Dinner and Some Laughs

It seems that most funny things in our family happen over food. Or, perhaps we spend a lot of our family time eating. At any rate, this weekend we had supper at with a family where the parents grew up in India, raised their children in Dubai and moved to Canada. We love spending time with the parents, as well as their son and daughter-in-law-to-be (she is canadian! they’re like our twins: brown guy, white girl). Dinner, of course, was full of confusion and laughter.

Varun: So we should be home sunday night, unless things are haecky at the border.
Me: (Laughing into my napkin at the made-up word)
Varun: What? Isn’t haeky a word?
Hostess: Amelia, why are you laughing? What does “hickey” mean?
Varun: “Hickey”? I said “haeky”.
Amelia: (Trying to stop laughing and breathe)
Hostess: If you don’t tell me, I’m going to look it up on google.
Amelia: (Laughing) HAHA! No, please! Don’t look up hickey on google. It’s uh….well, the word Varun said was made up…

Later in the evening, our Host was telling us about riding the trains in India in summer and being packed like sardines.

Host: Riding the trains in summer makes me so glad for my height difference: everyone holding on with their arms lifted, at least my nose is above their armpits.
Son: But Dad, it was a first class train, was it that bad?
Host: Son, the only difference between first class and second class is in first class, there might be talcum powder* on the armpits you’re smelling!

*When temperatures are regularly over 40 C in the summer, people use Talcum powder or Baby powder to try and dry sweat…it cannot, however, truly combat the heat.

Christmastime Can be Chaotic and Confusing

A few weeks ago, we were playing Taboo and Varun’s card said, “Nutcracker”. He had to get John and I to guess what the card was.

Varun: Amelia is excited about this. It sounds scary and painful.
(Confused silence)
Amelia: Nutcracker!!!
(Silence)

Earlier that week I had tried explaining it was a ballet about candy and toys and dreams coming true, but we couldn’t get past the title….

_________________________________________________

Friend: …And we’ll be in NYC for New Year’s eve.
Varun: We’ll be there too!
Friend: We should hang out. We can watch the ball drop together!
Varun: WHOA! Wait a minute! Whose ball is dropping?!

________________________________________________

(As I mentioned in a previous post, the concept of mistletoe is difficult to explain.)

Friend: So we went hunting and I taught her, and she shot mistletoe.
Me: What? You can shoot mistletoe? I’m confused.
Varun: Mistletoe….?
Friend: It’s actually grows on trees and I cut down bunches and bring it to my Mom.
(Somehow someone says something about it being a fungus. Meanwhile I’m confused about how you shoot a plant and Varun is stuck on what exactly mistletoe is.)
Me: Varun, remember that plant I was telling you about that you hang up and kiss under?
Varun: So it’s a fungus that you hang up and it helps with conception?
(Chaos ensues as we laugh and try to make sense out of the conversation)

Fa La La La La

Christmas is a time full of parties, presents and, in our household, confusion. Having been brought up Hindu, Varun’s experiences celebrating Christmas were quite limited. Until he met me and spent Christmas with my family. In my world, Christmas starts in mid-november, so Varun has about six weeks of Christmas music, pine-scented candles and me drafting “Dear Santa” letters. Naturally, Christmas is on his mind.

Yesterday, we were visiting friends and Varun told them that I play the harp. They got super excited and began asking me lots of questions.

Varun: Angels play the harp.
Everyone: Awww…(looking from Varun to me adoringly)
Someone: Wow he just got a lot of points with Amelia.
Varun: (singing) HARP the herald angels siiiiiiing! Glory to the newborn king!

____________________________________________________

Varun: Jesus did not have blond hair and blue eyes. He probably looked like me.
Me: (rolling eyes)
Varun: I can prove that Jesus was brown.
Me: Oh really? Please do.
Varun: (singing) “Brown young viiiiiiirgin, mother and child”.
Me: Um no, it’s “round yon virgin”.
Varun: Round yon virgin? What does that even mean?
Me:…?

(Now every time we sing Silent Night Varun jabs me and giggles. Even, and especially, in Church)

Choosing our Christmas Tree During American Thanksgiving