Kara’s Korner

On our way back to Dallas we took a detour to visit the Roberts family vacationing in their 100 year old, 2 room log cabin in Chama, New Mexico.

See more of Kara in Chama by clicking on this picture…

Chama

From here we drove to Taos and saw the Taos Peublos. It reminded me (Ashish) of an old fashioned village in a small Indian town. The mud walls and the thousand year old traditional lifestyle is so similar to an Indian village. And when I say Indian, I mean the REAL Indians.

See more pictures of the "native american" village by clicking on the pueblo…

Taos Pueblo

Finally we were on our way home.  We enjoyed our trip immensely, but we were ready for life to return to normal.  Kara was ready to be done with her car seat.  Through beautiful mountain roads, and flooded cities we journeyed back to Dallas.

Click on Kara to see pictures from our drive home…

Please take me home!!!

Our next stop in Colorado took us further north of Denver and west of Boulder to a little town called Erie (pop. 40k) where Matt and Julia (Natalie’s younger sister) live. 

Among many other adventures (see below by clicking on the picture) we visited the Rocky Mountain National Park and drove up to 14,000 feet above sea level.We stopped to enjoy some breathtaking views and hiked some of the way up with Kara in the snuglie.

Click to see more…

Boulder

Our time in Colorado started with a visit with Shallu Maushi (Ashish’s aunt) and her family. It was a joyous reunion for the aunties and for the most part all Kara had to say was "I like the weather around here much better, lets move to Colorado!" We had a great time with the Gaikwads - Anil, Shalini, Soni and Teja! We went for many walks to the park, up to Manitou Springs, rode the cog train up to Pikes Peak, looked around the haunted castle, had a tour of the Summit ministries campus, and ate lots of delicious Indian food cooked by three experts!  

See more of our visit by clicking the picture below…

Colorado Springs

Kara’s grandmother from India visited her in June 2007.  After months of planning, trips to the visa office, passport office, they finally settled down for the long flight to the opposite side of the world.  Mumbai to New York - Sixteen hours non stop flight time. Two hours layover in NY, then NY to Atlanta another two hours. Four hours layover in Atlanta and finally another two hours to Dallas, TX. That makes a total of 26 hours journey. And "mummy" (Ashish’s mom) has never been on an airplane before! It was quite the adventure, and both mummy and akka maushi (Ashish’s mom’s elder sister - his aunt) took it all in with great delight.

To see their time with Kara in Dallas, click on the picture below…

Grandmas from India

Cultural Notes: In Maharashtra, India (especially within the Marathi language) there are titles for certain family members (in addition to their actual names). In Ashish’s mom’s family they have 5 sisters and 2 brothers. The eldest sister is called "Akka". The second eldest is called "Tai". The third and younger do not have any special titles. Among the sisters, Akka and Tai (Ashish’s mom) are visiting. Sister #4 lives in Colorado. Sister #3 and #5 live in India. The word "Maushi" means auntie. So for all of us cousins, we get to call them Akka Maushi, Tai maushi, Shallu maushi etc. (Shallu is the nickname for auntie #4).  Kara will know all three (and the others when she meets them) as "Grandma."  To make life simpler (?!) we call mummy, "Mothi Ayi" (Grandma in Marathi, pronounced "motee iee"), akka maushi "Aji," and Shallu maushi "Shallu Aji."   I know, I know, this is all very confusing; but India was never plain and simple to begin with! You get used to it after a while.