Here is an update on a bunch of things.
Firstly, for those of you that were still concerned about my tummy troubles, rest assured, I think that I am on the recovery path!! It took about a week, and included frequent visits to the restroom and a lack of desire to eat. With the latter to be an alarm since me and food are really tight!! I am not 100%, but things are looking up. And since my approach to tackle this was to tough it out(nope, no immodium here), this hopefully has 'toughened' my tummy! Lets hope my theory works!!
Next.... India is such a service oriented country.... This is really a hard concept to grasp. At restaurants, especially the nicer ones, there are at least 3-4 waiters (yes, always waiters, not waitresses - I will have to write about that later) that are completely attentive and responsive. Then there is the driver, he drives you around whenever, wherever and in between driving, he just waits. This drives Vim crazy. One day after our driver (Devaraj) dropped me off at work, I had him go back to the hotel to take Vim and the kids shopping. Vim was all worried that driver was just going to be waiting around for him. I had to explain that 'waiting' is what he does.
Next.... making friends... Like I mentioned earlier there are several other families that are in a 'holding pattern' at the hotel until their house is ready (it does provide comfort knowing that we are not alone!). Well, we have started making friends!! There is the family from Atlanta - with four kids - James (12), Sarah (10), Olivia (5), William (2), all the kids get along really well. Then there is the family from NY with 3 kids - Talyor (8), Andrew (9) and Lauren (3), and the family from Australia with a daughter - bella (2). It really feels like we have a connection with all of them. Every time we are at the restaurant, we are bound to run into one of the families, and sometimes all of them. It is really nice, the kids love it!! Every afternoon they are pool side swimming, playing in the sand and just hanging out. Yesterday, we actually went out for dinner with the family from NY. We went to a really nice pizza place. The kids had a great time. It will be nice to keep the friendships going once we get into our house.
Lastly..... Even tough I paint a negative picture about the 'hotel' living, it actually has been great. One, it really has brought the 4 of us closer together. We have had a lot of 'together' time. It is nice. We probably have had more meals together as a family over the past week and a half, than what we have had for the last 6 months!! Really!! We have played games together, we have all watched the same tv shows (yes only 1 tv in the room) and many times it was either cartoon network or Disney channel and we have just hung out and gotten on each others nerves. It really has been great!!
that's all for now....take care...
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Time
Here in India, time is an interesting commodity! People have a whole different approach to time when compared to the US. Back home, everyone felt rushed and felt that they never had enough time. In many cases, they wish that they could add more time, to do more. Here in India, people take time in whole different perspective. There is a different sense of urgency.... wait, there is no sense of urgency! This is also represented by Indian Standard Time - for those that are unfamiliar, it means anywhere from a half hour to 2 hours past any 'planned' time. We are witnessing that here.
Here is a specific situation of delays..... our house. When we first got here, we were supposed to move into the House over the weekend. It is now Monday night, and yup... still in the hotel. What is the latest prediction for a 'move-in'... maybe SATURDAY!! Yes, a week later than planned. And no one seems to be bothered. At this point, the critical piece to holding up our moving in is the arrival of our air shipment. Yes, the one thing that was supposed to arrive with us, is delayed!! We actually may get possession of the house before Saturday, but we will not have any bedding, towels, pillows, etc.... because they are all in the AIR SHIPMENT! UGHHH!! But, instead of getting all uptight, I guess, I need to take the 'Indian' approach... hey, its only time!! (Time.... living out of a small hotel room, with all belongings still in suitcases, and did I mention, all 4 of us are sleeping on the same bed!!)
Hope that you all are making the most of your time!!
Enjoy!!
Please post comments!!
Here is a specific situation of delays..... our house. When we first got here, we were supposed to move into the House over the weekend. It is now Monday night, and yup... still in the hotel. What is the latest prediction for a 'move-in'... maybe SATURDAY!! Yes, a week later than planned. And no one seems to be bothered. At this point, the critical piece to holding up our moving in is the arrival of our air shipment. Yes, the one thing that was supposed to arrive with us, is delayed!! We actually may get possession of the house before Saturday, but we will not have any bedding, towels, pillows, etc.... because they are all in the AIR SHIPMENT! UGHHH!! But, instead of getting all uptight, I guess, I need to take the 'Indian' approach... hey, its only time!! (Time.... living out of a small hotel room, with all belongings still in suitcases, and did I mention, all 4 of us are sleeping on the same bed!!)
Hope that you all are making the most of your time!!
Enjoy!!
Please post comments!!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Food and Friends
We will start with an update on the food. Lets just say, we have not had one bad meal here!! I guess that is partly because I have not done any of the cooking!! :)
No honestly we have excellent food that is really tasty. And it is really cheap!! All the food when we eat out is about half the price from the US. It is really nice to get great food, cheap!!
We have tried typical south Indian food, Indian Chinese, pizza... it is all great! The food alone would be a good reason to come visit Bangalore!
The downfall to all the yummy food is the tummy troubles. If you had to guess out of the 4 of who was going to be plagued with the tummy troubles, who would it be?? I think if were guessing, it would be Vim. But those who guess Vim are wrong.... it is me that has been struck - go figure!! It is lasting a few days now, but it will hopefully pass. The good thing is that the kids have done remarkably well!! They have been eating everything and no-adverse reaction!!
On the Friends side.... We have met some wonderful families already. There are 2 families from the states. One is from Atlanta and they have 4 kids, and another family from New York with 3 kids. We have also met a family from Australia with one little girl. The great part is that they all have kids that are about the same age as Mira and Milan. They all have been hanging out at the pool and the play structure. The other great thing is that all of these kids will be going to the same school as Mira and Milan. Making these friends has definitely helped the kids (and the big people) feel more comfortable about the move!!
We are targeting moving into the house on Monday!! Fingers crossed it all comes together!!
That is all for now!
No honestly we have excellent food that is really tasty. And it is really cheap!! All the food when we eat out is about half the price from the US. It is really nice to get great food, cheap!!
We have tried typical south Indian food, Indian Chinese, pizza... it is all great! The food alone would be a good reason to come visit Bangalore!
The downfall to all the yummy food is the tummy troubles. If you had to guess out of the 4 of who was going to be plagued with the tummy troubles, who would it be?? I think if were guessing, it would be Vim. But those who guess Vim are wrong.... it is me that has been struck - go figure!! It is lasting a few days now, but it will hopefully pass. The good thing is that the kids have done remarkably well!! They have been eating everything and no-adverse reaction!!
On the Friends side.... We have met some wonderful families already. There are 2 families from the states. One is from Atlanta and they have 4 kids, and another family from New York with 3 kids. We have also met a family from Australia with one little girl. The great part is that they all have kids that are about the same age as Mira and Milan. They all have been hanging out at the pool and the play structure. The other great thing is that all of these kids will be going to the same school as Mira and Milan. Making these friends has definitely helped the kids (and the big people) feel more comfortable about the move!!
We are targeting moving into the house on Monday!! Fingers crossed it all comes together!!
That is all for now!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
First Day of Work and First Look at the House!!
We will start with work first. Today was the first day, surprisingly it went well. I spent the most of the day trying to get ID badges, computers, and learn my way around the building. From the outside it looks really modern, but inside there are some weird things. Example, some of the elevators only stop on some of the floors. There are parts of the building where the stairs to not go to all the floors (ex going from the 2nd fl to 3rd fl can not be done in a certain part of the building). I am really not sure how that happens. I just took someones word for it, maybe one day I will go exploring. At GM India the ID badge is key to move around the building. You can not get in our out of you area without your badge. Even to go the bathroom you need your badge. Back at home there were several times that I had forgotten my badge and I was able to manage. Here in India, I think that if I get to work and do not have my badge, it is best to just turn around, go back home and get it!! All in all the first day was good. I still have yet to meet all the people on my team. I think that it will take some time.
After work, we went to see the house!!! This was the long awaited walk-thru!! And..... we were pleased!! The house is very nice. There are a few minor things that need to be addressed prior to us moving in. One is a deep-clean that passes Vim's quality standards.
In the house there was a struggle over the master bedroom. I must have told Mira that she could pick her room. And well, she picked the biggest room. It took a little negotiating, but we were able to get the master room for us!!! Unfortunately we did not have our camera to share pictures. However I think that it will be better to show pictures when we move in some of our things.
We are still targeting moving in this weekend.
Milan made friends with the neighbor that has a cool dune-buggy type car. He was not shy to make friends and take the car for a spin. Again, I am sure there will be photos to come!
My next post will be about the food here in Bangalore. One word..... yum!
All the best!
PS please send email updates on what is going on back home. What is the latest news, gossip? Store closings, Openings (is Taco Bell on Roch Road open??)?? Construction?? Anything!!!
After work, we went to see the house!!! This was the long awaited walk-thru!! And..... we were pleased!! The house is very nice. There are a few minor things that need to be addressed prior to us moving in. One is a deep-clean that passes Vim's quality standards.
In the house there was a struggle over the master bedroom. I must have told Mira that she could pick her room. And well, she picked the biggest room. It took a little negotiating, but we were able to get the master room for us!!! Unfortunately we did not have our camera to share pictures. However I think that it will be better to show pictures when we move in some of our things.
We are still targeting moving in this weekend.
Milan made friends with the neighbor that has a cool dune-buggy type car. He was not shy to make friends and take the car for a spin. Again, I am sure there will be photos to come!
My next post will be about the food here in Bangalore. One word..... yum!
All the best!
PS please send email updates on what is going on back home. What is the latest news, gossip? Store closings, Openings (is Taco Bell on Roch Road open??)?? Construction?? Anything!!!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Driving in India
For those of you that have had the opportunity to witness the driving in India, you will completely understand this post.
The driving in India can either be seen as organized chaos or sheer madness. In the initial perception it seems like the latter but then after you watch the 'process' you can see that there really is a method to the madness.
First to set the stage, there are no lines on the road, and if there are, the are clearly ignored. The are different sizes of vehicles on the road all of which operate at different speeds. There are large trucks, cars, rickshaws (3-wheeler), scooters/mo-peds, bicycles, slow moving tractors, people, cows,..... the list can go on. Now when there are all of these types of 'things' on the road, everyone feels that they have the right of way. They are all pining to get ahead of the other person. The horn is key in the process.
The beeping of the horn is used all the time. The key to understand what each beep means. Really, there is a 'science' to it. A beep is used to let someone know that you are passing, or just to alert someone that you are there. Sometimes you beep to let some one in or say thanks. Then there are those that just lay on the horn to be obnoxious and hope that it will enable them to get ahead. It usually works.
The other thing that is a big difference is the 'space' around vehicles. Just as we have a radius of personal space that can vary from cultures, there is the same with the 'space' around the cars. By ignoring the lines in the road, people use every bit of space to get thru. In this case the scooter usually has the advantage. The cars are typically within inches of each other when stacked up at a light of in traffic. It is key to keep hands in side the car, otherwise they can definately get taken off!!
All of this brings up the question, will I drive in India? Today my answer is a big NO. Who knows, that may change. Oh, another factor is that they drive on the 'other' side of the road from what I am used to!!
So far our car is 'ding-free' but I am certain that with the driving styles here it will not stay that way. We will see how many days that it will last! I will post a picture of our 'ding-free' car.
Take care!
The driving in India can either be seen as organized chaos or sheer madness. In the initial perception it seems like the latter but then after you watch the 'process' you can see that there really is a method to the madness.
First to set the stage, there are no lines on the road, and if there are, the are clearly ignored. The are different sizes of vehicles on the road all of which operate at different speeds. There are large trucks, cars, rickshaws (3-wheeler), scooters/mo-peds, bicycles, slow moving tractors, people, cows,..... the list can go on. Now when there are all of these types of 'things' on the road, everyone feels that they have the right of way. They are all pining to get ahead of the other person. The horn is key in the process.
The beeping of the horn is used all the time. The key to understand what each beep means. Really, there is a 'science' to it. A beep is used to let someone know that you are passing, or just to alert someone that you are there. Sometimes you beep to let some one in or say thanks. Then there are those that just lay on the horn to be obnoxious and hope that it will enable them to get ahead. It usually works.
The other thing that is a big difference is the 'space' around vehicles. Just as we have a radius of personal space that can vary from cultures, there is the same with the 'space' around the cars. By ignoring the lines in the road, people use every bit of space to get thru. In this case the scooter usually has the advantage. The cars are typically within inches of each other when stacked up at a light of in traffic. It is key to keep hands in side the car, otherwise they can definately get taken off!!
All of this brings up the question, will I drive in India? Today my answer is a big NO. Who knows, that may change. Oh, another factor is that they drive on the 'other' side of the road from what I am used to!!
So far our car is 'ding-free' but I am certain that with the driving styles here it will not stay that way. We will see how many days that it will last! I will post a picture of our 'ding-free' car.
Take care!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
The Indian Tooth Fairy
The Tooth Fairy visited us in our hotel room!
Milan lost his first tooth! The big question... does the tooth fairy give dollars or rupees in India?? Dollars!!
Check out the picture!
We have arrived!!
WE MADE IT!!
It was after a tearful goodbye that we boarded the plane. All luggage that was 'overstuffed' made it without any extra charges, and we had our hand luggage also loaded up with tons of electronics (laptops, wii, playstation, dvds, cameras.... you name it, we had it in our handluggage!!). Needless to say, it made the security clearance a bit of a challenge! Once we cleared security, it was smooth sailing!
The kids loved the perks of flying business class... the big kids loved it too!! The layover in Frankfurt was a little long - 5 hrs, but we managed just fine! Then we were off to our final leg of our journey. Again, the extra leg room and the seats that recline fully were awesome!! We arrived in Bangalore at just after midnight. We managed to collect all of our luggage (none of which busted open... phwew!) and made it right thru customs - yes, even with all the electronics!
The first day was a little groggy with the jet lag but we managed to leave the hotel to go to see our house. You will see a picture below. It is nice. It looks like it is vacant so it should not be long before we are able to move in.... hopefully! The kids were able to experience some of the sights of life in India.... the stray dogs, the cows on the roads, and the 'crowds'. I am not sure if they are able to really take it all in! It will take some time.
We are now on day 2 and things are going OK. Still a bit of jet-lag, but that is expected. The kids are enjoying the hotel complex with the pool. There are a lot of kids at the pool and Milan is the social butterfly making friends with everyone. Mira is a little shy! Tomorrow we plan to take the kids to their school because we have some paper work to clear up with them! Hopefully they are pleasantly surprised with the school!
It was after a tearful goodbye that we boarded the plane. All luggage that was 'overstuffed' made it without any extra charges, and we had our hand luggage also loaded up with tons of electronics (laptops, wii, playstation, dvds, cameras.... you name it, we had it in our handluggage!!). Needless to say, it made the security clearance a bit of a challenge! Once we cleared security, it was smooth sailing!
The kids loved the perks of flying business class... the big kids loved it too!! The layover in Frankfurt was a little long - 5 hrs, but we managed just fine! Then we were off to our final leg of our journey. Again, the extra leg room and the seats that recline fully were awesome!! We arrived in Bangalore at just after midnight. We managed to collect all of our luggage (none of which busted open... phwew!) and made it right thru customs - yes, even with all the electronics!
The first day was a little groggy with the jet lag but we managed to leave the hotel to go to see our house. You will see a picture below. It is nice. It looks like it is vacant so it should not be long before we are able to move in.... hopefully! The kids were able to experience some of the sights of life in India.... the stray dogs, the cows on the roads, and the 'crowds'. I am not sure if they are able to really take it all in! It will take some time.
We are now on day 2 and things are going OK. Still a bit of jet-lag, but that is expected. The kids are enjoying the hotel complex with the pool. There are a lot of kids at the pool and Milan is the social butterfly making friends with everyone. Mira is a little shy! Tomorrow we plan to take the kids to their school because we have some paper work to clear up with them! Hopefully they are pleasantly surprised with the school!
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