate cake we brought home from a place called "The sugar Box". 

Becky's last days

That title kind of makes it sound like Becky's dying. She's not. She just went back to America.

We had a fun couple of days. I took the day off from school for her last two days so that I could work on some essays and take her around Dehradun to run errands.

Monday night, we went up for a sleepover with Achui and Achan. They made us a fabulous dinner and then we played games and worked on some crafts.

Becky and Achan very nicely helped me to finish baby Elliot's stocking so that Becky could take it back with her to the states. I'll be back before Christmas, but it will be nice for Kimie to be able to hang up Elliot's stocking next to his baby sister.

In class, I was explaining in Hindi that my sister was going to have a little boy. My teacher tried to correct me because he said that I didn't know the sex of the baby. He was quite surprised to learn that sonograms are legal in the US and many many couples find out the sex of their baby before it's born.

In India, they have a problem with female infanticide so they don't allow people to get sonograms because they might abort the baby if it's a girl.

That's so horrifying to me, I can't even begin to imagine. 

But I digress.

On Tuesday, we made one last stop at Becky's (and my) favorite Samosa place. It's right next door to the hostel and they do make very good Samosas. That's basically a bit of seasoned potato wrapped in pie crust and deep fried. It's pretty good.

Becky made friends with the wife.

After that, we headed off on the beast for Rishikesh.

And we were about two thirds of the way there when the Beast got a flat tire. 

I've had a few flat tires in my day. But the thing about living in the south (and maybe other places in the US as well) is that I've never had to change a tire. I actually do know how. and I've done it as practice. But when I've had a flat tire on the road, someone's always stopped to help.

Fortunately for us, this time was no exception.

I had about half of the lug nuts off when two very nice young men stopped to help.

They got the tire changed, and then they led us to a repair shop where my tire was fixed! 

We tried to give them money, but they wouldn't take it. We didn't even get their names! But they live in the town of Wiki. That's what it sounded like anyway.

After that, we made it to Rishikesh so that Becky could see the River Ganges.

This is Becky pulling burrs out of her foot because I kind of ran her into a thorny bush when a bus almost ran us off the road. Sorry Becky!

We spent a couple of hours walking along the river and exploring the touristy shops.

Of course there were monkeys.

Then we headed back to Dehradun.

In the dark.

And the cold.

And I managed to miss a turn somewhere in there so we ended up on the Northern route which takes longer. However, apparently, the Northern route lacks elephants so maybe it was the hand of God keeping us safe.

People here keep trying to convince me that there are wild elephants on the way to Rishikesh. That they are very very dangerous and that they pull people out of their cars and then stomp on them.

This REALLY seems like an urban legend to me. The kind of thing that happened one time with one crazy elephant, and now is a common occurrence in people's minds. It just seems so unlikely to me that an elephant would attack people if it were completely unprovoked.

In anycase, we didn't get any first hand knowledge of this particular story which is probably a good thing.

Becky headed out a few hours after we got back and I was proud of myself for not crying when I saw her off at the train station.

It was really nice to have her and I'm so thankful for our time together.

I'll be back in Dallas on December 17th. It's hard to believe that the time has gone by so quickly. That's less than three weeks away! I am looking forward to seeing all of my friends and family very soon.

Thanksgiving and the beast

I was Thanksgiving in Dehradun yesterday. As the only American it seems for miles, I was on my own for celebrating. So what does a southerner in the land of no turkey eat on turkey day?

Fried chicken of course!

With my friend Achui who very generously agreed to spend some time with me and eat KFC even though she had a very busy day. I could tell she was exhausted... and hungry. During our conversation about Christmas and what her family does to celebrate, she mentioned pork no less than five times. When i asked her what she misses most about home (because she hasn't been home to see her parents since last Christmas) she looked me in the eyes, and without a hint of humor, she said "pork" - as if I clearly had not heard her the other four times she'd brought it up.

I love Achui... we have similar minds. I mean, don't get me wrong. I really miss my family. But I also really miss cheese. Not that those are on the same level but if I made a list of the foods I miss the most, cheese would definitely top the list.

Can you tell I haven't had dinner yet?

Well I haven't.

Today was busy. I had a test. It doesn't actually count for anything and I don't really get graded, but I think it's supposed to motivate me to study harder. It kinda does.

But in addition to the test, the beast decided to stop working today. I guess the clutch plate went out (again) so it wouldn't start. Luckily I was back at the hostel when I realized this but I REALLY didn't relish the prospect of pushing the beast to the nearest mechanic (not close, and they're finally fixing the street in front of the hostel which means that one whole side is blocked off).

Luckily for me, Neelam (a student from Sri Lanka) agreed to help me try to push start it. And amazingly, it worked!

So I took off for the row of mechanics on Gandhi road where I found a very nice Sikh mechanic who knew right away what was wrong with the thing.

And then he fixed it. And he fixed the sari guard (a little step thing the passenger uses as a foot rest) which I totally broke on a cycle pushcart. And then he may or may not have fixed a leaking fuel line. He said it was "no problem" which could mean he fixed it or could mean it "isn't going to cause me any problems". Hard to say. But all in all, not bad for about six bucks.

He also let me watch. If I were a mechanic, it would make me nervous to have an audience, but here, you wait while they fix your two wheeler so I guess they're used to it. Random men who were also having their bikes fixed would point out things to my mechanic. I couldn't always tell what they were saying but my mechanic took it all with good grace although I did catch the occasional eye roll and I just knew he was thinking "B---- please! Does it look like I don't know what I'm doing?"

Palampur Dharamsala and goats. Lots of goats

I know, I've been remiss. It's been over a week since we got back from our trip and I haven't even finished posting about that.

So I'm moving back in time yet again.

We had originally intended to spend a day in Palampur. There's a tea factory there that sells purportedly, the best tea ever.

But apparently, they don't give tours. (thank you Becky for snapping a quick pic before were ushered back out of the building)

and there wasn't much else we really wanted to see there so instead we headed up to Dharamsala.

Dharamsala is the home of the Tibetan government in exile. It's also the home of the Dalai Llama. He wasn't in residence while were there although there were a couple of protests. Five people committed self immolation in China the day we arrived (that's burning yourself alive).

If you want to get involved in the Free Tibet campaign, Dharamsala is the place to be.



We did watch The Cry of the Slow Lion (a documentary about Tibet and the situation with China) and ate Tibetan food, but my favorite part of this leg of the trip was what turned out to be a 28km hike up into the hills.

We made it up to the top just in time  for a 30 second glance at the peak before it was completely covered in clouds. 

Then we were totally covered in clouds. 

We headed back down the mountain and immediately started attracting animals. There were three dogs that we had thought belonged to some other hikers... but no, they were like our traveling companion from Bir... but more annoying than cute. They kept tripping us and fighting with each other and generally making a nuisance of themselves. Apparently dogs just take up with hikers and go up and down the mountains with them. Maybe there's not a lot to do in Dharamsala if you're a dog.

Then we met with even more animals.



Goats. Lots and lots of goats. Somehow we ended up in a heard of goats and hiked through them for a good km or so.

I'm not gonna lie... there was a lot of goat poo.

And the dogs were totally worthless. I thought they were herding dogs at first based on the way they kept cutting in front of us and almost sending us tumbling down the side of the mountain, but no such luck. One mama sheep charged one of the dogs and he cowered behind Becky's legs.

But it was interesting. And kind of funny. There were random sheep wandering off different places. Other sheep/goats were butting heads. I enjoyed watching the shepherds. It all seemed like chaos to me, but they somehow had everything in hand. I couldn't help thinking that this was what God must feel like with all of us people.

But if we extend that metaphor, I hope guardian angels aren't like our worthless traveling canine companions. If they are... we are all in some serious goat poo.

But I digress.

We headed back down the mountain and made plans to leave the next day for Dehradun.

In the meantime  i dropped my hiking boots off at a street corner shoe polish/repair guy. He said that he offered water proofing services for leather boots and he said that he fix some spots on the stitching that had come loose.

I said I'd come back later that day but due to some mis-communication, he ended up leaving for the day before I'd had a chance to collect my boots.

I figured my boots were probably a lost cause at that point since I had no idea where the guy lived, and our bus was due to leave in an hour and a half or so.

I found another shoe repair guy and asked if he knew my guy and wonder of wonders, he did. And he knew the guys' nephew. So then I met the guys nephew, and before I knew what was happening, I was in a cab with the nephew on the way to the shoe guys house in lower Dharamsala.

ahh, the things I would never ever consider doing in the US just seem like the next logical step in India.

But I got my shoes back and paid the guy. So all's well that ends well.

Now off to bed.

When I come back, we'll talk about Diwali or Deepawali or however you want to spell it.

Bir - day 2 and 3

We spent two more glorious days in Bir. 

We walked to the paragliding landing site (out in an unused rice paddy).

We chilled with sleepy puppies.

We meditated in beautiful Buddhist temples,

and we went for a pleasant 16KM hike up to the paragliding launch site,

made friends with a dog who followed us all the way up the mountain,

saw the snow capped peaks of the Dhauladhars,

drank tea grown in the Kangra valley,

watched with envy as paragliders launched themselves off the side of the mountain,

and sat and sipped coffee (okay, it was chai) at Buckstars as a heard of goats stopped traffic in town.

And we used the free internet at our guest house to update out blogs, study for classes, and find out who won the elections back home. 

All in all, it was a glorious three days. I can't imagine liking Palampour or Dharamsala any more than I like Bir, but I think it must be time to move on now. 

I'll update again soon. Here's hoping the next place has free wifi :)

Bir - day one

We spent pretty much all of Sunday on a bus.

We tried to make it to Bir all in one day but it was just too dark and too late when we got to Jogindernagar. So we slept there and headed out early the next morning. It was a short taxi ride into some of the most beautiful country I've seen since I got to India.

We were supposed to stay for one day, but ended up spending three nights here because we liked it so much.

Buddhist prayer flags

What appeared to be cherry blossoms (?!!) and autumn leaves all in the same forest.

did I mention the guest house had puppies?

Becky in her lovely new kameez at the tea factory.

Bir is a famous paragliding spot - who knew? apparently all of Russia. They were all there to paraglide.

The view from our balcony. That's a Buddhist Stupa.

Momo soup - Yum!

This is an excerpt from my friend Becky about our misadventures in a tea shop in town.

"seed balls"

Scene: small shop, basically a storage unit that opens on to the street. One table, one bench opposite a counter where a lady in her sixties, with a hoop through her nose, chews pan. Carrie and I get sodas, and some little snack balls that look homemade. We each take a bite. 

Carrie: These are gross.
Becky: Yeah, I agree. 
Carrie: What do you think they are made from? 
Becky: Maybe cracked sesame seeds? I don’t really know.
Carrie: I think it’s that stuff they use for birdseed.
Becky: Millet? Yeah, it could be millet.
(Pause. Smile at lady, who is staring at us, but nicely so.)
Becky: I didn’t like the first bite, but I took a second bite and it was even worse.
Carrie (laughing politely so as not to let on to the lady that we are criticizing her snacks): Yeah, but what are you gonna do? She’s kinda staring at us.  
Becky: We’ll just drink our sodas, and see what happens.

What happens is that Carrie strikes up a conversation in Hindi, about a noise outside, and the lady gets distracted doing something behind the counter that causes her to turn her back. So I launch my sesame-millet ball into the street. I poke Carrie, she gives me hers and I launch it too…but anyone who has ever seen me throw anything will tell you I have horrible aim. So, instead of going through, oh, 99% of the front of the shop which is wide open, it hits the one metal pole, ricochets back into the store, pings off a metal bowl and falls, Mouse Trap style, down every item on the left side of the counter. FAIL. Without even turning around, the lady begins laughing and shaking her head. Carrie shrieks and begins apologizing for me in Hindi. I am of course laughing, but mortified beyond words. All I can do is sit and finish my Sprite and stare at the floor while the good-hearted shop keeper rolls her eyes at me and chuckles to herself.

Thanks Becky!