Street Veiw.

OK, this is totally normal! It freaked me out the first few times a cow came so close to the car you could touch it, but I'm used to it now. Sometimes you even see people milking them!! Also, there's often piles of trash lying around (that would explain the smell:) And rickshaws and dogs and people begging or trying to sell stuff. The thing that gets to me the most is people begging. If the car stops, they come and knock on the windows, asking for food or money. Mostly old men, moms or girls with babies or really little kids. It's sad, and I want to help, but Mom told me a lot of them are a part of groups, so if you help them you're encouraging the problem. I don't like that at all!

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter, everybody!! This is, obviously, a pretty different Easter for us. Usually, we would sleep in (we went to CCC Saturday nights) and then went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for FOOD!!! (traditional American way to celebrate:) And of course we have an Easter egg hunt in our Easter dresses made by Grandma! Also, our family always get out the Easter baskets, fill them with fake grass and eggs filled with candy and another little gift. (CDs, books, toy cars for Mac, etc.) In India, Easter just isn't a big deal. You can't find eggs, fake grass or Easter baskets (at least, we can't. It might be possible :).So this week, I've been feeling pretty bummed. Mom, however, is a genius. She got little candies - even chocolate eggs! - found some bowls, covered them with a basket cover and saved our Easter!! Plus, we ate at an Italian restaurant and went to church.

And don't think I forgot the real reason of Easter. I didn't. On Good Friday, Holly slept over at a friends house. On our way there,about 5 minutes before we arrived, our temporary driver, (our usual one is driving for another family right now) suddenly stops and says "That's where my brother lives!" So after we dropped Holly off, we visited our driver's brother and family. It was cool, because his brother is a pastor at a church that centers on poorer, working families. The services are in Tamil and Kannada. It was so cool to hear how Jesus is working in India!!

Commercial Street

This afternoon we stepped way outside our comfort zones. Well, that's what I thought we were gonna do. Actually, Commercial Street wasn't that bad. Let me explain. Commercial Street is a famous area in Bangalore. It's busy, dirty, usually pretty cheap (go to the side streets!) and has a lot of stuff! Mostly, shoes, bags, cheap jewelry, kurtas, saris (Indian girl clothes) and various little nicknacks. But it wasn't that bad. We found a little sewing machine shop, and I got a cute pink shell bracelet. So we got a cool Indian experience, and found somewhere to find cute clothes. :)