This month’s post is quite a long one since covers all our escapades in Accra for Easter and daily life in April. Then, I talk about our trip to India with the girls and all the fun we had!
Easter 2022
This year’s Easter celebrations certainly made up for any of the past few years here in Accra when the Easter Bunny wasn’t up to snuff. The girls got to have two separate Easter egg hunts before Easter Sunday even arrived!
I decided to try and do a community-centered event for all the kids in our compound this year, since Halloween had gone so well and more families with young kids have moved into the complex. So, I found this little door tag on Pinterest and sent a message out on our group chat to see how many houses would be interested. There were six houses in total that participated, and it was a lot of fun for all the kids!
I went and “egg”ed three houses throughout the week leading up to Easter to make sure that all the kids in the compound got a surprise hunt in their back yard. And the girls were so excited when our house got “egg”ed!
Since Easter is always a four-day weekend here in Ghana, we had our friends over on Friday so the kids could all have fun dyeing Easter eggs. Now, for our friends, who are from South Africa, an Easter egg is a chocolate egg that you find around your house on Easter morning. For me, it’s all about dyeing the white eggs and hunting for those. Luckily, our friends had just traveled to South Africa and brought back a bunch of Easter goodies for their kids and ours. So, we were able to continue both traditions with all four of our kids! First, I set up the Easter egg dyeing station – I wanted to try a different method this year. The way I grew up coloring eggs, by leaving them in cups of different colored dyes, is just too boring for kids whose attention span usually doesn’t last longer than five minutes. Instead, I thought we could try dyeing the eggs using shaving cream and food coloring! That way, the kids got a more hands-on experience coloring the eggs themselves, and hopefully the colors and dye would stay on longer, rather than melt off as it has done the past few years.
Then, while we waited for the eggs to dry, we hid all the chocolate goodies around the back yard and the kids got to have an Easter egg hunt with their friends too!
Finally, Easter morning arrived – and so did the Easter Bunny! I must say, he had quite a challenge this year, because we had run out of the plastic eggs to hide the goodies in. So, the area the Easter Bunny went in town to pick up the plastic eggs wasn’t the greatest – although it didn’t help that the Easter Bunny had gotten lost!
But, in the end, the Easter Bunny came through with a lot of various goodies for the girls to enjoy in their Easter baskets, and their third and final Easter egg hunt of the season!
And this year on Easter Sunday we got to start what will hopefully become a new tradition. We usually spend the day grilling and hanging out with our close friends. But this year they were invited by their neighbors to join in on a big Easter Sunday party at the community pool, and we were invited as well. It was a big gathering with lots of friends that I already knew. There was delicious food, including this mouthwatering dessert! Lots of fun conversations to be had, and some fun time in the pool for everyone. The party even went late into the night, even though we had to go home early. There was only one downside to the party, poor Varun twisted his ankle by the poolside very early on. Luckily it wasn’t too bad a sprain, but certainly no fun to deal with at the party or the days following.
Easter season wasn’t necessarily over for us either, because we had to finish the eggs that we had colored before our upcoming trip. So, we had some colorful breakfasts, even if we didn’t actually hunt these eggs down.
Soccer
This month Abigail had a treat by expanding her afterschool activities and adding soccer to her repertoire (though we can’t decide yet if we’re going to call it soccer or football). Her teachers had been telling me for a while how much fun she was having playing it at school with her friends, and I had heard of some lessons that are affordable and nearby, so I signed her up! She absolutely loves it! A lot of her classmates are in the lessons as well, and the coach is really great. He has a lot of patience to get the little ones to focus, gives them practice in a game-like setting, and gives them each an opportunity to shine and score!
The only thing that’s been a slight issue is Sara Gail. She, herself, hasn’t shown any interest in playing soccer, but she’s been a bit jealous and sad that Abigail is doing an activity that she doesn’t do herself. Plus, she’s not used to being the one to have to wait around for her sister to finish her lesson. But this is all part of growing up, especially growing up with siblings. Abigail is getting old enough now that she can start these various different sports and hobbies on her own and separately from her big sister. And Sara Gail is going to have to learn to share everything – including the spotlight.
Gymnastics
This has been another sore spot for Sara Gail, because even though she’s sad that Abigail is playing soccer without her, she hasn’t exactly been happy about sharing her gymnastics abilities. Sara Gail has been overcompensating a bit by cartwheeling everywhere. And at least for now they’re not in the same gymnastics class yet, but hopefully Sara Gail will mature on this sport quickly as well. Abigail is absolutely loving being in gymnastics like her big sister!
Swimming
For now, Sara Gail still only does the swimming herself. Even though they are both doing the lessons at school, Sara Gail is having additional lessons with a class and another coach. I’m still trying my best to make up for the loss of that other team she had been swimming with. And I want to keep her skills up to par for the fall, because she’ll be moving up to a school with a genuine team, and I know she will love to be on it, and to thrive!
Piano
Sara Gail is also continuing her piano lessons. I was able to try and snag a few photos for this month’s entry, though I know she’d be way too shy to let me post a video of her actually playing. I’m really happy that she is learning an instrument, since I have no musical ability whatsoever. I can’t wait to see her continue to improve, as long as she maintains her focus while her teacher comes by for her lessons.
School
The girls and I, as usual, are continuing to love the school. They are both just thrilled every morning to walk in, independently carrying their own school and lunch bags, and getting even just a few minutes on the playground. Well, the latter only happens if they get ready fast enough every morning!
Sara Gail is so happy to have her best friend in her class with her every day. Those two are joined at the hip all day, every day. It is such a beautiful thing to watch!
We are also trying to get back into a routine of doing homework every day after school. It definitely poses some challenges. Firstly, neither one of them has a very long attention span to finish all the worksheets that need to be done. Secondly, they both need help with instructions or the work itself, so they are usually both vying for my attention at the same time. For now, at least, the homework is still pretty easy and straightforward. We’ll see how it goes as they get older!
Sewing
This month, since I will be starting my own schoolwork soon, I’ve decided to try and get a head start on the girls’ Halloween costumes. This year Abigail has decided to be Raya, from Raya and the Last Dragon, and Sara Gail has decided to be Mal from The Descendants series of Disney movies. Raya is fairly easy to put together: pants, shirt, vest, and cape. I’ve already got a sun hat that she can use. And, luckily, I almost always hit the gold mine when it comes to the types of fabrics and patterns I find here!
I also found the perfect fabric for the vest and got started as soon as I had a few minutes for putting it together. One vest down; pants, cape, and shirt to go! (As well as more than half a year until Halloween!)
Mal is a little more complicated. Her range of costumes in the series goes from leather jackets and pants, to short, mullet-like dresses. I’ve decided to do my own take on a dress of hers and combined two dress patterns that I have. I’ll make the skirt wide and flowing, while still having it floor length all the way around.
As to the fabric, I was able to find the perfect purple and green colors to match Mal’s specific tastes, as well as a dragon-scale like print to tie it all together and make the dress as dragon-like as possible!
These will definitely be fun to work on this year!
Hanging Out
As with every month here in Accra, between all our weekly demands and routines, we still find plenty of time to spend together just relaxing and having fun. The girls are always finding fun, creative ways to play together. These now include using me as a prop in their beauty parlor games.
We also took a rare opportunity to go out for lunch as a family – we had heard of yet another Mexican restaurant nearby that we just had to try!
Of course, there was also plenty of cooking and preparation going on at home throughout the month. Continuing to still try a variety of vegetables, grains, and beans for the girls. Even if we are living abroad, I want to always try and give the girls a well-balanced diet!
And with all the sunny, hot days this month (as we wait for the rainy season to begin) the girls were even able to squeeze in some swimming at our community pool.
There was also some not-so-fun stuff to deal with this month. Firstly, we’ve had lots of issues with our front door, from the moment we moved in. Recently however, due to a break-in in the compound (not our house but both our neighbors), we have insisted that we need a proper door to keep us all safe. So, the estate manager finally arranged for a door to be put in. However, on the first attempt, the people who came to install the door had not measured either the doorway or the door they were using itself, and lo and behold, it did not fit properly. Instead of taking down the measurements and trying to build a door that would fit, they spent the entire day, with the front door wide-open for all sorts of bugs to fly in, sanding down the door until it fit in the doorway. But it did not fit nicely, there were so many gaps at all the different sides and angles of the door, it was ridiculous! Not only that, but they did not properly stain the door, they simply left the keys in the new lock and drove off when they were finished, without a word to me! I was irritated with them all day, asking how much longer it would take because I had errands to run, only to be told it wouldn’t be much longer. But they didn’t finish until early evening! I felt so bad for my cleaning lady because she stuck around just wanting to clean up after them. After this fiasco, I complained to our estate manager, because it still was not a proper door that would protect us. So, he had someone come and actually measure the door frame. The day they came to install the door, it still wasn’t a perfect fit! After more and more sanding down the door and installing borders, it was finally in place, but when they were about to put in the glass for the window, they realized that it had been cracked! And, finally, they stained the door, which took several hours and a lot of strong fumes and was done poorly because there are still stains all over the walls in the foyer around the door. After all that, they had also realized that they didn’t have a brush to put under the door that was the right size. At that point, nearing the end of dinner time for the girls, I was completely fed-up. I wasn’t exactly nice or polite when I told them the things they needed to correct and how quickly they needed to correct them – mainly the brush and the window. They were able to install a new brush the next morning, and the following night I took the below picture.
As happy and comfortable as we are here in Ghana, it’s days like these that remind me how frustrating it can be to live in a country with such a low level of workmanship and work ethic. I definitely long to be back in Houston after dealing with these types of headaches!
On top of the door issues, we started to have washing machine issues! I noticed, in particular, that our clothes were starting to get holes in them – a pair of Abigail’s underwear was completely torn to shreds. I looked in the machine and realized that parts of it were cracking and tearing the clothes!
Thankfully this was resolved quickly by getting a brand-new washing machine within a day or so. So, between the new washer and the new dryer, I’m actually pretty happy to do laundry here. At least that’s one headache that’s gone away now!
Back to India!!
The biggest event that happened this month was our trip over to India. This trip was partly for a house-warming ceremony to take place for Saraswathi’s new apartment. But, we also used this trip to just spend time with the family and travel within India itself.
The Trip
So, first things first, we needed to actually get over to India. I had done a trip to the local China Mall store to collect new pens, papers, and colored pencils for the girls to use to entertain themselves during the trip. I have decided that all these things will now remain in their “travel bags,” only to be used on special occasions or travel. Otherwise, as soon as I let the girls take it out of the bags into the playroom, they are lost to me forever in our never-ending pile of junk.
Next, I needed to get everyone ready for the trip, including the girls’ dolls. The new travel bags I had gotten for them have a spot for them to put in their American Girl dolls, so I thought it would be fun if the dolls traveled with them to their third continent. Molly, however, has seen better days, since she was my doll when I was younger, so she is now 20+ years old. So, I needed to perform a quick arm and leg surgery before the trip. It can be quite a traumatic experience for me to do, and certainly not an operation I enjoy performing.
Once everyone was ready to go, it was off to the airport, where the girls immediately, and excitedly, dug into their new travel bags to discover all the new coloring and craft items I had gotten for them. It at least made waiting in line at check-in go a lot smoother!
This trip we finally let go of the stroller and riding suitcase for Abigail. Since she’s almost four years-old now, and Varun is sick of traveling with so much extra stuff, I tried to make a big deal out of each of them bringing their own rolling suitcase. They were in charge of their bags, as big girls with responsibilities. It worked on the first leg of the trip, but it did get harder and harder to enforce the more we traveled and the more tired each of us got.
Once we got all checked-in and through security, we all settled in at the airport lounge before we had to board our flight. Varun was trying to finish up some last-minute work issues, but the girls were happily exploring their new toys and such, as well as enjoying free tablet time.
Then the big moment finally arrived – actually getting on the plane! The girls got settled in and got the treat of several new and familiar movies available to watch, and Varun and I tried our best to divide up parenting duties throughout the flight, even though the seats weren’t all together.
Our first stop on our trip was in Doha. I was actually really excited to see the plane and the airport for the company I had worked for over a number of years in Houston – Qatar Airways. I was working for their cargo firm when the new Doha airport was being built, so I saw all the glass in the airport before it had even arrived in Doha! It was truly a stunning airport, but we were all exhausted after the first leg of our trip. And since our layover in Doha was over twelve hours long, Varun had prebooked space in one of the lounges. We were lucky enough to find a “family room” available, which consisted of a rather large couch, a chair, a few tables, and a TV. But the most important thing was privacy – we were able to all get some much-needed rest in our own private little room for hours on end. It was a really good way to spend a few hours of our long layover. Plus, once we were all well rested and fed, we were able to take a nice warm shower and change into some clean clothes. Through past experience of these international layovers that’s really the difference between a miserable layover and a manageable one – the availability of a place to sleep, a shower, and a change of clothes!
When we finally left the comfort of the lounge, we explored more of the airport itself, which included several very fun indoor playgrounds for the girls. It was the perfect way to end our layover before we needed to board our next plane to Chennai.
Finally, after 2 long plane rides around 6-8 hours each and a 14-hour layover in Doha, we made it to Chennai, and Patti’s house!
Hanging out at Patti’s House
A lot of our trip, this time around, was just spending downtime at home with the family. The girls were excited to see their cousins and get the chance to play with them. As well as getting to watch TV, which included TV shows that they don’t get to watch here in Accra.
They actually spent a lot of time the first few days just looking out the windows on the balcony to see all the different sights that are there in Chennai. For Sara Gail, this will be the first trip that she will (hopefully) remember, since she’s already six years-old. And for Abigail, this is the first trip she’s taken to India where she’s actually aware of the new surroundings and people. It was a lot of fun to see them explore and discover things in India, and in a bigger sense, the way that their Daddy grew up – and where he grew up! And Saraswathi was just thrilled to have us all there, and to teach the girls a few things about Indian culture as well.
One of their favorite parts of being at Patti’s house was getting to ride on a motorcycle with Daddy. Now for most of you, I know you probably think it’s crazy that I allow them to get on the back of a bike. But, in our family, this is one of the compromises I have made because I trust Varun. I know that he grew up riding motorcycles all the time, he knows the road there in Chennai and how traffic works. And, most importantly he knows how to keep the girls safe. The one rule that I strictly enforced is that they had to wear a helmet – each of the girls and Varun! I did have to make concessions on this point a few times (for short trips around the block, or times that he and I were on the bike and helmets weren’t available for both of us), but, for the most part, Varun respected my concerns. So, they would take turns riding on the motorcycle with Daddy – and they begged for these rides almost every day we were at Patti’s house!
Another aspect of daily life in India that was fairly new to the girls was the food. Now, keep in mind, I do make and feed them Indian meals on a regular basis. However, the way my mother-in-law cooks the meals and the way Varun and I do differs greatly. Also, the way they eat the meals is very different. So, at home in Accra, or wherever we are living at any given time, I usually serve the girls Indian meals at night. But, in India, they have their larger, three course rice-based meal at lunch. And it did take the girls a few days to get used to this difference, having a larger meal at lunch. Secondly, at home we have a dining table and chairs and that’s where we eat our meals. We may have the odd meal in front of the TV on weekends or special occasions, but they’re still sitting at a table. In India, they eat all their meals together on the floor of the living room. Not only does it save on space in the smaller apartments available, but it makes for much easier clean up by just mopping up the floor afterwards. While you may first assume that any kid would love to eat on the floor in front of the TV, it’s a bit more complicated than that. To sit cross-legged on a tile floor for an extended period of time is not an easy ask for anyone. It took me years to get used to the practice myself, and my legs still fall asleep during meals at times. So, as frustrated as Varun and I got at times trying to get the girls to consistently eat their meals well, they were really impressive overall. They took everything in stride and did eventually learn to eat well in the Indian way. I had to, and continue to remind myself, that a lot of adults I know couldn’t easily adapt to the changes the girls had to deal with in India, so the fact that they were able to at only six and three years of age is very impressive indeed! Plus they got a few chances to eat out at restaurants too!
We also got a chance to explore the city a bit because we had gifts we wanted to get for family and friends, and there were plenty of people in town who wanted to get a chance to see us while we were there. The girls enjoyed seeing the sights and how Indians live. Of course, the first thing that struck them was that the car had the wheel on the wrong side and all the cars drove on the wrong side of the road! It’s something that I’ve now gotten used to myself, but I’d never be able to get around Chennai on my own! And a major challenge was keeping them seated during the car rides, because car seats are just not used in India. Not only are they not available, but we wouldn’t even be able to use them if we wanted to bring our own. Some of the cars Varun’s family owns don’t even have working or available seat belts in the backseat. Plus, we’d never be able to go anywhere with everyone in the same car. Just another thing I’ve had to compromise on during these trips. But at least I was able to sit with them in the back and keep them in line.
While we were out and about, the cousins had fun together, usually getting into mischievous, but it was nice to see them together.
We also saw some interesting things around town, specifically a COVID protection store. No one was really sure what its function was, but it looked like it hadn’t been in operation for a while.
I, personally, enjoyed seeing all the beautiful fabrics available. I couldn’t help but imagine all the different sewing projects I could do with all the beautiful patterns and prints!
The biggest challenge during our outings, though, was dealing with restrooms. Luckily the girls are both fully potty trained, but that also means that when they need to go, we need to find them somewhere to go! Unlike the US, or even Ghana to a certain extent, India doesn’t really provide public restrooms, or at least not at the standards we are used to. So, the girls got to experience a lot of different ways to go: hunkered down over a porcelain hole, a classic “bush wee”, as Bluey refers to them, or the lovely “This toilet is not clean, so I’m going to hold you hovering over it.” It is one thing I will truly never understand about Indian society. Every person in the world experiences bodily functions, so why not make these resources readily available – and keep them clean!?
For Varun and I, we were happy to be on vacation and back in a familiar place. He was able to make arrangements with his friends who still live in India and we had a great time catching up with them and their kids. Plus, the girls got to add a little bit more bling to their chest – Abigail was gifted a ring-bracelet combination, something that Sara Gail had gotten for Abigail’s first birthday.
Trip to Kodaikanal
During our visit to India this time, Varun’s mother and sister-in-law had arranged a trip for us to a mountain town called Kodaikanal. Since we were going to be visiting during the hottest time of the year, they thought it would be nice to go to a place in the mountains that would be cooler than the city. And the whole family came along, meaning Varun’s mother, brother, sister-in-law and their two kids. The first thing we needed to do to get there was take a night train – it was in fact an eight-hour train ride from Chennai to the closest train station to Kodaikanal. Now, Varun and I had taken a night train once before with Sara Gail when we went for her first birthday celebration. It wasn’t the easiest trip with a toddler, but we were looking forward to seeing how it would go with two young children in tow. The trains in India are of a much older style than those you’d see in Europe or other places around the world. Even though we were technically in second class, there weren’t any closed-off cabins. It was second class because they were air conditioned, and because there were “beds”. So, each seat either folded down into a flat surface, or a bunk was available right above the seat. We had two sets of four seats to ourselves, which meant we had two seats that folded down into beds, with two bunks on top of them. For the trip out, the girls were a bit nervous. Sara Gail has a problem with motion sickness, so she was worried that she might get sick during the ride, and for Abigail it was just the unknown.
They did, eventually fall asleep and slept well during the ride. Varun and I had a much harder time sleeping because the air conditioning was so strong that we were freezing for most of the trip. Normally, the train would have provided blankets and pillows, but after COVID hit they stopped running this service. We were able to buy inflatable pillows, but that was it. We had packed some warmer fleece jackets because Saraswathi warned that it might get cold up in the mountains, but they weren’t really enough for Varun and I on the train. Somehow we made it through to Madurai, the city at the bottom of the mountain we were about to climb to get to Kodaikanal. Saraswathi had arranged for a large van to be driving us for the duration of our stay and it worked out very well because it was very spacious for the nine of us.
We grabbed a quick lunch then headed onward to our final destination. I enjoyed getting to see another city within India. It reminded me a lot of Egypt and Ghana with the little shops on the side of narrow roads.
Once I saw the mountains on the horizon, I was in heaven! It was wonderful to be in a mountain range again – it felt like being back home in New Hampshire. No matter where I live or visit in this world, I will always feel most at home and happiest surrounded by mountains!
It was still a two-hour drive up the mountain to Kodaikanal, so the girls got some more rest on the way up. For me, it was quite a harrowing journey. The road up the mountain was a very narrow one, with a lot of sharp turns. I didn’t feel the side of the road was very well protected and there were quite a few sudden drop offs. The driver was also driving a lot faster than I felt he needed to and passed cars when I didn’t think it was necessary. Plus, it was all on the wrong side of the road (at least from my point of view). Varun told me that the roads are in much better condition than when he was younger. Apparently when he visited as a kid, they were dirt roads, not even paved, and there were no barriers to speak of! Needless to say, I would never have done the journey when he had!
We did get some gorgeous views on the way up the mountain and saw some of the local wildlife. There was even a waterfall where we stopped to take some nice pictures and eat some delicious local snacks!
Visit to Kodaikanal
After a long, winding trip up the mountain, we finally made it to Kodaikanal. I thought it was a beautiful, quaint town. In most places, it was literally tucked into the mountain with houses and other buildings on every ledge available. And, as with every other city I’ve seen in India so far, the local residents ranged from people to farm animals just roaming the streets. And there’s even a little lake in town!
The first thing we did was go to our hotel to freshen up after our long trip. It was a fairly nice hotel, as far as Indian standards are concerned. The bathroom was typical of any Indian household, in that the shower was not a separate space but just a nozzle on the wall. The girls and I, and even Varun, aren’t big fans of having constantly wet bathroom floors, but at least they were clean.
After freshening up, we went out to see what we could do in town before evening fell. Since there is a lake, a popular activity is pedal boats. Each family grabbed one, but in ours, Varun had to pedal with Sara Gail in the back, to make sure the boat stayed balanced. Varun’s poor niece ended up throwing up right before boarding their boat, but our girls really enjoyed it. The ice cream vendors even set up shop along the banks, so we pedaled up to one and each got to enjoy an ice cream while riding along on the lake.
The girls were also excited because there were horses along the sides of the road for riding. So, once we were done on the lake, they each took a quick ride on horseback. I even got to ride along with Abigail.
On the way back to the hotel that evening I snapped a picture of a local map of the town.
The next day we were off to see more of the local sights. Varun’s sister-in-law wasn’t feeling well, and neither was his niece, so they and Saraswathi stayed back at the hotel to rest. But his brother, nephew, the girls, Varun and I all went out to explore more of the tourist sites available around town. I still enjoyed seeing all the houses tucked into the sides of the mountain. The girls were really enjoying the trip too.
A lot of the places that we stopped were mountain view spots. The views were gorgeous!
Next, we found a public rose garden. The amount of plants and the variety that we got to see was amazing! And there were so many plants and flowers that I recognized from back home in West Milan. Since the climate is similar, it must be easy for them to grow there. They had my mom’s favorite, hydrangea, which is locally called the idly flower because it resembles the steamed rice cakes called idly. There was even a weed native to West Milan among the plants. I remember tying them together to make crowns and necklaces as a little girl. The girls weren’t as excited about all the plants, but it did give them a chance to run around in the cool mountain air.
The kids even found a little playground at the garden. Of course, wherever there is something to climb on, my girls, especially Sara Gail, will find it!
After the rose garden, we made our way to another mountain view site. At this point, we were so high up that really all we could see were clouds. But it wasn’t just that we saw clouds, the clouds were moving through the mountain and over everyone at the view site. It was really neat to get to show the girls how the clouds move, and to feel the cold air as they rolled by.
The next site was really beautiful too. We were supposed to be seeing a cave, but the entrance was so unsafe that it was blocked off. What we did get to see was a valley surrounded by tall trees whose roots were everywhere. It was actually really eerie to see, I felt like I was walking into the Forbidden Forest – and was waiting to catch a glimpse of Aragog! The kids had a lot of fun climbing all over the roots, and it was nice to be in the shade of the trees for a bit. I always feel very comfortable and happy in the wilderness too, I really don’t get enough of it at home in Accra, and certainly not when I’m visiting Chennai.
After leaving the woods, we decided to stop at one of the many stalls lined up along the road to have some tea, and we gave the kids some lollipops as well. Then, as usual at an inopportune time and location, Abigail had to use the restroom. So, Varun took her back across the street to the restroom at the last site, which was a pay-to-use washroom and not the cleanest. On the way back to us, poor little Abigail and Varun got swindled by a couple of monkeys! They are always hanging by these sites to get whatever food and goodies they can get from the tourists. So, Varun and Abigail ended up being tag-teamed by two different monkeys! The first one showed up on Varun’s left side, and while he was trying to shoo that one away, another one snuck up on Abigail’s right and grabbed the lollipop right out of her hand! The second monkey showed up so quickly, Varun didn’t even have time to pick Abigail up. He just swung her around by the wrist and hurried away as soon as he could. It was one of those things that was almost terrifying to watch, but really funny to think about after everyone came out of it ok. Of course, we had to buy Abigail a replacement lollipop and she held on to it tight! Varun then told us that at the last site he had a couple monkeys following him as he took a bag of popcorn back to the van. The van driver came running up to Varun to warn him to throw some on the ground as the monkeys began to hiss and get aggressive. The monkeys up in the mountain tourist sites can be dangerous it seems, so Abigail was lucky. But, after that, the girls were angry every time they spotted another monkey, and Varun kept, and took along with him at each spot, a very large stick.
It was getting close to lunch time at that point of the day, and the kids were getting hungry and restless, so we decided to just drive by the local golf course and the last viewpoint. As you can tell by the former name of the site, it was quite a view, but being afraid of heights myself, I wasn’t disappointed to have missed out on it.
For lunch we treated the kids to some western-style food: pizza! Funnily enough, Dominos has made its way to India. I always find it funny to see Dominos all over the world, especially knowing that the franchise started in the town of our alma mater: Ann Arbor, Michigan!
After lunch we quickly went back to the hotel because my sister-in-law and her daughter were feeling better and were ready to come join us to see the town. So, we spent the evening exploring a local playground and street market. The girls absolutely love the bee-bee gun rifle game!
The next day we stopped by a temple, mostly for his mother’s sake. I didn’t take any pictures of the temple itself, I was too busy trying to explain the temple to the girls, and to be respectful of the people who were there for worship. The site of the temple provided another beautiful view of the mountain town we were visiting.
After the temple, and quite a bit of time and money spent at a nearby giftshop, we were all feeling hungry and ready for lunchtime. Since all nine of us were together this day, we decided to stop at a local restaurant to get an authentic Indian meal for lunch. Throughout our whole trip, the girls, had been, and were doing really well in terms of eating out at restaurants. Without fail, the restaurants would have one of their favorite dishes: idly, dosai, or chapati. As for me, I like to have a full course Indian meal when we’re out for lunch. This includes a number of courses and must be eaten off a banana leaf. Mine was absolutely delicious, with only the pickle course left untouched. I’ve had a lot of different Indian meals, and I’m very open to trying new things, but the Indian pickles are just something I don’t have any appetite for.
After a delicious and filling lunch, we were on to see more of the views that Saraswathi and my sister-in-law had missed out on the previous day. Now, since the roads even between the various tourist spots were very twisty and turny, we knew we had to give Sara Gail some anti-vomiting medication so she wouldn’t get car sick. But, for what wasn’t the first time, we had forgotten about Abigail. So, at one point Abigail just couldn’t keep it in anymore. We had to stop for a “bush wee,” that had mostly missed the ground and only landed on her skirt and Varun’s shoes. Then, she really got sick, all over Varun’s lap. I had forgotten to bring a change of clothes for the girls, but my sister-in-law was prepared and had some clothes that barely fit Abigail. Poor Varun had to suffer in his undershirt and shorts after we hastily tried to rinse off his and Abigail’s clothes.
Once the fiasco with the clothes was dealt with, and Abigail given some proper motion sickness medication, we were on the road to see one last mountain viewpoint. And I have to admit, it was a spectacular view.
On our way back into town, we were finally able to do the one activity I had been looking forward to most: biking! When I was younger, my family and I would take road trips just to ride on beautiful biking trails in nearby Canada and they were always so much fun. This time around, in India, it was a bit more complicated. Firstly, there was no separate trail, we just had to ride on the main roads and avoid all the car, motorcycle, and animal traffic in the area. Secondly, since that was the case, we didn’t want either of the girls riding on their own separate bikes. So, they had a basket to put on the front of a single bike that Abigail was just barely able to fit in, and Varun took her on his bike. Sara Gail and I shared a tandem bike with her in the back, not really contributing to the pedaling work since she was just a bit too short. We rode all the way around the lake which was a lot of fun and plenty of exercise! There were so many different strands, or fingers, of the lake and around each bend I kept thinking that we were almost finished until another bend snuck up on me! I did really enjoy the fresh air and exercise, and the girls had fun too, even if Abigail was a little nervous to begin with.
We ended the night at a local arcade where the kids had a lot of fun. The grownups even took the chance to play a couple of games. I tried my hand at archery and failed miserably. Varun even tried to get a prize for the girls. I didn’t realize at the time that all he needed to do was hang there for two minutes. He insisted he could have done it, if I hadn’t asked him to do all those pull ups.
With that evening of fun at the arcade, we finished our last full day in Kodaikanal, which also happened to be the last day of the month. So, here’s where I’ll end my post for this month. Come back next month to read about the housewarming ceremony we performed back in Chennai, the end of our trip, and settling back into life in Accra during May 2022.
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