The Same but Different.

This year’s trip to Crane’s was just a bit different from last year’s trip.  :)

It was fun to go poking through the apple orchard with three people who had never been picking before.  Dan and Teresa, and Leila, along with JP and I, all had a marvelous time.  The temperature was mild and there was just a slight cloud cover, which made for good picking.  After we took advantage of the sliver-sized samples at the barn, we rumbled off toward the Honeycrisps, our apple of choice this Saturday.  Leila was perched happily in Dad’s backpack, and was more than delighted to receive her own little apple from Teresa Auntie.

Leila held on carefully to her apple for the rest of the picking expedition, which may have been the cutest part of the whole day.  Oddly, she never tried to eat her little apple, but immediately took a chomp out of my prize Cortland.  As you saw at the top, Leila enjoyed grazing on the apples as much as we did.

a Tiny apple for a Tiny hand

The Picking (and eating) Crew!

We probably all came home we several pounds too many apples, but we’re choosing to live into the adage, An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as we head into a big trip  to Iowa at the end of the week.  We’ll pack a sack of apples in the car to keep any sickness at bay, especially since Leila has just recovered from her first ear infection, and JP and I are getting over our first (and hopefully only!!) colds for the season.  Good thing we like apples.  (And what about apple pie, does anyone know if that counts too?)

My pookie pie

Last year this time…

JP, Katy (and Leila)!

The Chaos of Summer

This summer has been a whirlwind of sorts. Katy and I are currently looking into purchasing tickets for our next India trip. In some ways, it seems like we JUST got back to the US. Time does fly, especially when you have a precocious 10 month old dictating the pace. Added to that is, of course, our busy lives. We have had weddings to attend and be a part of. We have had numerous gatherings, almost all of which involving yummy food, with fun people. All of them were good for the heart (and stomach). Our home is beginning to resemble the home we have in India.

And oh yes! I have been learning how to swim. Tonight will be my third lesson. And if you ask the instructor, our dear friend Lori, she’ll attest that I have come a LONG way from the floundering brown bear I was the first week. Hopefully I’ll be able to swim and breathe at the same time tonight! In addition, Katy’s parents are in town, which has been an added blessing, especially for little Leila. While we all do keep busy with our lives, it is nice to be able to drop by and say hello when we want to! Lots of people… lots of love… our cups overflow!

This summer in Michigan has been cool (which is putting it mildly). Lots of rain, lots of cloud cover, and precious few sun rays. The Sundararajans, however, do not feel like we missed out on summer because we already experienced the Indian summer earlier this year. However, it is a little disappointing to not be able to walk down to the farmer’s market as often as we’d like, or maybe play with Leila in the neighborhood parks, or grill out as much as wanted to.

While this pseudo-summer has been flying by us, we find ourselves in the eye of the storm. In the next couple of weeks, life again gets busy with speaking engagements and travel. Stay tuned… this should be a fun ride!

Glen Lake

the view at Big Glen

We spent Tuesday up north in Glen Lake.  It was a two-fold trip.  We went mainly to celebrate my Dad’s 60th birthday (on the 6th) and my Mom’s 60th birthday (on the 8th).  Neither of my parents seem anywhere near the ripe old age of 60.  I told them that I think there must be some sort of miscalculation.  My brother, Ben, along with his wife, Heather, and daughter, Eleanor, were up for vacation, and even my 82 year old grandmother made it for a delicious Steak lunch and Birthday cake.  It was good for my soul to be up north.  It was good to hang out with family, and it was especially fun to see Leila interacting with her relatives.

Leila with the Birthday Girl and Boy (Ava and Tata)

Eleanor and Leila

Leila with Great Grammie

We also went north so that we could “say good bye to the ol’ place,” as my dad put it as we were about to leave on Wednesday morning.  My parents have lived next to Big Glen Lake for nearly 13 years, but the time has come for them to move on.  (JP and I are particularly excited that they will be located in Holland for the next chapter of life… at least until the chapter after that begins.)  I was very thankful for this opportunity to have my “good bye” day in Glen Lake.  My family moved to Glen Lake after my sophomore year in college, and while it never felt exactly like home, it has become a favorite place of mine.  From the beautiful drive up from Holland, to the scenic hikes and picnic spots, the Glen Arbor area won my heart long ago.  During our day there, we were able to do two of my three favorite things…  We walked down to Old Settler’s Park, which my family has done at least a thousand times, and we played on the swings with the little ladies.  I’m not sure that I have ever played on the swings at the park, but hey, it is Leila’s very favorite thing to do these days.  We also walked out on the dock, which is where I took the photo at the top of the blog.  Later on that night, we sat in the backyard around a bonfire and roasted s’mores.  I love to sit by a fire, and even better, I love to eat s’mores.  It felt good to my soul, and my stomach!  The only thing  guess I missed out on was one last trip to the Cherry Republic.  When my sister, Amy, worked there I learned to appreciate just how yummy All Things Cherry can be.  If you have not been there, You MUST Go.

The good news is that I won’t be staying away from the beauty of Glen Arbor  for the rest of my life.  I learned to dislike and avoid official goodbyes long ago, and simply put, Glen Lake is a place I must return to.  So even when I won’t have my parent’s home to visit, I know I will go there, and my soul will be glad.

Dad and Mom at Old Settler's Park

Some photos from the past couple of weeks…

Porulkatchi

Last night I got a little carried away in reflective mode, and did not end up posting the original thoughts that I had been having about Tulip Time.  So, here we go– round two…

JP and I were happy to learn that this year our travel dates coincided with those of the Porulkatchi, or the fair.  I was able to go to the fair once a few years back, and I loved it.  It was the year that Teresa was living here, and so we went first with Teresa.  That year my mom and dad also came to visit and explore India, and we figured the fair was a pretty good way to explore some of the nitty gritty of Indian lifestyle.  The fair isn’t typically geared toward foreign guests, and hence is a perfect place to live large with the locals.  (Just don’t plan to blend in!!)  We have many fond memories from these two prior trips to the fair, and so it was with eagerness that we piled into the Tavera with Tata and Ava and drove the short distance to the Porulkatchi grounds.  Leila even got strapped in the Baby Bjorn for this one.

 

at the bazaar: bed sheets, table cloths, and the like

Upon entering the fairgrounds, you go through a large bazaar area where vendors are selling everything from washing machines to jewelry, from dried fruits and nuts to tortilla makers (used to make chapatis).  The bazaar area is probably my favorite part of the fair.  There is so much to see, and there are so many unique items at great discount prices.   Plus, there is this one guy who hands out the most amazing samples of spiced cashew nuts.  We definitely bought a packet of those!!  Once you make your way through all of the booths, you’ve reach the rides and the fair food, which is JP’s favorite part– the food, that is.  :)  This is what got me thinking about Tulip Time.  It is so fun to see all of the Indian fair food options.  At the top of our list of favorites is definitely the Chaat Stall.  Chaat comes in many varieties, and is usually a mixture of fresh chopped items like tomatoes, onions, and cilantro mixed with different kind of crunchy savory and spicy items.  Some chaats involve broth, some are more like buns with a spicy marinara sauce, some resemble chips and salsa with fresh pico, some are like rice krispies…  It is a long and delectable list.  Perhaps some day I will be able to write a more helpful chaat entry, but for now, hopefully a few photos will suffice.  

 

Pani Puri Chaat (this is what JP ordered)

Samosa Chaat (this is what I ordered)

After the chaat stall, we headed for the fresh sugar cane juice.  Sugar cane juice is sweet and also lime-y.  Very refreshing, and it is oh-so-enjoyable to watch the squeezing process.

 

Making Sugar Cane Juice

 

one for JP, one for mom, one for dad

So many kinds of goodies, just like 8th street and Tulip Time.  There were fried rice and noddle booths, cotton candy, spicy versions of our elephant ears, and bhajis, which are deep fried, batter-coated bananas, peppers, potaotes, and the like.  Check out our banana bhajis below.

 

Bhaji

The other thing that always happens when we go to the fair is that it rains just as we begin making our way through the food area, and we have to make a sprint toward home.  This year was no different.  My photo-taking and eating spree came to a quick close, but it was probably for the best as Leila was ready to head home for a nap.  Good times were had at the Porulkatchi this year.  If ever you get the chance to to meander through a Porulkatchi yourself, I highly recommend it.  And for those of you who enjoy Tulip Time, it just might seem familiar… minus the tulips, of course. 

 

a parting shot of the fairgrounds

One fine day in India

Most days, JP and I wake up at 6:30am. JP heads to the shower, and I wake Leila up for her first feeding. Leila and I often play on the bed for awhile, especially if JP has to iron a shirt. Then, the three of us head downstairs, and make our way “home,” which is just a hop, skip, and a jump across the campus to JP’s parent’s house. Leila usually goes for a short walk with Tata, and looks at the plants. She also has a nice good morning chat with Ava, who is usually cooking breakfast. Ava also brings JP and me two hot cups of sweet, milky Indian coffee, and then we know for sure that the day has begun. JP reads the newspaper, and I think about a plan for the day, drink my coffee, and head to the shower.

I am a Type-A personality. India is either Type-B, or in a category all its own… I’m note sure which. This incongruity is an on-again, off-again struggle for me, especially if my aforementioned plan for the day is too detailed. If I’m not careful, I end up feeling like I spin my wheels a lot in India. I’m constantly trying to make myself meet India in the middle. Perhaps what I need more to do, is skip the plan-for-the-day part of my day. That is what I did today (unintentionally, of course,) and it was a very superb day.

Let me tell you all about it.

Last week I ventured out to fabric and tailor shops. By Saturday, I had three brand new, neatly tailored “dresses” in hand. The only problem was that we had neglected to take the dupattas (scarves) to be finished, and so I could not really wear the outfits until Tuesday of this week. So today, my day happily began by wearing the second of my new salwars. I like it very much…

Next, timing things properly with Leila’s second feeding and nap time, JP and I went to the shopping district where it was our mission to buy 60 green scarves from “Dupatta House.” A friend from home asked if we would bring these for the purpose of decorating her wedding, and to hand out as gifts/favors. It was a worrisome venture for me, as I was having to choose from limited stock, dozens of greens scarves that may or not not actually match or be the correct style of material for the right cost. It took about 45 minutes to dredge the bottom of all the scarf seller’s piles, and even he said that no one else would be able to buy green scarves from him for awhile. I took a picture of our 20 lb. bag of scarves, but what I wish you could see would be a picture of JP and I riding the motorcycle back with this parcel between us! I am so relieved to have this project taken care of… at least until we have to Fed Ex them in Michigan.

it is bigger than it looks, I think...

DISCLAIMER: We will not be doing this again for obvious reasons!:)

One of the things I miss most when I’m in India is cooking and baking. As it turns out, there were some very ripe bananas at home that were just begging to be added to some bread. During the first weeks that we were in India, two things happened. First, we bought an oven for JP’s parents’ 32nd anniversary. It is like a very large toaster oven, and is actually an oven/toaster/grill, akin to the microwave/oven/grill that was here previously.

Oven on right, next to the microwave.

Next, I found a very decent looking recipe on a favorite cooking blog that I follow. I actually like to follow this particular blog because Ilva, the author, posts a lot of beautiful photos from Italy, where she lives, but I’ve never made one of her recipes. However, she posted a recipe for Gluten-free Chocolate Banana Bread, using Chickpea flour, and it jumped out at me because chickpea (or channa) flour is very readily available in India. So, this afternoon I was able to go to town on the banana bread. I was excited to use red bananas, as well as one mini-banana to fill things out. I even thew in some walnuts, as I’m newly converted to walnuts.

Leila is introduced to red bananas

The bread turned out quite well, especially considering my baking history here in India is less than perfect. (Many of you have heard “The Cake Story,” which nearly ruined my relationship with JP the first time that I came to India.) I’m grateful that things get slightly easier each time I bake here. For example, JP is always careful to buy unbroken eggs from the shop nearby. I’ve learned where the oil is. I know how to “powder” the sugar, which is very granular here. I even found something to sift the flour with this time! And, I especially enjoyed using this recipe because the measurements were in milliliters, (she also converts to American equivalents) and she listed the celsius temperature, which I usually have to convert with JP’s help. The only “oops” that I had, was forgetting to flip the switch that turns on the electrical power for the oven. (Outlets here often have an on/off switch next to them that you must turn on for the current to flow. That is the switch that I forgot to flip.) So, when I went to put my little loaves in the oven, it was still cold, and I had to wait another ten minutes. (Oops.) It was worth waiting for, thankfully, and we ended up with a nice warm loaf of bread to eat with our evening chai.

note my innovative cooling rack

Chocolate Banana Bread with walnuts

Just as the last loaf was finishing in the oven, I went upstairs to check on Leila and came upon the man who came to fix our water filter. The apartment has its own aqua guard filter, but it broke down about two weeks ago. It took about four days to get the guy to come look at it, and since then we’ve been hauling our water bottles up and downstairs, waiting for the correct parts to arrive for our 17-year old water filter. At long last, the parts came, the man came, the filter got fixed, and we have drinkable water again. Hooray!

Aquaguard-- all lights say go

For a day without a plan, I sure felt like a lot of things got accomplished.

…And now, for the ironic ending… I was having so much trouble with loading the pictures from the computer to the blog that I gave up and went to bed, and now I am posting this the following day!!

Leila being a little crabby, and chewing on Tony the crab.

Seattle

Baby + Baggage & still smiling

OK, so traveling is not as simple as it used to be.  Gone are the days of minimal luggage and tiny carry-ons.  Gone are the opportunities to explore the airport shops, or kick up my heels on the nearest seat and sip a coffee.  Instead, we pack to the gills, bring four carry-ons and a baby, and quick nurse then cram some food down our throats, just in time to hop on the  plane.  Despite these changes, we had a fantastic trip to Seattle with our little Leila.  She is a charmer, and everyone in the airports and on the planes loved her.  Probably the most difficult thing is that she needs/wants to know what is going on at all times, and thus refuses to sleep.  On our trip out to Seattle, she managed to skip two naps, sleeping for only 20 minutes as we landed.  It threw off her schedule for a couple of days, but even then, she was a dear and seemed to love being in Seattle with her Amy “Chithi” and Kyle “Chithappa.”

smiling at her aunt and showing off her “first flight” certificate

a bit of jet lag the first day…

whee!!

Leila adores her Chithi and Chithappa

YAY!

Back in 1998/99, I lived in Seattle for a year while I did junior high youth ministry at University Presbyterian Church.  It was a remarkable year.  Though I had already moved a number of times with my family, and  lived in another country for six months,  Seattle was different.  I had committed to a year’s worth of ministry (at least,) and I didn’t know a single soul living on the west coast (minus one friend in San Diego.)  There have been a couple of times in my life that I have agreed to do things seemingly on a whim, and realized after the fact that it was all God’s plan.  Moving to Seattle was one of those things.  If I had been in my right mind, I would never have gone, but God’s call on my life was fierce, and I went.  At first I was oblivious to how new and difficult everything was, but then I realized that I didn’t know anyone there, I wasn’t sure how to do my job, and I had to use public transportation because my car broke down right before I left Michigan.  It took at least three tough months of transition time and significant adjustment, and then I began to fall in love with Seattle.  I began to embrace the gift from my host family of an old Subaru stick shift, and learned to drive it and parallel park on the hills!   I even learned to appreciate the hours of time I spent in traffic between West Seattle and the U-District.  I learned precious things about ministry-related gifts that God had blessed me with, and just how grand my affection for junior high students would become.  I learned not only what “teriyaki” was, but how much I would crave eating it.  I learned to pronounce my “o’s” properly.  I knew on which horizon I should look for Mount Rainier, and a favorite past time became picking over the stones and sea glass on the shores of the Sound.  Coffee became a good, good friend.  As my year ticked away, Seattle became my heart’s home, and leaving there was one of the hardest things I ever did.  It is harder than hard to have my sister and kindred spirit, Amy, out there, but it is a rich blessing at the same time.  If Amy and Kyle didn’t live in Seattle, I don’t know that my pocketbook would afford the trips.  It isn’t the same thing as living there, but visiting there makes me feel full and alive.  It was GOOD to be in my heart’s home.

If you know Amy and I at all, we like food.  We like to talk about, create, and eat food in equal proportion.  So, as you already witnessed in JP’s blog entry… we eat good food in Seattle.  This trip’s theme would certainly be donuts, but we enjoyed lots of other great meals too.  Perhaps the very best was the home-cooked steak dinner with “Pink Fantasy Cake” for dessert on Valentines Day.  (Thanks to Amy and Kyle for letting us crash your first V-Day as a married couple!)  I’ll include some photos of the foods we ate, and a few links to some great places to check out if you’re ever in Seattle.

final touches on the "Pink Fantasy" Cake

Yes... we managed to fit in Top Pot as well...

Top Pot website

"The Bullseye"

Pike’s Place Market is a favorite stop for us in Seattle.  It was a CHILLY, but sunny and beautiful Monday morning that we poked around the stalls.  Also, the first EVER Starbucks is right across the street, and it was my “touristy” request to stop in.

Blue Sky Monday

ah, the colors!

something new... Lemon Drop Plums

the sign said Lobster Tails for Grilling

note the "shrimp caviar"

fennel

The First Starbucks

Leila eyes Her first Starbucks

Well, this is getting long, and there is still more food to mention…  Check back again soon for another Seattle post.  And, stayed tuned for contest #2!

I love donuts!

Toward the end of my high school days, my brother James and I discovered the wonderful world of donuts.  Donuts took a while to make their mark in India but we were hooked from our first bite.  We ate donuts whenever we could.  I remember, even during my boarding school days in Chennai, taking road trips to check out different donut places.  I found one on my way to tutorials I had to attend for my State exams.   It was perfect.  I could have a chocolate donut for about 15 rupees and it was right behind my bus stop.

The USA did nothing to quell my desire for donuts.  In fact, my desire for these wonderful things increased exponentially.  Even today, whenever I can have a donut for breakfast, I leap at the opportunity.  And if I know my brother James (and I think I do)…  it is no different for him.  Poor James.  When he did come to the US, he bit into a pumpernickel bagel thinking it was a chocolate donut.  Now, I know bagels are great but if you bite into one thinking it is a donut, you are in for some disappointment.   Some of my favorite donuts in the US come from the special chain called Krispy Kreme.   I remember doing road trips during seminary with Katy and her sister Amy (some habits die hard).   I had my favorite donut joints in college too (Casey’s Bakery is one of my favorite stops).  That list keeps expanding…

Anyway…  Seattle has some wonderful donut places for me to sink my teeth into.   Besides the Krispy Kreme we enjoyed on day one, there is also Top Pot (which I hope to sample before I leave), and some sweet little places downtown by Pike’s Place.   I had the biggest donut of my life and the smallest one.  Needless to say, it was the best morning yet.

Leila Licks Things

Leila spends lots of time licking these days.

Also, I forgot to tell you about how we got stuck in Gary, Indiana on the way home from Iowa and South Dakota.  The visiblity was poor, the weather was getting worse, and Leila began screaming in the back seat.  We opted to get a hotel for the night, and Leila enjoyed playing princess with all the pillows on the bed…

Princess Leila

Home.

We’re home.  Leila is taking a break from the car seat and sleeping in the pack-and-play.  She was a good traveler, and that made the trip go as smoothly as traveling with a 3-1/2 month-old can go.   As the parents of said child, we were grateful.  Some of Leila’s new tricks include “standing,” and spinning around (on her back) while playing on her exercise gym.  She is just a cute as ever, and won over many hearts in northwest Iowa and South Dakota.

"Standing"

A few highlights from the trip…

As I anticipated our travels, I was most nervous about when, where, and how I would feed Leila and give her some necessary wiggle time along the way.  By far, our favorite stop, and most random, was “Krista’s Kitchen.”  It was our first day on the road, and it was fast becoming our lunch time, and Leila’s lunch time.  We searched the Garmin (still LOVE that thing!!) for food options, and we chose a cafe/diner option in Portage, Wisconsin, but as quickly as we chose that, we began to see billboards advertising Krista’s Kitchen.  The signs drew us in, and while we actually did drive by the Garmin-specified diner, we kept on going until we reached the nearby Krista’s Kitchen.  We were so pleased with our decision, breathing a sigh of relief practically as soon as we walked in the door.

a favorite stop... Portage, WI

http://kristas-kitchen.com/

It was a small town spot, filled with kindness and good food.  We arrived just as the major lunch rush had passed, but it was still happily bustling, and the sun was pouring lavishly through the windows.  Each and every person we talked to was helpful and courteous.  The food was simple and delicious.  JP believes that they have the best quiche (Lorraine) that he’s ever eaten, and I had the California Turkey Sandwich with 5 Seed Bread.  Yum.  Double yum, actually.  After I finished eating, Leila was very ready to eat.  I was able to sit in a discreet corner and nurse the baby while JP ate, and not only did no one seem bothered by it, but  one of the servers actually gave me a thumbs up!  We highly recommend this cute little place if ever you’re passing though (or live nearby).

Most of our other highlights involved renewing and enjoying relationships with churches and individuals in Iowa and South Dakota.  It was busy.  JP went to college out in Orange City, IA and has many connections in and throughout that area because of college and numerous churches that support us in the region as well.  Leila and I got to meet whole bunches of people that only Daddy has ever known.  Leila was a star wherever we went.  JP is a remarkably good story teller and preacher, but people love smiley babies, and since our Leila is very generous with her smiles, JP had to get used to sharing the spotlight.  Not that he really minded showing her off!!

Daddy, Showing off his "little" Leila

A few years ago, I read Dakota:  A Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris, which I really enjoyed.  It was a book that helped me to discover how important “Place” is in my life.  Perhaps I’ll write more about that another day.  For now, I mention the book because our drive from Orange City to Platte, South Dakota brought it to mind.  In particular, there is a chapter called “Sea Change” that I especially enjoyed.  I’d like to share an excerpt from that chapter…

In journeying on the inland ocean of the Plains, the great void at the heart of North America, I’ve discovered that time and distance, those inconveniences that modern life with its increasingly sophisticated computer technologies seeks to erase, have a reality and a terrifying beauty all their own.

Like all who choose life in the slow lane- sailors, monks, farmers- I partake of a contemplative reality.  Living close to such an expanse of land I find I have little incentive to move fast, little need of instant information.  I have learned to trust the processes that take time, to value change that is not sudden or ill-considered but grows out of the ground of experience.  Such change is properly defined as conversion, a word that at its root connotes, not a change of essence but of perspective, as turning round; turning back to or returning; turning one’s attention to.

Our drive was long and quiet and “Plainly” beautiful.  It was good for my soul.  I’m into slowness of life, and for a number of years I’ve been trying to harness slowness.  I haven’t had much luck, but then I guess maybe the slow life can’t easily be harnessed by someone with one foot in the fast life.   Norris goes on to say that to be a good citizen of the Plains life, one has to choose that life consciously.  I would completely agree with her.  I’m sure I’ll continue to yearn for life in the slow lane, and perhaps that it where it has to begin anyway, with a yearning.  I’ll continue to work toward this slowness, of course.  It will always be my choice.  It is how I’m wired, and I’ve begun to realize that it will partly always be my responsibility to help other people in the fast arena of life to remember that there is another option.  I did that at Hope College, and now I think I will do it for my husband and my kid(s) and the people in and around our life…  …There’s lots more to say about all of this, but I would imagine that most of you have other things that you need to move on to so I will save the rest for another day.  Just chew on that excerpt for awhile.