Blog

Parenting the Parentless

Author:	David Strickland	Created:	4/4/2007 11:25 PM
Ok well parenting your own kids can be tricky enough but parenting someone elses can be a pain even if they are only on loan. Why would anyone in thier right mind want to parent 100 screaming orphans that you can't return. Much less why would you do it half way around the world. This is our Adventures or misadventures in starting and running an orphanage in India.

Rented a House

By David Strickland on 8/24/2007 2:57 AM

Things are progressing. We finally found a 5 Bedroom house for $550. It's one bedroom less then we had hoped for more then we expected but in the end we still concider finding it a blessing.

We've placed an order for our bed but until it arrives tomorrow we are sleeping on mats on the floor. We have to hire transportation for any furniture we need to purchase so furnishing the house is a slow process. We have a frig and a washing machine. As well as a foldable cot for our son. Not much time today. Hopefully we get internet at the house soon so I can give everyone a complete update. Atthe moment I have to travel about 30 minutes to use the internet and pay by the minute.

Comments (0)

Arrival

By David Strickland on 8/16/2007 6:57 AM

Well we made it. It's been a couple days since I've been able to get online to update everyone. We got here Wends morning. I guess to follow up on my last post Malaysia Airlines turned out OK. I'd have to give them a 10 on in flight service. Their stewards beat everyone else I've flown with. They are courteous and friendly. Though their ground personnel and service are terrible their in flight is exceptional so in the end they came out with an average score in my book. I might consider using them again.

After our arrival our ride met us at the airport and took us to the accommodations we had arranged at United Theological College here in Bangalore. After we checked in we were so tired we couldn't think about much but sleep. However as we pulled back the covers to crawl into bed we noticed that in the center of the bed was a rather large bed bug. Before I came to India I never knew what a bed bug was. Now I understand the statement "Good Night, Sleep Tight, don't let the bed bugs bite." Bed bugs...

Comments (0)

Escape from L.A.

By David Strickland on 8/11/2007 1:57 AM

     I never actually saw the movie "Escape from L.A." but I did see escape from New York many years ago. I figure they probably are about the same story line. In escape Snake (the star) is forced into trying to get a politician out of New York. If I remember right it seemed the movie started out exciting and then went dull in the center only to get exciting again at the end.

     After our wonderful experience at the airport in L.A. and a night’s sleep. Things did look better. We realized that if we could rent a car we could get up to San Francisco Thurs. Night, be at the Indian consulate first thing in the morning and make it back in time for the flight on Friday. I sent an email to the consulate and not getting a response for a couple hours so I called (I later did receive a response I just got in a hurry). I explained the situation and they said to come on up to the consulate and they would see if they could help. We rented a car checked out of the hotel and drove 6 hours north.

     The drive...

Comments (0)

Trapped in LA

By David Strickland on 8/9/2007 6:27 AM

As we went to drive to the airport from Baton Rouge the first thing that happened was I spilled my soda all over my lap. Not 10 sec. into the trip and things were already going south. Our first plane was 45 minutes late. We had 300 lbs. of luggage we had to check twice. All in all things were going down hill fast. But little did we suspect what was ahead.

As we arrived into LAX and went to check onto the plain the ticket agent noticed that my passport had expired. International dates are written the opposite of American dates so 11-1-2007 is Jan 11th not Nov 1st. The agent refused to let us board the plane. We haggled for a while but it was useless. Finally they decided we would have to go to the consulate to get it straightened out. Of course the consulate is a 4 hour drive away and it was already 11 pm. however before we could leave we had to get our checked bags back. Time ticked by. It was 1 am before we finally recieved our bags. it took 2 more hours to get our 300 lbs of luggage myself, my wife and my son to a hotel.

...

Comments (3)

Finished First Leg

By David Strickland on 8/6/2007 11:00 PM

Well the first leg is done. We flew from Kansas City to Baton Rouge to visit some friends on the way to India. It went well but believe it or not after shipping almost 3 tons we had to pay for extra luggage.

We flew down on Express Jet out of Kansas City the lines at the airport where hideous however once we got on plan service was exceptional. Flight took about 2 hours luggage made it alright and our visit here has gone well. We leave in a couple days for the next leg.

Comments (0)

I never did like the High Board

By David Strickland on 8/2/2007 1:33 PM

I can remember growing up in Midwest Iowa. Like any Iowa town we had a pool. Back in those days they didn't have slides and water guns, all that all we had was a low diving board and a high diving board. I can remember the first time I climbed up on that high board and stood on the end looked down. I remember all the things that go through your mind. As you stand there staring at the water miles and miles beneath you there is a little voice in the back of your mind telling you to just turn around climb down the ladder, walk out of the pool and never look back.

We are down to 48 hours till departure and that little voice seems awfully load at the moment. But the thing that made me go ahead and jump off the board is likely to be the same thing that will make me get on that airplane on Sat. the long line of people behind me that are expecting me to jump. Some because they are my friends and want to see me succeed and some because they are hoping I'll do a stupendous belly flop. But both groups expected me to jump. I have a sneaky suspicion that those that said they were my friends and those that wanted to see a stupendous flop where one and the same.

...

Comments (0)

Top 10 Reasons Bengaluru is better then Iowa

By David Strickland on 7/31/2007 7:26 PM

After my last post I realized it might be fun to actually come up with our top 10 reasons. So here they go Jay Leno style. #10 Jileby - I fell in love with these little guys during my first trip. It's a type of batter made into a shape similar to a pretezel and deep fat fried. Fresh out of the greese they litterally melt in your mouth with the sweet suger syrup coating the inside of your mouth with a warm glaze. However though my wife disagrees to me cold or even a few hours old they are simply a sticky mess not worth the effort. The need to have them hot and fresh makes it something nearly impossible to enjoy anywhere but India.

#9 The Spices - Everywhere and in everything. It's like being House Atreides on Dune with the spice effecting everything. So many flavors and viarities even a novice can make something taste good.

#8 Laborers - In India if you never have to break a sweat if you don't want to. For $1 or $2 you can hire one of the hundreds of laborers hanging around looking for work. Moving...

Comments (0)

Reasons Why India is better then Iowa

By David Strickland on 7/23/2007 7:45 PM

Ever since field of dreams came out every Iwegian knows the the answer to the question "Is this Heaven?". Well not every thing in Iowa is a field of dreams I haven't ever taken the time to wrte up a full list of why India is better then Iowa maybe I will someday. However I'm sure somewhere around number 6 would be the lack of Lightning storms that make your hair stand on end and light your DSL modem on fire.

About a week or more ago I must have gotten hit by lightning because that night my DSL modem had a large melted hole in the top of it. In India a lot of things can take you offline for days at a time but at least none of those result in a large melted hole in the top of your DSL modem. Anyway I'm finally back online. Sorry to those who have been waiting for me to update thier orphanages or get back to you on other issues hopefully I'll get caught up soon. Packing week this week though so not sure how much time I'll have. We ship it all in 7 days and have to have it loaded onto the trailers in 5 so we'll...

Comments (0)

Took some Time Out

By David Strickland on 7/7/2007 11:44 AM

My current contract ended Friday before last so the family and I took a Timeout and went to camp.

Comments (2)

10 points on culture shock.

By David Strickland on 6/26/2007 1:28 PM

42 Days left. We were packing last night and as we packed my wife and I began to laugh about all the things that would be different in India. Things like turning on a water heater 15 minutes before you wanted to take a shower. Remembering to turn it off when your done. Boiling milk before you drink it. Boiling the water before you drink it. The list goes on. No matter what country your going to culture shock is a possibility and if your not ready for it, it can knock you off your feet. I wanted to take some time today and look at some of the things I did before or during our last trip. Perhaps the most important part of Culture Shock is knowing that it exists and being prepared for it. Culture Shock to me stems from the your expectations and prejudice. You get into a situation in another culture and for some reason expect that things in that culture will be like they are in your own culture. Based on the presupposition of similarity you began to act and react similar to how you would in your own culture....

Comments (0)