A Day as a Eunuch

Yes, you are reading the title correctly. And no, I have not had a sex change.

It all started when I opened my bank account. When my profile was entered into the computer system they made a mistake and marked that I was Mr. and not Ms. This seems like something simple to correct, but 18 months later I'm still Mr.

I had to get this corrected my profile so that when my bank statements were printed for income tax return it would be correct. The first attempt I made at changing my gender, I was told that I had to produce proof that I was not married. Now, you probably are wondering how one does that but after living here, I am aware of ways to do that and I'm not willing to go there.

When I went into the bank the other day I needed my bank statements printed, my address changed and the Mr. changed to Ms. The address was changed on the spot (after filling out the request for address change form of course) without any documents to verify this change (this is highly unusual) and the statements were printed after this change and a request form for printed bank statements was filled out.

There was still the issue of me being a Mr. The bank teller was in agreement of how this error could cause me great problems in accessing and managing my account. He wrote up a formal request asking for the Mr. to be changed to Ms. He too was chuckling at the absurdity of the situation. He had to go ask four different supervisors to approve this change and verify the process which was necessary to do so. It was concluded that a third party had to vouch that I was for sure and without a shadow of a doubt a Ms. and not a Mr. The bank teller said that he would act as the third party and vouch for my gender. (Thank goodness! Can you imagine having to ask someone to come to the bank to verify your gender!) One supervisor came over and asked him (in Hindi) how he could be certain that I was a Ms. and not a Mr. He responded (in Hindi), "Because she's sitting right in front of me." She looked up and exclaimed, "A mistake has surely been made!" duuuuuuuuuuuuh!

After all this I was notified that the request had to be sent to the central office and approved before the change could be made. It would take about 3 to 5 business days for that to happen. Finally, in 3 to 5 business days I will be a Ms. again and not a Mr.

As I was telling this story to a friend of mine, she suddenly became wide-eyed and gasped. "I know why they would question your gender here!" "Why?" I asked...."Because there are eunuchs here!" LOL! We both busted out laughing. It never occurred to me of that being an option.

Beck in the Big D

What can change in 3 months... A LOT!

First, I landed in the new terminal...wow! Really beats the old one. The traffic is same as usual...actually, not really...it's worse! It has to do with the weather (we are having a very wet & long monsoon) and construction for the upcoming Common Wealth Games in October. Also due to the games, there are new street lights and street signs. I have to chuckle at the signs because the proper names on the signs are not what the locals call the different roads for the most part. The venues for the games are almost finished...spectacular. ooh, ooh, they have fixed pricing for auto rickshaws now! The prices are higher (and fairer) but I don't have to fight with drivers anymore...Yippeee! WoooHooo! Turning cartwheels.

Things were immaculate in my flat. Only one problem, day 2 and something made something do something and power wasn't getting to my lights and fans...no bueno! It was fixed by day 4. All is nice and cool.

I've been going here and there to see friends and visit my favorite markets. Today I'm sitting in Choco la working on my online professional development courses. I enjoyed a nice croissant as an appetizer, then I had my favorite tomato basil tart for lunch. But to my horror, they no longer make their caramel tart=( That's worse than finding out the cafe by my language school no longer serves my favorite pasta, bummer.

I had a great first Hindi lesson. I was complimented on my pronunciation. I found out that this letter I thought I was not pronouncing correctly and was effecting my pronunciation of 2 words in particular actually had nothing to do with the letter but a missed placed vowel in each of the words! Those "ah" ke matras get you every time=)

I'm slowly getting back into routine and getting a schedule going. It's only Wednesday, here's to hoping the rest of the week is as good as the beginning.

Back in Texas Part 2

I’ve been writing this but not able to publish it…let’s pick back up with my trip to Missouri...”The Show Me State!”

I was very excited to visit some good friends who live just outside of KC. It was a good week of nothing. I just hung out and learned about their life and schedule. That’s one thing I enjoyed about being home…I now have a picture of what everyday looks like for my family and friends at this moment in time. For some, it’s about the same. But for others, their lives have changes in significant ways.

These friends had a new addition shortly before I left. It was great to get to meet this little guy. I was surprised that his older sister still remembered me. She was still so young when I left. I have to give her parents credit on keeping me in their conversations and skype calls and pictures for that.

One of the highlights for me was getting to eat KC BBQ. I’m from TX. I’m a Texas snob about a lot of things, but when it comes to BBQ I like it all. I really loved KC BBQ. The sauce and slaw mix was very tasty. I still need to go to the Carolinas and Memphis and try their versions out before I make a final decision. But I must admit, KC BBQ is leading at the moment=)

I also just got some girl time with my friend. I know that was good for both if us. I cooked some Indian food for them which didn’t turn out too bad. I made aloo gobi (potato cauliflower) which is becoming a specialty of mine. I also made bhindi masala (okra with spicy tomato sauce). This time I used frozen okra and well…it was very slimy. I know now to stick to the fresh veggies. I also had a fun evening with the kids while the parents had date night. All in all it was a good vacation.

Before moving on, I almost forgot...4th of July!

Papa and Nani smooching @ the fireworks

Just wanted to sneak in a pic of one of our dogs...Dakota...love this dog!

This is what we eat for Independence Day...ribs baby!

Let’s see…after KC….my mind is blank of the order but here’s a summary:

Nani's b-day (yes, that's what we call her...never knew it was a Hindi word)

I made my mom her favorite dessert....coconut cream pie (we made a double pie in a cake pan)

flowers we 3 girls gave her (church altar flowers)

I made (I think) 2 more trips to Waco. One for a beautiful wedding which I was thankful to be in attendance (love ya Mrs. Kemper). I also went to see my grandma one more time. They had shifted her to another room fit for a single person. It was so odd. Still working through the loss of my grandpa. I got to see another good friend and meet her son who is now one. I made a trip to Aggieland and had lunch with a friend and met her new boyfriend (shawn, you have my approval=). After lunch I went to see some long time friends and catch up after not seeing each other for several years. Other than that, I think the rest of the time was spent working on getting a visa and having lunch/dinner/coffee with various friends.

Mrs. Kemper=)

This is my family when I stay in Waco.

These are the boys I want my nieces to marry=)

These are the pets I wanted to smuggled in my suitcases and bring back with me.

Oh, yes! How could I forget. My sister and I took the girls to the Downtown Aquarium. It was soooooo much fun. We rode the Ferris Wheel, carousel, and the train which took you into a tunnel with sharks! We rode the rides and then walked through the aquarium and then rode the rides again before we left.

The shark train...cue Jaws theme music...

Petting sting rays...no animal was injured in this act nor was any child forced into touching the sea creature=)

I also had an interesting day at the mall with my sister and her girls and Chris (family friend) and his 4 girls. That’s 6 girls ranging in age from 5 to 13! That was a trip. The best part was watching Chris on his first ever trip to the mall with his girls.

@ the mall...she's wants a puppy so badly...

My sister and I also took the girls to see Ramona and Beezus. I loved these books as a kid and as a teacher they are part of my collection. Now the girls are hooked and we read them each night before bed. We will continue once a week over skype. So, yes, basically for the rest of the time I was spoiling my nieces. I also spent some good time with my godchildren. My friend and I called me holding my new godsons my baby therapy. Just before I returned, I got to go meet my nieces’ new teachers and see their new school.

More spoiling @ Build-A-Bear...or in this case Build-A-Jaguar and Build-A-Dog

SPA DAY for my nieces and the girls next door....

pedi-mani

Even hair and make-up!

THE NEW GODSONS!!!!

Time with friends...

Here's a pic of my little sis with her boat down at school before she left....I was very sad I didn't get to see her before I left again.

Thus, is the end of my trip back to Texas...until next time.

Disclaimer: If I forgot to mention something it is because I was able to do so much that I haven't been able to keep track of everything. I was pleasantly overwhelmed by the wonderful opportunities I had to meet up with people and their wonderful hospitality. Thank you!