More random pieces of information

1) Sean’s office building was built on an old landfill. The area of town was a landfill and now a lot of buildings sit on top of them. It explains why it is rather smelly there, even though the building itself is very nice and reasonably new. There is a “creek” that runs along the side that may or may not be made up of 100% sewage. Coincidentally, I walk along this creek when getting between Sean’s office and the grocery store. It is pleasant…

2) Yesterday, walking to the bus stop there were children playing soccer (“football” here, of course). The ball came toward me and bounced pretty high. In my effort to play along, I kicked my leg up to shoulder level in an attempt to kick the ball. I complete missed it. But the kids loved my effort and laughed and clapped.

3) We have been trying lots of different Indian food restaurants, with food from different states of the country. Sean and I think our favorite region of Indian food is probably Punjabi (North India). We have also enjoyed Gujurati (Western India) and Bengali (Kolkata, Eastern India), as well as dosas (South India). Before we leave India, we’ll also go to the states of Uttar Pradesh and Goa, so that is two other regions of food we’ll try. We are living in the state of Maharashtra, which we have had but not enjoyed as much as some other regions’ cuisines. But I think we have just not had the good stuff here. We are especially enjoying anything that you can mop up with roti and naan (breads that are torn in pieces and used to scoop up the food with your fingers). We don’t enjoy mutton so much, even though it is quite common here.

4) I have been reading a lot as Sean has been working late and coming home at 9 at night. Luckily, with two trips plan, we can count on him having the next two weekends off to relax. In the meantime, I am reading quite a bit, constantly checking my email, and watching whatever movies are on (there always seems to be Baldwin brother on some channel here). I have found a bookstore that I just can’t leave without purchasing at least one (but usually more) books.

5) I have been able to voice chat with several members of my family via Gmail chat. It is an amazing connection, without any delay and very clear. Better than the phone connection I get with my cell phone. My friend Emily and I tried out iChat for the first time and the picture quality was horrible. Also, there was a bad delay in our audio. Since then we have stuck with voice chatting. It has helped me not to feel too far away to be able to speak to people back home on a semi-regular basis. So, thanks to my friends and family who have gone out of their technological comfort zones to chat with us (including my mom and Sean’s parents!).

6) Arranged marriage is still thriving here in India. When I am on the internet, I get a lot of Indian ads, including this one that amused me. Now, get YOUR marriage proposals via text.

Other news:
My sister Kenzie is in Rwanda right now. She is there for missions work, partly with Kids Across Africa camps, and then involved in some other missions work with schools and orphanages. She is loving it and started a new blog.

Also, Sean has 2 1/2 weeks of work left and we are anxiously awaiting his two weeks off to travel and just hang out with each other and enjoy seeing a little more of the world.

Have a good weekend! We’re heading out of town for a few days.

Sean’s work

Since the Super Bowl isn’t playing here, I have plenty of time this morning to post online.  Tonight, you might have seen the trailer for Sean’s current movie, Land of the Lost. It was premiering during the Super Bowl.

Also, the movie Sean worked on in Texas, Open Season 2, came out on DVD on January 27.  We haven’t seen it yet, but I am sure kids will like it.  Sean did a lot of animation in this one (as opposed to the ~30 seconds in Alvin & the Chipmunks).

I have also managed a (poor-quality) screen shot of Sean’s name in the credits.

Open Season 2 - Credits

Movie: Slumdog Millionaire

We had the opportunity to catch a free screening of Slumdog Millionaire, the latest film from director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later), based on the novel Q & A by Vikas Swarup. Unfortunately, I got there late and sat in the second row. But that did not take away from my enjoyment of seeing this one in the theater.

Written by Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day), Slumdog Millionaire is the story of a young man named Jamal Malik (Dev Patel, Skins) who goes on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? However, he performs so well on the show that he is arrested before the final question. It is unheard of for anyone to do so well at all, let alone for an uneducated boy from the slums of Mumbai. Through flashbacks, we are told Jamal’s story of being homeless, pickpocketing and scamming tourists for money and food. On top of the action of the coming-of-age story, and the excitement of the game show plot, this film is steeped in romance as Jamal finds and loses his love Latika multiple times over the course of their youth. Through everything, he continues to look for her.

Patel was great as the grown Jamal. I had seen him in Skins, and while I liked him as Anwar, his role in this film is so much more gritty and required a great deal more acting skill. The audience clapped for him during the credits. I also enjoyed the performance by Irfan Khan (whom I recognized from The Namesake) as the detective.

On top of the story and acting, the color, the Indian music with heavy beats, the culture, and the editing made this a pleasing film to see. I can’t say enough good things about it. One fun thing about seeing movies in Los Angeles is that people clap at the end of movies. They don’t do that in Texas. This one garnered some heavy applause.

[Side note: I am heading to Mumbai for several months in 2009, and I am not sure if seeing this made me feel confident about going, but I doubt it will be the same for me.]

Check out the trailer below: