Friday, November 18, 2016

Demonetization

Demonetization

Many of you probably don't know what this means.  There is a a detailed article about "black money". I will explain to you want it means on the ground - in real life.

India is a cash society.  Many places don't take credit or debit cards.  Not only do they only take cash, they usually only take smaller bills, it is hard to get change in India.

We woke up last Wednesday morning (the same morning that the US's election of Trump was happening - it was a crazy day.) to the news that 500 rupee bills and 1000 rupees bills (about $15) were no longer legal tender.    They were the biggest bills in India currency - so all we have is 100s, 50s, 20s, and 10s.  There was no warning - just one minute our currency was worth something, the next minute it wasn't worth anything.

The reason they did it was to try to flush out "black money" which is what the above article explained.  But it was very poorly executed and is causing massive problems.  They are making a new 2000 rupee bill (about $30) which is ridiculous because no one needs a bill that big - we have no use for it.  The ATMs are not calibrated for the new bills.  It has now been 10 days and not ONE of the ATMS in the Bandra/Khar area has money in it.  There was ONE that worked for 2 days in BKC near the school, but it no longer works.

They didn't have enough bills to change everyone's money so here are the rules put into place.
1) You could only exchange 4000
2) You had to deposit everything else.
3) You could only get 2000 out of an ATM a day AND NONE OF THE ATMS WORK

There were massive lines at the banks and there were reports of several elderly people dying doing to waiting hours in the heat.
I stood in line on Sunday for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  I deposited my 29,000 rupees and then withdrew 10,000 from my checking about.  Many people in line had bulging pockets full of cash and shopping bags full of money.  HALF of India's population have no bank account.  They cannot withdraw money like I did.

Many of us pay our maids/drivers/ at the end of the month.  Let's say a couple needs to pay their helpers  40,000 - if you use 100 rupee bills that is 4 HUNDRED bills to pay them.  NO ONE HAS THAT.  Which means they won't get paid :(

Smaller shops and produce vendors are being hurt.  They only take cash and no one has it, so they go to bigger stores that use debit cards.  I was talking to an India co- worker and he said he is spending way more money on Uber instead of a rickshaw because Uber takes cards.  But a lot of lower status Indians do not have a smart phone and Uber app!!  He is also spending a lot more on groceries order them online with his card, instead of paying cash at a small shop.  I have a few of the new 2000 rupee bills, but I CANNOT USE THEM AT SMALLER SHOPS BECAUSE THEY DO NOT HAVE CHANGE!!

There are also reports of people dying because hospitals won't treat them because they do not have new money.  In India - you have to pay upfront to be treated at hospitals.  There was a premature born baby and the parents couldn't get enough of the new money to pay so she died.  Horrible.

Poor tourists are standing in line trying to get money, but again, you can only get 2000 a day IF the ATMS work - they don't have a bank accout to get money out like I do.  I'm guessing a lot of their once in a lifetime vacations have been very stressful!

My yoga teacher and I were talking about how getting money has been a full time job for some people.  The lines in his area start at 5:30am for a bank that opens at 9am!!!!  People are spending HOURS of their days trying to get enough money to survive.  Banks are only open 9-3 so if you have a job, you are screwed.  The wife of one my colleagues filled out all the correct papers, stood in line for hours, and was denied money because she didn't have a letter of PERMISSION from her husband.

Oh India.  Like any country, India has its great things and its no so good things.  this is one of the craziest things I have ever seen.




Sunday, November 6, 2016

My Next Adventure

Sunday, November 6, 2016


The Next Adventure

Seven years ago, I decided I wanted to teach overseas and during the year long process, I said I "would go anywhere but India".  I was never drawn to India and wasn't interested in going.  An amazing school from Mumbai contacted me and I decided to take the plunge!
My life has changed soooo much in the 6 years I have been here.

1) India was my 5th country, now I have been to 39!
2) I could check my email and make a decent math worksheet on Word and that was the extent of my technology skills.  Now I have
    my masters degree in Educational Technology.
3) I have improved greatly as a teacher!
4) I know a lot more about Geography and culture, especially India.






India has been home for a long time and change is hard, but necessary.

After 6 years, I am ready for a change.   I wanted to go somewhere that I could eat the food (I am allergic to Indian food and miss out on a lot of culture because I can't eat the food).  I also wanted to go where there is a culture of running and I wanted to be closer to home.  Well I have found my new place!

1) I will get to eat BEEF!
2) I will get to experience winter, although it will be in June/July.
3) I will get to learn a new language.
4) I will probably become a football fan because it is practically their national religion.
5) I will get to see a ton of cultural/natural sites that I have always wanted to see!








Sao Paulo, Brazil!!!!!

I am moving to Sao Paulo, Brazil!!   


I am ridiculously excited!!  I have always wanted to live in South America!!  



I am very fortunate that I found my job so early so now I can stop researching schools and countries and just focus on enjoying my last months in India!

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Pieces of my heart

Anyone that knows me, knows the loves of my life are my nieces Charlie and Natalie.  When I go home, I stay with my very generous sister, Brianna, and her husband, Ben.  They let me stay in their house, eat their food, and basically disrupt their lives for a few weeks.  I get to spend a lot of time with the girls playing, going to the children's museum, going to the park, riding bikes, swimming lessons, etc.  Except for the few weeks I get to spend with them every year, our relationship is Skype based.

Charlotte was born about 10 days after I moved to India so she was 10 months old when I first held her.  She is going to be FIVE this week and is starting KINDERGARTEN this fall!!  She is very articulate and we play rhyming games all the time and crack ourselves up.  She likes to do arts and crafts type of stuff and draw.  Normally, we ride bikes and go to the park a lot, but it was so hot this summer, we only went once.  We did walk a little over 2 miles one morning to have a picnic near a bridge the kids wanted to go.  We had strawberries, blueberries, and patriotic donuts.

the girls and my sister Brianna
breakfast picnic

Charlotte with the India shirt I got her

Charlotte being a butterfly
selfie with Charlotte, Dolly, and I 


Natalie turned 3 in June and we went to the zoo.  I took charlotte to the zoo on the day Natalie decided to be born a month early!  so it is nostalgic.  She asked for a strawberry cake with green icing - it looked like a watermelon!!
Nat LOVES turtles/tortoises


notice Nat's "It's my birthday shirt"

Charlotte with a blue tongued skink

They take a picture on this tiger every time they go to the zoo

birthday girl with her new bike!



A few weeks later, I took Natalie on her first train ride to Springfield.  We went to the children's museum and Cold Stone.  I took Charlotte on this same trip last year - trying to get them to love trains like I do!  It was fun to spend the day with Nat.  She was a "baby" the last time I was home  - she had just turned two. Now she sleeps in a big girl bed, is potty trained, can hold conversations etc.  We have a game we play where I hold my hands a few inches apart and ask "Is this how much I love you?" she says no and I move my hands farther and ask again and she will stretch her arms wide and say "You love me THIS much." She is starting pre-school this fall - such a big girl!

Waiting for the train in her conductor hat. 


train selfie
excited to be on the train!


digging for dinosaur bones

Ice Cream!

worn out and sleeping on the train!!

The great part about being home is just random moments with the girls.

Puppet show at the museum

Nat being a cheerleader!

Trying to make her eyes match the emoji pillow and she can't wink!

There share a bed while I'm there and I sleep in Charlotte's bed. They are snuggled up in the sheets I brought them from India. Charlotte's favorite color is pink and she has elephants on her sheet.  Nat's favorite color is purple so she got purple and teal Peacock sheets.
Thankfully I am going home this Christmas so I don't have to wait a whole year to see them again!

Friday, July 29, 2016

Amsterdam

I decided to go to Amsterdam on my way back to India to help with time adjustment.  I have heard really great things about Amsterdam. I had be warned to stay out of the way of bicycles - they are everywhere!!  and amazingly I haven't seen overweight Dutch people.  Maybe if the US made cities more bicycle friendly, we would be better able to battle obesity.  I also knew that marijuana was legal but was not expecting to constantly walk through clouds of smoke - I think I smell like pot!
I had three and a half days to just hang out in Amsterdam and I enjoyed walking around the city and just looking at the canals and old building.  I did the Hop on Hop off tour one day and got to hear some history and see the city.  I went to the Dutch Resistance museum and learned a lot.  I also went to see the annex where Anne Frank and others hid for over 2 years.  From 9:30 - 3:30 you can go if you purchased tickets online for a certain time.  After 3:30, you can get in line to see it.  I got in line about 6:30 and waited for 1 hour and 27 minutes.  It was really crowded in the museum and hard to see things.  People were reading everything but most of what they had on the walls were quotes from her diary which I just read a few weeks ago so I didn't need a refresher.  They had documents and actual pages of her diary and the Dutch people were reading every word, but since I can't read Dutch, I didn't really need to see them. Her father was the only one of the 8 that survived and he had the annex preserved as a museum and had her diary published.







my hotel




I went on the Charm of Holland tour to several Holland villages.  We went to Edam which is famous for it's cheese market.  We walked through Marken and saw how wooden shoes are made.  We took a boat to Volendam and had a Dutch lunch.  The villages were so quiet and cute - the windows all had displays of pottery and other things on the sills.   At the end of the day, we went to Zaanse Schans to see working windmills.  The miller showed us how the windmills are used to make oils like linseed oil and peanut oil.












I was supposed to go to Bruges on my last day, but I was exhausted and decided to stay and spend the afternoon with Addie - one of my beloved Math cohort peeps.  She has lived in Rotterdam and has worked at the American School of The Hague for 14 years so she showed me around and gave me some insight into Amsterdam.  We walked around a park, the museum district, flower market, and the red light district - crazy.
Amsterdam Centraal