Welcome to Incredible India!

Incredible is right! Incredibly polluted, littered, crowded, stinky, traffic-jammed, horn-honking, ugly city (at lease New Delhi) that I’ve ever seen. There are over a billion people in India with 15 million in the New Delhi area and incompetence is the norm that I’ve witnessed. Needless to say, the JCI 63rd World Congress in Incredible India is not going well. We at JCI Headquarters knew beforehand that our work was cut out for us but we never imagined how difficult it would be to get simple cooperation from the JCI India Congress Organizing Committee (COC) who had pledged to put on the most magnificent Congress ever since they won the bid 2 years ago. There has been one problem after another causing JCI HQ team unbelievable stress because although it is being hosted by JCI India who is supposed to provide all the logistics, transportation, meals, etc., when things go wrong, we take the flak.

When I arrived after almost 24 hours of travel time and walked out of the airport to catch our van, the first thing that hit me was the smog. At first I thought it was fog and I didn’t realize what it was because I have never experienced anything like it before. Now I truly understand the meaning of the word acrid because that’s the only way to describe it. India used to be a British territory so they drive very fast on the opposite side of the road in three lanes weaving in out of traffic and honk and weave and honk and weave. It’s really very scary but I experienced this type of driving last year in Istanbul. We got here at night and since I find it difficult to sleep on airplanes, I was tired enough to go to bed. There is an 11-1/2 hour time difference so I thought I could just go to sleep and nip the jet lag in the bud. We checked into the Parkland Safdarjung Hotel and I was exhausted so I just about collapsed in the hard bed ready to sleep for the night. I was asleep within minutes and awakened soon after by a loud clang that seemed to be coming through the ceiling. As I was trying to get back to sleep I heard all the traffic & horn-honking. The periodic clang & horns continued throughout the night which made for a miserable night’s rest for me. When the same clanging happened the next night, I called the desk & demanded it stop so the guy came to my room to figure out what the noise was and come to find it was the boiler. I’m not sure I even know what the heck a boiler is. At the least, I though they were something out of the distant past!

I was pretty impressed with the first meal I had because it was really quite tasty. Famous last words. I’m so sick of Indian food that I’ve skipped several meals and you all know that is very unusual for me! We were able to get someone to bring us KFC into the office one night and you would’ve thought we all died and gone to heaven. Even all my foreign co-workers were in ecstasy! There was one day when Zsolt, who is our employee in Budapest told me the club sandwich & French fries at our hotel were very good and I was quite skeptical because this is the same guy who ate raw octopus with the tentacles hanging out of his mouth when we were in Japan. But I trusted him & ordered it and was happy that it was excellent – maybe the best club sandwich I’ve ever had.

I’ve been working long hours, getting little sleep and it finally caught up with me the other day when I was really emotional and on the verge of tears all day long. I was working registration and you’d think there was a big sign in front of my spot marked “Complaint Department” because a lot of members were bitching about one thing or another. I don’t know why they come to me because there is a help desk right across from me & others around but it may be that since I don’t look Indian they think I might be able to do something for them. Either that or they recognize me from year-to-year but I’m not sure why they choose me. Finally, when I closed registration and went back up to the office, our Audit Committee Chairman, Jun Takahashi was there to count & sign off on the cash. He said I looked like I needed a hug and that’s all it took – I was in tears. After I complained about the complainers I calmed down and was able to laugh about it. Jun suggested that next year we have a “Complaint Counter” and man it with a deaf person.

I’m writing this blog a little each day as registration slows down but it could be pages and pages so I will cut it off. The only fun thing I’ve done in the week that I’ve been here is to ride an elephant. We are all going to take a bus trip to the Taj Mahal on Monday which will be a good way to end this horrendous Congress. I can’t wait to get home to my soft bed, quiet house, clean air, and, of course, Jim.

P.S. The Congress site is voted on two years before the actual date and last year in Turkey, Tunisia and Quebec were the contenders. Unfortunately, there are politics in JCI and “the family” instructed their National Organizations how to vote so next year it will be in Tunisia which is destined to be worse. Needless to say, I was rooting for Quebec….

Pictures

Grandpa Preli's trunk he brought from Italy with my beautiful new scrapbook (thanks again, Barb) and " My History of Concerts" album on top.

Jim lined the trunk with cedar for me.

I planted morning glory seeds in early spring and babied the little plants along and this is what I got! I had to chop the hell out of it before the washers tournament because you couldn't even walk under it. I got many compliments on my yard & plants which made me very proud.

The Washers Tournament

Jim & I hosted our annual washers tournament yesterday and the weather was great compared to last year when it got up to 90 degrees. We decided to have it a week later this year because I was very disappointed last year when we weren't able to have a bonfire because it was too darn hot! Unfortunately, Ron & Janet couldn't come because it was the weekend of her family get-together at Sam A. Baker Park. Ron is usually the scorekeeper and keeps the losers & winners brackets straight for us so when Jim found out he wouldn't be here, he took charge. He did a pretty good job but was harassed continuously by one person or another. I made a big pot of chile which I proceeded to burn (and I'm boiling soapy water in it trying to get the gunk off the bottom as I write this blog) when I tried to get it hot too fast. Pretty much of it got eaten and I told everyone not to scrape the bottom when they served themselves. Everyone brought a dish so we had lots of good food. Jessica & Mike stopped by with little Max and he is so cute and so tiny. I made sure to hold him before I got too many beers in me!

Although the invitation said to come over at 1:00 for practice and the tournament would be starting at 2:00 sharp, we didn't get started until well after 3:00. Jim put a new spin on the game this year by making everyone (or shall I say the guys) draw for a female partner. When he first told me his idea I wasn't too keen on it but said it might work. It ended up working very well and it was alot of fun mixing it up a little. Matt drew my name and we did pretty good. About an hour after we started, we heard the big machinery from the farmer down on the bottoms and Jim & I thought it was only a matter of time before there would be a big cloud of dust & alergens descending on us as we experienced the first year we held the tournament in our new house. I don't know why, but it never happened and the games went on. There were 7 teams and it ended up me & Matt played against Gene & Mary for the grand prize. It was a close match and it was pretty dark when we finally finished with an overtime score of 24-22 but Gene & Mary took the money. Mary was a first-timer so I was glad she won although I wouldn't have minded winning myself!

Jim lit the bonfire and we sat around talking & laughing and had a great time. I think the temperature had only gotten into the low 70's so it cooled down alot and the party was a success.

Gene & Mary are holding the trophy backwards & I didn't realize it when I took the picture!

The Trunk

When Barb was in town back in July we had the opportunity to go through Mom’s trunk and discovered some pretty good stuff on which we based our Zimmermann competition. A month or so afterwards when I was at Mom’s one evening, she asked me to help her clean the rest of her paperwork out of the trunk. As we were working, she mentioned that the trunk had belonged to Grandpa Preli and that he had brought it with him when he came over from Italy. You would’ve never guessed it was that old the way mom had painted it bright orange and lined it with orange-flowered shelf paper. But when she asked me if I wanted it I jumped at the chance (you got the punch bowl Barb!) to have something over 100 years old that had belonged to my Grandfather and held up not only on the voyage all the way from Italy but for years and years afterward. I was very excited and told mom I would cherish it.

I brought it home and my mind was reeling at how I would get rid of the orange. I thought about sanding it but knew it would be a huge job and I’m not that motivated. I decided to paint it and I knew I wanted it to look old so I went to Home Depot and bought some spray paint that had a finish that wasn’t shiny. Well, I placed the trunk on top of one of Jim’s infamous rugs in the garage, pulled it out onto the driveway and proceeded to spray and within about 4-1/2 minutes, the can was empty, my finger hurt really bad and the trunk wasn’t nearly covered. So, needless to say, I was very discouraged and pulled it back into the garage where it sat for a few weeks while I racked my brain on a new strategy. I didn’t want to spray it anymore because not only would it take 20 cans but I didn’t think my finger could take the pressure!

In the meantime, I asked Jim to line it with cedar, we bought some planks, he did a good job and there it sat just waiting for me to ‘git er done’. I finally figured out what I wanted to do so Jim & I made another trip to Home Depot. As we were standing there looking at the paint selection, I told Jim that I also wanted to get some new handles for the sides of the trunk as I wanted some that were bigger & more antique looking than the ones Mom had put on it. Jim proceeded to tell me that I couldn’t switch the handles as he’d glued the cedar into the trunk and it would be impossible to get to them. I couldn’t believe it; I was very upset and pretty pissed off. I told him that I had tried to get the handles off but couldn’t and that was the only reason they were still on there. Blah, blah blah – didn’t do me any good so I steamed. I ended up buying a quart of Ralph Lauren’s suede paint along with some supplies.

This past weekend I got all set up & ready to paint but when I opened the can, the paint was white. I read the label and it said base for tinting so I went back to Home Depot and had the guy tint it tan for me. I came back home and painted the trunk, trying to follow the instructions on the can. When Jim came home a little later, he exclaimed how great the trunk looked. Now, I’m not sure if he was over-doing it because he knew I was upset about the handles but whatever his motive, he made me feel good about it. I told him that I needed to get some paint for the latches, locks & hinges and, of course, he disagreed. He said I shouldn’t mess with it anymore and it looked great the way it was. Needless to say, we went to Michael’s later on and I bought a little tube of metallic paint and painted the latches, locks, hinges & the metal things on the corners.

I finished up Sunday evening and it is now in my hearth room for all to see. I think it looks pretty good but I’m anxious to get other opinions.

The Mushroom Caper

Last Sunday me, Jim, Debbie & Mike were supposed to go boating but the weather didn't cooperate so we went 4-wheeling instead. We decided to go to the Steelville area where Mike owns some property with a small cabin. When we pulled up to the cabin there was a truck with a trailer and a Jeep parked in the yard. Mike said they were probably owned by his step-sister's husband who lives in Cuba, MO (a real country boy). While we were waiting for Jim to get the 4-wheelers started, Debbie & I did some target practice with her little 22 revolver. As we were wasting time, Mike's step-brother-in-law, Rick pulled up on a four wheeler and we did introductions. He said he had come back for a bag because they had found a huge patch of elk horn mushrooms. Debbie & I asked a few questions before he took off again. Jim got the 4-wheelers going and we proceeded to go up & down logging roads & paths through the woods. We got pretty muddy and only got stuck once or twice. It was fun but getting late so we went back to the cabin to barbecue some dinner before driving 2 hours back home.

When we got back to the cabin I noticed some mushrooms on Rick's trailer and stopped to take a look. They didn't look like any mushroom I'd ever seen. I remembered the morels we used to eat when I was a kid and I expected the same but these weren't even close. As the barbecue was cooking I went over to inspect the mushrooms again and noticed a big trash bag next to them and when I looked in I couldn't believe it was cram-packed with more mushrooms! Some of them were huge! They looked like coral you'd find on the bottom of the sea.
When Rick & his gang got back to the cabin, I proceeded to quiz him on the mushrooms; how he cooked them, what they tasted like, etc. He told us there were some growing close to the cabin so Debbie & I went mushroom hunting. We didn't get nearly as many as them but we got a gallon ziplock bag of them to bring home and try. We agreed we'd get together Tuesday night to make dinner & try our elk horn mushrooms.

I checked the internet for elk horn mushrooms and couldn't find anything. When I got to Debbie's last night she had the mushroom pulled up on the screen of her computer. Come to find out they're called CORAL FUNGI. Talk about gross! I didn't have my camera but took pictures with my cell phone. I don't know how to get them on the blog and I've tried to post a picture off the internet but it won't paste onto the page. This is the link if you'd like to take a look http://www.backyardnature.net/f/coralfng.htm. We made sure to soak them in water overnight because they grow through all kinds of leaves & stuff & Jim was afraid of what animal might've peed on them! We cleaned them up real good & cut the stems off just as Rick told us. We egged & floured them and pan fried them. I am a huge mushroom lover but I didn't know if I could eat the coral fungi mushrooms, not only because of the way they looked but also because of their name. Fungi! Yuck! And I had read they could have a laxative effect on some people. I certainly don't need that!

Well, we ate them and they weren't too bad. Not a whole lot of taste but pretty good. We didn't get diarrhea and they didn't have any effect on our minds.
Too bad....