Delhi Belly

I have exciting news. Apparently I will have internet access at home tomorrow! That's right, folks! No more stealing what little signal I can get in between power blackouts... Why it's almost enough to make a girl cry! I have been writing my blog on Word and then waiting until I could get a signal so I could post it without losing the whole thing. If I get the access tomorrow, and lets face it - I am not holding my breath, I just may type it directly into my blog with a Devil may care joie de vivre! Whew, I am living on the edge!

Well since I wrote last, a few interesting things have happened. On Friday, our Branch President and his wife invited us out to dinner and a movie. It was at a theater way out of town so it took us quite awhile to get there. Once we did, we only had a few minutes for dinner so we ended up going to McDonalds (which delivers here, by the way). Imagine McDonalds with no beef. I know, I know. That is crazy talk. But I have seen it. The legends are true. They have what is called the Maharajah burger here. It is the closest thing to a Big Mac on the menu so of course that is what Nathan got. They also have curry and paneer which is a cottage cheese that many vegetarians use to replace meat. While this all was new, the fries tasted the same so it was all good. The best part of the meal was, though, the chocolate shake. It was perfect. Cold and thick and chocolatety the way that milkshakes are supposed to be. I have had dreams about that shake ever since.

Going to the movies in India is quite the experience. First of all, you have to walk through a metal detector and then get searched. This is fairly common here as terrorism is a real problem but I'm pretty sure that the security guard got to second base with me. Fortunately it was a woman! Once we got through that and I had stopped crying (fully clothed in a running shower - thank-you Lifetime TV!) we went to our assigned seats. Now there is a message at the beginning reminding people to please be quiet during the film to not disturb others. I don't know why they bother because people talked during the whole thing. They even yelled across the room to each other. Thay also reacted in ways that were unfamiliar. For example, we saw Spiderman 3 and there is a point were Toby Maguire starts crying. At this point the audience erupts into laughter! These are some cold people. Then suddenly, at no real particular point in the film, the movie stops and there is an intermission! I hope they have Icees! You know, the movie was pretty good, but the experience of my first movie in India will be what I really will remember.

Friday was another milestone. After setting five different appointments with them in vain, we got finally got satellite tv. This means that I can now watch horrible American tv here too! Actually we get some great stuff - CNN, BBC, Amazing Race, Oprah, Tonight Show, and (as I learned this weekend) enough English football to kill a cow. That's right folks, I got to see part, if not all, of the Manchester United game, Chelsea, Fulham, Wigan, the list goes on and on. Of course, I also got to watch Megan's favorite movie - Dante's Peak (Paul, this is Harry, Larry, Terry, Mary, Carey, Barry, Fairy, Gary, Jerry, Perry, and Xarry). Why all the television viewing? Because Nathan and I came down with Delhi Belly this weekend - or as I like to call it, Bethany Jones's Quick Weight Loss in a Third World Country plan. You've seen it work before folks, nothing says she can't do it again. Let's just say that we were very grateful that we have two bathrooms. We busted out the Immodium and the antibiotics that the health center gave us before leaving, so hopefully we will be okay. One FANTASTIC thing that I saw on TV this weekend? The informercial for the Magic Bullet in Hindi! That's right, now I can watch it here too!

Church was really good. We have found that some of the things we were told about Indian people are just not true, at least in the North. For example, we were told not to cross our legs. Everyone does. We were told that Indians are not touchy people. Now, we have been told that holding hands in public is alright, but nothing else (thank you Richard Gere for teaching us that lesson!). What is interesting is that men hold hands here as friends. It was a bit disarming at first, but okay. Yesterday, though, a woman shook my hand and didn't let go of it. She looked at me apologetically and said "No English". Is said "Tee Kay (Their version of ok), no Hindi!". She thought that was about the funniest thing she ever heard! I'm a regular Jerry Lewis around here! Then another woman had here arm around me thoughout the entire Relief Society lesson. It's been a pleasant surprise to find that not everything we heard before coming is true - at least in Delhi.

Pardon me to any people who are reading this who are not members of our church but I am going to talk a little church talk. Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting and it was really quite moving. Every testimony was about how much the members want a temple in India. Only a few members have been able to afford the trip to Hong Kong to receive their endowments and to be sealed and so there were some who spoke about saving their money for five years to make the trip. Then one sister stood in RS and talked about how a woman who used to live in Delhi but returned to the States has invited her to come to Utah to go to the temple there. She said, "If anyone has a list of names that they would like me to take for the prayer roll let me know and I will take them". It really has made me think a lot about the temple. I used to pass it four times a day and hardly looked at it sometimes. It was just so available to me, whereas it is a near impossibility to many of the members here. I really hope a small temple comes here soon so the people here can enjoy those blessings. Also, if you can, give to the Temple Patrons Fund with LDS Philanthropies to help people around the world have what comes so easily to us.

Okay, enough about that. On a personal note, thanks so much for the comments and emails. I have been blessed with some great friends and you are really helping to sustain me. I love you all so much. As Tina Turner said, "You're Simply The Best!"