just down the street.

eMi has officially moved.  Graham obtained the keys a couple of weeks ago and two moving trucks full of office equipment arrived and have been unloaded.  The view from the office windows now are not of the himalayas.  Actually, there is really no view because it is a basement space.  On the bright side, it will be much cooler in the summer and temperatures are already rising.  There is an apartment above the office that will be used for interns and volunteers.  The kicker is that the office is two buildings down from our place.  I am trying to convince Graham that this means that whenever I need help changing a diaper I can holler and he will be right over!  We are thrilled that we figured out how to dodge the Delhi traffic with such a short commute and so far all of eMi staff have been able to find residences close by.  The unpacking, rebuilding, painting, plumbing and wiring have begun.  With architects on our staff there is no doubt that the basement space will be tastefully designed and it will eventually feel like the new eMi home.  The kids and I visited today(see photos below).  Graham is off on a project to Ryalanka island in the south doing a flood/community development/errosion control project.

The brick building is the new eMi office and if you look down the street at the end of the photo is our white place above the small black gate.

wedding season and late nights.

Our landlord's son got married last weekend.  From what I could gather, it was a very proper arranged marriage.  The families found each other on a match-making site or advertisement.  The couple met a few times before the marriage in a very formal and chaperoned setting.  After the marriage, they will live either short-term or long-term with the groom's family.  India is changing and relationships and marriages don't all happen this way, but this one seems to be a bit more traditional.  

Indian weddings are a cultural experience.  A multiple day affair full of events, worship ceremonies, dancing, sweets, beautiful dress, bands, horses and parades.  We got invited to this wedding and attended.  The reception festivities did not start until nearly 9PM and so we made the decision to go even though it was well past our kids' bedtime.  Notably, we did not get home until after midnight, but the kids rose to the occasion and had a great time.  The next night our neighbors had a BBQ and that dinner did not start until nearly 9PM and lasted until well after midnight.  Two record setting late nights for our little ones, but we feel like we are getting to know our neighbors and sometimes it takes adjusting our family clock a little to engage and make new friends because clearly India is on a different time schedule.  

Here are a couple of videos from the event.    The first video is from our balcony as we watched the groom mount the horse.  This was a very small processional.  Usually they are very crowded with huge bands and a large group dancing behind him in the street. During the reception we looked over to see Everett alone breaking it down on the dance floor.  He single-handedly started the dance party.  A short while after, he peed  on the dance floor which was tracked around by unaware dancers.

Wedding parade. from Carrie Frank on Vimeo.


Punjabi style from Carrie Frank on Vimeo.