Thaipusam

Last Thursday was Thaipusam, a Hindu celebration of the day Lord Murugan received the "Vel" or divine spear from his mother, Mariamman, so he could kill the feared demon Soorapadman.  Have all those names straight?  Thaipusam is celebrated during the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan/Feb).  The celebration involves a procession of people bearing kavadis, which are cage-like structures ornamented with peacock feathers and steel plates displaying pictures of Hindu gods.  This is done to give thanks and show gratitude for blessings received from Lord Murugan.   For instance, if the devotee's son is laid up with a fatal disease, he would pray to Shanmuga (another god--they can pray to various gods during this time) to grant the boy a lease of life.  In return for which the devotee takes a vow to dedicate a kavadi to him.  Some spend the month prior fasting from meat and abstaining from worldly pleasures to purify themselves.  Others fast during the day and eat only after sunset.  Some even sleep on hard floors to prepare themselves.

Some shave their heads and cover them in saffron paste. 

I read that those who had trouble having babies will carry their baby draped in saffron robes, balanced on sugar cane stems throughout the journey.  Obviously not what is going on here, but I thought that was interesting.

The simplest form of kavadi is to carry a jug of milk balanced on one's head.

Others carry pots of milk and hook little pots of milk to their body.  They are also skewered on their tongues and/or cheeks.  Remember the Vel/spear Lord Murugan received from his mother.

Some will bear many hooks with attached objects like limes, oranges, apples and even coconuts on their backs and chest. 

Kavadis are made of wood (like this one) or steel and made to balance of the shoulders of the penitent.  They are decorated with peacock feathers, flowers, and other decorations.  The peacock feather is symbolic of the vehicle of Murugan

The steel kavadis, which are all diversely and ornately decorated.

The Vel Kavadi is a movable altar that is pulled with ropes attached to hooks in the penitents back.  First photo shows the hooks in his back.  In the second, look behind him and you can see the Kavadi he pulls.

The devotees are accompanied by drummers, flutists, and 

an entourage of friends, relatives, and well wishers.  Along the way (which is a specific 4.5 km route) they engage in sacificial acts to thank the various gods for answering their prayers.  Some did dances while others sang and said chants.  Others you could tell were struggling just to make the 4.5 km walk from one temple to the other.

Watching the procession was so interesting but watching them prepare was fascinating.

They lay out everything they need to prepare.

Filling a milk pot

Adorning nails shoes

Piercing through the cheek.  I don't even have my ears pierced so I'm not sure how this didn't bother me more.  His eyes went bloodshot and rolled in the back of his head.   Friends and relatives chant while they are doing the piercing to help distract him from the pain he feels.  They also do this during the procession.

The token BW photo.  There aren't too many that have reason to be BW as everything is so colorful and vivid but I loved this image.  

Holy ash (saffron powder) is used to sanitize the areas being pierced.  It is also smeared on their foreheads.  This is common in many Hindu rituals to ward off evil.

The penitent smears it on his family's/supporters' foreheads.

I'll close with this beauty!

Thaipusam also happened to fall on my birthday.  

And my sweet friends treated me to some delicious Indian grub--family style.

Then Saturday a Turkish lunch with my cute family finished off with Kunefe.  It was a great birthday--one I won't forget.  It will take something very unique and yummy to make my next b-day as interesting as this one.   :)

Three Girls, a Guy, and a Pizza Oven

Anyone remember that show Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place?  Well, my girlfriends and I watched it religiously.  We had a very official unofficial fan club complete with "I love Berg" t-shirts.  I'm glad Mr. Reynolds broke it off with Scarlett.  I'm not a fan of her.

That was random and this is my random update on us.  Last year flew by for us.  We knew how the whole year was going to play out--we had Lizzie's birth to look forward to, some trips, some visitors, etc.  We knew what to expect  and when.  That is always nice.  This year we have no clue what is to come.  We've enjoyed so many things about living in Singapore.  And although Ben's not a student anymore, we still feel like students to some degree.  We are ready to be more settled and not have half our income go towards rent, especially as Samara gets older and is very ready for pre-school (the cheapest in our neck of the woods being $400+/month here means that's not affordable).  Everything has been up in the air since we came back and we are finally settling in.  We are going to do a joy school for her with a couple of her friends and our calendar is filling up with other activities.  It's nice to be back.

We really have enjoyed living in Sinagpore, but we're beginning to feel the desire to settle down (we've never lived more than 2.5 years in any place since we were married, which is almost 10 years).  Ben has started exploring options for faculty jobs in the US (and even a job in Melbourne as in Australia.).  We'll hopefully have some idea of our professional options within the next several weeks.  Frankly, I love the idea of spending time in Melbourne.  All of a sudden I hope he doesn't get a faculty job in the US.  :) All the Arnotts products we can eat!  It's pretty unlikely it would happen, but fun to think about.  And there you have it for the guy and here's the update on the three girls.

Though life more often than not looks a little chaotic like this:

I wouldn't have it any other way.  I LOVE having two kids and am very grateful we do.  

I've been busy with photography, which has been a blessing.  I'm trying to make the most of all the cultural awesomeness Singapore has to offer in case we do go home this summer.  And I am always on the look-out for a steal on tickets and a way to take another trip.

Samara is downright hilarious.  She is SO excited and proud about being in primary.  She tries to answer all the questions and would love to be chosen for everything.  She even gave a prayer her second week.  She's into empowering others, "Mom, you're in charge, right?  Ya, you are.  Could I please watch a movie since you are in charge?"  She is always "ON" and life is never dull when she is around.

Sweet Lizzie is almost six -months old.  How has a half a year gone by?  She's a wee lass at 6.15 kg and 68 cm--in US terms that's the fifth percentile.  Contrary to how it may appear in this photo, napping is simply not her thing.  She rocks the 2-3 naps per day schedule.  But they are never longer than 20 minutes.   She is cuter than cute though and we are glad for the extra chances it's gives us to smother her with kisses.  She is starting to eat solids and is taking to it very nicely.

The Pizza Oven:

Ben's brother built an outdoor kitchen complete with a wood-burning pizza oven.  And now I know I NEED one.

The pizza is tres-delish and we had so much fun making pizzas when we were visiting.  Our kitchen does not close off to the outside.  So, I guess I'll be content with my "outdoor" Singapore kitchen for now.

In conclusion, I want to live here:

No, I will live here someday!  I will retire in Thailand.

Our landlord was going to raise our rent substantially so we were looking into other housing options.  Rates in Singapore are at an all-time high and we realized when we started looking around that we got a steal on our place even if it seems like a lot to us.  We looked into a great affordable place available to University faculty.  The only problem was it is literally on the edge of Singapore.  As in there was a fence at the back of the property, a little bit of jungle and then the Johor Straits.  And it was a good 15 minute walk to anything, which is not ideal without a car.  And we'd have to find somewhere to live in the month interim of our lease ending at our current apartment and that housing becoming available.   I had that part all planned out.  I started searching online and found it would be cheaper to rent a condo in Krabi then anything we could have found in Singapore.  The guy could have flown up on the weekends and the three girls could have lived on the beach.  But it wasn't meant to be.  We decided living on the cusp of the island was not the right thing for us.  We were able to negotiate with our landlord (through the realtor of course who gets a whole bloody months rent in for exchanging a few emails) and we are going to stay where we are...at least until this summer.  Then who knows where in the world we will be.  We may just end up being your neighbor!

You Can Thank My Mother

My sweet and very talented friend, Heather, made these darling dressed for the girls.  She sent them over when Lizzie was born.  I love the dresses.  Both the style and fabric is beautiful!

 I finally got a few pictures of the girls in them.  Lizzie was happy for exactly 3.2 seconds so we unfortunately only got a few.  :(

Check out Heather's blog and Etsy shop.  She is super creative and has so many cool items and gift ideas.  Her prices are really great too!

The girls' favorite part of the dresses are the ribbons--they both loved chewing on them. :) Props to Samara Lou for the great photo.

Thanksgiving

We hadn't planned on going home this year for a visit.  But Ben's brother called us a few weeks before Thanksgiving and offered to fly us out to a big gathering at his place.   We very gratefully accepted the offer.

 So....Instead of cooking Thanksgiving dinner in the glorified sauna/closet that is our kitchen,

we got to spend it in this kitchen, which is literally the size of our whole apartment.  :)

 The best part was that we got to be with 40 other members of Ben's family, some of which we haven't seen since before we moved here.  It was wonderful to see everyone.

It's never dull when Ben's family gathers.  This was a pressurized canon that catapulted things into the air. 

Samara loved the cooler weather and being able to play outside for hours without sweating.  It was everything we could do to get her come inside.

Grandma and Grandpa  

Lizzie loved all the attention she got from her sweet cousins.

Aunt Shanna hosted a PP party.  Pajamas, treats that start with a P, and fun games.  I believe the other "P" stood for princess but that changed when the boys wanted to join.  When it was Samara's turn to be Simon, I overheard her from the other room, "Spank your booty.  Spank your booty."  Oh dear.  What happened to jump up and down, pat your head, etc.?

 Then there was duck, duck, goose.  She chose her goose and

then she was off.

The game has lost much of its appeal here at home.  But we're still keeping it real. :)

Our girls are so LUCKY to have so many wonderful cousins.  We loved seeing everyone and are very grateful we got to visit the states.

P.S. This trip was a great way to relive the newborn phase or at least the sleep part of it.  I was only semi-coherent this week...ok I've been in this state for a while now.

Merry Christmas

Mara Lou sure loves 

sweet baby Lizzie.   

And I think the feeling is mutual.  

Lizzie lights up whenever her big sister is around.

I hope you are surrounded by people you love and adore this Christmas!

Santa

 Letter in hand,

we set out to visit Mr. Claus last Saturday.  The verdict according to Lizzie:  Whatever... just another strange person holding me.   According to Samara: He's fine but the candy cane made the visit!

My verdict:  These two are scrumptious.

Happy Winter Everyone!!