Thank You

Dear Daughter,

Sometimes people tell Papa that he says "Thank You" too often. I know that I have asked you to learn this common courtesy as well, which is what it is, a common courtesy.

However, it is also important to know the difference between needing to do something and wanting to do it. When people say, "you don't need to say "Thank You'" I respond with the fact that I want to.

You will, unfortunately see, My Daughter, that there is a great deal of bad things in this world. What we can do, though, is to make those small differences, when we can. One of those, I believe, is to say those two simple words when we feel like it, merely "Thank You."

You bring me great Joy in my life, so, "Thank You."

I Love You,

Papa

Take The Long Way Home

Dear Daughter,

As you are well aware, your Papa is a bit odd.

Today you asked me why we were going yet a different way home from school on the bike. Good question.

Papa told you that it is good to take different ways, even if you are going to and from the same place because you can always see something new, and you are aware of the journey. Today, Papa walked the bike the whole way while you sat on the back and we talked the entire trip home. So, sometimes it is also good to walk, even when you can ride.

Besides, we walked by the movie store and you got to get a movie and some ice cream for us to share when we got back to the English House, so, it was worth taking a different way today.

I Love you,

Papa

Love Is...

Dear Daughter,

There is a saying about Love that people like to quote, saying that Love is “never having to say you’re sorry.”

Well, as you know, your Papa likes to think about things and often has different views from other people, and this is no exception.

I believe, instead, that “Love is being able to say you’re sorry.”

You know how Papa always says that there are two ways to say sorry. One means that “I’m sorry that happened, but I didn’t do anything.” The other is when we have done something that hurts another and we can simply say, “I’m sorry.” Both are important in our lives, and the ability to say you’re sorry when you know that something is wrong is not a weakness, but one of the greatest strengths you can ever possess.

I Love You,

Papa

Taking Turns

Dear Daughter,

Tonight we made a wonderful drawing together.

It is always special to do something together, especially when you can work as a team. Tonight we took turns drawing and in the end, a full picture came forward from the individual pieces. Although the whole picture was nice, the details that we each added made it special.

Remember that lots of pieces go together to make a whole and it is important to not forget those pieces once the work is done.

I Love You,

Papa

The Ties that Bind

Dear Daughter,

Papa missed you this weekend.

But, as we talked about the other day, even when you and Papa are apart, there is a special Papa-Daughter bond that cannot be broken.

Always remember, that even when you are away, that Papa is always with you in your heart and that you are always with Papa.

I Love You,

Papa

My Sweet, Sweet Nothing

Dear Daughter,

And then, there are days, when it is fine just to do No-thing...

I Love You,

Papa

Eat What the People Give You

Dear Daughter,

The other day, when Papa made dinner, you said that we should "Eat what the people give you" because we had just been talking about the poor in India.

I told you that this is what the Buddha had said too.

Sometimes, when we think simple thoughts, they are the most profound.

Indeed, we should eat what the people give us. Thank you for reminding Papa.

I Love You,

Papa

Back to the Market, Nearly

Dear Daughter,

Papa is back, and is overjoyed to be together with you again.

We have already done a lot together. We have been swimming a couple of times, cooked at the English House, gone to the playground, and of course, ate sour sticks together.

We did try to go to the Market on Thursday, but they were already closing up for the day, so we ate lunch together at one of our favorite cafes. Papa missed going to the market, but sometimes we have to be patient and wait. Next week the Market will be back, and I can go while you are in school and get us our fruit, cheese, and flowers for the English House.

So, as you said when we came up to the Market, “Well, Papa, we can’t ask for anything today, they are closing up. But, we can come back next week.” Indeed, we can.

I Love You,

Papa

A Father's Gift to His Daughter

Dear Daughter,

In a couple of days, Papa will be back home.

This has been a long Time away from you, and I have thought of you every day. I kept this blog for you so that you would know how much I thought about you and so that you could share for the time being the things that I will share in person with you when I return to Belgium.

Sometimes in life, we need to be away from what is familiar in order to become more familiar with ourselves. Sometimes we have to be away from what is closest to us to find out what that really is. That sounds like funny “Papa Talk,” but it is true, and it is something that you may find to be very important in your own life one day.

I hope that when I am back, we can go through these blogs together and I can tell you all about the stories in detail, and that at night, before you go to bed, we can do many, many “Buglette Chronicles” with pictures and stories about what Papa did in India and what you have been doing in Belgium.

And, we will eat sour sticks together again.

I Love you,

Papa

Papa Drives a Tuk-Tuk

Dear Daughter,

It was good to talk to you yesterday and hear about your good Halloween experience. Here in Indian they don't celebrate Halloween much, but it has been Diwali for the past week and that is a very special holiday in India, filled with colors, lights, and fireworks and many costumes as well.

Today, Papa went to see where the Buddha began his teachings in a place called the Mirgadava, which means the Deer Park, because there used to be many deer here when the Buddha was alive.

On the way back, Hapiz, my Tuk-Tuk driver (the call the rickshaws that here, remember Tak-Tak in Madurai?), asked if I wanted to drive the Tuk-Tuk! Of course, you know Papa, and I said yes. So, on one of the back roads, he let me drive, though he kept his foot on the brake pedal, just in case. It was quite fun and many people were staring at me, but we just smiled back at them.

I Love You,

Papa

A Different Kind of Cow

Dear Daughter,

Like the rickshaws, there are different kinds of cows in India as well. I have seen a different kind here in the North that I did not see in the South. Although they look like Cape Buffaloes, they are not, because the Cape Buffalo can be quite mean when it is not feeling well. These cows are very docile like the ones in Madurai.

It will be weird not to see cows walking in the streets every day, just as it would be funny for you to see one walking down the street in Antwerp!

Here are a couple of pictures of the urban cows I saw near the Taj Mahal in Agra.

I Love You,

Papa

Rickshaws of a Different Color

Dear Daughter,

Papa was in Kerala the other day, which is the state next to Tamil Nadu. In India, each of the states have different colored rickshaws. If you remember, the pictures I sent of ones in Tamil Nadu, they are mostly yellow. In Kerala, they are mostly black like the ones below. Right now, I am in Uttar Pradesh and the rickshaws here are green and yellow. So, if you are ever lost, just check to see what color the rickshaws are!

I Love You,

Papa

The Flying Bishop

Dear Daughter,

This past weekend we finished filming our movie.

In one of the scenes, I had to be carried in a chair because the character of the Bishop that I am playing was too sick to walk.

But, here is Papa acting silly as the Flying Bishop.

I hope this makes you laugh.

I love you,

Doing my best Leonard DiCaprio

Papa

Touching the Feet

Dear Daughter,

One of the things in India that is different from Belgium and America is that here, people will touch the feet of elders and respected people as a sign of humility and respect. Just like parents will touch the feet of their child out of love and wonder, I know I did with your feet!  Although this is more of a trait in Northern India where I soon will be, in the South, they revere the feet of the statues as well.

In the Meenakshi Temple, there are many statues with flowers and fruit placed at their feet as signs of reverence and devotion. Also, people in the Temple will smear colored paste on the feet as well as a symbol of purification, or pooja.

Here is a picture of a statue with three figures, all of them with their feet adorned with flowers and colors. Isn't it beautiful?

I Love You,

Papa

Saying Good-Bye and Hello

Dear Daughter,

Papa saw the picture of you and the chalk calendar that you made to mark the days until I come back to Belgium and see you!

I am very excited to tell you all about the things that I have done, the people that I have met, and the places I have seen.

India is an amazing place in so many ways, and I know that we will have many, many hours together to talk about all of these things.

I was sad to begin saying good-bye to my friends and students here, but when we say good-bye, it usually means that we next get to say "hello" to someone else. So, although I will be saying "good-bye" to many people, it means that each time I do it is closer to saying "hello" again to you!

Papa loves you very much, and will also be counting the days now.

I Love you,

Papa

Monsoon!

Dear Daughter,

Remember the new word that Papa taught you?

Monsoon?

The Monsoon season in Tamil Nadu has finally begun with regularity. Usually this area gets the rains in late September, but this year, the Monsoons came late.

The Monsoon is a daily, heavy rain that lasts for many weeks, filling up the lakes and rivers and rice paddies all around the area.

When we were filming this weekend in a small village, the monsoon hit for the first time this year there. All of the village children came running out into the large dirt courtyard in front of the church we were filming in and played in the rain. They were all very happy and did not care that they were soaking wet. It was a wonderful sight to see them all playing and laughing in the rain.

Here is a picture that my friend Handel took of them playing after it had stopped raining.

Photo by Handel Reginald

Because of all of the rains, there are millions and millions of palm trees and banana trees all over! My friend Handel told me that there are over 400 kinds of bananas in India, can you believe that?

I Love You,

Papa

PS Here is a picture of all of the kids who were watching me get my make-up done for the movie! I have quite an entourage. 

Photo by Handel Reginald

Indian Kings and Palaces

Dear Daughter,

Papa went to the Palace here in Madurai called the Thirumalai Nayak Palace. Thirumalai was a king who lived here over four hundred years ago and this was his palace. His family dynasty was the Nayaks and they ruled Madurai and the area around here for two hundred years.

Thirumalai was said to be a very good king and he loved music and Sanskrit poetry and would have music every night in his courtyard.

Also, the Temple that Papa has gone to several times and I have sent you pictures was the center of town and Thirumalai made sure that it was really special. You know how you are learning about castles and dragons in school? Well, they built a really big moat all around the Temple so that if you could see it from above, it would look like a giant lotus flower in the middle of a pond. Isn’t that cool?

Later, the moats were filled in by the British who were in India for a while, so you cannot see them any longer.

However, the four streets around the Temple are stilled called “velis,” which means a moat or watery place in Tamil to remind everyone what they once were.

Here are a few pictures of what the palace looked like at night with the special lights on it. It was very beautiful.

I Love You,

Papa

Strange Creatures

Dear Daughter,

Papa went back to the Meenakshi Temple again last night with some friends and each time I go, I see more and more fabulous things.

I saw the elephant again and there were several musicians and lights and incense and chanting and many people there to pay devotion to the gods.

I found this column that is a popular creature in Tamil Nadu. It is something like a mix of a lion, dragon and an elephant! You can see the trunk, but it is standing on its hind legs that look like a lion.

What do you think it is??

I Love You,

Papa

A Night of A Hundred Sitars

Dear Daughter,

Last Friday, Papa went to the Meenakshi temple and there were musicians there inside the temple with over 100 sitars! The sitar is a stringed instrument like our guitars, but you play them sitting down and across your lap. There were also some Tabla players, which are the small, Indian drums that you like to listen to. It was an amazing experience.

Here are some pictures, and when I get back, I will show you the videos I made so that you can also hear them!

I love you,

Papa

Ganesha and his Friends

Dear Daughter,

Papa went back to the Meenakshi Temple on Friday evening in Madurai to see the lights for the Pooja celebration.

It was very colorful and there were many, many lights all around the temple with lots of music and flowers and incense, so it was a very beautiful evening.

I saw this set of lights with Ganesha and his little friends and thought that you would like to see them.

I love you,

Papa

Elephant Tales

Dear Daughter,

Papa went to Kerala this week for a school trip and he saw lots of things there.

While we were driving one night, guess what we saw? Elephants again, this time on the side of the road. There were three big elephants and they were carrying an entire palm tree in each of their trunks, can you believe that? For every elephant, there was a man riding on top and one walking with alongside to keep them off of the road.

But, what was really funny is that each one of the elephants had reflective tape on their tails so that the cars could see them. And, they all had huge ankle bracelets with bells on them so we could hear them too. So, even the elephants need help being seen even though they are so big.

I love you,

Papa

Happy Birthday, Gandhi

Dear Daughter,

Today is the birthday of a very important and courageous man named Gandhi. He is considered the father of India and his birthday was celebrated all over India today.

Gandhi believed in something from Sanskrit called ahimsã, which means non-violence. Gandhi believed that it was wrong to hurt any creature with violence. This is also true of people who try to follow the example of the Buddha as well who thought it was wrong to harm any creature.

Gandhi wanted India to be independent from Britain, but did not want there to be a war, so he started a movement based on non-violence called "Quit India" so that India would be governed by the Indians again. Because of Gandhi, India showed the world that war is not always the answer.

Today is known as International Non-Violence because of him. He proved that we can solve our differences, no matter how big they are peacefully if we really try. He was a model for all of us to try and follow I believe.

I love you,

Papa

Celebrating Pooja

Dear Daughter,

There is a big Hindu holiday beginning this week in India called Pooja. Hinduism is the dominant religion in Indian and has many, many gods, including Ganesha and Shiva that I have told you about. Pooja is a purification celebration and one of the main goddesses whom is highlighted here is Saraswati, or the goddess of wisdom.

When I was at Tamil class yesterday, Pandian, my teacher, asked if I wanted to see how some people celebrate Pooja. He said that many people put up a collection of “dolls” on display.

We went next door to his neighbor’s house and I was expecting a dozen or so “dolls” in the images of the gods and goddesses, but there were nearly 1,000 of them! The entire front room had been transformed into a shrine to display the dolls with Christmas-type lights, flower garlands, and incense to add to the scene. It was amazing and so colorful.

Unfortunately Papa did not have his camera, so I hope that they will still be up when I go back for my lesson next week and I can take a picture for you. The little old lady whose house it was has been collecting these dolls all her life from around India, so she is like grandma who also like to collect things like Kachina dolls and sculptures.

I love you,

Papa

Kids!

Dear Daughter,

Papa had to pretend that he was a preacher this week for the film that we are making and had to deliver a sermon in Tamil in a church!

There were many children at the church to be in the film and they were all very sweet. Here are some pictures of them. I showed them my pictures of you too and they were all very happy to see them.

I Love You!
Papa

Action!

Dear Daughter,

I was so happy to talk to you last night and hear about your school projects with the Dinosaurs!

We will have so much to talk about when I am back.

Papa has to go tomorrow again to be in the film about Bishop Sargent that I sent you pictures about. I won't be riding a horse, but you never know what can happen with the movies, especially in India.

I will be sending you more pictures about the filming, but may be away for a day, so I just wanted to let you know that Papa loves you.

Papa

PS I saw the tiniest little frog who must have come out today after our big Thunderstorm. And, I remembered what you told me that I shouldn't be scared during thunderstorms because the rain is necessary and you are right. 

The Silly Little Goat

Dear Daughter,

Papa went to Chennai this weekend, which is a very, very big city in Tamil Nadu and is the capital of the region.

Papa saw a Cricket match between the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings. Cricket is a game similar to baseball and is very popular in India. Several of the best players in the world are Indians and I got to see them play. Unfortunately cameras were not allowed in the stadium so I will have to tell you about it in person.

Also, I went to a place called Mahabalipuram, which is famous for huge stone carvings. It was really neat to see. There were life-size elephants and temples carved out of a single stone! And, there was a huge boulder called "Krishna's Butterball," because Krishna was rumored to always be stealing his mother's butter. He was a bit naughty at times. How do you think it got there?

Do you remember walking around Bandelier in New Mexico with Papa and we climbed into all of those caves on the ladders? This was similar to that at times, so you would have liked this.

When I was walking around, I saw this little goat who was a bit confused. He wanted to join the other animals, but they were all stone sculptures! Silly little goat.

I love you,
Papa

Papa Rides Again

Dear Daughter,

For the past two days, Papa was working on a film here in India. We will be working on this for a couple of weeks in addition to Papa still teaching English, so I will be quite busy!

I have to act like I am Edward Sargent who was a respected man in Tamil Nadu for promoting education and was involved with the church here. In India there are many religions, including Christianity, which is what he believed in. It is important for us to learn about the many different religions in the world to help us understand each other better.

Mr. Sargent used to ride a horse wherever he went because there were no cars, nor Tak-Taks when he lived in India over 100 years ago. So, Papa had to be filmed riding a horse through a banana grove. Here are some pictures of me on the horse! The Tamil word for horse is “kuthirai.”

I love you,

Papa

Indian Movie Star

Dear Daughter,

Guess what?

Papa is going to be in a movie here! I will be playing the lead part in a documentary of Edward Sargent, who was a bishop here in southern India over 100 years ago. He was very instrumental in promoting education and set up one of the first boarding schools for girls here and is greatly respected by the people of Tamil Nadu, they even wrote a song about him. So, Papa may be a mini movie star in Tamil Nadu. I will be going to the coast of India again tomorrow to shoot some scenes and, some of them will be in Tamil too.

It was wonderful to talk to you last night. Do you remember the Tamil words I taught you on the phone? 

I love you,

Papa

Indian Sopaipillas

Dear Daughter,

Tonight, Papa had Indian sopaipillas for dinner! Here, they are called pani, but they are just as delicious. We had a green chili and onion stew to put on top of them, which you then mix together and eat with your fingers like a taco. It was very good and reminded me of New Mexico and the sopaipillas that you and Papa ate there. But, here, they don't eat them for dessert with honey like we did in New Mexico, but we did have fresh pineapple for dessert. So, maybe I will teach them how to eat them with honey here and when you and Papa go back to New Mexico, we can try to eat them like they do in India!

I love you,

Papa

Blessed by an Elephant

Dear Daughter,

Last evening, Papa went to the Meenakshi Temple here in Madurai. It is a very large complex of hallways and buildings, filled with amazing statues, paintings, and even an elephant! There were many families there and lots of candles and incense burning as well as chanting and music. The elephant lives in the temple complex and was giving "blessings" to many of the people there. They would bow down and she would touch them on the forehead with her trunk to bless them. It was a wonderful experience.

I love you,

What I Learned in School Today

Dear Daughter,

Today at the school assembly, Papa had to speak in front of the entire school and there are about 2,000 students here, so it was a really big auditorium!

I talked about four important words in the school song, and they are Sanskrit: satya, karuna, dharma, chintana. I talked about how if you can learn lessons from these four words, then your education has been worth the while.

Satya means Truth, both looking for the truth and to be honest.
Karuna means Compassion, which means to care for all living beings as much as we are able to do so. It was something that was very important for the Buddha.
Dharma means our Duty, or those things that we need to do to be part of a community that helps each other.
Chintana means being Mindful of what you do and to not be careless.

Papa thought that these were very important words and was happy to see that they were in the School Song. If we can learn those four things, and adults can learn them to, then our world will be a better place.

I Love You,
Papa

Coming Home from School in Madurai

Dear Daughter,

One of Papa's favorite things to do in the day is to take you to school on the bike in Antwerp as many of the parents do there. Here in Madurai, however, many of the children go by bus, Tak-Tak or on the motorcycles or scooters with their parents. Here are three little girls who were waiting for their brothers to come out of school and they all left in the Tak-Tak together. I bet you would love to ride in one of these to school!
I Love You,
Papa

Ganesha's Rat

Dear Daughter,
Yesterday on the phone, you were telling me about how you saw a program on television that showed Ganesha and his rats in a temple! Yes, Ganesha has a traveling companion, Mooshika, who is a rat and is often seen with him in statues as well. In Tamil, Ganesha is sometimes called Pillaiyar, which means a special young child, because Ganesha is often shown when he is young. Here is a Ganesha statue in Madurai that Papa goes by every day in the Tak-Tak when he goes to teach English to the children at the school. I have shown a close-up where you can see Mooshika near Ganesha's foot, and look at what his belt is: a giant King Cobra!
I Love you,
Papa

PS Papa and a few other teachers played the big students in volleyball today. Guess what? The teachers won! Here is a picture of some of my students wishing me good luck before the game. It was a very exciting day.

Learning about Others

Dear Daughter,

Today at school, the students put on a performance for a Teacher Appreciation Day in the auditorium. They had various dances and songs and a couple of speeches. Papa did not have his camera today unfortunately, so I can just tell you about it. One of the classes had been learning about Poland, so they had on Polish costumes and danced to Polish music. This may sound strange to see in India, but it was like when your class was learning about the Indianen from America, and you had a dance too. Do you remember? They were called Indians because the people from Europe who first saw them thought that they had landed in India, and did not know it was a whole other world! Now, when we go to New Mexico, and see them there, they are called Native Americans because they were the first people to live in America.

Papa will be sure to have his camera with him every day from now on. There are always surprises here.

I love you,
Papa

Helping Others

Dear Daughter,
Today, when Papa was coming home from teaching, Rama, the Tak-Tak driver saw another Tak-Tak driver who needed help. It was on a very busy bridge with lots of traffic, but Rama stopped and helped the man get out of danger from being hit. Although we cannot always help others, we we can, it is a great gift to give aid to someone who needs it.
I Love You,
Papa

Footprints in the Sand

Dear Daughter,

Yesterday, Papa went on a road trip to coast of India. There is a peninsula (something that is like an island, but not quite) that juts out into the water and has the Bay of Bengal on one side and the Indian Ocean on the other. The water was beautiful and Papa wished that he had had his swimsuit to go into waves. This is the closet point in India to Sri Lanka, which is an island where they also speak Tamil, and Telugu. Aunt Rebecca went there several years ago and she has a picture of her sitting on an elephant’s trunk! Do you remember that picture? Papa did see one elephant yesterday, but it was inside the temple!

I Love You,

Papa

Respect

Respect

Dear Daughter,

Yesterday evening, guess what? Papa saw his first Indian snake! I was at my Tamil teacher’s house and there was a big thunderstorm coming, and all of the birds in the garden were twittering and calling to each other. Maybe they were telling each other about the snake, what do you think? The snake was black and a bit over a meter long, so it was not quite as tall as you are, but was still a pretty big snake, slithering along the top of the garden wall.

Snakes are also very important creatures in India and are called Nagas in Sanskrit. There are many stories about them and sculptures all over India.

Once, a huge King Cobra, one of the Nagini, spread its hood and sheltered the Buddha from a thunderstorm while he was in deep meditation under a tree. Also, one of Papa’s favorite stories as a child was Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, which is about a mongoose who protects his human family from two big, mean cobras, Nag and Nagaina. So, like many other things in life, sometimes snakes can be good for people and other times dangerous. We must always respect their power and be careful with them.

I Love You,

Papa

Kids Will Be Kids

Dear Daughter,

Here is a picture of one of Papa's classes from today. The children are very excited about learning English as you can see. This is class 7C and they are a lot of fun. Today they all wanted me to sign my autograph in their lessons' plan book. Papa felt like a rock star!
I Love You,

Papa

Even The Dogs Speak Tamil

Dear Daughter,

Here is a picture of Rosie, she is the family dog here at the home that I living in. And, guess what? She speaks Tamil too! Just like Tigger understands Flemish in Hasselt, Grey Pet, Squeaky, and Tigger in Amarillo understand English, Rosie can understand Tamil. Also, she eats rice and Indian food, isn’t that funny? In Italy, the kitties eat pasta there too. So, just like us, animals can be foreigners too. When Papa was teaching about “Nouns” being a “Person, Place, or Thing” (Remember Schoolhouse Rock?) in my school, the children were very concerned that there was not a separate division for animals because they don’t think that they are just things. So, here in Madurai, a “Noun” is now a “Person, Place, or Thing, or Animal.”

I love you,

Papa

Yoga at School

Dear Daughter,
This weekend was "Sports Day" for the school that I teach at. However, it was quite different than Sports Days in America and Belgium. The school was divided up into the four ancient royal families of Tamil Nadu: the Cholas, Pandyas, Chera, and Pallava, each with their own colors. Each of the groups had a presentation on Nature and Mother Earth in between special demonstrations of Yoga, Gymnastics, and Karate in addition to some foot races that many of the students also ran barefoot. Here are some pictures of the Yoga Club's demonstrations. Do you recognize the children doing Vrkasana, the Tree Pose?

Happy Teachers' Day

Dear Daughter,

Papa got a nice surprise at school today. Today in India it was national "Teachers' Day" in honor of one of India's former prime minister's father. The son wanted to create a holiday in honor of his father, but the father replied, "I am a teacher, so honor all teachers instead of just me." So today, several of the kids had treats for the teachers and they all wished me a "Happy Teacher's Day," and when Papa went to his Tamil class, I got to thank my teacher too! So, remember to thank your teachers too in Belgium.
I love you,
Papa

We Do What We Can

Dear Daughter,

I just talked to you on the phone and it was great to hear your voice. I told you about the little boys on my street who are going to teach me how to play “Cricket,” because they often play it on our street. You asked me why they played in the streets, and I told you it was because sometimes we just have to do what we can with what we have. There are not many playgrounds here in Madurai, so many of the children play games in the less busy streets like ours. So, remember, sometimes we do just have to do what we can in our lives with what we have.

I Love You, Papa

PS Here is a picture of them playing this morning. The little mud ball with the three sticks stuck in it is called the “wicket.” 

Thanksgiving with the Indians

Dear Daughter,

Today at Pradeep’s house, we celebrated Onam, which is the Indian Thanksgiving Day for the Harvest. It is celebrated the whole week here, and specifically in Kerala, which is where Pradeep’s wife is from. Several people from their families came over today and there were about seven people cooking today. The house smelled incredible! Because Onam is the celebration of the Harvest, all of the dishes were made with special autumn vegetables and we ate on Banana Leaves! It was one of the best dinners Papa has ever eaten. My favorite was roasted green chiles, mixed with eggplant, onions, and spices. It was phenomenal. Maybe Papa will make it when we celebrate our Thanksgiving in November.

I Love you, Papa

Here is what my "plate" looked like. 

Indian Bevo

Dear Daughter,
Remember Bevo from Austin? Indian has a very special bull named Nandi. He is the bull who carries Shiva, the dancing God that Papa told you about. At the temple where people go to pay their devotion to Shiva, there is also a statue of Nandi because they feel that it is necessary to see Nandi before they see the sculptures of Shiva inside the temple.

Here is Nandi from Madurai. He has been painted very beautifully, hasn't he?

Love, Papa