First of advent

Namasté!

Suddenly I realized it was first of advent on Sunday! 

It took me two hours to find four candles!!!! This candle holder, showing Lucia in the middle with her followers,I use every weekend from now on and lit one more candle each Sunday. It´s also very useful when I am trying to explain Lucia for those who hasn´t got a clue what it is. Thank you Carina, Carl´s godmother, for giving this wonderful present when we moved from Sweden!

 

To my surprise I find this candle holder in a shopping mall close to our house. It looks like lingon berries!!!

 Carl and I made ginger cookies and had lot´s of fun. The dough didn´t taste like it does in Sweden but it smelled the same.

  

 A very special ginger cookie man made in India by Carl !!

Our cook also made us some nice saffronbuns. Unfortunate I only had a quarter of a saffronbun left when I decided to take a picture.

I tried to find things that were of red colour.

It was easy to bring all my Christmas decoration at display. This was one of three things I had!

 This time of year I am always thinking of my choir "Kören Nota Bene" in my hometown Örnsköldsvik. Every year at first of advent it´s a concert with a famous Swedish singer .

This term I have join the Aes community choir here in New Delhi. On Friday we are having a consert at school and we are also singing at the AWA mela on Sunday. Hope to see some of my friends there!

Carl is rehearsal Lucia and will have three performances next week at the Swedish embassy.

Hope you enjoyed first of advent!!

Thank you for reading my blog!

Agamya school - school for underprivliged children

Namastè!

We arrived in the morning with two of Carl´s friends who were  going to hand over gifts bought from their money they received for their birthday. Since the last time we were here they now have got their third classroom.Two of them are provided with school desks. Our car is in the back of the picture.

 

It was fun to come with all the materials for the children and the school. Everybody felt excitied.

Ravi Kalra with the two donators presenting them for the children in the oldest class.

 

 The children looked very happy receiving presents from this little "angel". Each of the 125 children were given a pencil case filled with a pen, eraser, sharpener and glue.

Many eyes on the donator! In this classroom children are sitting two and two in desks.

Happy child with a new cricket bat in his hands! Maybe a future as a famous Indian cricket player. Who knows? Many of the children

were hats and it´s  23 C degrees.

                     Carl found this home made cricket bat at the school.

All the children from the  youngest class also wanted to take part. 

 All of sudden the Swedish children took command over the class.  Great seeing them! Most of the lessons are taught in English. These children will have an advantage knowing English as adults.

Looking at the children the "new" teachers were doing a good job.

The breaks are among other things the best in a school day.

And this break most have been a very good and special one. It is heart warming to see the girl´s happiness as she is doing high five with Carl.

                          

Rewarded with a Christmas card and a feeling of happiness and joy. What a great thing  to be able to help those in the world that are having a hard time to survive.

              

When leaving, we saw that the children were having fun with their gifts. Such a nice feeling!

As the saying goes:

Being  nice is one of many bridges on the road to happiness

 by  Donna A Favors 

Carl is now at a friend´s house and I am waiting to taste some saffron buns soon. How exciting!! My husband has invited two guests for dinner tonight.

Tomorrow we are playing at the  Dehli golf club where we now are members. To be a member my husband didn´t had to play golf to be picked as a valuable member instead he had a nice cup of tea. It´s important to socialize on the golf course, isn´t it??

Thank you for reading my blog! 

Super heroes!!

Namasté!

Two children in New Delhi had a birthday party when they were turning 10 years old. They decided to ask all their guests to bring money instead of presents. The money would go to the poor children in New Delhi.

They went to the stationary shop with friends and bought.....

erasers and pencils... 

pencil cases and sharpeners.

One friends and a little sister came and helped packing everything.

The shop assistant happily tought the children some Hindi. No hurry in India!!

There was enough Money left for note pads, balls and cricket sets (which is very popular here in India)!  Tomorrow we are going to the  Agamya school(website www.saveearth.in). The same school  Carl and I  visited before with some of our Swedish visitors. 

All the children from Aes (American embassy school ) are off from school Thursday and Friday this week due to Thanksgiving.

This boy didn´t get any presents from his friends for himself. However, you should have seen him today deciding what to give to poor children!! If this could inspire more children (adults and schools) in Sweden, England or Finland, then Carl and I would be happy to help if anyone would like to make a difference for a poor child in India. 

I also went to a market to get some saffron. We would like to bake some saffron buns prior to Christmas. To find saffron I had to go by car 35 minutes one way!!!

The shop owner was very nice. As I had nearly no voice at all he made me a nice cup of tea. No hurry in India!!

This is how it looks in lot´s of shops. The space is limited. 

In the shop two men were wrapping tea in small boxes and then in plastic bags. Labour surplus makes the shops filled with men. Usually more labour than customers. I got 1 gram of saffron for 288INR(45SEK, 4GBP, 4,75EUR). I sat down and had a cup of tea and believe me or not by the time I was home my throat was so much better.


I did one more stop on my way home to buy cloves in Basant Lok, the market next to where I live, it made me furious!!! 
Cloves 5 g costs  1375INR (210SEK, 19 GBP, 22,69EUR). That is really profiteering!! I don`t like  this shop called "Le Marche" at all. Our Kellog´s flakes are far more expensive here than compared to in England or Sweden. 

Soon I will meet my daughter again as she is spending Christmas in India with us. I miss her a lot but I know she is having a good time and is very happy. You can´t ask for more.

Please inform me if you still have problems to give comments?
Thank you for reading my blog!

Humayun

Namasté!


Received an email from seven cities group number 7:

Dear 7 Cities Group,

Haji Begum, wife of Jannat-i-Ashiyani, is proud to invite you to the eighth presentation of the Fall 2010 tours. On November 24, 2010 she and her entourage will be exploring the Sixth City of Delhi, part two: Humayun's Tomb and Garden. They invite you to explore Isa Khan's Tomb, the Arab Serai, the Afsarwala Tomb and Mosque and Humayun's Tomb and Garden.

  

HUMAYUN’S TOMB



Inspired by love. Inspiration for the Taj Mahal


One of India’s 23 World Heritage Sites


Built 1562-1571. Cost over $30 million in today’s currency


Commissioned by a wife for her husband. Financed by a son for his father


Became a “dormitory” for Mughals (over 156 graves on site). They ruled in India from 1526-1858


when India was the richest country in the world - 30% of global GD







As usual lot´s of constructions at this monument. There are lot´s of different ways to take heavy materials up on a higher level!!!

After the tour a nice picnic lunch with wine, Indian ice cream, fruit, coffee and a cake. Nice!

Thank you for reading my blog!

The dity of Dinpanah - a visit to Purana Qila

Namasté!

It´s getting colder in Delhi. Today I had long trousers and a cardigan.

I visited Old Delhi with a friend and totally forgot to bring my camera. It´s narrow streets crowed with people, rickshaws, dogs, motorbikes, cycles and lovely small shops. People from all over India buy things for their weddings here. The priest tells which dates will be considered as good dates for weddings due to horoscope.

After this trip I went to a meeting with the teachers at the Swedish school. The children have lessons once a week for 1,5 hour. I teach the oldest group and they study Swedish through Sofia distans in Stockholm. This is a great way to keep up their Swedish language.

Last week I joined a tour with seven cities group. I didn´t expected it to be a nice tour but it was!! One learn a lot of India history and make lots of friends at these occasions. When I have guests visiting me, I can guide them all around the seven cities of Dehli.

Welcome! 

We are five Swedish ladies in the group. Here are two of them telling us about Purana Qila.

 Qula-i-Khona Masjid is considered to be the most important mosque of Delhi. The central bay is domed.

  

Do you see the entrances becoming higher and higher?

Looking at the delicate carvings in the interior all in stone, a feature that sets this mosque apart from others.

Sher Mandal was built by Sher Shah Sur in the 16th century . It is a three storey octagonal tower, one of the first "Pleasure Pavilions" to have been built in Delhi. It´s made of sandstone and marble and was Humayun´s library and observatory.

Action a la Anne!

Thank you for reading my blog!

New furnitures & Food festival

Namasté!


As promised a picture of my son as a speaker for Sweden at UN day Aes school, New Delhi, India 2010


Aes ,American embassy school, have food festival every year. It was a great event with food from all over the world. I sold Swedish buns and cookies. Just one hour before opening heavy rain fall and the lawn were covered in mood. Otherwise it was great food and lot´s of people.

CHESS TABLE AND CHESS CHAIRS

Again I have designed my own furniture and were very happy with the resultat. I specially liked the chess table and the chess chairs. My son and my husband has already inaugurated them. On request from my big sister here are the pictures! 

The squares are done one by one! Not just painted!

CHESS CHAIR

CONSOLE TABLE

CORNER TABLE

 GUEST ROOM CHAIR

NEST TABLE

 Charcoal work from Arti picturing a lady from Ladakh and a sadhu from Haridwar.