_January 30, 2012

It's hard to believe that we have already been here almost a full month.  Time is passing quickly and much is happening. We have definitely hit a few speed bumps but for the most part things are going well.  It just all depends on how you choose to deal with the setbacks or different ways of doing things here.  Sometimes it's tough. But it's always an interesting story to tell later..

“India is simply a minefield of relentless mental, emotional and practical daily challenges for most non-Indians,” according to Denmark native Pia Mollback-Verbic, the director of a Mumbai-based qualitative market research firm who relocated there via the U.S. in 2007. “It’s nothing less than a riddling obstacle course, which only can be navigated with a healthy dose of humor, expansive capacity for patience, and tolerance for the illogical.”.....

True that!  A big part of me wanted to rant and rave about the negative experience I have had with Airtel (mobile phone company) but the quote above regarding navigating India with a healthy dose of humor etc...has helped me shrug and think "that's India" and move on.  So thanks Sam for posting that article on your facebook, I will refer to it when an attitude adjustment is in need.

So instead of focusing on the illogical, this post will be about all that is positive and all that we have accomplished in the short time that we have been here.

The positive begins with the fact that expats here are REALLY nice.  It feels like everyone here is in the same boat and everyone seems to really look out for each other and help each other along the way.  There's a sense of "we're all in this together" and it's really wonderful.  I look forward to nurturing my new found friendships and experiencing this new chapter in our lives.

Bruce has started school. He's going to a montessori school from 9-1, Mon-Fri. I stayed with him the first day, just kind of hung out in the background to see how he would do.  You can imagine my guilty pleasure when after the children sang "good morning to you" Bruce stood up and sang the chorus of " I am iron man" by Black Sabbath.  OOps! The teacher looked at me strangely and I just shrugged.  Heehee

I can admit that I am feeling guilty about Bruce.  He has been in and out of hotels since December 5. It is wearing on him being cooped up in a hotel, so starting school has been a good way for him to get back into a normal routine.  We will all be so much happier once we are into our "home".  That happens on Wednesday, this is India though....crossing fingers.

You know what? I seem to have writers block today.  Wait, ok let's see. We have purchased a vehicle. Yuk a mini-van, but hey the process was quick and painless and we are happy to have that out of the way.  It was easier than getting my cell phone, how weird is that? And we also have hired a full time driver.  Shankar so far has been a great help.  He shows up every morning, early, and always wearing very stylish attire.  I like his personality and he has been great in helping me find my way around the city.  Together we have scoped out where my dentist appt is at, where we will be buying fresh meat and even helped me find a Panasonic dealer (another story, another time).  He is always respectful, dependable and kind to us and especially Bruce.  I hope he'll be happy working with us, I know we are happy with him. John read that India, the most important person on your staff is your driver. Did I mention that his ringtone is "Go, go, go, shorty, Cause it's your birthday, wee gon' party like it's yo birthday, we gon' sip Bacardi like it's your birthday"....ha ha, how could we not get along?

Ok, so we've met nice people, Bruce has started school, we are moving into our home on Wednesday, we have a car,  a wonderful driver...what else.....hmmmmm Oh yes, now I remember. I also stole from McDonalds last week.  Well sort of.  Her name is Hema.  Yes, I'm a terrible mother blah blah blah, I take Bruce to Mickey D's at least twice a week.  I do it for a sense of security or normalcy, just
something familiar to our very new life here.  Anyway, every time we have popped into that McD's this smiling, very nice young lady would cross the counter and kneel in front of Bruce and chat with him.  She would then scoop him up in her arms and take him to the ice cream machine and give him a free ice cream cone.  We could never get Bruce to even try ice cream. Now he loves it of course.  Anyway, after seeing how comfortable Bruce seemed around her and how consistently nice and playful she was to Bruce every time we saw her I offered her a job.  I felt kind of awkward, like I was "stealing" from McDonalds, but she literally jumped at the chance to leave her job there and she starts this Saturday.  It was strange going into see her last Friday.  She came straight to us, and did her usual with Bruce.  Told me she had given notice and that she was excited to be working for us soon.  While we sat at the table, every single one of her co-workers came over, patted Bruce's head and told us how "happy we are feeling for Hema's good fortune",  they genuinely seemed happy for her and made me feel less guilty for "stealing her away".  I hope we meet her expectations and vice versa and that this will be a good fit. 

I leave you now with my favorite pics from the past two weeks, till next time!

Monday, Jan 15.
Wow.  Talk about red tape. And I thought KL was bad......
First of all, you cannot....activate your bank account, activate a sim card, register your children for school, buy a car, wipe your butt until you get FRRO'd.  FRRO, basically all foreigners who plan to stay in India for over 180 days (I think) have to register with this office within two weeks of being here. Why you need this after already obtaining employment and dependent visas is a mystery to us, regardless, it's something we needed to do and so we did.   We had heard and read horror stories about this process. Basically it is an all day process.  You can check and re-check your documents but bottom line, there will always be something that you don't have and that you will need, rules change weekly from we are told (and we believe) and who knows what will be asked for from one week to next.  We were determined that we were going to have all our documents ready and we also decided we would be the first ones in line as we heard the queues were crazy long.  We were second in line, (yippee! short lived elation) and that was the end of our "yippee" moments that day. Long story short, it was a long, long day.  We arrived at 7:15AM and were done at 3:30PM.  I would re-tell the tale but it would be like sticking a fork in my eye and I would rather not.  We got it done though, hallelujah we got FRRO'd!  Next line of business was getting me a phone!

Tuesday, Jan 16. What do you need in India to obtain a sim card? Give up your first born, a kidney, throw in a lung and a passport pic please.  What? You want a sim card for your phone and one for your ipad? Ok you need to submit all of those in duplicate for each sim card.  I kid you not. After I submitted a copy of my passport, a copy of my visa, a copy of my FRRO document and a lovely passport pic (we finally went out and bought 50 passport pics each, you need them for everything here) and don't forget a deposit, I was the proud owner of two sim cards.But wait...there's more? Before my international calling and caller ID could be activated from my phone, my address on the forms I submitted had to be verified. A rep from the phone company was to contact me within 48 hours and set up an appointment to come visit me at my 'home" and verify that I live where I said I did on the form. Not kidding. No worries, I was now the owner of two sim cards one for my phone, one for Ipad, yay!  I was thrilled to have the sim card, next was a search for the phone. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel I would be able to phone my loved ones any minute now! Later that evening I purchased a new Samsumg Galaxy 2,  although my Galaxy 1 was unlocked, they would have had to wipe my phone clean to download all the India software to be compatible with my new India sim. No thanks. I can always use my "old phone" on trips back to KL. But I have a sim card and a phone.  Yippee!

Wednesday, Jan 18, verified.  Rep came and verified that we live where we said we did. Yay! Now my caller ID and International calling would be initiated right? "Yes, all will be done within the hour".  Yay!  No yay.

Thursday, Jan. 19.
Nothing was activated.  Called the guy two hours later, than three, finally got a hold of him. "Should all be activated...it's not?" Sir do you wish for me to come back tomorrow and check the phone".  Believe me we have checked and double checked all settings, Samsung authorized dealer has agreed the issue is with the phone company, so.......yes we opted for rep to come back today.  Same time. The guy is a no show.  We were told we should have offered him an incentive on his first visit,  thanked him with an "incentive" before he left. This is where the "bribes" issue has finally dawned on us......and it sucks. I have called the airtel help center and they said "your address has not been verified". I of course disagreed and told that we had a visitor yesterday who "verified" us. Nope. He has not submitted verification.  Me: How long does that take? Airtel rep: one hour to 24 hours. Big huge sign.  Everyone, EVERYONE I have talked to has said, that if we had given the guy an incentive we would complete activation by now. And if I had known that, I would have parted with my money with no regret.  We are learning.  In the mean time friends, I have a phone, feel free to call me, but I have no idea when I'll be calling you.

I leave you now with love and light....and a real effort not to kick and scream and hurt somebody.  My new found patience will be put to the test over and over and over I am sure. Love and light, love and light, love and light....

p.s. I just realized that this posting has no pics, so I will now include pics of our favorite restaurant...Chez Mariannick. The menu is simple and perfect.  The wine....good wine is hard to find in India, I personally think all the good wine is in Chez's possession, everything we have had there has been divine.  The salad, the pizza,  (their specialty is crepes- only made on weekends which we hope to try this weekend),....the setting- an incredibly relaxed ambiance. I find their chocolate toffee cheesecake to be one of the best cheesecakes I have ever eaten....can you guess where we dined tonight?  For those of you who plan to visit, that will be the first restaurant you will have the pleasure of visiting!

Greetings from India!

It is the evening of Jan 15. We arrived in the wee hours of Jan 4.  So we are what, day 11,day 12 in? The first 5 days are a blur to me now.  I remember staying up all night and sleeping all day.  Remember the condo was huge and that there was a city to be explored right outside our door but we were either sleeping like vampires during the day or walking around like zombies at night and we didn't do much of anything the first week in. I take that back we did do some things...I just can't remember what.

Ooty Chocolate. How do you spot a newbie in India? They're the ones taking pictures of stores called "Ooty Choclate" and cows roaming the streets:). India is a whole different ball game my friends, different from KL, and different from anywhere else in the world I have ever traveled.  I have had my "oh my what have we got ourselves into" moments,
luckily those moments have passed and we are now very optimistic about our next few years here:).  I owe my excitement and positive attitude to my husband, who gives me way more credit that I deserve, to the Shell welcoming committee (nice, nice ladies who I think are as much fun as they are lovely) a sweet, kind woman that I had met only once in KL and yet who has gone out of her way to make time for me and hold my hand through my first days here and my introduction to the Overseas Women's Club.....to the real estate agent who really listened to what I said about what I wanted in a home here and finding it for us! We are just a week and a half in and I am so excited about everything....truly and I can't wait to be settled in our India home. Oh for those of you who keep asking, nooooo I don't have a phone yet, long story short, we have to be registered with the FRRO.  Don't ask.  But cannot get a sim card, cannot register Bruce into school, cannot do anything without this registration thing and we finally have all our documents to proceed with this task tomorrow.  Crossing fingers all goes well and I will have a mobile phone before weeks end! So now to the exciting news, our new home! Well, the house we'll be renting to be exact, but it will be our home come Feb. 1 and we are most excited to move in and make it our own. But before I show pics of the house we chose, let me show you a couple of houses that we also looked at.( Update. FRRO took all day.  It is now Monday evening, Jan. 16....a long day but a productive one. I will be getting my mobile phone tomorrow and start interviewing schools for Bruce this week, yes!).  Now more on the house search.

The Independent House...or the Rikki Tikki Tavi house as I liked to call it....
This house was a compilation of buildings all around the same size connected by yards and courtyards. Each building contained one bedroom and bath on the top floor,  then a shared area like the kitchen, or living room, or dining room on bottom.  So it was about four buildings, with one bedroom only on each top floor. This wouldn't work for us as we didn't think Bruce was old enough for his own building :-~  There was also a huge pool with a swim up bar...it was a "house" that had enormous potential but not for us.
As I climbed into the minivan our driver turned to me and said "madame if you choose this house you will need a snake catcher". He then told how he had visited that home a few days before (his good friend is a driver there) and that he was present when the "snake catcher" captured a cobra. A COBRA!  To which I replied, "and you are only telling me this now???? After I wandered the whole grounds?"  "Yes madame, they already captured the cobra there was no need for you to be alarmed". Hello? What if the cobra had a wife and kids? They could still be there....EEEEEK!!!!!!!  This cemented our resolve that living in a gated community might be best if we are to avoid cobras....the house search continued:)

I could go on and on, and show you ten other pics from ten other subdivisions etc, but let me cut to the chase...this is our soon to be new home! This house was so pretty.  The owner put a lot of thought and effort into making it bright, roomy and comfortable.  All I could think of when we viewed this house was that it would be such a great place to relax in. And I can't wait!  The yard is spacious and did I mention a jacuzzi on the rooftop? A mini waterfall in the backyard? A sauna? Heehee and the kitchen came with an oven!  Every single house that we viewed on our search was devoid of an oven.  Big huge sigh.......Feb 1 seems so far away, but that is our move in date and we literally cannot wait!

Side view of the small covered patio area and backyard. Can't see the little waterfall from this pic but it's there:)  And below is the jacuzzi on the rooftop. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Looking forward to relaxing in the jacuzzi with John and a bottle of wine.

I can just picture myself in the jacuzzi after a long hard day.............no seriously I can picture myself there...

And we can picture our friends there too when they choose to visit! There are two guest bedrooms. One is downstairs that opens up to the beautiful front porch and yard, the second guest room is up on the roof that opens up to the jacuzzi area....Who will be our first visitors? We will also have a wine refrigerator up there too!

Now....my guest blogger....John.  Or as our friends in KL call him "Gentle John".
Hello from India,
Finding a home here is a strange mix of simple and challenging.  The Bangalore housing market is quite stratified and the large population of expats here has really blown up the price of the reasonable properties, and more importantly, reduced availability.

This is really the wrong time of year to look for a house as an expat.  The best time is the summer as assignments are ending and expats are moving in and out in time to enroll their kids in school.  As a result, we have found that a lot of availability of the good properties is quite poor, with established areas only having 1 or 2 marginal properties on the market.
 
We really lucked out with Indu, who is a realtor whom Cynthia befriended.  She was able to understand what we were looking for, and she had some properties up her sleeve which we would never have seen without her help. Indeed, because of her, we were able to find the house we settled on, and we definitely owe Indu dinner and a round of drinks!

Like they always say, "It's not what you know, it's who you know". 

And those were John's comments on the home search. A  few more pics of the new house.......I've deliberately left out the pics of the living room and bedrooms.  Want to wait until our furniture is in before I post those pics:)! The house has lovely furniture in it now, but I would rather post those pics when the house is "ours".  Days are flying by, really going by too quickly....hoping my time here doesn't go by as quickly as our time in KL did. Anyway, goodnight from India, we'll chat again soon.

Love, peace and God bless!