PDA is Different Here

One of the differences in the culture where we now reside is in the public display of affection (PDA).  It only took a few days living in India to realize that the frequency we saw men holding hands walking down the street, and the lack of husbands and wives holding hands was evidence that how one displays their affection is definitely rooted in the culture from which they come.  It would be common in the United States to see a husband and wife or boyfriend/girlfriend sitting with arms around each other or holding hands but this is something that is almost rare to see here, let alone witnessing a kiss between a husband and wife.

In India, it is illegal for a man and woman to kiss each other in public.  My husband and I quickly realized that our kiss goodbye or welcome home kiss was not to be done in public.  You can do internet searches and find articles confirming the arrests of individuals in India from kissing in public but I wanted the validity of the locals.  So I had a discussion with two local college-aged girls here in New Delhi.  Yes, they confirmed — it is definitely against the law to kiss in public.  So I inquired whether they see a shift occurring in their generation of showing public affection.  They said on college campuses one can see a boy and girl holding hands some, but they still do not kiss in public.

The expression of friendship among boys is shown by hand holding.  You can drive down any street by a public school when the children are heading home and you will see numerous boys holding hands walking.  This expression of friendship continues as they get older making it common to see adult men holding hands.  I have not found it as common among females.  I had one expat here tell me that an Indian gentleman he had done a lot of work with and become friends with, reached down to hold his hand once when they were walking.  He had lived in India long enough to understand the meaning, that the Indian was expressing his friendship to him, but he also said it went against everything inside him because of the culture in which he was raised and that men just do not hold hands with other men.  I must admit that Tyler and I continue to hold hands in public, grateful that this is at least not illegal.

Finishing the Holidays and 2014 in Sydney

It seemed appropriate to add one more country to our list this year so we opted to use the time and money for the Christmas holiday to visit Sydney Australia — half the distance to California — a mere 12 hour plane ride.  2014 was definitely the “travel year” for the Bryson family.  As Hailey and I sat at Bondi Beach during the Christmas holiday, we reminisced on the amazing places we experienced this past year and laughed about many of the funny memories.  It truly was a memorable 2014.

We could not have picked a destination that came closer to feeling like we had returned to San Clemente California.  It was a great experience “returning to civilization” and spending Christmas in summer at the beach.  We learned that Australia heads to the beach on Christmas Day.  It looked like it would on the 4th of July on our beaches.  Santa hats were seen everywhere and santa hats were the “sandcastles” being built in the most incredible sand we have ever experienced — no rocks, no seashells, but superfine sand.  We broke many traditions this year by taking this trip but we feel it will definitely be a Christmas we will remember.

We split our 10 nights in Australia between a hotel that was a short 5 minute walk to Bondi Beach and the Marriott right in the Sydney Harbor.  We found the people in Australia to be so friendly and the food amazing.  We learned the bus system well to get around as well as the ferries and taxis.  A few highlights of the trip included:

• Climbing the Sydney Bridge on Christmas Eve

At the top of the bridge climb.

• Bondi to Coogee Beach walk — it must be one of the most incredible beach walks in the world.

Along the coastal walk.  We passed two different swimming pools for the public that are built right on the ocean, a giant cemetery right on the coastal bluffs and many beaches with playgrounds and grass areas.  Definitely a great place to live.

• Watson Bay

Watson Bay used to be an old gunnery location in the 1800s. 

• Manly and Bondi Beaches

This is Bondi Beach.  We spent a few days enjoying the cold ocean water, the warm summer weather and the great ocean air here.

• Sydney Opera House Tour

One of the fascinating things we learned from the Sydney Opera House is that it is not white.  Yes, all the pictures from afar show it as white but there is a great variety of color in the tiles in beiges, creams and whites.  The history of this building and how it actually came to be built is incredible.

• Fireworks on New Years right by the Opera House and Bridge

A view of the crowds waiting on New Years Eve.  Hailey, Tyler and myself spent the 10 hours waiting in the sun all day to be in the thick of the action in Sydney.  We were sitting next to a couple from France and a cute family from Indonesia.  The best people watching one could ever find!

Definitely better weather than waiting at Times Square but Hailey has decided that is now on her bucket list.

• And the top highlight — skyping with our oldest son, Jacob, who is serving a mission in the Philippines.

With the seven different countries we have vacationed or lived in this past year, there are a few things that we have come to really appreciate in life.  We truly appreciate these “magic carpet rides” we have taken to get a taste of different cultures, experience the beauty that is everywhere in this world and to learn so much about things that one has to see and experience to really learn about.  Thank you 2014 for a great year!

 

Gifts HE has given us!

As we approach the “gift giving” day of Christmas commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, I wanted to share a few gifts that the Savior has given us during our time here in India. One of the last things the Savior did while he lived on earth was wash the Apostles feet.  Through His example He taught the need to serve and love one another.  The gifts He has given us have come from the ability to serve in His church.  In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, all service in the church is voluntary and it is a lay ministry.  One does not request a position to serve in, rather those that have been called to oversee an area of the church, ask different members to serve in various “callings” or positions.  We have been richly blessed by these opportunities which have become “priceless gifts”.  To highlight just a few:

Seminary — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has all high school age youth attend weekly classes to study the scriptures.  In California, our teenagers would attend early  morning seminary that was held Monday thru Friday at 6:30 a.m. before high school.  Here in New Delhi, the church holds seminary twice a week in the evenings for the youth.  There are about 16 active participants with a mix of expat teenagers that attend the American Embassy School as well as the local teenagers that attend various high schools here in New Delhi that range from age 14-17 years old.  One of the greatest “gifts” Karen has been given has been the opportunity to teach this class.  She loves these incredible youth and loves the hours spent every week to prepare for the classes.

The seminary class at our recent Christmas party at our home.

Branch Council — The Church in New Delhi India has a “district” that consists of seven smaller “branches.”  These branches are a geographical area that come together to worship each Sunday.  Within the district, there is a branch council where leaders serve and help the different branches.  Tyler would count among his greatest gifts here in New Delhi the service he has been asked to give to one of these branches, the Pitumpura Branch.  It takes Tyler about 45 minutes every Sunday morning to travel to the location where this branch meets but he loves the people there and they love him.  Most of the meetings are held in Hindi in this branch but Tyler has a few individuals that help translate for him and when he has to speak or give a lesson, he has a translator.  Some of the most incredible people, with great faith, can be found in this branch.  As a family we accompany Tyler a couple of times a year to their meetings where we are welcomed so warmly.

Tyler with the Pitumpura branch president and his wife.  This beautiful couple just went to Hong Kong this week to the temple for the first time.

All these American missionaries wanted was a little beef.  So we had four of the six missionaries serving in the Pitumpura branch over for a hamburger dinner last night.  (Yes, Tyler brought back some frozen Costco burgers on his last trip to Seattle.)  We are hoping members in the Philippines are taking care of our missionary son, Jacob, as well.

Relief Society — Karen has also been given the opportunity to serve in the leadership of the women’s organization of the church in our branch where we live.  Serving as a counselor in the Relief Society gives her many opportunities to visit these wonderful women in their homes.  These women live very basic, simple lives here.  What an incredible “gift” to hear their stories, to witness their desire to be good mothers and wives and to see how their faith in Jesus Christ grows.

The Relief Society in our New Delhi 2nd branch.

Home Teaching — Even our teenage sons have been given “gifts” here by serving in the church through home teaching.  Home teaching is the program in the church where men are assigned families to look after their needs and visit them monthly.  Thomas and Conner get the opportunity to go and do home teaching with Tyler.  They have had the opportunity to trek through sections of New Delhi that the normal expat teenager does not get.  They will come home laughing about how many cows they had to maneuver around just to get to some of the homes.  They have been inside homes that would humble any American and have gotten some real life experiences in seeing the lives of a normal person living in New Delhi.  It is truly an incredible “gift” to be able to have a teenage boy get these types of experiences.

When we serve our fellowmen, we truly are serving our God and as we serve God, He can make much more of our lives than we ever could on our own.  The opportunity to serve in His church here in New Delhi is like unwrapping those “gifts” that will never have a money value.  How wonderful at this time of year to pause and thank Christ for these incredible “gifts” He is giving to us as we live here.

 

Cultural Diversity? This Christmas Program Had It!

An event where the participants and guests are dominantly Muslim along with Hindus set in the courtyard of a Hindu temple celebrating a Christian holiday is definitely a rich experience in cultural diversity.

The Hindu temple in the background with the performance to the side of it.

That is the “wow!” factor I got as I attended a Christmas program for Save the Children India yesterday.  I was given the opportunity to help distribute blankets as gifts on behalf of the AWA Outreach program to about 500 individuals, all children that participate in the education programs that Save the Children offers.

The preschoolers started the party off with Jingle Bells! 

A nativity scene was reenacted as well — costumes and all. 

The preschoolers standing in line with their parent to collect their “gift.” 

The area where Save the Children India is located is just outside the temple courtyard down the street.  Whenever I come to visit here, it is like stepping into another world — one even more extreme from what I see daily.  An event like this draws a crowd so one had to have a ticket and be an actual student or parent to get through the gate.  This helped ensure onlookers did not flood the event.

Although there are not the sights and sounds here in New Delhi India that I crave at this time of year, I have come to understand that many non-Christian people here do celebrate Christmas in some form.  I have asked myself why? as it is a holiday celebrating a Savior in which they do not believe, but have come to understand that for many of them it is just another “festival” and a great reason to celebrate.  They are not necessarily out decorating their homes or throwing holiday parties but they do a little thing like give a gift or buy a cake.  One of our drivers told me he celebrates Christmas by having a cake.  (I have learned that a cake is reserved for special occasions only here as most people do not have an oven and the splurge of buying a cake happens only for special events.)  Our other driver has a son in a Christian school so they don’t necessarily celebrate Christmas but acknowledge it.

Despite the lack of them celebrating what to me is the true reason of Christmas, I appreciate the efforts made in this community to try to educate and expose the children to different cultures and understanding the world better.  It was definitely the most “culturally diverse” event I have ever attended and reminded me regardless of culture, God created each of us and loves us.

 

 

 

 

 

Starting the Holiday Season in Singapore

With the four day Thanksgiving holiday weekend, we decided to check off another “places we want to visit” so we headed to Singapore.  Just a quick 5 hour flight from New Delhi, but the contrast between those two locations is pretty stark.  It was a great destination to kick start our holiday season with the beautiful decorations we saw throughout the city.

One of the MANY Christmas trees lining Orchard Road — a road where our hotel was and the shopping never ends!

Singapore consists of one main island with 63 small islands as well, many uninhabitable.  Singapore was a major port between East Asia and Europe with the British establishing a trading station there in the 1800s.  Japanese aircraft bombed this beautiful city in December 1941 placing the country under Japanese rule until 1945 when British regained control at the end of the war.  Singapore’s first general election was held in 1955 and based on what we saw, it is a very well run government that has created an orderly, clean, safe and efficient place to live.

Some of the Japanese cannons on the island of Sentosa — we played a laser tag game in one of the old military buildings.

One of the policies that has created such a clean city in one of the most densely populated countries in the world is the fines that are enforced and posted throughout the city.  Many Indians that have traveled to Singapore told us about the fines and how you are not even allowed to chew gum there.  We actually never saw a police man in the city but I have never felt safer in a large city in my life.

This was the first “Fine” sign we saw as we moved from the airport to the subway system.

The public transportation system is amazing — super easy to use and very efficient.  We left the airport via the subway system and used it throughout our vacation.  They also have a great bus system in the city and taxis are also available.  On our double decker bus tour we learned that owning a car in Singapore is extremely expensive.  Car buyers must pay duties one and a half times the value of the car.  In addition, you have to apply for an “entitlement” that allows you to drive the car on the road for ten years.  That entitlement cost runs the same amount as a purchasing a Porsche Boxter in the United States.  As we walked the streets, though, Conner finally heard a horn and said, “Wow, their traffic is so quiet here.”  You can tell we are coming from a much different environment.

Some of the highlights of our visit included:

• Gardens by the Bay:  At this incredible location, they have a flower dome and a cloud forest pictured below in the two domes facing the water.  In the flower dome they have created diverse plant life sections from all over the world — tropical to desert.  There were olive trees a thousand years old, vertical gardens, and way too many flowers for photographer Hailey.  The boys on the other hand enjoyed the cloud forest much more.  There was a 35 metre man made mountain and waterfall.  It felt like you were in a rainforest.

A view from a very tall hotel of the Gardens By the Bay

In the Flower Dome

Conner at the rain cloud waterfall

• Sentosa Island was another fun attraction.  One takes a very small 5 minute tram ride out to the island where you are greeted by the Merlion (the symbol of Singapore).  There are a few resorts on this island and the beach is there but “there were no waves”.  Universal Studios is located here along with other rides.  We loved the Luge Ride which is similar to an Alpine Slide except you are not contained — a driver can pass another.  It was fun!  We also did a small Segway ride and then the laser tag game.  The humidity made the visit to 7-Eleven all the better as we walked around the island that day.

The Merlion — a key figure in Singapore’s tourism industry

Second time up for the luge ride.

Ready to do our short Segway ride — putting on the gear and signing all the waivers took longer than the ride but it was fun.

Sweet Slurpee!

•  Food also had to be one of the highlights of the trip — and not just the Slurpee.  It was nice to be back in an environment where we didn’t have to worry about the hygiene of the food and to finally get some beef again.  There are food courts EVERYWHERE and the city is not just what is above ground — there is an entire city underneath the street level where shops and food courts go on and on.

Singapore is definitely an amazing country.  We experienced warm temperatures, too much humidity for Hailey, a little rain and thunderstorms along the way but after sightseeing, movies, restaurants, and shopping, it felt good to just feel normal for a few days like we were in an American city.  Definitely made some memories this Thanksgiving!

“Fast Food” in India

America is known to love its fast food.  Well, the companies from America are slowly making their way over to India and India has its own fair share of “fast food” so I thought it would be interesting to share a bit about it.

The most common form of “fast food” here is the street food.  Little carts are set up all over the city on roadsides offering many things cooked to perfection in hot oil — like samosas.  The street food is cheap but I have yet to dare try any of it due to the reminders I get of the “delhi belly” experiences I have already experienced.  Let’s just say the trade off of being in bed for 3 days for a taste of the food is not worth it to me although there are many companies here who offer “street food” tours and claim it is safe to eat.

A local street food vendor

I have yet to see a drive-thru in New Delhi.  One of my sons says they have seen one out in nowhere that belonged to a McDonalds while on a long bus ride on a school trip.

There are several American “fast food” establishments here including McDonalds, KFC, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, Subway, Quiznos, Kripsy Kreme, Pizza Hut and Dominos.

None of the above listed fast food establishments is exactly what you would find at home which should not surprise as their audience is Indian.  But let me share a few interesting differences about them:

• Of course there is no beef offered on a burger from McDonalds.  But they do have many chicken and paneer sandwich options.  They all have a kick to them due to the added green and red sauces and spices — Indians LOVE their spices!  Even KFC adds some type of spice in the breading of their chicken fingers.
• One would think a simple French fry couldn’t be that much different from a McDonalds in America to one in India, but it does have a slightly different taste and I believe its due to the oil they are using.
• Lunch meats at sandwich shops are NOT the same.  Adding fresh vegetables to the sandwich again is not worth the risk as the water it was washed in is questionable as well as how long it has been sitting out in the open.
• The pizza establishments offer the largest variety of “veggie” pizzas I have ever seen.  Pepperoni is the one meat that can be found on a pizza but it is definitely different as well.
• The only American fast food I have tasted here that tastes exactly the same is the Krispy Kreme donut — it arrived in New Delhi about a year ago.

Delivery is KING here.  If you walk past a Dominos, Pizza Hut or McDonalds, you will see many motorcycles lined up ready to take off with deliveries throughout the city.  Most restaurants offer delivery within a certain radius.

A couple of other restaurants we have tried in the malls include Chili’s, Johnny Rockets and California Pizza Kitchen.  Even though the menu will have very similar dishes, none of them taste the same.

So how often do we even eat “fast food” in India?  Let’s just say it is rare.  Tyler now has me packing him lunches each day to go to the office (I have found an upscale store in a mall that carries smoked turkey breast that tastes like home) and my kids would rather go home and scrounge around for food than say let’s grab something at McDonalds.  Whenever we land in another country the cravings for fast food hit, though, as my boys eye a “real” hamburger and see Del Taco calling their name!

W.O.W. at Corbett National Park by Hailey

Every year at AES the middle school shuts their classroom doors and heads out for a week “With Out Walls” — our WOW trip.  Each grade heads to a different location within India and the 6th graders went to Corbett National Park and spent 5 days enjoying life outside of school and outside of New Delhi.  We gathered at 4am on Sunday morning where we were divided into groups before heading out on a six hour bus ride (ha, ha, ha…. it was 8 hours on the way there and 12 hours on the return!  Okay, so the length of these trips was determined quite a bit by the pure number of bathroom and sickness stops made.  Let’s just say that I went to the bathroom in some very unique areas along the road.  No thanks on another long bus ride for a while.)  We arrived at our first destination on Sunday evening where we spent 2 nights at Ram Ganga.

This was my favorite spot of the two locations we spent.  Some of the highlights included:

• Hiking up to a small village and learning how to make fertilizer.  We literally took cow manure by the handfuls, placed our hand in water and added cow urine to the batter to get it just right so we could help stock their fertilizer for their crops.
• We discovered how to make a natural shampoo by removing a limb of a certain tree, remove the bark and then placing the bark and the limb in the water to soak for 10 minutes before using as your shampoo.
• Saw a “curry” leaf.
• Learned how to purify water with a piece of cotton, a piece of cloth, a water bottle and the nature around us as we went on a river walk
• Made jewelry with natural seeds bringing home some earrings for my mom.
• Campfire
• Playing capture the flag in the fields — it was so great to be outside in the wide open with nature around us and enjoying the swimming pool as well.

The swimming pool at our first lodging location.

Our “huts” where we slept.  It was nice to have a “western toilet” available.

On Tuesday we swapped locations with the other half of the 6th grade as there are too many of us to stay at one location and do all the activities together.  The second location was called “The Den.”  Some of the highlights from this location included:

• Painting a bus stop and cleaning up around it with a group called “Waste Warriors” which is helping villages stay clean.
• Campfire with real s’mores — yes marshmallows were shipped in from the US.
• Visited a local school where we danced with them, visited their classrooms and helped clean up the trash around their school.
• Helped wash an elephant — yes, I really took some smooth stones, and as the elephant laid on its side in the river, we got to scrub him with the water and stones.  I was positioned near the lower back area and got sprayed several times by the elephant’s trunk as he helped distribute the water over his body as we scrubbed.  When the elephant was finished with the bath, he made sure to let us know as we promptly moved aside.

On our hike to the school.

Some of the students that we got to do activities with at their school.

One of the classrooms.

The elephant we got to scrub in the river.

Overall, it was a great week to just be outside of this massive city where we live and see nature and some wide open spaces.  After the LONG bus ride home (traffic here is more than unpredictable) I was happy to see my bed and finally take my own shower!

“Lookie Lou’s” with Opinions

A “lookie lou” is someone with no business being someplace who’s there strictly out of curiosity — like a crime scene or a fire ….. or an accident.  So a couple of week’s ago I was involved in my first “real” car accident where there was substantial damage done.  It is through this experience I learned that “lookie lou’s” in India are a bit different — they don’t just look, they bring a strong opinion to the scene as well, even if they are not an eye witness.

Anyone who knows anything about India knows that the roads are crazy and it is hard to understand exactly what the rules are because no one follows them.  As my driver was taking me home from the market, an auto rickshaw did a number on our car, taking out the left headlight and damaging the front of the car.  I honestly was not looking up at the time of the incident, but when I got out and saw that there were about 8 little school children stuffed in that auto rickshaw, I was VERY grateful that they were all okay, which was a miracle in itself.  It was what followed that I want to highlight.

• When an accident occurs here, with no regard to where they are on the road (like in the middle of it), both parties just stop and want to discuss.  I finally had to ask my driver if he would please just pull over to the side of the road so we weren’t blocking traffic.  I have seen two parties in an accident stop and start a fist fight right in the middle of the road totally oblivious to the number of cars backing up on the street.
• EVERY one that is anywhere nearby (including several streets over) come out to join in the event.  I was the lone woman amongst the crowd of men that gathered including guards, people walking on the street and every motorcyclist that passed us by.  It did not matter if they witnessed the accident, they had something to add to the moment.  The opinions that were shared became very strong and animated.  Men were taking sides and as my driver pointed out to me, it is often the “richer” party expected to take blame as they have the money.  As all of it was spoken in Hindi I could not understand the words, but I sure could read the body language.

Just a couple of the many men that gathered to express their thoughts and opinions.

• In this hour long conversation over who did what, no police were ever involved.  The parties concerned (plus many others) hashed it out with acknowledgement that the auto rickshaw driver “was a poor man with no money” and drove away happy that he did not need to pay anything.  I drove away happy that no child was hurt and that the tempers never got to the point that punches were thrown.
• In India, you do not insure a driver, an automobile is insured.  As a result, regardless of who was at fault or who was driving, our insurance on our car paid for a portion of it.  The amount we needed to pay, which was the majority, was merely a fraction of what an accident like that would have cost in the US.

We have had several small incidences where rickshaws or motorcycles have bumped up to the rear fender getting too close or side swiping the side view mirrors, but this accident confirmed exactly why we do not allow Hailey to ride in the car alone with the driver.  I was so grateful it was me and not one of my children, but if it had been one of my boys they would have at least blended in with the male population that wanted to do more than just “look.”

 

 

Need a Haircut?

I had several friends over the summer ask me about what it is like getting your hair done here in India.  I finally got some pictures so I could share what the typical experience for an Indian is like — just walk around the corner, literally, and one can find a barber to trim your hair and shave your face on the sidewalk.  I have found that most Indian men keep their hair very well groomed.  The cost for these haircuts is very minimal.

Please take note of the mirror propped up across from the chair.

On the other hand, I have never seen a woman sitting at one of these barbershop stands.  The women here have beautiful, thick, long hair and they pull it up mostly and I do not think they get a haircut very often.

Clean up is super easy for the barber as you will notice there is no broom — it just becomes part of the ambience of Delhi streets.

Outside of the local sidewalk barbershops, there are hair salons in every mall and every large shopping center.  It has only been in the salons that I have seen Indian women getting their hair done and the women that can afford to pay for the salon haircuts are a minority in this country.  I have tried a few different salons and have currently placed my loyalty with a hotel salon which seems to work best for me.  I will share just a few points about my experiences:

1. Power outages occur and it is awkward depending on what stage of the haircut or coloring of the hair you are at as you wait for the power to turn back on.
2. The actual haircut (labor) done at salons is very reasonably priced compared to the states but the cost of having highlights or color done is just as expensive due to the import costs on the color that they use.
3. In the salon, there are multiple people working on your hair — not just one stylist.  There is definitely a ‘pecking’ order on who does what on your hair.  For example, when it comes time to style the hair, the head stylist is working the brush but there is another person working the hair dryer.
4. My hair is much different from the typical Indian woman’s hair and so I sometimes get some interesting advice — like you need to rub mustard oil in your hair a couple of times a month to thicken it up.  I wish it were that easy to thicken my hair.  (I have learned that Indian’s rub oil all the time on babies’ heads.)

As far as other salon services such as manicures and pedicures — I have also learned a few things:

1. The few pedicures I have gotten here are the best foot massages I have ever received.
2. Hygiene is the biggest unknown factor to me and as a result I pretty much have resorted to “do it myself”.  I have yet to see a bowl be cleaned properly following a pedicure or a sealed, sterilized packet opened in front of me with the tools they use to file and clean the nails.
3. Cost is definitely cheap compared to the states
4. Indian women wear their toenails longer.  The few times I have had a pedicure and asked if I could have a French pedicure done, they have all declined saying my toenails are too short.  As a result, I have begun to notice just how long Indian women keep their toenails.

The barbershop and salon at the American Club.

So where do the rest of the family get their hair done?  So far, no one has asked to have it done on the sidewalk.  My boys used to walk over to the American Club barbershop last year after school to get their hair cut which was so convenient. But thanks to some changes and tightened scrutiny of the Indian government, non-diplomats are no longer able to belong to the American Club so we all find our way back to the ITC hotel salon where we lived last year for a couple of months.  It always feels a little like “returning home” when we walk in there and the occasional perk is had by running into the big name cricket teams that lodge there when they are in town.

 

The Beautiful Maldives

October is festival season in India, so we took advantage of a 4-day weekend and visited an incredibly beautiful part of the world — The Maldives.

The Maldives is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka on the equator.  It is the smallest country in Asia and the smallest Muslim country in the world.  The Maldives gained its independence from the British Colony in 1965.  99% of Maldives is water and has an average ground level of 4 feet, 11 inches, thus making it the lowest country in the world.

This is a view of some of the islands from the airplane.

There are over 1100 coral islands in the Maldives with 202 of them inhabited and 87 of those are exclusive resort islands.  The resort we stayed at, The Sheraton Full Moon Resort, was one of those islands that is covered by the one resort.  It would take about 5 minutes to walk from one side to the other and probably 15 minutes to walk the length of the island.

 
There was white coral everywhere on the beach, with the sand consisting of mostly very small pieces of coral.

 
On one side of the island, several stingrays liked to hang out near the beach.  Notice how they blend right into their environment — not the typical black stingray.

Our accommodations on the island were memorable to say the least.  We had two small little huts, right next to each other as our “hotel rooms” and then due to our status at the Sheraton thanks to all that living in the hotel last year, they upgraded one of the rooms the last night to the “ultimate suite”.  We let the kids enjoy it and they were in heaven!  Not sure where they will ever top that hotel room.

The bathroom of our bungalow rooms.  Yes, the shower is right there under the beautiful sky.

The ultimate “suite” that we enjoyed the last night.  They only have one on the island.  You could just step right off the back porch and snorkel.  There was an open Jacuzzi on the back deck as well.  See, all that hotel living last year did have some advantages down the road.

Conner standing on the back deck of the “suite”.

After landing at the airport, we were taken by motor boat to our resort island, about 15 minutes from the airport.  We had heard so many great things about the Maldives and we are truly glad that we put it at the top of our list of “must sees” while living so close.

Of course fresh air and beautiful skies is always a highlight when escaping New Delhi.  We loved the snorkeling, paddle boarding, swimming and the surfing.  And of course we naturally took advantage of the ability to eat beef .  An incredible memory and a moment when the children decided our current life has its own rewards.

Hailey snorkeling.  

Conner paddle boarding

Thomas surfing.  The boys took a boat out a little ways to catch some waves.  One of the very different things about surfing there was that you hit coral just a couple of feet under the water, bringing home some “roughed up” feet.

The swimming pool at the resort.