Thanksgiving Extravaganza 2012...the first 48 hours!

The "typical Thanksgiving" has never really been the norm in our house.  When we were still back in Wisconsin in the late 90's, Meghan (and I) spent a number of Thanksgivings traversing nearby states for the annual Midwest Region Oireachtas, a huge Irish dance competition.  Thanksgiving dinner was usually a mediocre group buffet at the hotel prior to rehearsal and "tanning" for the next day's competition in places like Pittsburgh, St. Louis and the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago.  Then we moved to Tokyo where Thanksgiving meant a 4 day school vacation, so it was off on a mini trip...we spent those Thanksgivings in Hakone (Japan), Hong Kong, and Singapore (fyi - the Singapore American Club has a fabulous Thanksgiving buffet!)  Upon returning to the USA, all of Steve's family came to our house in New Jersey for our first "real family Thanksgiving" in many years.  Little did they know they'd have to help hang the new dining room chandelier in order to have dinner! The following seven years we settled into a comfortable, traditional Thanksgiving routine...enjoying a scrumptious dinner and the day's football games with our good friends, the Richsons.  Other than the year Target (their dog) had a little stomach issue while they were at our house...(that put a pretty big damper on the idea of having dessert over there)...things ran along smoothly. We had joined the ranks of the traditional Thanksgiving people!! That brings us to 2012.  This year our family is scattered throughout 3 continents - Steve and I are here in Switzerland, Meghan is in India, Patrick is in New Jersey and Connor is in Wisconsin!  This would NOT be a traditional Thanksgiving in the O'Hearn household...

First off, Patrick decided back during the summer that he wanted to go to Istanbul for Thanksgiving (get it...turkey in Turkey!!)  He had a four day vacation from work, why not?  And he got a great price on airfare...so his Thanksgiving ticket was booked!  If Patrick wasn't going to be in NJ, there was no way I was going to let Connor come back to Summit and enjoy the annual pre-Thanksgiving festivities on his own...off to Grandpa and Grandma's you go!  So, we might as well meet up with Patrick in Istanbul as well!  Meghan really wanted to come to Istanbul too, but her tourist visa won't allow her to leave India if she wants to come back in less than 60 days...so that's how our 2 continents in 5 days Thanksgiving extravaganza came into being!  48 hours in Bangalore, India...48 hours in Istanbul, Turkey...a combined 7 hours of layovers in the UAE...and 24 total hours of flight time!  Jet lag...bring it on...I dare you!

We left Zurich at 2:30 on Tuesday afternoon and arrived in Bangalore on Wednesday morning, around 9 am.  Meghan had arranged for "Jojo" - a former Sneha employee turned taxi driver - to pick us up at the airport and take us to the Sneha campus where she lives and works (most of the time!)  We searched the numerous driver-held signs outside of baggage claim for something along the lines of "O'Hearn" or "Steve & Lisa" but found none.  Fortunately Jojo eventually found us and off we went in his very compact taxi for our 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive to Sneha!  I'm not really sure exactly how far it is from the airport to Sneha, but suffice it to say that traffic control is not one of Bangalore's strong points.  The city's population and businesses are growing much faster than its infrastructure (it is known as the "Silicon Valley" of India), resulting in crazy, chaotic traffic...a little like rush hour on the freeways in Chicago, with a few extra stray dogs and cows along the streets for good measure!  Fortunately, we had a relatively easy 1 1/2 hour drive to Sneha and Meghan!

Jojo driving us from the airport to Sneha in typical Bangalore traffic...who needs lanes?

Steve and Meghan outside the entrance to part of the Sneha complex.

According to the Sneha website...

Sneha Care Home is a ‘home away from home’ for the HIV infected children. Sneha Care Home strives to provide comprehensive care to the orphan and vulnerable children by creating an environment which would help them live their lives joyfully and responsibly. This is the second initiative of Camillians for the care of HIV infected children. It began in July 2008 in the Snehadaan campus as a separate entity. ‘Sneha Care Home’ is the residential part of the programme and ‘shining star school’ is the academic part of the same. It took off with 20 HIV infected children, but now it cares for 100 children. Using the National Open School System, the education system aims to help these children reintegrate into the larger community as responsible and productive citizens. It is a combination of institutionalized and community based services.

The Sneha complex also includes a hospital for adult HIV/AIDs patients, as well as a conference center.  Among other things, Meghan works with the children at the Sneha Care Home - particularly the older kids (ages 10 - 14) who will soon be moving out into the "real world."  So, she thought it would be a good idea for us (Steve and me) to teach a class that afternoon!  With a short amount of prep time (24 hours prior to take-off) no supplies (I left all my craft supplies in NJ) and a little bit of help from the internet, I came up with a lesson plan on Advent, particularly focusing on the European/American custom of advent wreaths and calendars.  After a short period of instruction, we got to the fun part...Advent Bingo!  Using Advent-related words (four, wreath, calendar, Christmas, etc...) rather than numbers, the kids aimed to answer questions, get "bingo" and win an awesome prize! First we just gave out Swiss chocolate coins to the winners, but at the end we had two grand prizes...big "movie theater size" candy bars...boy were they excited!  Meghan is curious to see how they react this weekend at mass when the advent candles start getting lit...

Playing the Advent bingo game.

Everyone wants some more of the almond bingo "markers"

The class!

After class, we said farewell to Sneha and jumped back into Jojo's trusty cab for a little trip around Bangalore before heading to our hotel.  Enjoyed a delicious meal at Toit Brew Pub (microbrewery) in the happening Indira Nagar neighborhood.  

Toit Brew Pub

My awesome chocolate raspberry mousse dessert!

The "auto-rickshaw" we rode in to get there.
Has John Deere made its way into the Indian market?

At a beautiful park earlier in the day!

After a great night's sleep, and awesome showers, we were picked up by Meghan's friend, Cliff, who was going to take us on a tour outside of Bangalore.  Cliff is one of the founders, coach, and chief PR director for Bangalore's best Ultimate frisbee team, "Learning to Fly."  Meghan found the team via an internet search before she left the US, sent them an email, Cliff quickly replied back...Meghan went to a game about 24 hours after she arrived in Bangalore, and the rest (as they say)...is history!  Before anyone gets any ideas...Cliff is a happily married, 30-something guy who just happens to be between jobs at the moment and had the time and willingness to take us on a little adventure!  Besides being a great ambassador for the sport of Ultimate frisbee, Cliff is a great ambassador for Bangalore and India as well - couldn't have asked for a better tour guide and photographer!  If the whole engineering thing doesn't work out...he has plenty of other options!

My cow fascination continues in India...they are everywhere!!
Cliff promises that we will, "pet some cows" later...??

The "Tender Coconut" vendor on the side of the road
preparing our drinks.

Cliff and Meghan enjoying a thirst quenching drink
of tender coconut...better than Gatorade!

A traditional Indian breakfast.

Needed to get a photo with these cows pulling wagons full of sugar cane.

At Keshava Temple in Somnathapur

The pillars are so interesting - like turned wood, but not!

On the steps of the Temple - reminded me a lot of the Angor temples in Cambodia.

On the way back to Bangalore from the Keshava Temple, I finally got to pet a cow!  We looked for some friendly looking cows, with farmers who might be willing to talk to us...and that is exactly what we found! The people we found were rice farmers and they explained everything there is to know about rice farming in India to us (okay - to Cliff, but he translated)...what a great and memorable stop that was!

My cow and me!

The woman we met was at the other end of the rice paddy when
we got there.  As soon as she saw us, she came "running" over
to see what was up.  I thought this made a nice photo.
She was using the umbrella to keep the sun off her earlier.

The three of us with the rice farmers (thanks to photographer, Cliff!)

On the way back into town, I kept my iPhone camera on and took photos whenever I saw anything interesting.  I was really searching for a picture of a guy on a motorcycle with a woman in a sari riding sidesaddle on the back - saw so many of those the day before.  Didn't see any today :(

Steve thought these jugs were ceramic earlier in the day...
they aren't.

After a brief rest back at the hotel, it was on to the highlight of the trip - our very Bangalorean Thanksgiving Feast!  In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we had Meghan invite all of her Ultimate frisbee friends to a special dinner to thank them for all they've done to welcome her, include her, and make her stay in Bangalore so wonderful.  About 35 of them were able to come (including some spouses) and enjoy a fabulous meal (thanks to the supreme negotiating skills of Meghan's friend, Sammy, the bill was about the same as dinner for four in Zurich...) and a super fun time!  What a great group of friends she has made...friendly, ambitious, well-educated, energetic, fun-loving and extremely proud of their country.  The future of India is very bright in their hands!

Smaller groups could eat in these fun auto-rickshaws!

In rapt attention as Steve thanks everyone for all they've done for Meghan.

Another table listens...

Pictures with just part of the group...

Back to the hotel just after 11:30 (city law requires all bars and restaurants to close at that time!)  Pack up our luggage, and it's off to the airport at 12:30 am for our 4:30 flight to Istanbul...and maybe a few hours of sleep??