Hi Everyone!

It's hard to believe October is nearly over. There is no sense of "seasons" that we are used to here in India. There are seasons, but they are Monsoon, "winter" (or cool weather), beginning to get hot, and Hot. There are no leaves changing colors and falling from the trees. It is cooler at night, but hot in the day still. November starts the cool weather here.

I had an interesting and busy week last week. I asked my driver to take us ladies to the antique furniture places here in town. So he drove us across town and we went into a small shop. The man inside said something like the things in the shop weren't for sale, but follow him. So we walked outside the shop, back to the parking lot, and went down a steep ramp into the basement of the building. There was a huge room with lots of old antique furniture stacked on top of each other. We wandered through the dark underground completely amazed. There were workers down there too -- repairing, refinishing, and restoring the old pieces that someone else had purchased. They looked pretty good. I'm not sure I have the eye to choose something totally old, broken, and dirty and see the potential in it. Once they had started the refinishing process, it was easy to see the beauty and value. I will have to take Doug back there some time. I know he would be fascinated by the workmen, sitting on the floor, working by the light of one electric bulb per station. No electric tools for them. I think they even slept and lived down there.

As if that weren't enough, the next day we decided to see how the pottery is made in Pune. So we went with one of the other gals' drivers. He took us to a small community of people that make pots. The first place we went, the gal was making a big tandoori pot. They use these as ovens and bake bread on the inside of the pot and also bar-b-cue meat in them. These pots are about 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide at the widest part. They are just made by forming the shape and continuing to add clay -- no turning or coiling. The clay is a mixture of manure and clay dirt. The kiln is a 3-sided brick area where they put all the pots inside and then somehow put a fire in there and let it burn for 3-4 days. We didn't get to see that part of the process. In another house, they were making turned pots. The wheel sat on the ground and the man just turned it by hand. His wife did prepare the clay, however (which can sometimes be the hardest part). He would put a large slab of clay on the wheel, then make a small 4" pot, cut it off, then draw the next piece of clay up to make the next pot. He was pretty fast, making a pot every 30 seconds or so. He had a yard full of small 4" pots to fire.

This is the beginning of the Diwali season -- the Festival of Lights. The people in India put out oil lamps every night for their lights. They are small clay dishes (decorated very nicely) with oil in them and a wick. Then the wick is lit and the lamp stays lit for 2-3-4 hours. I bought 50 of these little lamps, so I will probably burn the house down. Luckily, our house is made of cement, so there's not too much danger.

We finally found a piano store in Pune. They've only been open for a month. They were happy to invite us to purchase a piano -- Pearl River, B Steiner, Boston, Yamaha, or Steinway. They said all these were made in Indonesia. They are also heavily lacquered with a high shine finish. It was fun to look at them, as well as through the whole music store, with violins, guitars, drums, keyboards, and traditional Indian instruments.

I also went sari shopping with my friend from Michigan. She has a big party to go to and needed a sari. When you go to buy a sari, they usually take you to the top floor of the store (2-3 floors). When you get there you take your shoes off and sit on one of the huge mats all over the floor. They ask what type of sari you are looking for -- wedding, party, South India, North India, casual, etc. etc. Then they start bringing out the saris and piling them on top of each other in front of you. Since we were white, they were extra patient and let my friend try them on. Of course, she didn't know how to wrap a sari, so the man did it for her. I wish we had pictures of this -- it was quite an experience. When she decided which one she wanted, they cut the last 36" off to make the blouse. She paid for the sari, then took us to the petticoat shop. She bought a petticoat (slip) to go under it. Then we went down a narrow alley, up 2 flights of stairs to the tailor. His shop was about 5' by 7'. My friend looked through the pattern books and chose a "V" neck in the front, and square in the back. He then measured her everywhere and said it would take 2 days to finish. He would sew the blouse with lining, and also put a lining on the bottom of the sari where it gets kicked when you walk -- all for 350 rupees (about $8). It is very hard work to shop for saris. There were plenty of Indian women in the shop, too, offering their comments and suggestions!

So if these events were not enough, we had the cane furniture guys come to get our patio furniture. It needed to be refinished, and their way was to come and pick it up, take it to the shop, sand and put varnish on it (2 coats, please), and then drive it back to our house. They did this in 2 days (don't forget that it took them 3 weeks to come) and it cost 600 rupees (about $15). It looks very nice, and now the rain is over, it's out on the terrace.

I don't have pictures of the antique trip or the pottery adventure yet. When I get those, Doug will post them on the on the blog. We will send a notice to you and let you know they are there.

We miss everyone and love you lots!
Lucinda