New Blog

Hey everyone! I have started a new blog called Recipes For Life to replace this one. It's a cooking and life blog together, which is really fun. I hope you enjoy it! The url is www.recipesforlifebyandy.blogspot.com. Stay tuned for a new post very soon!

Cultures, Crazy friends, and Cheeseburgers

Well, when I began to think about this month, I didn't really know where to begin. First of all, I am in America visiting my family and friends, and loving every minute of it. But at the same time, I miss India more than you could probably imagine. God has been teaching me that when you are in a different culture, yes you have to adjust, but you still find wonderful friends that become family to you. Sometimes people wonder why I love living in India. And it's very hard to explain that. It's more than "fun" or "exciting", it's my home now. I have a house there, a dog there, friends, everything. When we lifted off in the plane on the way here, I was so sad and so happy, both at the same time. It was very weird. Home is where the heart is, and that is totally, without a doubt true. I've learned to love life wherever you are and whenever you can. Now, you might be wondering about the title. :) Well since I have been hanging out with all of my crazy, awesome friends in the US, I thought it fit. (Love you guys!) And the cheeseburger part, well, that is pretty self-explanatory.

March Madness

     I have been here for over a year now. I am loving it! My favorite thing is Hindi. For about 11 months now, our Hindi tutor has been coming to our house and teaching our whole family. She is amazing. She teaches Hindi, Marathi, German, and knows almost all the main languages(about 9) of India. I have a blast learning. I've always wanted to learn another language. After Hindi, I want to learn maybe French or German. :D

     Guess what? We are coming to visit the US during April and May! I'm so excited about coming to visit my family and friends, and having some American food. But while we're gone, I'm so gonna miss my friends here! My mom is planning to take some Murg Makhani and Paneer Curry packets to the US so we can still have Indian food! I am taking chai to make for all of my friends and family. Can't wait to see you guys!

     This Thursday is our last day of school! We are having a pool party to celebrate. :) I'm then going to go through my clothes and stuff and clean out my room before we leave for the US, which I also have to pack for. Then, on March 31st, I'm going to Kolhapur because my dad is speaking there. Road trips are super fun! I have an exciting few weeks ahead of me! I'm missing my friend that just left to get a job before college. He's probably going to Liberty, which is a college in Virginia, so hopefully I can visit him one day! :D

     So yes, hopefully I will be more consistent with my blogging, even though I'm not that good at it. :P Oh yeah, by the way, I get my braces off in 2.5 months! :)

New Ideas

So, I'm changing the way I blog. Starting in February, I'm going to do one big post on the 25th of every month that sort of summarizes that month. Every month there will be one post, kind of like a newsletter, but on my blog. With my (crazy, but awesome) full schedule this will work well for me, and then you guys will know to check back on the 25th of every month. Until then, Happy Early Valentines Day! :D

Randomness...

Our week of fall break was awesome! We went to the zoo, we hung out at home a lot, we went to Chili's, and we went to a Diwali party. Diwali is a festival here that is pretty much about light over darkness, but if you ask me, it should be called the festival of fireworks! There were fireworks all night and all day for about 2 to 3 days straight. Not much sleep was gotten in the Hartman house during those days. The party was at an orphanage that we go to sometimes. The kids told about how Jesus is the light over dark instead of Hindu gods or something else. It was a blast!

Chili's was awesome! We went with some of our friends who have just adopted a 1 year old boy. He is so sweet! I had the Ranch Chicken sandwich, fries, and a bottomless Pepsi! Now, for me, an unlimited drink is awesome because no other restaurants here have those! It was great to have a taste of home! We also got their amazing chips and salsa.

My birthday was wonderful! I'm now officially 14 years old! We went to see The Three Musketeers that morning, did some shopping, and had a wonderful lunch at a place with a chocolate fountain on the buffet! Zach ate more chocolate than real food I think! We had Bible study that night, which was cool! My favorite present was... MY FACEBOOK ACCOUNT! I love facebook! It's been fun to catch up with everybody!

So, yep! This is what's been going on lately! Thanks for reading!

Indian Independence Day

I give you, without further ado, Indian Independence Day!!!

A New Restaurant, and some day to day stuff...

This morning my dear sweet mother said something that almost made me cry. She told my siblings and I that something from America was coming to our city. It is going to be in a new mall called Phoenix Market City. The name of the place is…. CHILI’S! :) Our whole family was dancing around the room like maniacs! If our neighbors saw us, they would have thought that we had won the lottery or something. It was definitely a “Kodak Moment” as they say. Now that I’m finished telling all of you guys about our morning, here are some things that have happened recently in our crazy busy, Indian lifestyle.

As I write this, we (My Dad, Zach, and I) are sitting at the dentist while my sister is getting two of her teeth pulled. I have to come back tonight to get spacers so that on Saturday I can get braces on the bottom teeth of my soon to be total metal mouth. (I already have braces on the top) As we sit here we can smell fresh pound cake baking at Kalyani Bakery, which is about 500 feet from where we are sitting. We are drooling!

Zach had a wonderful birthday. We went to an indoor putt-putting place for his birthday, and McDonald’s for lunch. He had a green Lego cake for his birthday treat. (See recipe below…)

Lego Cake

-One cake mix and the stuff that goes in it

-A Cupcake pan

-A regular 9x13 pan

-Any color frosting

Prepare the cake mix according to the directions on the box. Put most of it into the cake pan, but fill 6 cupcake cups ½ to ¾ of the way full. Bake the cake and cupcakes according to the directions on the box. Once cooled, cut the “bump” on the top of the cake off, as well as the cupcakes. Place the cupcakes top down on top of the cake, and ice. Enjoy!

That’s about all for now, but stay tuned for a special “Indian Independence Day” post, with pictures!

A friend visits, I try horseriding, and Zach turns 10 soon!

Recently, one of our friends  who also lives on our continent came for a visit! She is a good friend of ours, and is from our hometown in the states. We picked her up at the airport and went to Hard Rock Cafe as a treat. She hadn't had any beef in a while so she loved her cheeseburger! While she was here she went along with us to the school that we help out at on Tuesdays, which was a lot of fun. :)  We had so much fun while she was here, and were sad to see her go!  :)

In America, Maggie was our horse-girl. She took riding lessons at Windy Hill Farm in NC, and loved every minute of it. Once we moved here, she really missed it so my mom found a place near our house that offered lessons. She was super excited, and mom decided to let all 3 of us kids do the trial lesson. We (Zach and I) loved it! We had so much fun learning something new. Long story short, in the next lesson I'm going to learn how to do sitting trot! (I've already learned how to walk and do standing trot by myself!)

I would also like to wish Zach a happy early birthday! His birthday is on July 26, and he is super excited! He will be the big double-digits, 10!  I'm not sure what to get him, because he is sorta hard to buy for. I'll see what I can find! If any of you guys would like to tell him something, just leave a comment and I'll show him. Happy Early-Birthday Zach! :)

An Elephant Excursion, in the middle of the city!

Did you know that it's very fun to feed an elephant? That is what we did on the way to Bible study the other night! There was a HUGE elephant that had paint and designs on him. There was also a little old man pushing a cart behind him. What was he selling? Bananas! We bought about 8 bananas for 50 cents, and fed them to the elephant. When he was happy, he rang a bell that was hanging around his neck. Basically, he took his trunk and swung it back and forth to ring the bell. It was really funny! :) The man riding/driving the elephant asked me if I wanted to ride. I was going to, but then realized it was getting late, and we had to get to Bible study. But next time, you bet I'm gonna ride!

Life, mostly normal! :)

Hey! I know you guys think I'm a total loser, and can't make time for my blog. Sorry! :) Life here is different, in a good way. We are normally really busy with lots of things at once! School has been going really well. Did you know that donkeys have 62 chromosomes, while horses have 64 chromosomes. Therefore a male mule (half donkey half horse) is infertile due to cross species mating. That was pretty random, BUT cool, huh? Anyway, now that you've had your biology lesson for today, in all school is going well. As I write this Zach, Maggie, and my Dad just came in the door from playing baseball in the society. Thanks Nanny for the baseball gloves! Mostly, other than soccer (called football here), the kids in the society only play cricket.

Yesterday my brother and sister went with my mom to see Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D, at 8:30 IN THE MORNING! They are so funny, but the thing is, the show was PACKED! Let me explain, here they have shows at all times of the day from 6:30 am to 11:30 pm. One reason they have shows SO early is because of the 24 hour call centers here! Isn't that funny? The people who work at the call centers at night here go see a movie, then go home to bed! I didn't go because I was Skyping my grandma. :) Well, that's about it! And remember, always watch for motorcycles with 12 foot ladders on them before crossing the street! (That's another story!)

Summer Ends, Monsoon Starts, and National Doughnut Day Happens!

Hello! So, we've wrapped up our "Indian Summer 2011" and started school on June 1st! We have had a blast over the summer including, but not limited to: visiting Mumbai and Lavasa, a couple of pool outings, and going to the movies! So far we've had a WONDERFUL school year. Pics of summer fun........

So cool, huh! Anyway, as well as summer ending, Monsoon Season has begun! The rains are awesome, and we played in them tonight. Very fun! :) It's also pretty cool outside, which is a bonus. Another fun thing happening today was National Doughnut Day! This morning mom and I made homemade doughnuts! Yum!

Happy National Doughnut Day! By the way, Krispy Kreme is giving one free doughnut to everyone who comes to a Krispy Kreme store! YUM! Any kind and no purchase required! :)

Cooking with Friends...

Hello and sorry for not posting in a while! Anyway, the other day I got together with one my friends, (Danielle) who loves to cook as much as me, and another guy here who loves to cook, too. He taught us a TON about cooking Chinese food, which is what we made! I had so much fun doing it! Before we went to cook, Danielle and I went to Shivaji Market to shop for the veggies and fruits. After that we went to her house and cooked. When I say cooked, I mean standing over a hot stove for 6 hours! Plus veggie prep! Finally, we ate! It was really good! Our menu included beef stir fry, tofu stir fry, Sweet and Sour chicken, spring rolls, and rice. Quite a meal, don't you think? :)

   

Braces, Birds, Language, and Polls

Braces


Ok, so on Tuesday I got braces! They are blue and, of course, silver! They don't hurt very much, but I can't really eat anything super crunchy until they have been in for a few days. Here is a picture of me with braces!

By the way, this week's poll is about braces!

Birds

Yesterday my brother and sister each got a bird and one cage. SO CUTE! Zach's is a greenish boy named 7up. Maggie's is a light yellow girl named Laney. They are hoping for babies, but mom is not! :)  Here is a pic...

Language

On Monday all five of us began the wonderful language of Hindi! We are learning to read, write, speak, and understand the entire language. It's a blast! We have workbooks in which we practice and learn to write the Hindi script. Here are pics of the cover and a typical page inside.

Poll

And the results from the previous poll...

If an India4Teens reader were to recieve money for a huge project, this is what the project could be...

Cleaning National Parks - 1 vote

Feeding the Hungry - 2 votes

and the winner with 3 votes...   Helping Orphanages! 

I hope everone likes the new theme of the site. I got tired of the old one! :) Thanks for reading!

Poll Results!

Hello! The poll results are in! The Question was "If you were on an island with nothing, what would you want most?"

A TV, Phone, or Laptop - 0 votes

A shower - 1 vote

 

And the tied winners...

Food - 3 votes

Friends and Family - 3 votes

 

Thanks for voting, and by the way, check out my Easter post below if you haven't already. Thanks for reading!

Easter Photo Shoot and Activities

Hello and Happy Easter to everyone! I wish all of you guys could be here! To start our festivities, on Good Friday my mom came up with the idea to hand out cookies and a little book that explains why we celebrate Easter to everyone in the society. This worked out so well because the people here have given us a sweet treat to celebrate some of their festivals and holidays as well. We made preacher cookies, (oatmeal, PB, chocolate, and butter) since many people here don't eat eggs. Everyone was super excited to get a "present" as they called it. We also dyed about 2 dozen eggs! Thanks to our Grandma for sending dye! On Easter morning we woke up and went downstairs to see what the "Easter Bunny" :) left us. After home church, we went out to lunch for Easter since we didn't have ham! We watched the Jesus Movie and hung out. It was really cool outside so we walked around the society. But before everything else on Easter, we did an Easter 2011 photo shoot! Here are the highlights...

I hope you enjoyed our pics! Feel free to copy them off my blog! More posts later!

Poll

Hello! Thanks to everyone who voted the recent poll about travel. The results are in!

"If you could go to any continent, which would it be?"

North America - 1 vote
South America - 1 vote
Asia - 2 votes
Australia - 3 votes

And the country that would be most vistied by India4Teens readers...

Europe, with 4 votes! Thanks for voting!

Gadgets and Features!

Hey guys! Sorry for not posting for a while. I've been sick the past few days :(. I wanted to let you know about some of the gadgets and features on India4Teens. First of all, the picture and video sections are up and running! I only have one video right now, but I am working on more. Another thing that is new is following India4Teens by email. All you have to do is type in your email address into the box on the sidebar. Every time I put a new post on, you'll get an email telling you. Pretty cool! I have also changed the polls. About every two weeks there will be a new poll. I will post the last poll's results in a blog post right after the new poll is up and running. You can also become a follower of my blog if you have a Gmail account or Google ID. Just click the "Follow" tab that in the Followers gadget. Have a great day!

School, and Motorcyle Sightings

Hello everyone! I realized that there are a lot of day to day things that you guys would love to hear about. One of those things is school. First of all, before we left the US, we took off about 1.5 months of school for Christmas, to pack, and to do a bit of traveling between NC and VA. In India, the kids are in standards not grades. For example, a boy in the US in 1st grade does the same stuff as a boy in India does in 1st standard. But when the teenagers here get to 11th and 12th standard, those are considered "Pre-College". The kids here are normally off during April and May. Since we took 1.5 months off earlier, we are just going to go through June, then pick up in August. That's sorta confusing! :)We homeschool here just like we did in the US. I am in 7th grade. The thing is, homeschooling allows you to work at a faster or slower pace depending on where you are or what you're working on. So you aren't really in a certain grade the whole year, but a level. I like having "private tutors" named Mom and Dad! They are some of the best teachers I've ever had! (Did you hear that Mom and Dad?) My mom asked me the other day if I would ever want to go to one of the schools here. I said that I wasn't sure @ the moment, but maybe later down the road I would love to. My favorite subject is Science, which I have a test in tomorrow. There is another boy in our society that is about my age, and he goes to this Lab near Pune University where twice a week a bunch of kids come and do experiments with people who are scientists for a living! It sounds super cool! My mom is going to try and sign me up. Who would have thought that going to a 3rd world country would give me a great opportunity like that? Certainly not me, LOL! Something I saw a few days ago was super funny! There was a motorcycle with 2 men and 2 goats on it! I herd a "BAAAA" and turned around to my amazement! We have seen 2 men with a desk chair, a family with a mom, a dad, a 8 yr. old, a 4 yr. old, and a baby, 2 men with a 20 foot ladder, and a bunch of other crazy stuff on motorcycles! We have been saying, "I wonder what we are going to see today?" Well, I have to go finish studying. I'll try to put more pics on under the Pics section soon! :)

Holi!

App kaise hein? That is "how are you" in Hindi. I'm working on learning the language:). I have been super busy in the past week! The culture here is so radically different from America. It's so awesome! The food is great and flavorful. The people are so friendly. If you are going somewhere and need directions, you can ask anyone. There is a pretty good chance that they will know where the place is, but if they don't know they will probably find someone who does. The dust and pollution isn't as bad as I thought it would be. We live down from the road level where the air is cooler and cleaner. If you are on our roof, you are about road level, which is pretty neat! Now I'm going to tell you guys about the Indian festival that we started celebrating last night. It's called Holi. Once upon a time the festival had religious roots, but now most people just enjoy the food, sweets, and a game called Colors. Last night we went to a bonfire in our society that kinda kicked off Holi. This morning we had breakfast with everyone in the society. Then we played Colors. Colors is a game played during Holi that consists of colored powder, water, and fun! First, you have to buy colors and water guns. You can also get water balloons. Almost every store on the street has those things before and during Holi. When you play colors, you throw powder on people before or after spraying them with water. Everyone goes crazy and has a lot of fun! After you play you go and take a shower. A good thing to do before playing is to coat your body from head to toe in coconut oil. This makes the colors wash off easily. Holi is a very popular and fun Indian festival! Another thing I want to tell you guys about before I go are our bug zappers. We got these tennis raquet looking things that kill bugs. Once you see a bug, you hold down the button and it puts electric charge into the wire mesh of the raquet. 2500 volts of electricity goes through the bug when it touches the wire. It's so much fun to do! Our house is now almost bug free. Thanks for reading!

Shopping, on a whole new level!

Hey guys! I am loving all of your comments! Keep them coming! In this post I'm going to tell you guys a little about shopping in India! First of all,here they use rupees instead of dollars, and there are about 45 rupees in a dollar. Now, every week we go grocery shopping about two or three times. We also have to go to a few different stores to get everything. For example, one store might have cleaning supplies, but no meat. Another store may have meat, but not much in the way of produce. It is a full time job to shop here, but it's loads of fun! We have quite a few things here that you may not have expected, such as peanut butter, beef, pizza places, ice cream, candy, chocolate, Lay's potato chips, and much more! Some things we don't have are Reese's, Cheez-Its, American marshmallows, lunch meats, hot dogs, Reddi-whip, and a few more things. You can get some of those "we don't have things" at imported goods stores, such as Reddi-whip for $10! Overall, they have a wide variety of foods here. I'm even enjoying Indian food more and more! Eating with your hands is fun, too! About shopping at stores without fixed prices... it's so much fun! Talking people down on prices is my favorite thing to do now! Getting a good deal has a whole new meaning! Most street shops' prices are flexible, but they start sort of high. It's funny to walk up to a rickshaw driver, (see pic in pics section!) and him give us a super high price. Then I start talking him down, and he laughs a little as I talk! It's a lot of fun! There is only one Wal-Mart in India. I think it's in New Delhi. Anyway, they need a Target here :)! That's a little bit about shoppping here! I have lots of post ideas already jumbled around in my head, so there is more to come! Also, check out the Photos section. I'm still working on the Videos. Don't forget to comment!