Passport renewal - Indian Embassy at Munich

Sometimes, one sets expectations based on past experiences of your own and of others around you. When significantly lowered expectations are met, the result is happiness. However, when they are exceeded beyond imagination, the consequence is elation! Our passport renewal experience from the Indian Embassy at Munich was one such refreshing, surprisingly smooth experience.

We (my husband and I)applied using the online application process detailed on the website. There is a jurisdiction set up for each area, so better check on the site on where exactly you would need to apply based on where in Germany you are located. After a call to the Embassy that was courteously answered, we learnt that there is no need to set up an appointment. One can walk in and submit the documents Mon to Fri between 0930 and 1230. The old passport need not be submitted along with the documents.

We reached early on a Tuesday, hoping that we would not need too much time. However, there were only two other people and our work was done within fifteen minutes. The officer at the window was extremely polite and helped us very patiently through an additional declaration that we needed to write out for endorsement of spouse names in each other's passports. We paid the fees and submitted self attested copies of all the required documents - passport including first and last pages and latest German visa, address proof (only in my case as I was requesting a change in address), marriage certificate copy and photograph of marriage (for spouse name endorsement). We also had to submit two passport photographs (5 cm x 5 cm size against a light or white background). We were told that we would receive a call within three to four weeks after our new passports were ready and either of us could come to submit the old passports for cancellation and pick up the new ones immediately.

I learnt that there is no formal tracking system but did not expect much trouble since all our documents were in order. After all, an Indian who manages to get through a German visa can hardly be expected to be cheating on his passport documents!

In EXACTLY three weeks, we received the said call from the Embassy notifying us that the passports were ready. I went down to Munich two days later and collected the new passports. The same gentleman who had accepted our documents chatted with me at the window as he worked to cancel our old passports. I was out of the office within five minutes.

A cold foggy day in Munich rendered warm by the friendly and courteous staff. A hassle-free experience due to the efficient, timely processing. What more can you ask for? I was elated to be served in this fashion, when in fact, I should have expected it in the first place. We, Indians, have a way of demeaning our people and our nation for no reason sometimes. A practice I must stop following!

Useful links:
Embassy website - Munich
http://www.cgimunich.com/

Online passport application form (common for all NRIs)
https://passport.gov.in/nri/Online.do

Fussy Fruit Eater Recipes - Oats - Apple - Almond Kheer

My daughter has become an incredibly fussy fruit eater since we have landed in Germany. Partly, I don't blame her. She loved fruits like fresh figs, chickoos, small velchi bananas in India that are not so widely available here. Besides, she hates the whole citrus group, which leaves her with very little choice - bananas, apples, occasionally melons. She won't touch pears or strawberries or grapes :((

Consequently, I'm constantly on the look out for recipes to which I can add fruits. And like a whole host of mothers out there, I have to cheat to up the nutritional quotient of food. It makes me very proud when I succeed :)

Here's a recipe that she digs. The fibre from the oats, fruity sweetness of apples and the goodness of almonds makes it a winner for her and for me!

Oats - Apple - Almond Kheer 

Ingredients:
3 tsp oats
1/4 apple
3 tsp sugar
2 tsp almond powder
1/2 cup water
1 cup milk
a small pinch of cardamom powder

Method:
Heat a vessel and add the oats. Dry roast them for a minute or so until they release a roasty aroma and then add water. Stir frequently. Add sugar. Adjust the taste of sugar according to how sweet the apple is, or how much sweet your little one likes. When the oats start to cook, add the milk. I find adding water and letting it boil before adding the milk makes the oats cook faster. Add the cardamom powder and almond powder and cook for about 3-4 minutes, stirring well. Add the apple - grated or cut into small pieces depending on your choice. Don't cook the kheer too much after adding the apple. Done. Serve it to your little one and see it go down quickly! :)

Variation
You could add bananas, strawberries, pears, chopped dates, walnut powder or even serve it up without fruits!

Until 35

I realise that I haven't been particularly happy with my life over the last few months. The reasons are many and I do not want to get into those here. Ironically, I am in a new land and there is so much that's 'new' in life. Ideally there should be no space for boredom but my own motivation to make the most of the situation is not exactly sky-rocketing!

Inspired by a post that I read on facebook, I've decided to create some excitement, vowed to live by a new pledge to keep me going. Further, I think I already do a lot for others around so I've decided that this is going to be about 'me'. About doing things that make me feel good inside.

So here's my new campaign: "Until 35". And what it entails is that I am going to target the following until my next birthday, when I turn 35:
- I want to see 35 new places
- I want to find 35 ocassions for pampering myself
- I want to find 35 things that I like about myself and my life
- I want to make 35 new things - could be food, or other
- I want to gift something to 35 people with the intention of simply feeling good

I intend to build this list as well as populate it as I go along. But then it has to be flexible enough to allow me to have fun too. The last thing I would want is another binding! My new diary to record notes is ready and I feel so electrified already!

The one thing I don't miss about home

Today is Ganesh Chaturthi. There's no way to forget that, is there? Of course there is that Kalnirnay calendar hanging in my kitchen. And then there are scores of posts on social networking sites which ensure you are constantly reminded. Photos, chants and celebrations galore.

This is the time of the year when I would be fuming. At the loud music, at the so-called festival enthusiasm all around, the chants of bappa moraya and the utter waste of money and resources that goes around all over the place. Step out on the streets and there are these people dressed in their finest waiting to make merry at the cost of overall social peace. I pity every year the infants, the old, the ill, the minorities (including atheists like me), birds, dogs, cats and the cattle. I hate to imagine what people do in case of eventualities with clogged roads and unconcerned crowds.

I find no sense of enjoyment in putting together plaster of paris with environmentally unfriendly colors and then dumping them into our water resources. I find no serenity in those loud aartis with no relevance to modern life. I find the hypocrisy even where there is a pertinence unbearable. As a strong follower of Lokmanya Tilak and his preachings, I feel that this is one instance in which he failed to see the Frankenstein his creation would turn into.

To tell you the truth I have come to hate this festival over the years. And this is perhaps motivated by, but in no measure exclusively becoming from, my agnostic tendencies.

Here in Germany this year, I look out the window into glorious sunshine and hear my heart beat. A moment that would have been unimaginable back in my own country this day every lunar year. I know for sure it is one thing I will NEVER miss about not being back home.

Disclaimer: these views and opinions are my own. There is no intention to harm anyone's religious sentiments. I would not dare to do that, would I?

Keeping your house - and street - clean in Germany

I learnt when I moved to Stuttgart about the (rather strange) tradition of "Kehrwoche". There is perhaps no literal translation of the term but it means "cleaning week". A Swabian tradition that puts each household responsible for the cleanliness in the apartment for that particular week. And that means sweeping the stairways or wiping the window panes or shoveling the snow off the entrance, the household takes care of it all during that week.

I come from a country where labour is so abundant that for a few rupees all of this would be taken care of by someone else. Cleaning your house too is a job that is done only if the household help does not arrive. Given this, it felt rather strange initially to be put in charge of cleaning. But it took one week of doing the job to see that it wasn't so bad after all. In fact, it was easy to see that it would increase social responsibility and boost overall levels of cleanliness, as well as a collective sense of responsibility.

I reluctantly changed my mind in just a few weeks after our first Kehrwoche. I realised that hardly anyone actually does it in our apartment block, let alone meticulously. I have been keeping a watch on the state of the building just to find no change in it for days on end. My own motivation to clean has, not surprisingly, gone down rapidly since the first kehrwoche. What a pity that in a country known for its strict, upright way of life, the tradition of kehrwoche has turned into mere lipservice!

In the last few days I had reason to justify a further deteriorated opinion of the so called attitude to cleanliness. The family who lived in the house below ours shifted out last week. On their last day here, they put together all the trash that they did not need in a heap on the pavement outside our building and just left! For a whole two days after that, several people came and picked up stuff that they wanted from this heap - toys, baby gear, electronic equipment, utensils. This happened round the clock - even at 4 am (wonder if it was so that no one would notice them doing that). They also did not do it nicely - they ripped apart bags and threw away what they didn't need right there on the street. I just wish I had clicked a picture of the dirty mess that was the result.

How disappointing that both those who left the trash and those who dug through it did not care about the consequences of their actions. Of course, no one will come to clean that street and over time the trash will dissipate due to the rain or wind. Thankfully it was not my turn at kehrwoche, for if it had been, I would have surely been extremely disturbed about it.

Amazong?

Anyone who uses Amazon knows what value it brings to our lives. Undoubtedly. I have picked up gems and ended up with unbelievable bargains myself. But all is not always rosy, ain't it?

I want to recount a rather strange incident involving Amazon.

My sister recently gifted us a Kindle. Then she also gifted me some ebooks on the Kindle. One of those ebooks she paid for was 'not available in Germany'. Amazon then offered me the option of converting the value equivalent of the book into a gift voucher. Left with no choice, I went for it.

I almost forgot about that credit until I got a great book recommendation from a cousin's wife and decided to purchase it online against my voucher. To my dismay, I was compulsorily directed to amazon.de to purchase the book but the German site would not allow me to redeem my voucher since it was one issued by amazon.com and not .de.

For the last two days I have been writing emails to Amazon's customer service and trying to get this changed to no avail. Basically it means that my sister can't get back the money in the UK. I can't redeem the amount here in Germany. Purchasing from the US-based site and getting it shipped makes no sense whatsoever. What a waste!

I'm really amazed at this strangest policy from Amazon. Fair enough that they encounter tax/VAT based problems if they transfer credit across countries but I read on some forums about many other people facing similar issues. Surely there can be a better way to handle this? If the site automatically detects my location, then why can't my account be automatically credited to be used only on amazon.de?

My brother-in-law suggested that may be someone from the US could login to my account and try to redeem the amount. I am yet to try that out with the hope that Amazon may still offer me a solution. However, if anyone has a better idea, do comment!

Dreams are made of this stuff...

I keep wondering why I assumed that Austria would be just like Germany. Consequently I expected to derive similar value from the capital of Austria. I owe the city a huge apology. It not only proved me wrong but it also gave me an incredibly beautiful treat on the first day of the tour. I think it was all the more magical because it happened to be my birthday.

The city has surprises in store at each corner. Literally. Breathtakingly lovely monuments with awe-inspiring facades, palatially wide streets, a deep-rooted cultural history that makes it the legendary stuff that dreams are made up of. Oh how we marveled and oomphed and just roamed the city awe-struck, re-discovering love together the whole day! No amount of photos could capture that feeling!

At each turn when we thought there cannot be anything more beautiful, there was another and yet another. The domkirche, various fountains, opera house, imperial palace complex, minoritykirch, parliament building, war memorial, university - a beautiful city with modern transport, lush green and spotlessly clean, and new architecture that blends into the old with surprising ease.

I loved loved loved this place. Thank you Vienna for that unforgettable birthday experience!

Our very hungry caterpillar

Keya is fascinated by the Very Hungry Caterpillar story by Eric Carle. I find it equally lovely too. We don't have the book yet, but we have a caterpillar puzzle that has been gifted to us by a friend. And we watch the story online at least once a day at this site: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/online-storytime-books-toys/379003588/ (third story in this list).

This morning we decided to make a caterpillar out of bottle lids. I've been collecting them for ages now and have quite a large collection of various colours and sizes. I got the idea from another blog and here is the product, based on whatever raw material we had at home.

We first tried sticking the lids together but it would not work due to the grooves on the lids. Also realised that sticking would not make the caterpillar flexible enough to crawl around. Then I found these small plastic coated wires that come twirled around electric appliances. I made holes in the lids on opposite sides and used little pieces of the wires to hold the lids together. That way they stay together and the caterpillar can really move and crawl around. Avoided the temptation of adding too many lids. Used a piece of a pipe cleaner for the antennae. Have stuck some clay for the eyes until I can buy googly ones or think of something else around the house for eyes.

Now we are having fun taking our caterpillar around the house and making it eat through a lot of food... hthe poor little thing's bound to have a stomach ache by tonight! :)

Vogtsbauernhof Museum in the Black Forest

Sometimes you hear about places and build your own expectations. And when you visit those places you are either delighted or disappointed depending on which way the place turns out vis-a-vis your imagination.

Last Saturday marked my first visit to the "Black Forest" guided by one of our friends here. I had a rosy, romantic idea of the "Schwarzwald". I always imagined lazy, laid back villages with music, food and chivalry; nature at its best and traditions at their richest. I was elated by what I saw. The picture fit with that in my imagination seamlessly.

Our destination this time was the Black Forest Museum or the Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof. We traveled to Freundenstadt, and then rode the Schwarzwaldbahn up to Wolfach. The connectivity from Wolfach turned out a bit problematic. The bus stop was supposedly in the town and when we went there we realised that it had shifted to the station, bringing us back to precisely where we had alighted earlier. In the bargain we missed a bus and could get the next one only an hour later. No labour lost though. We reached by mid-day. There wasn't a very large crowd at the ticket counter and we got in swiftly.

The museum is an open air place, with exhibits housed in life size erects. Whether the labourer's cottage or the worksheds or the mills, you get to see everything as it was earlier. There are plenty of demos though their timings are a bit awry. We could not catch the ones on the mill or the black forest cooking because we reached too late in the day. We had two kids with us but they enjoyed too thanks to farm animals and a few play things that caught their interest. It was a little bit difficult to move around with a stroller since we had to leave it outside the houses and then come back to retrieve it since the exits were almost always at the back. Overall it made for a fine day outside with lots of learning.

The icing on the cake, literally, was the black forest torte that we ordered at the restaurant. It was mouth-wateringly delicious, lusciously filled with cherries, soft cream that melted in the mouth, laced with just enough rum. I think that taste is going to linger in my mouth for a long time to come.

Blown away in the sand!

I find the whole concept of the 'spielplatz' or play area here in Germany somewhat unsatisfying. That being the gist of it, let me list down what I like and what I don't.

What I like:
- Each area has at least one spielplatz. It is the responsibility of the local Rathaus or the civic office to ensure that. And they take that job very seriously.
- Each spielplatz caters to children of all ages. From activities for babies and toddlers to basketball courts for  teenagers, there is something in it for everyone.
- Equipment is well designed, safety standards are very high.
- Each spielplatz is unique. You won't find one like another. Very innovative, thoughtful games. E.g. An excavator replica to sit and try out, crocodile spring to jump on, basket swings, maze of pipes.

Now you may wonder where the unsatisfying part comes in! Then let me tell you my issues with these:

- My biggest problem is that all spielplatz have sand on the flooring. This seems mandatory. Children carry their sand toys e.g. pails, shovels, moulds and play in the sand. What's wrong with that you may ask. Nothing. It's a great way to improve co-ordination, motor skills, etc.etc. But my observation is that a child is ONLY playing with the sand for about 80 percent of the time that s/he spends in the ground. I find that very troublesome.
- Let me also mention that the sand never gets cleaned. (How can it?) Which means it's not the most hygienic or ideal surrounding for a child. Especially when it rains, the sand can remain wet for more than a day after.
- Play things are just not adequate. There is mostly just one slide, one swing and one other out of a see-saw or a merry-go-round or a small house. I can't imagine that sustaining a toddler's attention for more than a few minutes at a time, which basically gets us back into the sand each time.
- The baby/toddler area is mostly not properly fenced. Which means you cannot afford to let the child off sight for even a minute.

Now I like to take my daughter out to the ground so that she can get some physical activity, let off some steam, get some organized exercise. With most children around her just sitting around and digging, I find it impossible to continuously prod her alone to swing or slide.

There are two spielplatz around our house but I find my motivation to take my kid to either of those totally waning for the aforementioned reasons. There are several other play areas scattered around the city and these days with the superb weather, I've started taking the kiddo to a new place each time. Hopefully that will give us both some different stimulation each time!

I want to make a studied comparison here with the situation in another developed country so as not to sound like I am cribbing without a reason. When we were in France, we went to at least three play areas in two different cities. Play areas were really 'play' areas. The ones we went to were nicely fenced with just one or two gates. There was this very beautiful soft matting all over, not sand, which made it equally safe for the child and so much easier to clean/maintain. There were so many different kinds of play equipment that my child refused to leave even after an hour (mind you, without sand). Mothers could hang around on the benches lining the sides and keep an eye. They didn't have to be constantly on their toes wondering where the child might run away to next.

With more Europe trips coming up, I find myself just as enthusiastic as the kiddo to visit play areas in different cities/countries. My checklist is ready for comparison.

The ruins at Calw, and a Saturday ruined

The monastery ruins at Calw/Hirsau near Weil Der Stadt have five-star reviews at travel sites. Read those and your expectations can really soar. Like in the case of all our trips, even the day ones, I had spent hours going over various sites and finding information. All in vain it felt as soon as we got there.

I think this was the first place in Germany that I was truly disappointed with. One look and I felt like returning right away. The monastery ruins are very old, and the complex has been built starting the 1st century and added to thereon. You would expect a certain, almost pious feeling at such a place. But what do we find there? A beer festival was expected that evening and preparations were on in full swing right across the Marienkirsche, with half the area cordoned off for it. Weird!

The most majestic part of the ruins were under restoration. Which meant no access to those either. They were completely covered with cloth and scaffolding. Pity there was no mention of the restoration or the beer festival on the website which I checked just the day before we went there!

Now comes the strangest part. There was a bus-stop right across the ruins. We just missed a bus and there was no bus for the next two hours! The main railway station is 2.5 kms away. Reluctantly we started trekking back. Stopped on the way at the Kloster museum. That one is interesting, some bits in English. But nothing marvelous. Or may be we were already psyched with the place by then. Luckily we found the Hirsau railway station 500 meters away and got a train to Pforzheim in 15 min.

Itchy madness

I've been down with a severe skin allergy. It started suddenly about a week ago. I woke up scratching and realised I had these red bumps all over my legs. Took an anti-allergic and went back to sleep thinking all would be well. Like hell!

It has now been 8 days. The rash comes and goes, spreads to different parts of my body, is variedly itchy and has basically taken over my life and my mind. At first I was hesitant to see a doctor for something that silly (I am the types who think doctors exist only for life threatening circumstances). So I put off what seemed like an increasingly inevitable visit, trying out some home remedies and reading up what was available on the Internet.

Last night it became unbearable and I finally dragged my itchy self to a doctor this morning. The doctor was a pleasant young man, and thankfully spoke some English while I conversed in broken German using words I'd pre-derived from Google Translate. The appointment itself turned out better than my expectation.
The outcome didn't.

The doctor basically told me I had to be "my own detective" and use trial and error to determine (out of thousands of possibilities) the reason for my allergic skin rash. It could be just about anything: food, water, deos, mites, detergents, sun exposure (The hilarious part was that he kept comparing life in Germany to that in Sri Lanka in spite of at least two sheepish mentions from me that I am from India!). I was told that once I figured out, I would figure it out for life! Liked that... Though for the life of me, if only I knew how to do that.

The only silver lining of that visit was that he confirmed that the rash was not infectious and thereby not contagious. Don't have to worry about P or the kiddo catching it.

Hmm. So begins a journey to a very fuzzy end. Wherein lies an itch-free, rash-free night. Don't know when or how I will achieve that. Need luck! Wish me some, please!

Necessity forces mothers to innovate!

I find myself continuously scouting the net for different ideas to entertain the toddler. No mother will deny that it is a very hard task! Plus the idea is never to just pass the time, right? You need to inculcate a variety of learning, encourage skill development, not to mention throw in values, etc etc. Especially since we have moved to Germany and the day care avenue for new games and activities is pretty much gone from her life, the kiddo displays perpetual boredom. Whatever new toys only get so much attention before they get branded as 'old' like the tons others lying around the house.

Anyway. A friend suggested looking up flea markets for great bargains and so we went to this KinderFlohMarkt on Sunday. It was a great experience [a Pune equivalent both in terms of spread and scale would be a "Bhavya Pradarshan"! Can't explain that even if I tried, so non-Puneites kindly ignore]. Some of the items were used but they were in good condition. We decided to use our judgement on what passed and what didn't and went ahead and shopped.

We bought a few toys for the tod, but the most exciting one was this collection of alphabet and number mats for almost nothing. An unbelievable bargain! It is now day 3 and I think I have brought home a treasure:
We played with the mats the traditional way, i.e. pieced the mats together in the order of alphabets and letters. We tried various variations, making long trails or making simple words from letters she knew.

Today we tried something totally different. We made a huge game out of the mats. It took a lot of prepping: First we separated the base and alphabet/numbers, then spread the base mats in a line starting from the bedroom into the living room with about a foot between every two mats. Then we made little chits and wrote down some simple actions on them - bark like a dog, moo like a cow, touch your toes, jump up high, etc.

The game went like this: Roll a dice, jump the number of mats equal to the number on the dice, find and fit the alphabet/number on that mat, then pick up a chit and act out what was written on it. Change player and continue. Kiddo not only enjoyed the game, enjoyed its numerous rules, often reminding me when I 'accidentally' skipped a step - like Aai, you forgot the chit! Of course, she could neither read the dice, nor count steps nor read the chits without help from me, but we had fun nonetheless.

She won both the games we played, needless to say. But the ultimate winner was her mother, considering we spent a whole hour playing with the mats! :-)

Update: We've since discovered even more ways to play with the mats - hubby made blocks/cubes out of 6, then 16 and then all 36 mats. We are also sorting by colour, learning alphabets and numbers and even made a hopskotch!

Spinach Dhirda

It was so hot during the day that kiddo refused to eat anything and kept asking for milk. Had to come up with something that was filling, nutritive and snacky to sustain the interest in food.
Thought of making dhirdas but the plain version is a bit boring! So I added in some blanched, chopped spinach to the batter, which gave it texture and colour and a different taste. Had to cover the dhirda for a bit to ensure the spinach cooked through before turning.

A dhirda is a Maharashtrian dosa made up of gram flour, often with some other flours mixed in, such as rice flour in 2:1 or 1:1 proportion.

Here's the recipe:
Spinach Dhirda (serves 2-3)

3 tbsp gram flour
2 tbsp rice flour
1/2 cup blanched, chopped spinach
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp red chilli powder or to taste (or one chopped green chilly if there are no kids eating this)
1 tsp kasuri methi
salt to taste
oil for greasing the pan

Mix all the ingredients except the spinach to form a smooth batter of flowy consistency. Add the spinach after ensuring all the lumps have been removed.

Heat a pan on medium heat and add about 2 ladles each time. Grease the dhirda from the sides if required. I was using a new non-stick pan so made it completely oil-free. Cover for a minute or so and turn when the bottom turns brown and crispy. Cook for another minute and remove.

Serve hot with ketchup, chutney or pickle.

The joy of baking

An oven - a large traditional oven - with an uninterrupted power supply!! Super!
I carry an unusually heavy baggage of baking flops with me. Not my fault some of the times. Can't help it if MSEB knew that there was batter sitting on the kitchen platform waiting to go into the oven. But most often I have only me to blame :( However, I can't help that I have baking urges at odd times in the day and then if ingredients are not available I switch according to my convenience. Can't complain about internet recipes that didn't work if I didn't follow them to the T.

Somehow, I've given myself a fresh start since I got here. Learnt from some of the past mistakes. Stocked up on ingredients just in case that urge strikes. There has been no looking back since! I've already baked a strawberry cake, carrot cake, chocolate cake and today was the turn of a banana cake. Kiddo has been asking for cake since morning and the two pathetic looking overripe bananas on that shelf were begging for attention.

Thus was born the banana cake. I used this recipe http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/3118/banana+bread but made quite a few changes (some people just don't learn, do they?)
Substituted flour with 2 cups of whole wheat flour, added 2 tsp baking powder, increased brown sugar to a full cup. Baked at 200 degrees for about 30 min.

Forgot to take a pic before cutting it. Trust me, it tastes good. Healthy and yummy good. Can't wait for kiddo to finish her nap. I think I am going to wait for her to demand cake again (it refuses to leave her mind since morning) and then present it to her, Tadaa!

10 things I miss about back home...

These were things I had taken for granted or even worse, thanklessly neglected them! They say you know the value of something when you don't have it. Now I know why 'they' say that. Here is my list of ten:

1) Ceiling Fan:
I did not expect a European summer to be so hot. Back home it was easy. Inside the house, the humble ceiling fan would more than do the trick for you. I miss the oh-so-sweet humming sound of those blades. Somehow the pedestal fan can't match its longer, well-perched cousin.

2) The Broom:
I miss the simple broom and dusting pan every time I have to use these complex contrapments to clean my house. I often wonder about the need to develop such complicated dusters/cleaners with adjustable rods and removable mops and the likes. A simple sweep and the job got done back home too, in a tenth of the time, with the same efficiency!

3) Non-human life:
All around, there was a variety of birds, stray dogs, cats, cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep, pigs that almost made up the landscape back in India. An occasional camel, a rare elephant were visual treats not just for the kiddo but they made my day too. Of course, there are zoos here, but it's not the same! And pet owners aren't always that friendly that you can just walk up to a dog on a leash and pet it. As for the cats, the less said the better.

4) Newspapers:
I miss waking up in the morning and heading for the door first thing to retrieve the daily dose of news, views and more. Sometimes my duties as a mother got in the way of enjoying the newspaper with my morning cup of coffee, and at times I had to make do with just the headlines. But I miss having the newspaper on my center table, available, if and when I wanted to read.

5) Vegetables:
I remember visiting the local veggie mart and frowning every single time. I would loathe the same old selection each time and given my objections to several of those greenies, picking out a week's supply would be tough. I didn't know it would get tougher here. I didn't ever think I would miss karelas, tendli, okra, lauki. Sometimes these are available in Indian stores and I can't believe I actually shout in joy and amass them then!

6) Fruits:
I'm making a separate mention of fruits. Because while some of them are not available, other exotic fruits present a variety of options here. So many berries, peaches, necktarines, varied citrus fruits to choose from. Yet, I miss the chikoos, pears, figs and velchi bananas from back home. Life feels incomplete without them :(

7) The neighborhood stores:
It was sooo easy getting milk or bread back home. Just walk into your neighborhood store and ask for one. It's a bit more complicated here. You have to walk up to the nearest supermarket, look for the item, stand in the billing queue, and come back. Going for 1-2 items seems like a big waste of time. The brighter side: I am getting more and more organized and need lesser and lesser 'loose' items every week thanks to a kitchen that is getting better stocked.

8) The ubiquitous Udipi restaurants:
Oh, I soo miss idli, dosas, sambar, mughlai udipi sabzi and naans, udipi chinese and their puri-bhaji or puri-chana. I have visited a few Indian restaurants here but they serve only the highly 'hyped' Indian dishes, or rather a blander, much westernized version of them. I'm not a spice-eater myself but I miss that taste from back home.

9) Home delivery:
Everything and anything was available at your doorstep back home. Groceries, books, medicines, clothes, even diapers. I miss the convenience of clicking away and getting it delivered in less than a few hours at times. Online shopping is an option here too, but it's very complicated, delivery is paid not free like in India, and there is too much fine print.

10) My car:
I enjoy public transport here. I love the flexibility it provides. I love being free from traffic jams or finding parking spaces. But I do miss my car sometimes. Especially when I have to walk back with a huge bag of groceries, or when it rains (I looovve driving in the rain).

What's on your list? Leave me a comment.

Unique museums - Part II - Cite de l'espace, Toulouse

Another gem, this one. A bit far from the main city of Toulouse but worth visiting, especially for a day out with kids.

This museum features exhibits from space technology. Easy to recognize from the Ariane rocket that can be seen from  far away. Complete with a MIR space station, the inside of a Columbus space shuttle, space suits, planetariam shows, space capsules, it can keep kids of all ages entertained for hours. Our two-and-a-half year old seemed fascinated by most displays although explaining even the concept of "earth" was a bit difficult (she can now tell you that we live on the earth by the way!).

What she really enjoyed was the simulated moon walk. When we stood in the queue along with a lot of elder kids, I quietly sneaked up to the man in-charge to ask if our kiddo would be allowed. He looked at her, asked how much she weighed. His face revealed nothing when I said "12 kgs", but I heard the man behind me remark "Ah, Petite". He came back a while later after consulting with his colleague and I thought it was all over for the kiddo who was already so excited that she was jumping up higher than she would on the moon.
However, he explained that there was no risk so if she wanted to, she could! Kiddo then proceeded to complete the entire round with a 50-strong crowd looking on and cheering.

I think if there was a Guinness record for the youngest simulated moon walker, the munchkin would be a real competitor!

Here's the earlier post: http://allesgutoder.blogspot.de/2013/07/unique-museums-part-one-deutsches.html

Two month old in Germany

I complete two months of having moved to Germany today. Two months. Phew. Two long months. Two really long months. Not one day I remember has been splendid or stellar. People say moving to a new land is exciting. For me it has been far from rosy. Let me admit that I did not exactly expect a honeymoon. I tried to mentally prepare myself for hard work. Even then, finding my way around, adjusting to a new house and new kitchen with limited supplies, new food and new ways of life, and most of all, being responsible 24x7 for the toddler has taken its toll for sure. Back in India, we had the day care which allowed me time of my own, family to fall back upon in trying times, occasional meetings with friends to look forward to, and work in terms of a consistent retainer position, even if part-time, that I cherished. It all stopped suddenly and entirely when I got here and miss it all like crazy every minute of every day.

In these two months, I have been through tribulations and utter turbulence of the mind. Why am I here? What am I going to do? How do I survive this? Questions that do not have easy answers. Questions, the mere thought of confronting which would send shivers down my spine. And now I am living with them every moment. Conclusion: Not an easy two months. But the positive side is this: I got through them, didn't I?

My "smart"phone played a heavy part in my life in the last few days. Especially social media networking which made me feel so close to friends and family and literally kept me going. Can't imagine life without checking updates last thing at night and first thing in the morning each day. Thank you facebook, whatsapp, gmail for being there!

Another person who really helped me here is the friend of a friend, though I never felt that the link was so long-winded. She welcomed me with open arms and loads of most useful advice. I like to call her my Santa Claus here! I don't want to mention her name here, but if she reads this post, she will know it is her. Thanks RR :)

Anyway, a lot of people I've spoken to in the last few days claim that they have gone through similar trying times in foreign countries. Most of them peg the difficult period at around six months after which comes a seemingly dramatic transition following which one feels truly 'adjusted'. At the moment that number of 6 months sounds overwhelmingly daunting. 6 months. I am just about a third of the way there? What can change so drastically in the next 4 months? Will wait and see. Will write again on 11th November and link back to this post then!

Treasure trove of warmth

Our local playgroup here is an incredible example of how nice German people can be. I got introduced to the group when the kiddo and I were in a playground. A mother who was observing us, as her daughter played alongside mine, herself got up to me and told me about the local playgroup for children under 3 years. She then went on to take me to the room near the church where they held the sessions and invited me to join on the coming Monday.

I was initially very excited - in a foreign land any offer of friendship can go a long way, it even made my day! But as Monday got nearer, I started to feel a bit jittery. What if we stick out due to our different dressing sense or due to the lack of expensive toys to take along? Will the other kids accept my child? Will I be able to communicate with them in my rather insufficient German? I went feeling very diffident, but there was no harm in trying it out, was there?

To say I enjoyed that first session was an understatement. I was not the only non-native but perhaps the only one with such little knowledge of the language or culture. The ladies were hugely welcoming and went out of their way to make me and kiddo feel comfortable. They revised our names so they could remember them and helped us out with the lyrics and meaning of the lovely native songs that they sang. The session was based on a pre-decided theme and a few activities centered around that theme. Some eats, some songs but mostly just being around other mothers and other kids.

The kiddo blended in with ease. Strangely, kids that age don't need language to communicate! She talked with them in Marathi and they with her in German, and they still got along splendidly. I got along too, feeling comfortable enough to try out a few sentences and some rehearsed Grammar! Loved the response I got from them - warm, loving, encouraging.

I have begun to treasure these Monday mornings when my child gets busy playing alongside her peers and I can sit and relax and listen (even talk some) to ladies my age. I don't think the ladies will ever realise what their hospitality means to me. I'm going to cherish this experience for life!

Unique Museums - Part One - Deutsches Museum in Munich

There is at least one and mostly innumerable museums in every city in Germany. There is bound to be a natural history museum, a toy museum, a museum in the local castle. We are restricted by our toddler's minuscule attention span, and almost afraid of visiting museums, but we look up at least one place in every city we visit - one place that we think would be different. We base this decision on reviews, personal preferences (we are both not the art-friendly people, for one) and mostly time and place constraints. Most times, our decisions are well-rewarded.

In this series of posts, I have decided to review unique museums - albeit as I visit more of Germany and other parts of Europe, my opinion might get reinforced or I may be forced to change it. Let's see how it goes!

1) Deutsches Museum in Munich:
We see the history of man and animals and evolution carefully documented everywhere, but getting to see early machines and latest technology under one roof is remarkable! Especially if you are inclined towards engineering or pure sciences, you will really dig this museum. Everything from large and awkward early contraptions to the sophisticated nano technology equipment is displayed in the most unique fashion. There are even helicopters and planes on display. Our toddler too was unexpectedly fascinated and we could spend good amount of time looking around. She was particularly enthralled by a large 18th century water wheel and huge ships. As if that was not enough, the museum features a children's area with large lego blocks, life size musical instruments, and scientific games full of fun and learning.

Now that's what I call a museum!

The recycling necessity

International air travel does not respect the need to carry your own house with you when you move to another, completely alien city. Thus meeting economics in its rugged simplicity - the limited resources problem.

We traveled here with a completely inadequate stock of toys for the kiddo and now getting through the day with the same old, boring few is very hard. I am continuously scouting for durable, relatively low cost toys (don't want to pour all of the mister's salary into toys now, do we?). In the longer term I hope to build a good collection for her, to suit different play moods, weathers, etc. etc. In the short term, we have admittedly a problem on hand. The idea of toys from recycled toys was born out of this necessity and has almost possessed me. (I think I may start looking at items in the grocery stores with this lens soon enough - carton just right for train wagon, purchase, check check!)

Anyway we started with a milk carton ship. A simple cut here and there on the carton, a straw sail and we were ready to cruise to the local playgroup on the Monday morning - the theme for the week was ships! I don't think I have a picture of this ship; basically it sank pretty soon. Blame the architect!

Another hit was bowling pins - from flavored milk bottles. We got a ball two days ago and haven't looked back since.

This morning, we used a cardboard box to keep us busy for a whole two hours and come up with this tunnel-cum-road-cum-activity box. We have our panda-on-wheels, our excavator and our newly acquired porsche (from the said museum) to race through the tracks we painstakingly created.

On ventilator support

It has been an excruciating week this - hot and humid beyond all imagination. We had a romantic idea of the European summer - sunny days, short clothes, et al. This isn't quite the stuff of our dreams. We spent day one and the following night in denial but soon realized what we had to do - buy a fan - and it seemed simple enough really - get to the nearest technology/appliances shop and hand over the moolah to the person behind the check out desk. Alles Gute?

Nope, Nein. Living in a Utopia, were we? This is what really transpired:
We enter the shop and stare at the menu of items floor by floor. Where does the damn thing fit? There is no such category as household appliances. You could have computer + office (check - no fan there); household + kitchen + lighting (nope); small appliances (no luck again)... well we had to find it if it was there, right? It was in "Bathroom and Health products".. Eh?

After spending 10 minutes figuring out which section the fan was to be sorted into, we learn that it is out of stock. No table fan, pedestal fan, no USB fan, not even those tiny battery operated ones. New stocks to be available in 2-3 days. Bookings are not accepted.
We went to three other shops, fortunately decided to just ask the man behind the counter as we entered the shop. Got the same reply everywhere!
We felt like fools, really. And were almost getting looked at like fools too. As if we had woken up so late it was already too late. "What did you expect to hear?" kind of expressions on the faces of salesmen.
Uh oh!

We came home disappointing, the frightening prospect of another hot and sultry night ahead of us. Decided to check on amazon and learnt that fans are called "Ventilators" in German. Well, that explains a lot somehow! Amazon to the rescue it is, then!

This is one of the most advanced nations in the world - surely they don't need lessons on how to seek a steaming hot business opportunity, pun intended? Back in India, I remember we bought ACs not once but twice in April, when temperatures start to soar and most people would choose to invest in an AC. April is also the month when you will see the maximum number of models of ACs in the market, the best stocks and mostly reliable customer service. Both our ACs were up and running in a matter of hours after we decided to buy them. Oh how I miss that opportunism!

My sister summed it up in the best words possible - if fans were so direly needed, they would by now have been sold on traffic lights if we had been in India!

Raising a kid - never you mind!

The term "kid-friendly" has got a whole new meaning in my dictionary since I arrived in Germany. Before this I thought of kid friendly as a place accessible with a stroller, having clean toilets and perhaps even a mother-care room, at best a high-chair in a restaurant. I think I would have been happy with these had I not come to Germany.

Not anymore. In the first month, we consciously avoided public places. We struck off museums from our  must-see list since were totally unsure how the kiddo would react in a place like that. Entry tickets are not exactly cheap, which means walking away in case of a meltdown would pinch hard. Slowly we started to realize that people with families, even infants were omnipresent. As we explored the town further, we saw parks, demarcated play areas and child-friendly facilities just about everywhere we went. The central shopping street has a ride or two each block. Book shops have a kids-area to allow you to browse in peace, eateries have a kids-area, trains have areas marked out for strollers. I'm sure there is lots that I haven't even discovered yet.

Subsequently we have became more relaxed about taking our kid out - whether it is eating out, shopping, site-seeing or plain travelling, you can be sure that there will be something or the other to engage your child.

We decided to risk it at the Natural History Museum after reading reviews that indicated that our kiddo could enjoy it too. She totally digged it. The exhibits (not the history) was life-like, colorful, caught her fancy in the strangest ways. We naturally had a great time together. Kid-friendly in a never-before way!

Ludwigsburg was particularly marvelous. The Marchengartens is a incredible children's park with all sorts of rides, dramatized fairy tales, even a water-play area. I would not in my wildest dreams have imagined a castle concealing a children's play area that size.

May be there are still places where I can't expect to visit with my kid - like the theater or a serious museum of art. But on the whole, I am unlikely to miss out on most aspects of life just because I have a kid in tow.

Why should having a baby put you in the back-seat in life? This society has acknowledged and internalized the challenge that is part of raising a child in such a beautiful manner. I'm really surprised that economics should come in the way of enjoying parenthood with so much to enjoy about it around!