Where in the World........is the Armijo Family: 10/01/2008

UNITED NATIONS DAY 2008

What is United Nations Day? Well let me tell you all about it......

It is a day that we celebrate all the different nations at Carissa's school. We have a total of 29 different nationalalities. The kids are supposed to come to school dress in their native country coustume. I know, the US does not have a country costume, but as you can see we were very creative.

The day started out with a "Parade of Flags", where the kids from their home country carried in the flag. The band was playing the theme to the Olympics. I have to say....it was pretty touching.

After the flag ceremony, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade classes sang songs about unity and peace.

Carissa had to introduce the 2nd grade class. She got up and spoke in front of the whole school.

We were so proud of her. She got up with confidence and read like a champ. I was a little worried for her since she has her reading "issue". I have never felt so proud of her.

After the ceremony the kids were up for photos.
Here is Carissa and some of her friends....

Joe (USA)

Hae Rin, Carissa and Yun Seo

Ellen (UK) and Carissa

Wilmer (Sweden) and Carissa

Carissa and Justin (Korea)

Thanvi (Canada), Carissa and Veda (India)

Carissa's class decided to celebrate the entire day. The parents, of the kids in her class, brought in food, from the host country, and we all ate lunch together.

All in all it was a GREAT day. The kids learned alot about each other and had fun doing it.

I will admit....I had fun too!

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Photo Shoot

I really have had nothing interesting to blog about so I guess I will let you in on where we live.

My friend, Joni, has been asking since last year to see pictures of our home.

Ben's company did a photo shoot of our family. They asked if we would be the "Poster Children" for the company. They are trying to show that it is not hard for a family to live in India.

Here is a slideshow of the day. As you can see we had some fun doing this.

I hope you enjoyed the show

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Happy Birthday Annsley!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ONE OF MY VERY BEST FRIENDS!

I MISS YOU SO MUCH. I HOPE YOU HAVE AN AWESOME BIRTHDAY.

LOVE,

CARISSA

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Kolu Festival

It is festival time here in India. It seems like every week there is some kind of prayer (pooja) or festival that is being celebrated.

We were invited to attend a Kolu, which is a display of dolls from the different parts of India. Women collect these dolls throughout the years and display them in the corner of their home during Navratri.

This was a small display at Global Adjustments (our relocation company)

Here is a link to the local paper.....Bollywood here we come!

http://www.dc-epaper.com/DC/DCC/2008/10/11/INDEX.SHTML

Scroll on the right to Chennai Chronicle.

We went to another display at our friends house. This was AMAZING. These dolls have been in their family for over 4 generations.

During these displays there are also musicians playing tradional music.

An Indian Drum

Stay tuned....Diwali (the festival of lights) is coming up.

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POOJA (Prayer)

Well like I have said before, there is always something to pray for in India.
This week was Auyeda Pooja. This is a special time of year when a prayer ceremony is performed to the Gods for good luck on machinery, tools, cars and bikes.
The flat that we live in has a water purfication system so that was the main item to be prayed on. If you look closely you can see the tools in front. Isn't is amazing how you can maintain an entire apartment complex with so little tools.

After this little ceremony, we were called over to the other side of the parking lot.

Eswari, Ramesh and Swamy had decided they were going to pooja our car and the kids bikes.

First was the draping of the flower garland (yes, they are made from real flowers)

Next was preparing all the other things for the ceremony. Carissa and Ryan decided to help.

Then Swamy and Eswari started marking the car and bikes with sandlewood and Kumkum (red powder)

Okay, everything is ready.....

That is a banana leaf with some fruit, incense, rice and pictures of some gods.

Let's get started.....

I had to make a circle three times with this flame. Then I had to walk around the car and the bikes. I must admit, I felt a little silly doing this, but hey if it prevents us from any accidents then I can handle it. All the while that I am doing this Carissa is ringing a bell.

After that then Ramesh took the pumpkin out to the road to smash it in the street.

The last thing to do was Swamy put the kids in the car and went drove around the complex three times. That was the conclusion to our "POOJA".

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Trip to New Delhi

After our visit to the Taj Mahal we had planned on staying in Delhi for a few days to see the sights there. We first ran into Shiva and Hanuman (the monkey god) on the way back from Agra.

Once we got to Delhi we had plenty of more to see. We went to the India gate.
This is a war memorial to the soliders that died in World War I. All the names of the fallen are inscripted on the gate they also have an eternal flame that burns.

Next was the house of the President of India. The kids were entrigued with all the monkeys that were just roaming around.

After that we went to a temple. It was BEAUTIFUL. I wish I could share pictures of the inside but no cameras were allowed. The statues of the gods and goddess' were dressed in elborate outfits of gold and jewels. This was the prettiest temple I have seen.

The next day we started at the Lotus temple.

Then it was off to the Gandhi musuem. Carissa really enjoyed this. This place was where he spent his last 144 days of his life before he was assignated. It actually was a very educational place.

The Red Fort was next on the agenda.

The inside was like a big picnic area. We just hung out for awhile and observed all the people coming and going.

I just added this picture because this little boy wanted Ben to take a picture with him and Carissa. The funny thing is that he was all giggly when he asked, but then did not crack a smile for the picture. After the picture was taken he smiled so big and went with his friend.

The rest of the day was spent souvenier shopping. We did not stay out too late because two weeks ago there was a bomb that went off in a market place and killed some people so we were a little cautious.

That concludes our little getaway to Delhi/Agra.

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Trip to Agra

Well folks....we finally made it to the TAJ MAHAL!!!!!! This is one of the reasons I agreed to move to India. I always thought the Taj was in Delhi. It is actually in Agra which is about 290 km southeast of Delhi. We had to fly to Delhi ( a 2 1/2 hour flight) and then rent a car and drive from Delhi to Agra (3 to 3 1/2 hour trip). The good thing about the drive is we left early in the morning so the kids slept most of the way. They did so good that they even had a special surprise.....MCDONALDS!

I don't think the kids were even too dissappointed that there was no hamburgers. To them just seeing those "golden arches" was a taste of home. I will have to admit, Ben and I were equally excited.

Once we reached Agra, we checked into the hotel, freshened up and then it was out the door.

We had to park the car and then take either a battery powered little taxi or a horse and cart the last 200 yards. This is done so that there is no pollution near the monument. The kids picked the horse and cart.....like that was a surprise.

This ride cost us 100 rupees (about $2.50) round trip. That was a deal.

We arrived at the ticket counter and stood in line. Lucky for us the ticket line was not very long, but the security check point took some time. Once we got in, it was worth the wait. All I have let to say is........ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!

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