Sunday, December 26, 2010

Flower market

Knowing my mom would be here and that she likes markets and flowers, I asked our driver if he knew of a good flower market. I have heard of the Mehrauli flower market and asked him about it, too, but he said he knew of a better one up by Connaught Place. So, early one morning we set off.

We saw this on the way and knew we were headed in the right direction:

Flowers everywhere:



 150 roses for 200 rupees ($4), too bad I don't have enough vases...

Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas in Delhi

Like people all over the world who celebrate Christmas, we have been busy this past week in preparation for the big day!

Decorating the tree:


Making cookies:


And, the boys recently had a chance to see Santa, security was tight:

I hope Arthur's not scarred for life:

Dorian made a drawing for Santa:

Happy Holidays to you!!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

A street transformed...

You never know what you will come across on the streets of Delhi. I always say expect the unexpected and this was truly the case last week. Our neighbor and then later our driver told us about a festival and procession that would be taking place on the street bordering our neighborhood to the south. We drove by in the morning and saw men setting up their food stands and huge caldron-like pots to prepare the food. Then in the afternoon, my mom, the boys and I walked with our driver to check out the festivities.




This procession, in honor of the mourning of Muharram, commemorates the death of Hussain, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

These beautifully decorated funeral biers were buried in the graveyard just on the other side of the street after the procession.

Apparently, flagellation is usually part of this commemoration but luckily for us, especially my boys, we only saw these sweet faces:


Monday, December 20, 2010

School outing to the zoo

Arthur's school recently had a trip to the zoo. It was so fun! We road in electric cars all around the zoo, hopping on and off to get a closer look. We were amazed when we stopped in front of the giraffes and elephants that they came up to get a closer look at us. And, when the zebra peeked out of his little house and we cheered, he ran up to the fence doing a little dance. I'd never seen that before and, of course, didn't have my camera ready to get a shot of the dancing zebra. We were serenaded by singing monkeys and awed by the white tiger. Here are some photos of the animals, okay two animal photos, and much more:

Hello there!

Love these signs:


Electric car:

Cute school kids:


The white tiger:


Beautiful Old Fort overlooking the zoo:

Which way is the way out?


Snack time!

Friday, December 17, 2010

A week of new things...


Seeing a president and his first lady:

An invitation to an Indian wedding:

And, of course, tea time i.e. they are actually getting along:

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Nana's here!

A mere five days after returning from our fun trip away at Jim Corbett, my mom aka nana arrived. The build up has been going on for weeks and she could not get here soon enough. It's just too bad that it takes about ten days to get over the jet lag because the boys are always ready to go, Go, GO!!!



These two photos are the only times the boys have sat still since she arrived...

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Village walk

Our last evening at our hotel near the Jim Corbett reserve, we opted for the village walk instead of the forest one. I figured that, even if we might see a tiger, I didn't want to push our luck i.e. safety being on foot with our little boys. And, with all the beautiful, happy faces we saw mixed with the cows and other animals along the way, I think we made the right choice.

Dorian insists that he is the guide (with the guide):
 Sorting rice:



 Making cheese:



Beautiful ending to a lovely walk:

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Jeep Safari at Jim Corbett



No, we did not see any tigers. But, we had a great time in the reserve with the wind in our hair (even if it was cold), the fresh air filling our lungs, beautiful scenery and a few animals.