Up at 4 AM

Nora Grace fell out of bed a few minutes after four o'clock this morning.

While Miriam just briefly opened her eyes at the crying, then rolled over and went back to sleep, Nora Grace needed more attention.

She complained of varios aches and pains, and as each one checked out fine, that one would get better and another would begin. After five minutes of this, we moved her into our bed and attempted to go to sleep again.

Clearly was not meant to happen.

I quickly left the bed for the relative safety of the couch in the living room, where one is not subject to flailing legs and whispered questions in ones ear. ("Is God stronger than you, Daddy?", and so on).

No one, except Miriam, slept from then on. Looks like it will be an early bedtime tonight.

I understand why Muslims gain weight in Ramadan

Ramzan, the Muslim month of fasting during the day and partying at night, has begun.

So last night at the Muslim Charitable hospital, the administration sent me home early, saying simply that absolutely no one would come to the hospital when the sun is going to down and people will break the fast.

No problem.

The way that Muslims fast is to refrain from all food and drink from sun-up to sun-down, but no restrictions at night.

Iftar is when they break the fast, or as they say in Urdu, "Khol Raza" which means they "Open the fast", and start eating.

And eat they do. Most folks are at their home with many plates of various foods in front of them as the sun begins to disappear. When the call to prayer rings out from the local mosque, everyone digs in. Most of the folks I know will have three to four meals during the nighttime, and then begin the fast again next morning.

Makes sense they gain weight.

Phone out

Well our phone is out, so I am sitting at an Internet Cafe to write this. Oh well.

Amy is still preggy, though she would very much like to NOT be for the time being. God will do whatever God wants to do.

Nora Grace is FIVE

Nora Grace turned five years old on Wednesday.

She has been looking forward to this day for months (and is already talking about her sixth birthday). Amy made some cake which they took around to neighbors (here, one usually gives gifts on ones birthday). Some friends were coming over to pray, so we had cake and treats also with them.

She was so happy. She knew the party was about her, and she was quite the ham.

Thus far, the "Blues Clues" slippers seem to be the most popular gift (given by our landlords family). Though she is excited about pretty much everything, as is her want.

The House is Under 80 degrees!

We had a cool front move in over the past few days, with highs only in the 80's, and even cooler at night.

And this morning when I woke up, our indoor temperature was 79 degrees. Whoo Hoooo!!!

First time since early March.

What do you wear to a delivery?

As Amy is rapidly getting close to delivery, and because the traffic is horrendous in this fair city of ours, and because Amy only pushed twice with the last delivery, therefore I have taken to carrying around with me a few essentials in case I end up doing the delivery myself.
With the story of the Marstens still fresh in our memory, and recognizing that an autorickshaw would not be nearly so comfortable a place to deliver as an American vehicle, we ferverently pray that we make it to the hospital.
Nothing too extensive: sterile gloves, cotton and alcohol, couple of cord clamps, scissors. Amy has several clean cotton blankets she takes with her all the time also.
Anything else I should take?

Did I spell "ferverently" correctly?

Nora Grace and OC

Nora Grace wants to wear a Burka, because it is cool.
Not really much commentary needed on that one.
Oh everything is just backwards.

Still hot and Amy still preggy

Our house is still in the 80's (around 30-32 Celcius). It is still in the 90's everyday (upper 30's), with humidity around 90% also.
We are ready for the cooler weather, but that is still probably a month away.
Amy remembers when she delivered Nora Grace here five years ago (September 20) that it was 100 degrees that day (38C).
She is still preggy. When I did Leopolds maneuvers a few days ago, the baby is head down again, but still quite "loose-like", so may float around a bit more. Who can tell?

Ten years before you can bury again

Talked to a Muslim gravedigger the other night. He was a remarkably cheerful chap, considering the soberness of his profession. But I guess Undertakers in the States have that reputation too, sometimes.
(side note: He has his very own Caste).
When Muslims bury the dead, they do not preserve the body in any way, but just wrap it in a simple white sheet, and put it in the ground. No headstone, just a pile of earth. And in a hot and (usually) moist climate such as this one, bodies disintrigate rapidly.
Since space is such a huge premium in the mind-boggelingly crowded alleys of Varanasi, they obviously have to bury on top of a place where someone else was buried before. So I asked him how long would he wait, before he dug a fresh grave on a site where someone was buried previously.
His reply was "Ten years, Doctor-Sahib. I have every space memorized in these graveyards (accounting for thousands of graves), and I know where I can bury someone. If I wait ten years, then there will be no bones or anything when I start digging anew."

I could pray for a Christian, but I don't think I could pray for a Hindu

On Shoob Bara'At, Muslims go to the graveyards to pray for the dead, mostly family and friends.
I asked my Tutor, "Well, could you pray for a non-Muslim on that night also? How about Jews, Christians, and Hindus?"
He thought about this for awhile, and then replied, "Well, I guess I could pray for a Christian or a Jew, since we worship the same God, but I don't think I could pray for a Hindu, since they pray to a different god."
He offered to pray for any dead relatives of mine that needed prayer (such a kind gesture), but I opted to respectfully decline.

Shoob Bara' At

Shoob Bara' At is the night when most Indian Muslims go to the graveyards to pray for dead friends and family. This year, it took place last Thursday.
Reori Talib is a Muslim neighborhood that has about ten acres of graveyards, and is one of the most popular sights to visit on that night. Those ten acres of graveyards saw about 100,000 people visit during the course of that one night (it is a bit crowded, in other words).
Unfortunately, just west of here, there were some bomb blasts in Muslim graveyards, throwing an air of tension over the night. I was surprised how fast the government reacted, and there were hundreds of heavily armed police and dozens of elite Rapid Action Force troops patrolling the graveyards within hours.

Breech, no Vertex, no Breech

Amy has been back and forth to the Doctor several times over the last few weeks as she gets closer to delivery. Two weeks ago, the Doctor announced the baby was Breech.
Then last week, she said the baby was Vertex (head down), so we breathed a sigh of relief.
Then yesterday, she said the baby is Breech again.
I finally decided to do Leopolds maneuvers myself (where you put your hands on the pregnant ladies abdomen to determine where the baby is), and found that the Baby was Transverse (sideways).
I think that means that the Baby is not very big yet, and has lots of room to maneuver, and is staying quite active. Let us pray that when he or she finally decides on a position, it is Head Down.

Spent a good part of the morning watching dubbed info-mericals for Sauna Belts

Amy had a Doctor's appointment on Saturday morning, as she is well into pregnancy and the visits are more frequent now. I went along, as I had not met the Doctor yet, and to make sure I understood my role in the upcoming delivery (LW).

The Doctor was late so we ended up sitting in the waiting room for over an hour with dozens of other patients, also waiting for various Physicians.

Luckily for us (Hooray), there was a TV on to keep us well-informed. Unluckily for us (uh oh), the information was about the Sauna Belt.

It was an American Info-mericial made in Southern California (no offense to my friends in Southern California). Apparently, people in Southern California are all young, blond, attractive, find numerous articles of clothing unnecessary, and most importantly, they all keep there unrealistic figures by wearing a Sauna Belt.

The whole thing was dubbed in Hindi. Many of the ideas did not translate well.

The Sauna Belt, which this Info-merical was trying to sell, is a plastic and vinyl twelve inch high belt that you wrap around your stomach, put batteries in, and it creates heat. Lots of heat. Alledgedly, this will help you loose weight, and become a beautiful, thin, happy and fullfilled person.

It was 100 degrees in the waiting room (38 Celsius), most of us were dripping with sweat, and most of the others were studying the idea with apparent seriousness. There was a toll-free number where Hindi speaking operators would take your credit card information, and arrange for a courrier to send you this thing.

Amy and I found it rather amusing. Why, exactly, when one is dripping with sweat, would one want to wrap oneself in hot plastic and vinyl? We tried, often successfully, to hide our giggles and guffaws. But really it just seemed so odd.

We were happy to know there is also a toll-free number for Bangladesh, in case any Bangladeshi's want to order the Sauna Belt.