Murder under the faint glow of a cellphone light
Shortly after our return to India in January we discovered that an army of mosquitoes invaded our house. They were particularly brutal at night and we were dinner! We try to protect Kara with a mosquito net over her cot, but sometimes one or two slip in and poor Kara would wake up with welts all over her face.
In India, people have made peace with the mosquitoes. We suspect that they are bitten so often while they are young that they actually build up a resistance and that the bites don’t itch. I’ve often seen people taking a nap with a handkerchief over their face (i.e. the rest of their body is fair game). Marga however is not fond of mosquitoes.
About 2 or 3 days back in India, with Kara still sleeping in our room (to help her adjust being yet again in a different house) I woke up with a light shining in my eyes. This is a nightmare for most South Africans as it normally means an armed person is behind the light. To my relief I discovered that it was Marga who was on the hunt. She had her cellphone in one hand, while swatting mosquitoes with the other hand. I laid still and enjoyed the show for about 15 minutes. Marga was quite athletic as she hunted them up and down the walls, catching them on the outside of Kara’s mosquito net and even jumping on the bed to get the ones high up on the wall and the roof. It was both a comic and scary sight!
Marga didn’t want to turn on the light because Kara was sleeping in our room - so she hunted with the help of a cellphone! She was quite effective also - around 40 or 50 mosquitoes died in our room that night. The next morning it looked a bit like a murder scene with blood splatters on the wall where Marga swatted the mosquitoes. The only part of the story which I didn’t find funny was when I realised that most of the blood on the walls were mine!
Take a look if you dare:
Kara
We are so impressed with Kara - she is now mostly sleeping through the night and she impresses and amazes us on a daily basis with new skills or “words”. She crawls at the speed of lightning and stands up against any and everything. Kara has always been her daddy’s girl. She always did her “tricks” first for me - e.g. rolling over, standing up, saying “Pappa” before “Mamma”, etc. When it was feeding time she would refuse to eat until I gave her food to her and then she would eat it all. And when I came into the room she would laugh and get all excited.
This changed a few weeks ago when she started developing a bit of separation anxiety - and now her world revolves around Marga. I’m in a distant second place. I really hope that I can reclaim some of my former “status” in my daughter’s eyes.
Gymboree
Marga discovered a wonderful baby programme in Hyderabad, called Gymboree. They have classes for babies of different ages and a wonderful environment for babies to learn and play. Marga, Kara and I are going to “class” every Sunday. I took a few snaps during the class.
Expat interview
I was recently interviewed by a relocation company about our experience and views of Hyderabad.
You can read the Expat Interview if you are interested.
Ellora
I never got around to posting about Ellora (near Aurangabad). Its almost a year back that I was there, but the images of Ellora are still clear in my mind.
At Ellora they basically carved away a small mountain to leave behind a temple. It took 6000 people 150 years (full time) to build the one big temple. The workers started at the top of the mountain and carved their way downwards, leaving behind an intricate, but massive work of art. Can you imagine a project of this scale? Managing 6000 people for 150 years and if one makes a mistake it stuffs up the whole design! It was impossible to get the scale of the temple captured on a photograph.
Other than the temple there are about 20 caves also carved into the mountain side. These caves are newer than the Aurangabad caves. Ellora developed when Aurangabad was abandoned due to shorter trade routes to the north.
Theo Scheffler
February 11th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
For the mozzies - 1x drop of Lavender on each pillow and at the foot of the bed (it won’t stain). And apply on bites as well. Wonderful stuff! If you don’t have any, I’ll get you some.
The temple is unbelievable!
February 11th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
Elke dag lyk net lekkerder en beter daar by julle, met of sonder muskiete. Ek het gister ‘n trotse oupa gesien met ‘n mooi foto op sy selfoon - kom wys haar vir ons as julle weer kom kuier.
February 12th, 2010 at 11:37 am
Hi Guys!
I know how you feel about mosquitoes Marga, I had a bit of hunting to do in the middle of the night myself, although on a much smaller scale! Kara is looking absolutely gorgeous! Enjoy and give india a wave hello from us!