Troubles with Crawling

Elijah is, at seven months, learning to move around. I hesitate to call it "crawling", as it sure doesn't look like crawling. Somehow, he gets from here to there, but with a method that is hard to describe.

He primarily goes backwards. Being of the prodigiously buttocked part of the human race, it is hard to see where you are going when scooting backwards. This results in problems.

And all to often, he ends up stuck. Which is frustrating. Good thing he can communicate that well.

Is There a Godly Way to Humiliate Someone?

I recently got into an extended conversation with several (western) Physicians who are also teaching in various medical contexts overseas. What do we do with cultural aspects of medicine that are different than our own culture?

The two aspects of this that we talked of most were:
Should you tell a patient that they are dying (if they have a terminal diagnosis)?
Should we humiliate medical students when they should be doing better?

A little background on the two… In the West, if a patient has Cancer and will probably die, we tell them that. We know detailed odds of death and life, and freely share this data with the patient with the diagnosis.

In Asia (and other cultures), local Health Care Providers may never tell bad news to the patient directly, and often paint a rosy picture of a diagnosis.

For the other topic, that of humiliation, in the West, we are not supposed to humiliate our students. But in the East, humiliation is one of the most common ways of teaching, demeaning those who don’t know the answer, debasing those who didn’t study what they were supposed to study.

So I am a Western Physician in the East…
Should I tell a patient that they have a terminal illness?
Should I humiliate my students who aren’t studying what they are supposed to?

Some of the Western Physicians newly arrived in the East wouldn’t tell their patients about their terminal illness. Those who had been here longer talked more about how important it is to tell them in the best way. We need to tell the truth, we need to tell them what the biopsies, x-rays and tests showed, but there is a way to do it that is appropriate to their culture. We may never use the word “death” or “cancer,” but we can still communicate those things. We assure them that we can help with symptoms; we assure them that we will not abandon them, we offer prayers… There are many things we can do and say, we can say it in a culturally appropriate way, but we do tell them. We do not just say, “Everything is going to be just fine.”

So we hashed through that in a reasonable way.

Then we moved on to humiliation. Everyone agreed that we saw it all around us in teaching here. No one liked the word, “humiliation.” We had a hard time figuring out how to persuade students to actively engage in learning without humiliating them, when they were used to having this fear over them.

So how do I teach? If I do not act like the “Big Man Important Doctor,” my medical students tend not to respect me. After almost 20 years of clinical practice, I clearly know a lot more than they do. But how do I get them to learn? If I ask them to look something up, they tend not to. So should I humiliate them if they don’t do the assigned reading? That is what the other local Physicians do.

So I am looking for godly, helpful, Christian ways to encourage students to embrace learning, without overt humiliation. Or I am looking for a godly way to humiliate someone. :)

Nora Grace has an Announcement...

Amy has been curious about Nora Grace's eyes for some time now. So having access to a good eye doctor, we got her eyes checked. Turns out she needs glasses.

She is pretty happy about it overall. She likes things that are new and different. And I think she can see better.

Amy, being the wise woman that she is, got a second pair made (very cheaply). We both have wry memories of our own adventures with spectacles in our gradeschool days.

Pomegranates.

Sam likes Pomegranates, and knows them by name, both the English name and the Urdu name.

He has good taste... pemegranates are very good tasting and good for you. The seeds, which sometimes get some bad press, are not a problem for him.

What is strange to me, is how long I lived in life before I tasted a pomegranate. I think I was at least 30 years old before I tasted pomegranate for the first time. I was well into my 20's before I knew how to pronounce the word.

Which is kind of funny, because of how much I like the Bible. I love to read the Bible, and pomegranates are a common fruit mentioned in the Bible. But I didn't know how to pronounce the word, and had never tasted it.

Once again, Sam is growing up different than I am.

Monkey Business

We were at a Church Service yesterday, when our four year old Miriam saw a friend of hers sitting in front of us, and begged to go and sit with her friend (also conveniently named Miriam). The Moms talked it over and decided that they could sit together, as long as there was no "Monkey Business".

Sounds serious.

When I was a kid, "foolishness" was the worst case thing to get in trouble for.

There were various phrases and words that Mom and Dad would use to describe our steadily worsening behaviour, but if Mom or Dad accused us of "foolishness", we knew we were in trouble. Something had tipped the scales, and we were really in trouble.

So I made sure that Miriam understood, that in addition to "Monkey Business", "Foolishness" would also not be tolerated. On pain of time outs.

Oh yeah, where I am at..

If you need to get ahold of me emergently, I am at Suan Bua, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

"Out of Station"

We are heading out of Varanasi for two weeks. American doctors are required to have lots of Continuing Medical Education, and there is a chance for me to get 40 to 50 hours in Chiang Mai, so off we go. I will get recertified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support also.

And eat well.

I can use a break. Between finishing various projects, and working on paperwork for re-patriation of a mentally ill US citizen in our fair city, I am tired. Looking forword to a couple of weeks outside of the current city.

Will still try and post occasionally. WHo knows, maybe I will write a lot.

As Good as it Gets...

Hey all, here is a recent family photo. The more people you get, the harder it gets to get everyone looking fairly photogenic. Lucky for us, we're all good looking. :)

Me in the middle

Regarding the photo on Monday, asking which teen was me...


You are all correct... that is me sitting in the middle, white T-shirt, sitting on my knees with arms stretched to knees.


And thanks for the compliment, Cousin Donny, I am happy to be compared with Phillip.

Alissa might come back...

Alissa came to visit recently. Her friend Shaina gave an excellent escort. They are both nurses. They spent quite a few days hanging out with me, getting tours of Hospitals, hanging out on their own in ICU's and Birthing Rooms and so on.

At the top is one of the Nepali nurses they worked with at one Hospital. Alissa expressed some interest in returning to Our Fair City to work some more. Hey, that's cool.

The bottom photo is Alissa, Martha and Shaina, out to eat. Martha for sure misses them.

Training in India

Alissa and Shaina, two nurses, came to visit and check out what we do. They traveled around mostly by train. Being cooler weather, that means fog. And that meant train delays. We were 13 hours late into Varanasi.

But a good time was had by all.

Moharram

Moharram was a couple of weeks ago now, but just getting the photos up.

In front of our house is a road that is slightly wider than most in Our Fair City, and thus gets used for holidays such as this. Moharram is celebrated in different ways around the world, and in our city it is much more festive than most places. Hence the flame throwers.

Sam and Alissa had a good time.

Can you find me in this picture? Hint: I had hair.

In the summer of 1985, I was 18, and went to Nepal for the first time with a youth group. ONe of the members of that group recently scanned a bunch of photos from that trip and posted them on Facebook.
I am somewhere in this group... can you find 18 year old me?

Controversy Abounds

When I first came to Our Fair City, a Burka was a Burka. Plain, black, with no fancy anything. The Burka had one job, that is to cover up a woman.

In the past several years, "Fancy" Burkas have been making inroads. Burkas with fancy stitching, Burkas that let the woman's hair out in back, Burkas that have embroidery and rhinestones and so on.

And controversy abounds. Some say that as long as it covers up as a woman as intended, it doesn't matter what the outside looks like. Others say the purpose is to NOT draw attention to a woman, therefore, it should be plain.

I have been trying to get a photo of such for some time now, but as Muslim women are not fond of photography, I have to be careful. So I did get this one recently, showing several Muslim women...one with a plain Burka, one with a fancy Burka, and two with no Burkas at all, just their usual indoor Shalwar Kamis'.

My favorite was a full, plain Burka clad woman who whipped by me on her pink scooter, and the wind caught the lower edge and revealed underneath some very tight, very stylish blue jeans.

Controversy abounds.

"Oh No, my Brothers, Lowell Never Sings..."

Anyone who knows me very well, knows that I love to sing. I sing old hymns, modern stuff, choruses, kids songs, Psalms, and even the occasional Ausbund.

So why would a Muslim friend of mine here say this to his friends? Why would he say that I never sing?

Words, words, words, and how to translate them can be so tricky sometimes.

Local Muslims have a dozen words or phrases for things that we would call "singing" that they very clearly say is NOT singing.

Chanting from a Holy Book is not singing, that is a different word. And I do that.

"Singing" a song that worships God is NOT singing, it is a different word. And I do that.

"Singing" about Jesus is NOT singing, it is a different word. And I do that.

"Singing" a love song about your wife is NOT singing, it is a different word. I will let you guess if I do that.

"Singing" a Psalm is NOT singing, it is a different word. And I do that.

When a local Muslim thinks about "singing", he is thinking about Bollywood songs and other trite stuff, but not poetry, and not godly things.

So my Muslim assures those around him, "Oh, no, Lowell does not sing." I do a lot of verbs, (that I would call singing), but none of these verbs would called singing by his standards.

The Sons of Korah

It is not often these days that I hear some music that really "grabs" me, but The Sons of Korah have done just that.

An Australian group who sing only The Psalms, they have an amazing acoustical style and have brought The Psalms to life for me like few others have.

Named after the group of Biblical singers who wrote a number of The Psalms, they do not write songs, only music. The words to the songs are directly out of The Psalms, just put to music.

And the music is a delight to the ears.

So this is a product endorsement. Has anyone else heard of them or likes them?

To Amy

Hi Amy, not sure if you will get this. Our internet has been out most of the week. I think BSNL is out for most of the district.

Couple of things...
1. Asha is having a birthday party on Saturday afternoon, so Martha is taking the three kids down, and they may not be there when you get back.
2. With Sam sleeping, I likely will not be to the airport, :(
3. We really miss you. I think Miriam especially. She has had a few moments. I think she is a worry wart.
4. Sam got into the Petrolium Jelly on Monday, and gave himself a Mohawk. Took three washes to get it all out.
5. The Nurses got off fine.
6. I gave Sam and myself haircuts yesterday.
7. Martha wishes you to know that she had nothing to do with Sam's haircut.
8. I really miss you, and am looking forword to Saturday. Love you!!

Comments on the PHotos Below...Monkeys at Christmas

Once a week, I help out an NGO that takes care of children who live at the Train Station. Each year, they put on a Christmas program for the 50 to 100 children who show up.

The photos below are from the program, pictures of some of the children. In the top picture, toward the right, you can see Miriams curly head sticking out. I took our kids along to enjoy also.

This year, in addition to the Christmas story and some practicle gifts (shoes, shawls, rice, etc), they also had a fellow bring in some performing monkeys, much to the kids enjoyment.

Not sure how much Monkeys are associated with Christmas story, but I think in my kids minds, monkeys will be in indelible part from here on out.

Station Children Christmas Program

Jewish Hanukkah, Buddhist Monks, Hindu City, and Miriam

See the Photo Below.

Just before Christmas, Jewish people world over celebrated the holiday of Hanukkah. We got invited to a Hanukkah party, here in Varanasi, a Hindu Holy city, where we mostly hang out with Muslims.

There is a Fullbright scholar here, a Wisconsin Buddhist (Wisconsin being the hotbed of Buddhism that it it), along with his delightful Jewish wife and two kids, close to our two eldest in age. It was this young Mom who decided to have a Hanukkah party.

So she invited those she knew in This Fair City, which mostly included Buddhist Monks (as that is what her husband is researching) and us.

So in this Hindu holy city where we hang out with Muslims, we attended a Jewish Holiday party, with mostly Buddhist monks and some Australian hippy Christians.

It gets more convoluted.

So we find out that one popular game to play at Hanukkah is called "Dreidel", similar to a single die (singular of dice), in commemoration of the Jewish people who would pretend to be gambling with The Dreidel, when they were actually studying the Scriptures, during a time when this was forbidden (the studying, that is, not the gambling).

So the guests at the party gambled for peanuts with the Dreidel. Most were quickly out of the game, until it was just our four year old Miriam and three Tibetan monks. The Tibetan monks were totally into the game, talking furiously in Tibetan and spinning the Dreidel, watching intently to see where it would land, and shouting out who had won what.

Miriam sat very calmly and completely silently, spinning the Dreidel when it was her turn, to much acclamation from the Tibetan monks. While the monks were cut-throat with each other, they may have occasionally helped Miriam out a bit.

So now our friend just calls her "Miriam the Dreidel Shark".

It was an image I will not easily forget. I wish you could hear it.

Miriam the Dreidel Shark... see explanation above

I'll try not to let Alissa forget this

Today, I got back to Our Fair City with two Nurses who are here to check things out for a few weeks. Our train was running quite late, so I was text messaging Amy to let her know what was up.

Alissa saw me and said she was impressed, because many older people do not know how to text message.

I text-messaged Amy about this quote, and Amy said to tell her that it helps to fight off Alzheimers.

Alissa continues to be embarrassed.

Nora Grace

Miriam

Samuel

Elijah

Off to Delhi

I am off to Delhi to pick up AA and SD, two cardiac nurses coming to check out Our Fair City.

I am a bit intimidated by cardiac nurses, but they seem like really nice women. :)

They will spend a couple of weeks here, and then tramp around The Great North Indian Plain for a few days before heading back to cold and snow.

Merry Christmas, the first gifts are opened, to much acclamation...

Merry Christmas

Our Christmas is winding down here. We had a good day. The kids opened there presents after breakfast, and the rest of the morning was spent picking up from that and getting ready for the rest of the day.

Visitors started just after lunch, and continued on and off for most of the day. Amy had lots of kabobs ready for the guests, and for ourselves, when we got a few minutes for supper, we had Shake and Bake chicken (homemade), beans and corn, mashed potatos, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce (the only imported item), and lots of Christmas baked goods for dessert.

Hope your Christmas is a Joyful one.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Sometimes You Just Need to Take a Nap... the Continuing Saga

Sam had a big morning, and opted to start his nap while dangling off of one of the dining room chairs.

Trivia Factoid about Lowell

I still comb my hair everyday.

If you know me and have viewed my handsome mug in recent years, you will know that I have almost no hair, and what hair I do have I keep quite short.

But somehow, in the years of my childhood, I learned that grooming is not complete until I comb my hair. And so I continue, whether I need it or not.

The day just doesn't start right until that is done.

When I walk into the Muslim Charity Hospital...

This is the site I am first met with.

This is a quiet morning, sometimes I have to use my briefcase to sort of plow a way through the people.

Not all these people are there to see me of course, few are. There are five to ten other doctors to see.

Plus, for this neighborhood, going to the Doctor or Hospital is a social occasion. One would never go to the Doctor without half a dozen friends or family members or children along. Sifting through to figure out who the patient actually is, can sometimes be time consuming.

I gotted roped into helping with the goat butchering

So do you want to see the more graphic photos?

Tell Me Your Name...

I am curious...
Who all reads this post?

Tell me your first name and which state or country you are from...

Nora Grace and her friend Zoya checking out the goats at the Goat Market

We went with some friends to the Goat Market, as they were to pick out half a dozen goats for Bukri Eid tomorrow. They had fun. But then, they generally do.

Their Hours are Numbered

Tomorrow is Bukri Eid, when Muslims honor God for providing a Ram for Abraham in place of his son.

To celebrate this, Muslims all over the world sacrifice goats, sheep, cows, camels, and water buffalo, giving part of the meat to the poor, and feasting on much of the rest. Tomorrow is the big day.

A local park gets turned into an goat market just before Bukri Eid, as goat is the local Muslims favorite meat option. Tens of thousands of goats change hands in a few days.

So these guys have only a few hours left...

Why Should Boys Have All the Fun?

India has a huge and expanding Middle Class. As these hundreds of millions of people begin to acquire assetts, they begin to look around for things to buy.

In India, for multiple reasons, buying a scooter makes a lot more sense for many people than buying a car. Scooters and Motorcycles outnumber cars by 40 to one. Thus far, most advertising has been directed toward men, especially young men.

But Honda has a new ad scheme trying to get females to buy a scooter, called, "Why Should Boys Have All the Fun?" One of the ads is above.

Nora Grace has been walking around the house singing this phrase.

As a friend pointed out, the unusual thing is not an ad campaign directed toward women, but that they would suggest a woman in Capri pants and a halter top could ride on a clean scooter through the streets of our fair city.

So, Where Do You Want Me To Go?

India currently has an advertising scheme called, "Incredible India".

It is kind of fun, with great photos and such like from all over this great land, encouraging people to travel and tour.

THe above poster is one such advertisement, encouraging people to visit the State of Mahdhya Pradesh.

The only thing I found odd, is that the background graphic is a map of the Carribbean. Hmmmm, what am I supposed to do with that?

Conspiracy Theories Abound

The events in Mumbai (nee Bombay) were tragic. Random killing of large groups of people is a travesty of justice. We may never know all of the details of what happened.

Quite a few policemen and anti-terror police also died in the events that happened. They are being mourned appropriately in this fair land.

But conspiracy theories abound…

There are mass bombings and mass killings on a regular basis in this land, each year will typically have two or three major terror attacks, usually bombs set in religious places or market places. Both mosques and temples have been victim.

A recent major bombing was being investigated by the ATS, or “Anti-Terrorism Squad” in Mumbai. Although the final verdict was not in, many signs were beginning to point to the idea that that this particular bombing had been done by Hindu Fundamentalists (not Muslims), possibly with the knowledge or even support of several leading politicians.

The lead ATS investigator and several other ATS personnel involved in the investigation were all killed in the line of duty in Mumbai, while fighting the terrorists who attacked there.

And Conspiracy theories abound…

They are killing Christians too...

There is a long history of animosity between Christians and Muslims, both in India and the rest of the world.

In the history of India, when tensions exist, Christians are usually on the side of the Hindus, against the Muslims. In the past, Christians have usually voted for Hindus over Muslims, interacted with Hindus more than Muslims, and learned the language of the Hindus rather than Muslims. When rioting and fighting exist, Christians are on the side of the Hindus and the Muslims usually stand alone.

Muslims in India often feel isolated and alone.

In recent months, Christians have been dying at the hands of non-Christians at a rate that is somewhat more than typical. It would seem that much of the most recent killing, Church burning, and threats, are coming from Hindus and not any other group.

Muslims have noticed.

Muslims have a long history of feeling persecuted in India, but have felt alone in their fate. Suddenly they are sitting up and noticing… Christians are also feeling the brunt of Fundamentalism from the majority community.

Several times in recent months, I have had Muslim friends point at a headline in the newspaper and say something to the effect of: “They are killing Christians too!”

Funny the things that bring sympathy for the Christian in the Muslim community here.

Miriam turns 4

Miriam is a bit smug about the fact she has turned four. Instead of Daddy being "the big 4 - 0", Miriam is "the big 4".

Here she gets a ride from Auntie Martha on the back of a bike.

Elijah...up close and personal

I guess this might be a good picture to show Elijah's girlfriends in about 20 years.

Safe here, Sad at what happened, cautiously looking forword to Thanksgiving

In the late night, early morning hours of Wednesday/Thursday night, multiple gunmen attacked at least four places in coordinated attacts in Mumbai (ne' Bombay), in western India, about 15oo miles from our fair city.

They attacked two up scale hotels, an upscale restaurant, and the train station. They seemed to be targeting places where Westerners hang out.

Details are still emerging...at least 80 dead... probably 7 to 15 hostages...

We mourn this.

In our fair city, the streets are a bit more tense, with a large increase in Police presence. But the city seems to be functioning normally, with business as usual (this is not a holiday weekend in India).

We are all safe here at the moment.

Today is American Thanksgiving, and the only holiday in our fair city that gets all the Westerners together... students, travelers, Americans or not, Christian or not, there is typically 150 to 200 folks get together for a huge pot luck and talent show. In careful consideration, we are continuing with this festival, though obviously with extra security and a more subdued tone.

Keeping you posted...

The Shirts at McDonalds are Very Expensive...

McDonalds is new to Varanasi, and is located in a new shopping mall (the first in the city).

The Fast Food Restaurant is so closely linked to the Mall, that the whole mall is often referred to as "McDonalds".

Hence, a friend had a conversation where the Mall came up, and someone said, "The shirts at McDonalds are very expensive."

Well, yes, I suppose that is true.

Proof we made it to the Taj Mahal

I have been in India for nine years now, and have never seen the Taj Mahal. Even though it is only 100 miles from New Delhi, where we go in and out on a regular basis.

So the visit with the Morgans seemed like a good time to rectify that... and here we are.

Trip down was interesting, with multiple children vomiting and multiple plastic bags of vomitus being tossed into the ditch as chugged along through the most polluted day New Delhi has had in ten years.

But we made it and a good time was had by all.

I didn't Understand everything but was happy about the 5000 rupees

Last tuesday morning early, I crept out into the dining room to do some email before everyone else woke up.

The room was dark as I turned on the computer (a laptop I had just set down on the table).

As I turned away to start on a cup of tea, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a bright orange light flashing from the back of the computer, and then smelt smoke.

Well, that's no good.

After visiting the repair shop, and realizing the cost of repairing, I ended up buying a new computer.

Thanks to my good friend Lee, everything from the old computer was recovered, and I am slowly trying to get all the programs up and running on the new one.

I remain a Toshiba man.

Oh yeah, the 5000 rupees.

Lee and I were wandering around (wondering around? do both fit the description of what we were doing?) Nehru Place, finding stuff for an external harddrive, we found a computer salvaging shop. Expecting I would just give it to the guy, he offered me 5000 rupees for what remained (screen, DVD player, keyboard). I guess I should have bargained him up, but jumped at the chance, and went home happy.

The boys in his shop had the old one separated into parts in about 30 seconds.

Joy is 18 Hours on a Train to Delhi with seven kids in our Train Compartment

I am very serious about the "Joy" part. Joy is a choice.

The Morgans are heading back to the States, and we are seeing them off. As well as the Taj, LW.

My friend Abraham asked for a blog entry of less than 50 words. So here are 49.

Welcome to Martha!!

Martha Masih has come to help with our family, and we are so happy to have her here. Martha is kind and gentle, soft spoken and the children love her. Thanks be to God for Martha. Pray for her that our kids don't drive her mad!

Three Girls in Matching Shalwar Kamis

That would be Eliana in the middle.

So How Many Women and Children can you put in the Back seat?

I just like the Photo

Here is Sam.

His T-Shirt says, "Mr. Happy".

That pretty much says it all.

Proof the Morgans are here...

Miriam is very fond of Uncle James.

Here we are on the Ganges, for the prerequisite boat ride.

Dad and Sam

A friend of ours took this photo in Thailand this summer.

I like it.

How we live this week...

Our cozy flat continues to buzz right along. The Morgan family is staying with us for three weeks, their first time in Varanasi. They are so cool and amazing.

I keep trying to imagine what it is like to be here for the first time, and I can't remember very well. I wonder what is going through their minds sometimes?

Clinic has been slow this week, but some puzzling patients... Fever of Unknown Origin (high fevers for almost a month with no source), and severe neurologic symptoms in a young lady (well, she is my age, which is, as you know, quite young). And some weird rashes.

Have been trying to get kids out to run on a regular basis, harder than it sounds in our fair city.

THe phone company claims we will have internet access again by this evening.. we shall see. On the other hand, now two water taps have broken in the apartment, so we need a plumber.

Martha seems to be adjusting to our normal chaos with apl0mb, and has been smiling more.

Martha and the Morgans

Sorry we haven't written more sooner. Our internet connection is down, so limited stuff can happen.

The Morgans have safely arrived and are over jet lag and no one is ill. Thanks be to God.

Martha has also arrived to help with our children. Thanks be to God.

The 12 of us are all currently staying in our little flat, so we eat in shifts, but the kids seem to be having a good time. :)

I left last Thursday evening for New Delhi, arriving Friday morning. On Friday evening, I picked up the Morgans at the airport, and we went to a guesthouse to sleep. We left Saturday morning for a little shopping on the way to the train station, and caught the Train on Saturday afternoon, arriving in our fair city on Sunday morning, and they managed to leave an hour later for Church, what a family.

In Which I Translate John 1:14 from Urdu into English

And the Book (or the Words) became Human (or got into a body, or became completed), and stayed with us (or between us). And being full of truth and blessing, we saw his Splendid Wrath which was like the Splendid Wrath of His Dad.

Veranda Update

I have been talking about the Veranda underneath our dining room for a couple of days now.

First it was a goat pen, then an abattoir, and now a sleeping space.

There were, I believe, eight individuals sleeping on the Veranda last night.

It makes sense to use the space, if space is limited.

If you find the local habit of sleeping with a blanket over your head a bit disconcerting, so do I. Especially when they use a white sheet to take a nap by the side of the road during the day.

Goat Update

For those who wish to keep track of the goats, mentioned below, that appeared on the Veranda underneath our dining room window a few days ago... we have an update...
They are now a gleaming pile of raw meat on the same aformentioned Veranda.
No more bleating, and a different kind of smell.
Sam has been walking around the house bleating like a goat.

Sam turns two, and sings "Happy Birthday" to himself all day long.

Sam turned Two Years Old on October 12.

Here he is getting some birthday kisses from his sisters.

Looks like he is not so sure he wanted Birthday kisses.

Don't worry, he got other presents also.

My Dad and cousin Ron have birthdays tomorrow, the 13th, and Amy's brother Scott on the 14th. What a week.

I Woke Up One Morning...

Rolled out of bed the other morning, and was nursing a cup of Earl Grey as the morning sun shone over my shoulder on the newspaper in front of me......

When I heard a goat bleat.

Well. I hear lots of animal noises in this fair city, but this one seemed really close. I glanced out the window behind me.

We are on the third floor, and there is a balcony just below our dining room window, for the apartment just below us. Then it is two storeys down to the street.

There on the balcony were a couple of goats. Turns out the neighbors are having a wedding this coming week, and need the goats for the wedding.

Well, of course, as long as there is a logical explanation.

So this morning, while nursing my morning cup of Earl Grey, in addition to the fragrance of Bergamot, I had the heady aroma of, well, goat. If you know what I mean.

Should be a fun wedding. I think the food will be good.

They Were Asleep by the Third Verse of "How Firm a Foundation."

We have had a busy week.

I was off to New Delhi for two nights for a quick conference, and what with two nights on the train, that meant being away from home for four nights. We both went a little stir crazy, me from too much time in a tightly packed railway car, Amy from too much time without a break with four little kids.

I got back on Eid al Futr, the end of Ramadan, and one of the biggest holidays of the year. Good Muslims don't have many holidays, so they make good use of the ones they have. This one goes on for a week or more.

So we have been out visiting a lot.

Last night when we got home from being out with some other friends, Amy put the kids to bed while I had to see another patient. As she told me later, she got them into bed and started singing to them, and "they were asleep by the third verse of "How Firm a Foundation"."

Running Errands With Dad

After Nora Grace finished breakfast on the morning of her Birthday, last Saturday, I asked her if she would like to go out with me while I went to run a few errands. She said, "Sure."

We ran a few errands, and then pulled up in front of the much talked about bicycle shop... as the autorickshaw came to a stop, she said, "Why are we stopping here?"

And then she started yelling.

So we came home with her first bicycle. She has been riding it in the hallway with Sahil.

This is Sam in one of his few somber moments.

Birthday Girl

Nora Grace celebrated her seventh birthday on September 20. So here she is at breakfast, happy with her presents.

She got to choose what we would eat during the day... so breakfast was Waffles (if we had electricity, it was to be Swedish Pancakes, if we did not).

Lunch was rice and lentils, always a favorite. Nora Grace eats her rice and lentils rolled up in a piece of flatbread, whatever works for you, kiddo.

Supper was mashed potatoes (that's my girl), grilled chicken, and then Lemon Marange Pie for dessert. She didn't want a cake. She wanted pie. Go figure.

(Yes, you are correct, that word right after "Lemon" is misspelled. So is that one.

If I can give them a name and age, perhaps I can give them a life, and at least have something more objective to mourn when they disappear.

I sometimes assist a local charity that helps the children who live on the train tracks at the Railway Station. The group goes to the station several times per week, handing out chai and sandwiches, dressing wounds, and so on. A number of kids have even been rescued from their life on the tracks, and have entered school (which the charity also runs).

I visit on Tuesdays (and with emergencies), and my job is to help with the illnesses and traumas to which they are particularly prone.

I am sometimes amazed at the stories I hear, kids shrugging and grinning as they tell of incredible harm inflicted on them by others.

Most of them do not have orthodox names, but go by one of several nicknames. None of them know their birthdates, and few even know how old they are. This makes things interesting for Medical Records, as I try to put on paper their stories and traumas, and keep track of who has received what treatments.

So when I see a child for the first time, I try to put down as many identifying things as I can: every name that gets used for them, any other names that they might remember (mother, father, brothers etc), where they are from and so on. When I write down the exam portion, I note any scars or identifying factors… anything that might help me tell them apart.

Sometimes, when I do this, it seems like I am forcing them to exist. Many of them have lived on the edge of existence for years, and, practically speaking, they do not exist.

When I say, “they do not exist”, I mean that if they die, no one would mourn them, no one would fill out a death certificate, and likely, no one would even know they had died.

So, by making sure they have a name and age and fathers name, maybe I can compel them to exist. And if they don’t show up for a few weeks, we can at least ask around and try to find out what happened to them.

To see if they still exist.

Lowell rants a bit about modern worship leaders leading hymns

(Lowell is going to be complaining in generalizations for a few lines. It might sound like he is whining. If this does not appeal to you, please bypass this post.)

I grew up singing hymns a cappelo. And the advantage to doing it a lot, is that you get good at it. And although we were a small Church, we were pretty good at it. No one at the Church I grew up in had any musical training… we just sang a lot. And we were good.

With that in mind, I get very frustrated at how modern worship leaders “lead” hymns.

For starters, their repertoire is extremely limited. The same twenty hymns get repeated over and over and over, all over the USA. (“Great is Thy Faithfulness” is a wonderful hymn, but what about the scores of other hymns about the faithfulness of God that we haven’t sung in years?) It is amusing to me that, in an age when everyone wants to learn new songs, no one will learn songs that are new to them (but were written awhile back).

And then there is timing…which part of “four-four” or “three-four” timing don’t you understand? The majority of all western songs (let alone hymns) are written in one of these two timings. If you can lead some of the complex rhythms that are sung in many modern worship tunes, surely you can handle leading a hymn in its correct timing.

And then there is tempo… goodness, I could fall asleep sometimes. Most hymns have an upbeat, buoyant tempo, not a funeral dirge. Why can we sing a modern song with a good tempo, but then when we switch to a hymn, all of a sudden everything sloooooows waaaaaay dooooown. Keep it moving there, buddy.

This concludes Lowell whining about modern worship leaders leading hymns. He readily admits that there are lots of exceptions to what he has said. He apologizes to anyone who may have been offended.

Knowledge is Power

Why do my Indian Medical colleagues not get along?

I was sitting with a group of International Christians who live in India, and we were discussing some of the many things we had learned over the years. Someone suggested we should put it all together, maybe in a website. That way, we could share our knowledge.

What a good idea, sharing what we have learned, so others after us don’t have to go through some of the hard knocks that we have to go through.

One of the gentlemen who was part of the group is from India, and he just smiled at us, and looked happy and amazed at the same time. After awhile, he suddenly could contain himself no longer and burst out, “This is such an anathema in India. We would never do this. To us, Knowledge is Power, and we would never willingly share our power freely with others.

Is that why my colleagues in Medicine in India don’t get along? When I go to Grand Rounds or other gatherings of local Varanasi doctors, I am constantly amazed at the sniping, back stabbing, cutting down etc that happens.

But maybe that is because Knowledge is Power. And one needs to hold onto that Power.

Could explain the lack of patient education also.

The Sun Shall Not Smite Thee by Day...

I memorized that Psalm as a child, and could never for the life of me understand what the writer was saying.... I mean, the sun is good and warm and pleasant and wonderful, right? Am I right?

I thought I was right till I moved to India. Wow. The Sun can be oppressive. Just like we have different words for snow and rain, they have different words for sunshine, and some of them are not pleasant. Dhoop is when the sun shines down on you in an oppressive fashion, which it does for months at a time here. Sometimes when riding in an autorickshaw, and I can't get my hand or foot inside because of the crowd, I will literally get a first degree burn. Not a sunburn, but a burn like I held it up to a candle, and got burned.

The Sun shall not smite me.

Maybe Sam is Actually Swedish??

A little background to this blog entry…

First, Sam is 23 months old, loves to jabber away, and most of what he says is incomprehensible, with occasional words we recognize thrown in.

Second, we have recently acquired the first season of “The Muppet Show”, which features The Swedish Chef, an unintelligible puppet chef who usually ends his skit by blowing up his kitchen. The kids are quite fond of the Swedish Chef, and The Muppets in general.

So the other morning at breakfast, we were talking about the Swedish Chef, and laughing about his latest antics. The girls said, “Sing his Swedish Song, Daddy, sing like he does in Swedish”.

I explained to them that what he spoke was NOT actually Swedish, but just nonsense words that someone made up.

“Hmmm,” said Nora Grace, making the next logical step in her mind, “Maybe Sam is Swedish.”

(With due apologies to the entire nation of Sweden.)

Funny how this makes sense to me...

Our usual AutoRickshaw driver said he would be g0ne for a few days, and would not be available to drive our family anywhere.

"Oh," I said, "what's happening?"

"My fathers elder brothers wife died fourty days ago," he replied.

"Oh, OK," I said, "See you when you get back."

Fourty days after a death, you are supposed to get together and read the Koran, and remember the dead person. But funny how I didn't need the explanation, since I knew that. Makes me feel weird.

In the meanwhile, Friday was meat day. About once a month, Amy will order a big pile of meat for processing. So Friday morning, we had eight pounds of water buffalo meat to deal with, plus a few pounds of sheep that Mr. B. had acquired for us earlier in the week.

First Amy went through and picked out all the bits of crushed bone and tendon portions, and then cut everything up into small, half inch pieces.

Then it was green papaya time. The meat we get is amazingly tough, so Amy grinds a green papaya and soaks the meat in that for an hour. This works pretty well as a tenderizer. (You don't want to leave it on too long or it turns into meat soup.) After the hour, Amy washed the meat, and the grinding process began.

Here was my chance to shine. We attached the manuel grinder to the kitchen counter, with a bowl underneath to catch all the blood and liquid that ran out. And we started grinding... and grinding.... and grinding. You have to stop every minute or two and pick out the bits of sinue and other things that would clog up the grinder.

When that was all done, we mixed the sheep and buffalo meat together. Some was mixed with sausage seasoning mix and formed into sausages. Most was mixed with a bit of egg and bread and a few other things, and made into Swedish Meat Balls.

Then everything went in the freezer, except for what we ate that night. And after that day, we had a pretty good appetite.

Wm Goodell, I Understand You...Priorities

This quote was written some 150 years ago by a guy living in Turkey. Wow, do I understand it. :)



"Some letters which I receive have constant reference to my family, as though I were especially deficient in my duty to them, and needed to devote more time and thought for them. Others have constant reference to my translations, as though I needed to be stirred up to the importance of prosecuting the work with vigor, and not suffer my translator or the press to stand idle through my neglect. Others leave everything else out of the question, as of no comparative importance, and urge it upon me to preach, preach, preach. Others, again, from the various ... stations, and from all parts of America, are calling for letters, and blaming me for not answering theirs. Many, many of my friends are offended with me, and some of them say badthings about me... Now what to do I know not. I would most gladly give my time to my friends; I would give it all to my family; I would devote it all to the great work of translating the word of God; and I would with all my heart spend it in publishing the goodnews. But to devote the whole of it to each one of these objects is an impossibility. Only a certain portion can be given to each, and as one may receive more, another must receive less. Now, if any one could tell me exactly how to proportion the amount to be given to each, I should be thankful. But, while everybody seems to feel that I am very deficient somewhere, nobody seems to agree with his neighbor as to where the deficiency lies; and I seem to myself to be like the poor man who tried to please everybody, and pleased nobody, and accomplished nothing for himself. I must try more to please my blessed Lord, and let the whole world go."

Sometimes you just need to take a nap...

Sometimes you just need to take a nap...

Even if it is right in the middle of lunch.

Visitors

Got a lot of visitors in the past couple of weeks, to see the new baby. That usually suits our socialite girls just fine.

With Ramzan starting, now it is our turn to go out visiting.

and more visitors

I Usually Try to Avoid the "Camps"

When Western Docs go overseas, a lot of time what they end up doing is a "Health Camp", where hundreds of people are seen in a brief period of time.

I usually try to avoid these, as I think they offer poor quality Health Care, with abyssmal standards of Quality Assurance. (I mean, give me a break, how high is a Doctors Standards if he spends less than sixty seconds with a patient?)

Anyways, occasionally, I do get roped into one, as I did this past weekend. I did insist on some Standards, such as asking more than a few questions, and doing a Physical Exam. Which made me slower than the other docs, but what to do? Now the patients know where I work, and can come back another day, if needbe.

Anyways, that was my long weekend. Too many hours dripping in sweat with dozens of people touching me and pulling on my shirt and elbows.

In the photo, I am explaining to a patient in full Burkha how to take a medication. Which brings up the interesting question of: How exactly does one do an Exam on a patient in a full Burka?

False Positives

As a Physician, I know a lot about the theory behind lab tests that we do. I know that all tests have the possibility of False Positives and False Negatives. (A "False Positive" means that the test says you have the disease when actually you don't. A "False Negative" means that the test says you do NOT have the disease, when actually you do.)

Our family had three False Positives this past summer, and speaking as a patient, it was stressful for us. In other words, on three different occasions we were told that an abnormality was present, and then on further testing, found out that actually it was normal.

I had the first one. I went in for my routine Chest X-Ray, that I get every year ever since I had TB (Tuberculosis) some years ago. After the X-Ray, I went back to the Doctor to get the results, and he said, "Hmmmm, your lungs look fine, but one of your vertebrae looks odd. You might have TB of the spine. We have to do more testing."

For me, the results just took a few hours, and it was determined that I do not have TB of the spine.

Then my wife was told she may have an abnormality of the cervix. Since she was almost due, there was nothing more to do until after delivery. So she had to wait two months to do the further testing, and be told that everything is normal.

And then Elijah failed his first hearing screening, which meant that he might be deaf. And it took four visits and lots more testing before someone finally said, "No, that test was false. Your son can hear."

So anyways, everything is fine, but I am disgusted with "False Positives".

As a Physician who routinely orders tests, and had to deal with the fallout of both False Positives and False Negatives, that has been a good "Learning Experience" on being humble and gracious and patient in explaining to patients what a test means.

“I was born and raised in Varanasi.” An Addendum to the Below Entry:

Nora Grace is of the habit of spouting out random sentences on occasion that may not have anything to do with what is going on at the time.

The other night at supper she said, “I was born and raised in Varanasi, wasn’t I?”

Well, yes, I suppose she was. I hadn’t thought of it before. At least thus far, Varanasi has been her home.

She has been telling us how much she misses her home in recent weeks while we were in Thailand. She misses her friends in Varanasi, and she misses her routine, she misses her bed, and all her books.

These things, in combination with the previous post, make for a confused Dad.

I am Angry at myself for being frustrated at how happy my children are…

Hmmm, there were a lot of emotions in that sentence. Let me start with the “happy” part.

We just got back from Thailand. In Thailand, (as opposed to where we live in India), there is green grass to run in, trees with green leaves, a lovely blue sky with puffy clouds floating along in it. Our kids were at places where there were lots of other kids whom they could play with. And they spent many of their days runny around, giggling, laughing, getting skinned knees and grass stained skirts, and in general, being like I think normal kids should be.

The reason I am frustrated, is that I know that that is not how they will be in Varanasi, that there are no places for them to run and play (other then their concrete room), and there skin will turn back to a grey color from the dust.

The reason I am angry with myself is twofold: one, our children are happy in Varanasi, even if they do not have things I wish they would have. And second, India is where we are supposed to be at this time, so why should I be frustrated at how happy my kids are when they are NOT there?

Anyways, a gamut of emotions.

Nora Grace had a LOT of fun with other girls to play with

Miriam Helping Out (Sorta) With Elijah

Sam, Doing What Sam Does...

A Synthesis of Current Information Regarding the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ...(from a six year old)

We were riding in a taxi recently, and to pass the time, Nora Grace turned to Miriam and said, "Let me tell you a story... I can tell you the story of how Jesus died on the Cross."

And so Nora Grace launched into a fairly accurate portrayal of what happened, according to the Gospels, including quoting the words from the Cross.

However, you should note, Nora Grace has also recently watched the movie, "Ben Hur", the old classic Charleton Heston flick taking place in the time of Christ. And further, I am teaching Nora Grace Ancient History, and we are currently working our way through the Roman Empire, complete with my bias regarding Latin etc.

And thus the otherwise scripturally accurate portrayal was filled with little comments that included:
"...and when Jesus was carrying the cross out of the city, He fell down and Ben Hur helped Him for a bit, and then Ben Hur's Mommy and Sister got better..."
"... Jesus walked up Calvary on a really good road, because the Romans built really good roads, and we can still drive on them today, but this is not a Roman road, because we are in Thailand..."
"... when Jesus said, "I thirst", they gave Him something to drink, because when Ben Hur was thirsty, Jesus also gave him something to drink..."
"...they were talking in Latin, because that is what the Romans spoke, and they were in charge, and made everyone speak Latin, but we have better nouns...

Anyways, the possible concerns regarding Home Schooling.

(Sorry if all the stories about the kids get a little old, they really do make for some of the best material.)

It is Hard to Ignore Leviticus...

“You tell me the truth,” he slowly stated, “Does it say in this book that eating Pork is forbidden?” He was a big guy, and he leaned in close with his face inches from mine.

The Bible in front of us was open; we had been free-ranging through various topics when this one came up. It’s hard to say. It IS there, you know, those verses that say you can’t eat pig. It is our Holy Book, and it DOES say it, and it is never specifically refuted in the New Testament. And yes, I know the reasons why pork is now permitted, but they are hard to say in a sound-bite, and a sound-bite is all I had in this fast paced discussion. (It seems that all my discussions are fast paced, couldn’t we just slow down and study for awhile?)

It is hard to find chapter and verse that specifically allows it to his satisfaction, and chapter and verse is what he wanted.

So we had found our way to Leviticus. I often ignore Leviticus, I have read it before and, while recognizing this as the Word of God, I much prefer more exciting topics. Well, I guess Leviticus got more exciting that day.

And we found those verses where God says, “Do not eat pig”.

He was (disappointingly?) impressed.

“I know that there are bad Muslims out there who eat pig and drink whiskey,” he philosophized, “But now I know that there are bad Christians out there who do not follow the words of their Book.”

He likes my Book. I am happy about that. He and his wife are reading it together; this is a good thing.

So while I talk about Grace and Law (though haltingly, goodness this stretches my language ability), I cannot deny that Leviticus is the Word of God. God did not write some parts of His book to be better than others. It is all inspired. Including those verses in Leviticus where God forbids His people to even touch a pig, let alone eat it.

I felt a little bit like I took a step backwards that day. But perhaps not. What I wanted was for him to study the Bible, and he is doing it. To see the Whole Book as a Unity is an achievement that takes some time. It is refreshing to put the burden on God to defend His Own Word.

Nice to be challenged to read my own Book.

But Whom Do You Sleep With?

(This is an old story, but well worth re-telling)

Our Fair City is an immensely crowded place. Many “homes” will have 100 to 200 individuals living in them, crammed into rooms as they continue to put more concrete layers on top of the current stories.

Every room in the building (“building” is probably a better word than “home”?) is used at night for sleeping. A husband and wife will have a private room, with perhaps a child or two under ten sleeping with them. Unmarried males will sleep many in one room, and unmarried females in another one. Roll up mattresses get pulled out at night onto the floor, and every couch can hold a person or two.

But the bottom line is, no one gets a private room to sleep in.

A friend of ours – a young, single woman then – lived in Varanasi for three years. She got a small apartment and lived happily.

Once she was out visiting, when the conversation came up of who was sleeping in which room. Her friends inquired where she lived, and she explained that she rented a room.

Her friends got a puzzled look on their faces, “But whom do you sleep with?” they asked.

They were unable to comprehend the concept of sleeping alone in a room. Indeed, it sounded rather scary to them.

We only have six in our room.

Why I Like Lord of the Rings, Part One

The books promote character qualities that are rarely found in modern literature.

The word “perseverance” is not – to my knowledge – mentioned even once in the books. But LOTR is 1000 pages of perseverance.

If you go to the dictionary, you can read a definition of “perseverance”. And, you have learned nothing. If you read LOTR, you read 1000 pages of perseverance, and when you are done, you have a better idea of what it means to keep on doing the right thing, even if the stars fall, even if you loose everything.

LOTR has lots of good words to inspire Christian Character, words that are seldom noted in today’s society, words like:
noble trust brooding wonder wander wrath glory honor dignity mirth courage contentedness loyalty merry gladness generous “truth is important” “astonished joy” savor valor delight wisdom friendship generous

Even the bad words only highlight what is good. Bad is truly bad: wretched sniveling sorrow malice treachery

Why I Like Lord of the Rings, Part Two

Because it has lots of great quotes, such as the following:

Number One:
“Why was I chosen?”
“Such questions cannot be answered; you may be sure it was not for any merit that others do not possess: not for power or wisdom at any rate. But you have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have.”

Number Two:
“Courage is found in unlikely places.”

Number Three:
Between wonder, joy and fear, they stood and found no words to say.

Number Four:
“But you speak of him as a friend, I thought he was dangerous?”
“Dangerous!” came the reply, “And so am I, very dangerous, and so are your friends around you; and you yourself are dangerous in your own fashion. Certainly he is perilous, yet he is wise and kindly nonetheless.”

Number Five:
“His counsel was not founded on foreknowledge of safety, for himself or others. There are some things that are better to begin than to refuse, even though the end may be dark.”

Why I Like Lord of the Rings, Part Three

This is a bit of an obscure reason, but it is a dear reason to me nonetheless. I like LOTR because Tolkien uses few Latin based words, and makes a healthy and happy use of Anglo-Saxon based words.

The English language has two primary sources: Anglo Saxon (Germanic) from the settlers of the post-Roman times. And Latin based, I think mostly from the French of William the Conqueror in 1066 (or “William the B**" as he was more commonly called in his day).

Anglo Saxon tend to be simple, one-syllable words with clear visual images, while Latin based words just get longer and longer, and are often less precise.

A classic example of the difference between Latin based and Anglo Saxon based, is from an Essay by George Orwell, who quotes Ecclesiastes, and then “translates” it into modern Latin based vocabulary.

To quote Orwell:
“I am going to translate a passage of good English into modern English of the worst sort. Here is a well-known verse from Ecclesiastes:
“I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”

Here it is in modern English:

“Objective considerations of contemporary phenomena compel the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account.”

This is a parody, but not a very gross one…

End first quote. Orwell goes on to say:

“Now analyze these two sentences a little more closely. The first contains forty-nine words but only sixty syllables, and all its words are those of everyday life. The second contains thirty-eight words of ninety syllables: eighteen of those words are from Latin roots, and one from Greek. The first sentence contains six vivid images, and only one phrase (‘time and chance’) that could be called vague. The second contains not a single fresh, arresting phrase, and in spite of its ninety syllables it gives only a shortened version of the meaning contained in the first. Yet without a doubt it is the second kind of sentence that is gaining ground in modern English.”

End second quote.

So one of the reasons I like Tolkien is because he uses lots of good, clear, precise words such as:

bog fen dell moor heath glade hearth grange gorge glimmer rustle stride glisten strength churn helm toddle babble giggle dawdle wrath linger prattle

These are words that stir my heart and loosen my emotions.

(The Excerpts are from: “Politics and the English Language”, by George Orwell. This essay is probably, outside of the Bible, one of the most influential pieces of literature in my whole life.) This can be found at:

http://www.resort.com/~prime8/Orwell/patee.html

or

http://www.calvinvanhoek.com/articles/2007/04/politics-english-language/

Keeping Busy

Well, just to summarize the past few weeks...

1. Elijah's hearning...Two weeks after Elijah was born, the hospital called and said that he failed his original hearing screen, and it would have to be repeated. Long story short... four doctor visits later, it does appear that he can hear normally, and the first test was a "false positive". So we are glad of that, though had some frustrations for awhile with just not knowing.

2. Paperwork... Elijah is now the proud owner (well, actually, he is somewhat neutral about the whole affair) of a Thai Birth Certificate, US passport, US Birth Abroad Record, and Indian six month visa. Hooray. More paperwork revealed that he evidently does not need a visa for Thailand on this trip (since legally, he never entered Thailand), though one never knows what the airport may bring.

3. Retreating... so we just started a one week retreat up in the hills, and then next week have a couple more meetings and doctor visits, and then finally heading out soon.

4. Traveling...we train out of Chiang Mai for Bangkok on August 4, spend a few days in BKK, and then fly to New Delhi August 12, where we will stay with cousin Amos and Rowena (as Robert Frost said, "Home is that place that, when you go there, they have to take you in.") , and then get train tickets for our Fair city, hopefully arriving back before the 20th.

5. How are the kids? Great. We have childcare at the retreat center, so there is a several little packs of kids running around, including a pack of 6 to 8 year old girls. Nora Grace is ecstatic to have all contact with other children with a Christian world view. Miriam is ecstatic to have someone pay lots of attention to her, Sam is happy because Sam is just "Mr. Happy", and because he can run around and climb a lot, and Elijah is happy as long as lunch is on time.

6. How are Amy and Lowell? we are fine. Thanks for asking. Enjoying having someone else pour some energy into our children, enjoying having other like minded people to talk to, enjoying green grass, trees, running water, croaking frogs, blue sky with white clouds, and other things that I sometimes forget what they look and sound like.

“The Baby” in My Grandmothers Journal…

My paternal Grandmother (“Grossmummy”, for those who know her) was an Amish woman who bore seven children during the difficult years of the Great Depression.

It was my privilege to read her diary/notebook for the year 1932. Grossmummy preferred speaking Pennsylvania Dutch (my loss), but wrote in English, as that was the language of commerce, and most of the “diary” is actually more of a farm journal, telling about the various projects they had going on the farm and elsewhere to try and make ends meet.

The Journal was for the year 1932. My Dad was born in 1931, the sixth of what would be seven children (the two oldest boys – Alvin and Raymond, whom I never met -- had not yet died).

The Journal covered the time from when my Dad was 3 months old, to when he was 15 months old. Most of it tells of the day to day happenings of the farm, lots of details, including prices of wheat and corn and tomatoes etc. Lots of people are mentioned, which children did what, who visited, etc.

At no point does she mention my Dad by name. She only refers to him as “the baby.” She mentions all the other children and numerous other relatives, but there is no “Freddy”, only “the baby.”

Maybe I am reading too much into it, but it does make me wonder what that means. Why would a pre-vaccination, depression era woman not refer to her baby by name?

Maybe it was simply that there were too many of them. :) I have only four, and find myself going through a list of names before I get to the actual name of my fourth child.

It is odd how I don’t care for Pork as much any more.

Our house in India is “halal”. That is an Arabic word, similar to “kosher”. That means there are no pork products allowed in the house. This is for the sake of our Muslim friends, who are forbidden to eat pig meat. While we are free to eat as we please, if our Muslim friends found out that there had once been pig meat on the plates we serve them with, they would find that disgusting and rude.

(Handy hint when having Practicing Muslims over to your home: use paper plates.)

Our friends know we are allowed to eat pork, and are grateful that we have made this sacrifice on their behalf. They even tease us about it.

So when we are not in our home, such as visiting or traveling, there are no problems for us to eat pork, ham, and bacon. But none in our home in India.

After eight years of this, it is odd to me that I neither crave pork products, nor go out of my way to get them. Indeed, while here in Thailand, surrounded by some of the most incredibly luscious pork loins, bacon and ham that we have found, I have no desire to indulge. When it is served, I do eat it, and even enjoy it. But it is strange to me how I do not desire it anymore.

What will my Muslim friends think? If they teased me before, they will REALLY tease me now. :)

I humbly stand willing to be re-acculturated when we get back.

They Really Do Want To Understand Us…

The inscrutable Americans scattered around the world are generally tolerated, and often appreciated. The sheer size of our economy means that it is to the benefit of others to understand Americans.

The people of Thailand are no exception. With a booming economy, and one of the “Asian Tigers”, Thailand is a nation that would benefit a lot from understanding a bit more about this massive trading partner.

So one of the local English language newspapers offers this very helpful service: they print a popular comic strip (in this case, “Calvin and Hobbes”), and then have someone explain the humor in the strip. This is done as a service for those who do not speak English that well.

What a deal, maybe I will learn something myself!

To Clarify About Comments

For those who keep track, I promised at some point in the distant past that I would reply to comments. Well, ... I guess I am not doing that anymore. I do read them and appreciate them, and will often reply, but sorry I haven't replied to all.

"Sam, Would You Knock It Off..."

OK, so that is a direct quote from me, the Dad, to the number one son.

Who would have thought, years ago, that mild-mannered and good-natured Lowell would be using such strong language with his own child.

The funny thing is, I don't think I feel sorry. It really struck me as the most appropriate thing to say. I am trying to remember if my Dad ever said that (or the generational equivalent) to me? I am sure I probably deserved it on many occasions.

He really is a good kid, but, wow, he can be relentless. :)