Home with the Hanstads!

We have landed in Bangalore, India, home to not only a bustling IT community, but also our family-away-from-home, the Hanstads - Tim, Chitra, Rajan, Rani, Asha, Shalini and a whole host of local supporting cast and crew. It's wonderful to be here, being able to be with our dear friends, and settled into a home for an extended stay. Tim is the pres/ed of Rural Development Institute (RDI - http://www.rdiland.org/ ) - an organization working to secure land rights for the rural poor around the world, as well as an expert net installer. Tim's office is in a home near the Hanstad home here in Bangalore, and our "guesthouse" for our time here.

We arrived Wednesday evening, after an eventful departure from Udaipur. Not only did we have to say goodbye to our India travel-mates Steffen and Grace (who headed north, while we headed south), but the friendly guesthouse host-dog, Alfy (think very large, playful, hyper cross between a black lab and a greyhound), decided that Andy's offer to pet him was rather an imminent attack, and chomped his arm twice. Andy's got some nice punctures and bruises, but fortunately both Andy and Alfy have had their shots... so not too much to worry about. So while we escaped the teeth of the mad monkeys, Andy did not leave northern India unscathed. Alfy was immediately repentent, and sheepishly lay outside the door while we put Andy back together.

This weekend we are fully engaged in Aunt and Uncle mode, as Tim and Chitra are gone for a speaking engagement. They'll be back tonight, but we did have time to get in a trip to Fun World this afternoon. It's a sweet little low-key amusement park that has equipment that feels a little like hand-me-downs from the Bremer (or Deschutes) County Fair. I must say my roller-coaster ride this afternoon was scary for all the wrong reasons.

Now that we're settled in here, we have consistent (and worthy) connectivity, so I'm going to add some pictures from our last few weeks - some chronological, some thematic. Enjoy, and we'll keep you posted.

India...

like Delhi traffic

Udaipur

A little drainage project, but cars, motos, bikes and peds continued to navigate effectively, the fresh fruit market and our guest house (site of the bite).

Bundi

Some of our new friends, and color of the town...

... and overnight trains

first class, and not-quite-first class

Cambodia

Us and the Morefields...

The boys helping Kathy M. with an ESL lesson, and the mighty Mekong.

The temples of...

Angkor Wat, Bayon and Ta Phrom...

plus Chrissie and her friends and Matt on the scooter.

Our delightful lunch with Min Sor and his family.

Bangkok

The family at the ancient city, a little taste of home with Katie and Matt and Andy with their mates Tiger and Monkey (a different monkey than the ones we encountered in Bundi....)

Impact of Drape Academy

... and last, but certainly not least, The Chicken Chronicles