Wednesday – Sleeping in and Uppachin (Grandpa) and Puking and Dating.

Wednesday – Sleeping in and Uppachin (Grandpa) and Puking and Dating.

So last night was a roughy for Abe and Blessy. Gracelyn was sick most of the night. We aren't quite sure what she ate that didn't sit, but so far, she is the only one who is having this symptom. Hoping that it stays this way.

So this was the day that we were meeting Blessy's grandfather but more fondly called up-pa-chin. He is 82 years young. He is a master story teller and we were able to hear only a few of them. He just gave up driving two years ago. He has been driving for ages and has never got in an accident. That is truly remarkable in this country. He was a high school teacher teaching English. So we were able to communicate flawlessly with him. We also got the four generation picture with Blessy's mom, Blessy and the children. It turned out wonderfully. (correction note: Meeting grandpa happened on Monday- my days are blurring together.)

A bit later we left the kids at home with Josh and Hannah being the nannys while we went out on the town. Okay, so it really wasn't all that, but a refreshing break anyway. We were able to get several pictures developed for the grandparents. Interesting tidbit – Ed put the pictures on a USB drive and handed it to the developer dude. He processed it and handed the key back to Ed. When we got home, Ed loaded the USB drive and was very thankful for Antivirus protection. The developer's computer was loaded with viruses that promptly loaded them on Ed's memory stick. Ed just wiped it clean, but still. WOW. While we were in town we were able to observe a strike. Angry people gathered in the streets demanding more money. This is when we learned an interesting Kerala factoid. Kerala is a communist city state. Back in the 50's the Chinese Maoists moved into the territory. They quickly established the government here. The land is very fertile. The most fertile in the country. But that requires a lot of labor to harvest the rice paddies and tea plantation and all the other crops. The people are constantly demanding more and more and so they strike. In the process they cripple the towns. We have been notified that next Tuesday is a transportation strike statewide. No public transport of any kind will be allowed on the streets. Even if you own your car – you will not be able to drive it. Everything comes to a halt. The danger of this was shown in a local paper yesterday. A similar strike happened a few days ago only it wasn't state wide. A boy was being taken to a hospital by rickshaw because he was very sick. The rickshaw was stopped at a town square and the air was let out of the tires and not allowed to pass. Ah! Communism! What the locals haven't realized is that if you demand too much from the rich – they just move on. Take a look at Russia. This is the only city state that has not exploded from high tech jobs. No industry wants to move here. And why would they? To have to deal with repeated strikes and people unable to get to work. I wouldn't start a business here. But changing the mindset that is very established is hard to do. So that is the Kerala history lesson of the day!

Our evening ended quietly as most evenings do. We gather in the living room and sing hymns and praise songs then take turns reading the Bible and pray. I do love that.