All sorts of company

Life in India since Carly left has been quite low key – thus the lack of blogging, sorry about that J

Most of my week has consisted of reading books on the balcony and applying to jobs online but I do have a couple of stories to share!

The Dentist:

Hearing about how cheap the dental procedures are in India sparked my interest. So after letting Tom get his check-up and fillings done first (just to make sure the place was legit) I headed to the dentist down the road where I paid less than $20 for a full check-up and cleaning. No cavities! It was an interesting experience because there was such a mix of India in with a regular dentist experience. There was your average dental chair and all the sterilized tools, but I was also required to remove my shoes and had my picture (not so covertly) taken by another patient. We've also discovered that prescription medicine is much cheaper over here but since the regulations are less strict it may not be the best idea for my dad to stock up on diabetes meds - expiry dates are not taken too seriously in India! 

The Bees:

My dad and Rob have become the unlucky hosts of a swarm to bees! Now when I say a swarm I mean thousands of bees all packed together hanging from the balcony. It wouldn’t be such an annoyance if they weren’t making the balcony off-limits and wandering the hallway, but needless to say we don’t exactly want them around. So several attempts have been made to get rid of the bees in a humane fashion. First there were the mosquito coils which were not remotely successful! The next attempt was a little more drastic and not at all planned by any of us – this involved Tej covering himself in a blanket and taking a broom onto the balcony where he attacked the hive! I was not impressed because I was now trapped in my dad’s apartment, unable to make it down the hall to mine since the bees that weren’t busy attacking Tej had filled the hallway and were not happy. Tej finally made it inside with a few stings which in a matter of hours swelled incredibly! More than 24 hours later he still looks like he has the hands and feet of an obese man (Tej can’t be more than 120 pounds). He’s gone to the hospital now which I think was a good idea.

And after that fiasco the bees have simply reconvened on the balcony, requiring attempt number  3 to happen tonight - which I assume will not involve allowing the bees to live. Sorry environmentalists.

The Visitors:

My lonely week came to an end on Sunday when Carly was replaced by my mom and Dot! After a good flight in, they spent most of the day sleeping, but now having recovered from their jet lag, they are my entertainment. I have basically become a tour guide for the two, and their disbelief at the sounds, smells and chaos reminds me of how crazy the things are that I have gotten used to.  The few days we’ve had together have involved a lot of shopping and coffee. Dot has been on a quest to find Rob some ties because she was horrified to see a mismatched outfit he had worn to work. She is also determined to convince the Canadian government to replace taxi cabs with rickshaws because she has fallen in love with how they can weave in and out of traffic, fitting into any available nook (according to her the weather issue can easily be solved with winter tires). We also celebrated my dad’s birthday last night, which involved us being extremely resourceful in order to wrap his presents. Let’s just say we used stickers from our luggage tags as tape.

So anyways, life has been good and quite relaxing. We are experiencing some rain but have lots to do to keep us busy this week. Next week we begin our journey into the jungle and down to the beach - you'll hear all about it soon!