Happy Father's Day to all our readers who are fathers. We take this opportunity to thank our fathers, Allen Philip Walde and George Wilfred Tiefenbach for all they have done for us. We lost both fathers in the month of April. Allen Philip Walde passed away April 2011, and George Wilfred Tiefenbach passed away April 1988. We honor them this day.
We enjoy our walks every morning. You can see why we love to walk here. It is so peaceful here. It seems that our morning walks invigorate us for the busy work we will face later in the day at the office. As much as we dread having to get up so early (6:00 a.m.) every morning (week days only), we enjoy getting out in the fresh morning air. The weather has become quite a bit cooler in Bangalore for the past two weeks. We actually feel a chill in the air - not that it is comparable to a -40 chill in the air that we get in the winter back home. Nevertheless, there is definitely a chill. The temperature is probably in the low 20's in the evening and early morning. Apparently, Coimbatore is also experiencing cooler weather right now, but it is not as cool as it is in Bangalore; we NEVER experienced cool weather in Coimbatore.
This may seem like a random picture, and in truth, we suppose it is. But, this gives you another small picture of life in India. Our laundry "room" is outside. This is quite common in many apartments. Doing laundry when it is raining becomes more complicated with the laundry facilities outside. As you can see, we don't have much room to walk to get to the washing machine. When the windows are open, which is basically all the time, we have to face the windows and bend backward to get by the open windows. We don't mind becoming acrobats while we do laundry because we have seen other people doing laundry outside on a washing stone. At least we have a machine. We dry all our clothes on drying racks inside the house. Most people hang their laundry outside on strings or wire they put up. We have seen many people lay their clothes on the roofs. We have an automatic dryer, but we have never used it. It is not vented outside, so we avoid putting more heat into the apartment.
Elder Tiefenbach is always interested in the way buildings are constructed in India. We are always amazed at the amount of manual labour that occurs here. The entire buildings are made from brick and cement, and each brick is usually sent up one by one in a human chain. An alternate method of getting the bricks up to the top floors is to pile several in a container and put it on the head of a worker (often a woman worker) to be taken up a ladder to the floor they are working on. You can see all the rebar sticking out at the top. Cement is poured around these to form the pillars that will hold up the next floor. We keep thinking of the weight of these buildings when we see all the bricks and the cement. This building under construction is close to our apartment. This is the view from our "balcony" where the laundry is situated.
We had an exciting week because on Wednesday, we welcomed two new elders from the Provo MTC. Welcome Elder Anderson. Elder Anderson is from Washington. He will be serving in Kakinada, which is close to Rajahmundry on the east coast of India.
The second missionary to welcome was Elder Mangum from Texas (not Magnum - he didn't even know who Magnum PI was. Nor had he heard of Tom Sellek!!!!). What is happening to this younger generation????? They both were pretty tired, as they arrived at 4:30 a.m. Elder Mangum will serve here in Bangalore.
After taking care of some business with them, the Assistants and we took them to lunch at a restaurant that served "meals." Meals means that you get a whole bunch of rice (as much as you can eat) with a variety of side dishes (mostly sauces - curries). We chose to order something else; we are not fans of "meals." The first thing one must do when having meals is wash off the banana leaf with a little water before the servers place food on it. Elders Anderson and Mangum seemed a bit apprehensive at first, but eventually figured everything out.
Of course, we had to teach them to eat with their hands. Elder Mangum seemed far more comfortable with it than Elder Anderson. We should ask Elder Mangum's mother if he normally eats this way. He said that he knew several Philippino people and that they ate with their hands, so he had done it before. Hmm.... we also know many Philippino people, and they never ate with their hands. We suppose it depends on who you know. Elder Mangum, you are doing great, but you are not supposed to put your fingers in your mouth. Don't worry, after a few weeks, you will get the hang of it.
Elder Anderson had a bit more trouble with the whole eating with the hands thing. He was being much, much too refined and dignified about it. Elder Ram was really good about helping him understand that you have to play with your food and form it into a ball type of mass before lifting it up to your mouth. Then, you use your thumb to push it into your mouth without getting your fingers in your mouth. And, oh yes, no food is supposed to fall in the process. Elder Anderson will have a LOT of practice time. Karnataka doesn't have Western style restaurants, so he will definitely get the hang of it.
This is Elder Anderson starting to figure out of how to play with his food to make a ball type shape before putting it in his mouth. Doesn't this look appetizing????? Both halves of the leaf belong to Elder Anderson. He tended to use the chip type food item to scoop the food into his mouth.
Of course, Elder Ram ate, and ate, and ate, and . . . you get the picture. Elder Kumar couldn't take another bite.
Elder Aeshamalla (left) kept up with Elder Ram. They both quit at the same time. At one time, Elder Ram looked over to Elder Aeshamalla's leaf to see how much more he was given so he (Elder Ram) could ask for the same amount. The food is always served to the restaurant patrons. They keep coming around to fill up the leaf until you roll your leaf up, which indicates you are done.
This week also brought visits from Elder and Sister Allison (back left) and Elder and Sister Zobell (next to Sister and Elder Tiefenbach). They need to come to Bangalore every 7 to 7 1/2 weeks to meet their registration requirements. We went out for lunch on Friday to California Pizza Kitchen. Elder Zobell is a hoot!! We don't care for the pizzas at this restaurant, but their sandwiches are very good. We couldn't eat all of ours, so we took a "doggie bag" back to the office. Our plan was to eat it for lunch on Saturday, but we forgot it at the office when we left. Later that evening, we received a phone call from Elders Kumar and Ram, who "found" our sandwiches in the fridge. They were very concerned that the sandwiches might go bad if they were left at the office all weekend and that they could be happy to help us out. They enjoyed the sandwiches. Not only did we forget to take the purchased sandwiches home, but we also left our lunch that we had prepared at home at the office. It, too, is gone now. We told them to eat it as well. They were working late at the office and were getting hungry. They check the fridge a lot to see what goodies are lurking inside they might liberate.
That evening, we had all the couples come to our apartment for a roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes, gravy, and vegetables. Because I was at the office all day, Sister Smith volunteered to cook the roast. She did a wonderful job. She actually cooked it on Wednesday, and Sister Tiefenbach heated it up in a little broth in the oven Friday night. It was delicious! Sister Smith also made an apple crisp for dessert. The tradition for Sister Smith is to have custard sauce and ice cream on the apple crisp. She quickly made the custard sauce just before we served dessert, so the custard was hot. It was SO good! The hot custard sauce was poured over the ice cream, melting it a bit, and giving everything a great warm, creamy taste.
We had a great Friday!! But, the best is yet to come. Our granddaughter, Cassie, and her husband, Dale, gave us our FIRST great-grandchild!!! What a great blessing that is. We wish we could be there to hold him. We will make sure we hold him a lot when we return home. Congratulations Cassie and Dale on your sweet new son. We love you.
We had some visitors at church today. This is Brother Prem and his wife, Teresmica, and their son. Brother Prem works in the office, third floor, as the India MLS specialist. They live in Bangalore, but they attend a different branch. We are not sure why they were visiting, but we were glad to have them.
We also welcomed Brother Giles and Sister Jackie Odongo from Uganda. They will be here next week, as well. Brother Odongo is in Bangalore to see a doctor. Many people come from around the world to see doctors in India because medical procedures are so much cheaper here than in other countries. Of course, one has to go to the right hospitals here. Brother Odongo is a Patriarch in his Stake in Uganda. They seem like a very sharp couple.
This is Elder Tiefenbach's Father's Day present. We find that the older we get, the harder it is to find something to buy each other. We went shopping on Saturday, but found nothing. It is especially harder when serving a mission. So, Elder Tiefenbach loves apple pie, so Sister Tiefenbach decided that would be the best present. Again, the pie is possible because of the big tub of shortening Sister Wigg left for us.
Just like the apples are wrapped in this delicious pastry, Elder Tiefenbach is wrapped in Sister Tiefenbach's love. Awwww, isn't that sweet???? Happy Father's day, Honey!
Let us all "listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, the Great I Am, whose arm of mercy hath atoned for your sins; who will gather his people even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, even as many as will hearken to my voice and humble themselves before me, and call upon me in mighty prayer" (D&C 29:1 & 2). May the Lord bless you and wrap you in the arms of His love and protection, as you partake of the fruit of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This may seem like a random picture, and in truth, we suppose it is. But, this gives you another small picture of life in India. Our laundry "room" is outside. This is quite common in many apartments. Doing laundry when it is raining becomes more complicated with the laundry facilities outside. As you can see, we don't have much room to walk to get to the washing machine. When the windows are open, which is basically all the time, we have to face the windows and bend backward to get by the open windows. We don't mind becoming acrobats while we do laundry because we have seen other people doing laundry outside on a washing stone. At least we have a machine. We dry all our clothes on drying racks inside the house. Most people hang their laundry outside on strings or wire they put up. We have seen many people lay their clothes on the roofs. We have an automatic dryer, but we have never used it. It is not vented outside, so we avoid putting more heat into the apartment.The second missionary to welcome was Elder Mangum from Texas (not Magnum - he didn't even know who Magnum PI was. Nor had he heard of Tom Sellek!!!!). What is happening to this younger generation????? They both were pretty tired, as they arrived at 4:30 a.m. Elder Mangum will serve here in Bangalore.After taking care of some business with them, the Assistants and we took them to lunch at a restaurant that served "meals." Meals means that you get a whole bunch of rice (as much as you can eat) with a variety of side dishes (mostly sauces - curries). We chose to order something else; we are not fans of "meals." The first thing one must do when having meals is wash off the banana leaf with a little water before the servers place food on it. Elders Anderson and Mangum seemed a bit apprehensive at first, but eventually figured everything out.Elder Anderson had a bit more trouble with the whole eating with the hands thing. He was being much, much too refined and dignified about it. Elder Ram was really good about helping him understand that you have to play with your food and form it into a ball type of mass before lifting it up to your mouth. Then, you use your thumb to push it into your mouth without getting your fingers in your mouth. And, oh yes, no food is supposed to fall in the process. Elder Anderson will have a LOT of practice time. Karnataka doesn't have Western style restaurants, so he will definitely get the hang of it.This is Elder Anderson starting to figure out of how to play with his food to make a ball type shape before putting it in his mouth. Doesn't this look appetizing????? Both halves of the leaf belong to Elder Anderson. He tended to use the chip type food item to scoop the food into his mouth.
Of course, Elder Ram ate, and ate, and ate, and . . . you get the picture. Elder Kumar couldn't take another bite.This week also brought visits from Elder and Sister Allison (back left) and Elder and Sister Zobell (next to Sister and Elder Tiefenbach). They need to come to Bangalore every 7 to 7 1/2 weeks to meet their registration requirements. We went out for lunch on Friday to California Pizza Kitchen. Elder Zobell is a hoot!! We don't care for the pizzas at this restaurant, but their sandwiches are very good. We couldn't eat all of ours, so we took a "doggie bag" back to the office. Our plan was to eat it for lunch on Saturday, but we forgot it at the office when we left. Later that evening, we received a phone call from Elders Kumar and Ram, who "found" our sandwiches in the fridge. They were very concerned that the sandwiches might go bad if they were left at the office all weekend and that they could be happy to help us out. They enjoyed the sandwiches. Not only did we forget to take the purchased sandwiches home, but we also left our lunch that we had prepared at home at the office. It, too, is gone now. We told them to eat it as well. They were working late at the office and were getting hungry. They check the fridge a lot to see what goodies are lurking inside they might liberate.That evening, we had all the couples come to our apartment for a roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes, gravy, and vegetables. Because I was at the office all day, Sister Smith volunteered to cook the roast. She did a wonderful job. She actually cooked it on Wednesday, and Sister Tiefenbach heated it up in a little broth in the oven Friday night. It was delicious! Sister Smith also made an apple crisp for dessert. The tradition for Sister Smith is to have custard sauce and ice cream on the apple crisp. She quickly made the custard sauce just before we served dessert, so the custard was hot. It was SO good! The hot custard sauce was poured over the ice cream, melting it a bit, and giving everything a great warm, creamy taste.We had a great Friday!! But, the best is yet to come. Our granddaughter, Cassie, and her husband, Dale, gave us our FIRST great-grandchild!!! What a great blessing that is. We wish we could be there to hold him. We will make sure we hold him a lot when we return home. Congratulations Cassie and Dale on your sweet new son. We love you.We had some visitors at church today. This is Brother Prem and his wife, Teresmica, and their son. Brother Prem works in the office, third floor, as the India MLS specialist. They live in Bangalore, but they attend a different branch. We are not sure why they were visiting, but we were glad to have them. We also welcomed Brother Giles and Sister Jackie Odongo from Uganda. They will be here next week, as well. Brother Odongo is in Bangalore to see a doctor. Many people come from around the world to see doctors in India because medical procedures are so much cheaper here than in other countries. Of course, one has to go to the right hospitals here. Brother Odongo is a Patriarch in his Stake in Uganda. They seem like a very sharp couple.
Just like the apples are wrapped in this delicious pastry, Elder Tiefenbach is wrapped in Sister Tiefenbach's love. Awwww, isn't that sweet???? Happy Father's day, Honey!
Let us all "listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, the Great I Am, whose arm of mercy hath atoned for your sins; who will gather his people even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, even as many as will hearken to my voice and humble themselves before me, and call upon me in mighty prayer" (D&C 29:1 & 2). May the Lord bless you and wrap you in the arms of His love and protection, as you partake of the fruit of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thank you for sharing photos and experiences with our son learning to eat Indian style!
ReplyDeleteJim and Stacee Anderson