Well folks, this is officially the last Hyderabad Update from the Ehlers! After 1 year and 2 weeks in India, we are heading home next Tuesday, June 20th.

Mom and Elaine came home early from their whirlwind tour of Northeastern India. They were scheduled to come back on Monday the 12th, but decided to pack it in on Friday the 9th instead. Elaine came down with a terrible head cold and just spent the whole weekend recovering in the apartment. Not the best way to spend the last couple days of a vacation in India. Oh well, that’s the way the cookie crumbles. Actually it worked quite well, because apparently after they left there were several bombings around the areas where they had been visiting.

Last weekend was great, Friday we took our co-workers from the US, Scott and Dan out for dinner and drinks at Seventh Heaven and Sixth Element. It was quite nice, and they both enjoy spicy food, so we really went to town! Saturday we took Scott pearl shopping and did some clothes shopping in the afternoon. On our way to the mall for pearl shopping, Scott and I were walking outside in the street and out of nowhere came a bicycle and ran into me. No major damage, just took me by surprise and scuffed up my pedicure.

Saturday night my team (Arvind, Divakar, Sarma, Shivanand, and Venantius, plus Arvind’s girlfriend Swetha from Clay’s team) took Clay and me out for a going away party. We went to a rooftop restaurant called Exotica. It was quite nice and I wore my first sari! Swetha had gifted this sari to me in December when I came home for Christmas, so it’s been waiting to be worn for quite some time. Swetha just had the sari rolled, and the blouse and petty coat made for me last week. I can’t believe I’ve been in India and this is the first time I actually put on a sari. (There are pictures on the photo site if you would like to see) Then my team gifted me a gorgeous pearl necklace and some pearl earrings, that looked great with my sari (you can also see those online). They also gifted Clay and I some silver goblets that are absolutely amazing. I have to say, my team has excellent tasteJ. They made me feel like a princess, definitely one of my top 5 nights in India.

Sunday we had coffee with a good friend at Barrista, went to lunch at Ohri’s and shopping at Fab India. Sunday afternoon/night I packed 2 suitcases….4 left.

Monday night Clay went out with some guys from the office to watch the USA play the Czech Republic play in the world cup. For those of you who missed it, we lost.

Tuesday night mom and Elaine traveled back to the US. Just to add some excitement to their last day here mom broke off one of her teeth around 5:00pm, and they had to be to the airport by 10:00pm. So after a quick trip to the dentist, they were on their way. Never a dull moment.

Tonight we are going out with some friends, Patrick and Madhuri. Tomorrow we (Claire and I) are doing some last minute beautification at the local salon, taking final advantage of India’s reasonable prices. Then we have lunch plans with our friend Jagdish.

Sunday we are getting together with some friends in the morning, a representative from the village school is coming to pick up Claire’s toys in the afternoon, and Clay’s team will be taking us out in the evening for a going away fiesta.

Quotes from Claire:
“Mommy, I need to show you something.” (This is usually followed up by some extreme jumping.)

“Daddy, no touching mommy. Claire’s mommy.”

“Mommy no talking.”

Whenever we are heading out the door and I say, “Let’s hit the road Jack!” Claire says, “I’m not Jack, I’m a girl!”

Photo website details- www.clubphoto.com search by claytman@excite.com the album title is June 06.

See you all very soon, our US cell numbers will remain the same if you need to reach us.
Clay- 402-730-0095
Julianna-402-730-5853


Sincerely,Julianna Ehlers

Hello friends and family!

June 6th we completed our 1 year anniversary in India, where has the time gone? We are still working on packing things up and have sent 2 suitcases home with co-workers and one more on the way with Elaine next Tuesday. So the rest is up to us to get home. We found out that Kenexa is keeping our apartment as a guesthouse after we leave, so we’ll be leaving many of our daily items here for the next visitors, sheets, towels, dishes, etc. which lightens the load of needing to find new homes for those things.

Here’s a brief recap of the last week:

Friday afternoon Shah had his first interview; all went well until…they asked him if he liked dogs. Evidently he hates dogs. So they parted deciding that he should come to their house on Sunday to meet their dog. I asked Shah later on that day why he didn’t like dogs, he told me that when he was 10 he got bit by a dog with rabies and had to have 14 shots in his stomach. (If that happened to me, I probably wouldn’t like dogs either.) Then on Saturday I found out that he also doesn’t like dogs because in the Muslim religion if he touches or is touched by a dog on Friday’s he can’t attend mosque. So really it’s a double whammy for him.
So he had an interview with another family on Sunday, that went well and they want to hire him. Which is good because the meeting between Shah and the dog later on Sunday wasn’t exactly love at first site. However, the family with the dog does want to hire Bindu. So it looks like they both have new employment to go to, phew…we can check that off the list.

Mom headed off on Saturday to meet up with Elaine, she called on Sunday and they had arrived in Gujarat. They were on to Darjeeling on Monday, then to Aizwal, and finally in Kolkata before they return to Hyderabad next Monday.

Saturday night we went back out to Eat Street with our friends so that the kids could play on the rides. It rained, so it wasn't quite as much fun as last week, but the kids still had a good time.

Sunday our co-worker Scott arrived, he and Clay went down to the Charminar for a bit of shopping, then we went to Shilparamam in the afternoon to see the crafts. Clay bought himself a lungie which is a traditional long “man skirt” that can be worn in several different fashions. It’s quite typical to see India politicians wearing lungies and random people on the street. Side note, we had the lungie hemmed, a sheet hemmed, and 2 pillow cases made all for 100 rupees ($2.22), I love India!!!!

Today Deloitte’s employees were participating in a service day, they have a pretty big presence in Hyderabad, so there were hundreds of them out and about. They were all stationed at integral intersections throughout Hyderabad. Each employee was working on getting drivers to obey traffic rules, like staying behind the white line at a red light, not running red lights, etc. In my opinion, they were much more effective than the police. They did a great job, and I didn’t even see one of them hit a car or a person with a stick (I see police do this on a daily basis). Deloitte…you get an A for effort!

Reflection:
Do you remember this insert from one of our initial emails?
Quote from an anonymous Hyderbadian-
Clay Q: What is going on?
Anonymous A: Everything is as it is.

Well, if you ask that same Hyderbadi (I later learned that this is the correct way to refer to a person from Hyderabad) today, the answer is now:
Anonymous A: Everything is under my control.
(I think the Ehlers have rubbed off a littleJ)

See you in 10 days.

Sincerely,Julianna Ehlers

Today marks one year in India.

Little note on my scooter ride home today.
-I had traveled about 1 km before it started to sprinkle and it just got heavier and heavier the further I got towards home.
+It was very nice to have a visor on my helmet, I do no understand how some people can go without a visor, helmet, or glasses.
+My back was totally dry, lower legs dry, bag stayed dry, and cell phone stayed dry.
-Front very wet, (in fact I just stepped on them at the end of my bed (after 5 hours) still wet enough to soak through my stocking feet).
+/- When it is raining the stoplight operators leave their posts and head for cover, so there was no waiting for lights to change, just the general slow chaos (which works much more efficiently than the cops, and with less accidents).
+The rain was warm.
-Raindrops sting on the exposed chin and neck.
-20 km/hr feels more like 50 km/hr when it is raining.

All in all, fun commute home, would not want to do it every day, and would like to have a rain coat, but the pants were pretty unscathed.

I can’t believe May has already come to an end. June 6^th completes our one year anniversary in India. The last few weeks of our adventure in India is quickly passing us by. There’s only 18 days left until we head back to Nebraska.

We had another nice weekend. Saturday we had some of Claire’s friends over in the morning for a swim and went to a birthday party in the evening. The birthday party was at a place called “Eat Street” which is a food mall along one side of the Hussain Sagar lake. It is also attached to a mini amusement park with little kid rides. Claire had a blast going on all of the rides. Her favorites were the tea cup ride and the duckie “roller coaster.” The merry-go-round wasn’t as big of a hit.

Sunday was another nice day at the Taj Krishna, we me some people who might be potential employers for our driver when we leave. That’s a relief; we wanted him to go to a good family. We actually have 2 different interviews lined up for him this weekend, so we are crossing our fingers that one of them works out.

Monday evening we went to a birthday party for a little boy in Claire's class. It was amazing. As Clay put it, "It was the best birthday party I have ever been to." They had rented a huge room in a hotel and had games, a dancing stage, a popcorn machine, cotton candy machine, a chocolate fondue fountain, a huge spread of food, balloons everywhere, and a golfing lane. Pretty impressive for a 3 year old birthday party, I would like to see what they do for his 18th birthday party.

Tuesday night I sent some letters of recommendation home with Bindu our housekeeper to help in future employment searching. We were under the impression that she knew we were leaving and that she already had another job lined up…we were wrong. Wednesday morning she came and she was crying and crying, hugging Claire, touching her head and crying more. We feel really bad about blind siding her like that. Not only are we her employer, but she also lives with us, so when we leave she’s out of a job and a house. Not good. Now we are on the hunt to find her a new family. She had one interview last night and will have another one this weekend.

I didn’t realize how stressful it was going to be finding new employers for Shah and Bindu. I guess we have grown so close to them that we just can’t bear to leave them without making sure they are taken care of. The employment demand is definitely there, but I’ve seen how badly some people treat their house hold staff and it makes want to try even harder to make sure they are with good families.

This morning Elaine headed off to Delhi, she’ll spend one day in Delhi, then take a tour to Agra on Saturday where she will visit the Taj Mahal. Mom is meeting up with Elaine Saturday night in Delhi and they’ll head off to their week long North Eastern India tour on Sunday. Mom and Claire are going to the school's production of Alice in Wonderland this evening.

Check out the updated pictures www.clubphoto.com search on email claytman@excite.com look for the album titled “May.” I attached a few, just because they are so darn cute. (FYI-the white things that Clay and Claire have on their heads in the last pictures are called “baclavas” which are protective layers that are used when putting on shared helmets at go-karting facilities. Claire found them while packing and was quite entertained by them.)

Clay has updated the blogg with a handful of thoughts on cricket, plus an archive of random thoughts and all the weekly updates. Check it out at ehlersindia.blogspot.com

For everyone that wants to learn about cricket (admit it you have a little interest) I have the best one stop shop to get the game's essence. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket List of downsides to cricket:

-Takes patience, fast games take hours, slow games run days (5 days).

-You sometimes (ok, often) end games in a tie. Yes, it is unamerican.

-When you are the one white guy you will surely get stumped out on the first bowl.

-They stop to enjoy tea in the middle of the game.

-When you get out on your first bowl, you are done for the day and do not get a second chance.

-If you drink while watching you will usually overindulge by the time one team is done batting.

-It takes up all the Sports Center time on ESPN, even during football season.

-They have rules that say things like "...if it is within the spirit of the game..."

Upside:

+It is better than football (that is unamerican for "soccer"). Let me tell you this is a bigger one than all the negatives together.

+You think that Baseball has stats and records--you seen nothing, baby.

+There are as many ways to win as there are teams (you can be big, you can be fast, you can be smart, you can be conservative, you can be aggressive, you can spike the other teams tea...)

+Pads.

+Highlights.

+They have rules that say things like "...if it is within the spirit of the game..." It is truly a game played and watched by gentlemen (and women), and frequently watched by drunks.

I am incredibly glad that I have been exposed to the game and will be up for showing all you how it works when we get home.

Just noticed that it is 82 degrees in Lincoln and 82 degrees in Hyderabad at the same time. No big deal, but it is nice to know we are working toward the same point (albeit from different directions).

48 new pics up on the club photo site ( www.clubphoto.com ) search by my personal email address ( claytman@excite.com ).

Lots of pics of coworkers, Claire, and the early monsoons. I will work on captions today, but you can see them now.

Clay