Saturday, October 2, 2010

Home Sweet Home

Wow.  What.  A.  Week.  It has been a long time coming getting into this house.  All in all it has taken over a month to get paperwork signed, keys handed over, and initial inspection and repairs to be done.  One month!  Just this past week alone I've had the plumbers come 3 times for the same problem.  And it wasn't a problem that I could just live with.  Water leaked out of all 3 toilets whenever they were flushed.  Ew.  Not ok by my standards.  I had to get an internet connection established.  Appliances were delivered...fridge, washer, and water purifier.  Then the next day the appliance guys had to come install them.  Again, 3 different guys for 3 different appliances.  I swear there's a guy for every minute job here.  We also ordered bedroom furniture 3 weeks ago and they kept telling us 'it'll be there tomorrow'.  Which meant a week from now.  So frustrating when I have to call and yell at people, then drive over to the store and yell at them to their face.  I'm getting quite aggressive here.  All in all it has not come together smoothly.  But still, I suppose it could have been worse.  We were blessed to have Amrita as our relocation assistant who has made this transition as easy as possible for us.  She has been our lifeline to Delhi.  She has shown us where to buy groceries, taken us to local markets, called to make sure we were ok, tells us what places to avoid, she even called last night to tell us to make sure to buy beer at the grocery store and start drinking at home before we go out because beer is really expensive at the bars.  Awww...I knew we had a connection.  We basically couldn't have done this without her.  And our driver is not only our driver but he's also my personal translator and city guide.  I'll just tell him what I need and he'll take me to some local market.  He also tries to get me good deals instead of the 'white person' price.  He really looks after me, which is really nice because this place can be a little hostile.  He even cleaned off my hands once when I slipped and fell in some mud.  Talk about feeling 3 years old again.   

But still the things that are difficult are unique to this country.  It's not an easy country to live in.  I knew that before we came but it's really starting to sink in now.  We went to a Welcome Bash dinner party last Saturday which was thrown by this network of expats that we joined.  It was nice to meet a fellow American.  I'm finding a lot of comraderie with the other expat wives.  It's nice to feel validated and not like I'm crazy.  Turns out everyone goes through this harsh 'culture shock' when they first get here.  It's nice to hear we're not the only ones.  And we've spoken to a lot of people who have been here for years.  It's reassuring to hear that it does indeed get better.  Friends are going to be key.  Though I'm a little apprehensive to just go to the gym every day and/or meet up with the ladies for coffee.  Don't get me wrong...those things will be nice.  I've loved having all this free time.  I've just missed nursing...or at least doing something...meaningful.  Besides making good dinners for Glen.  Which apparently I'll get kicked out of that role as well.  So far we've managed to hire a driver.  I hired a garbage man....yeah you heard me.  He walks straight into my house every morning and collects the trash.  But we'll also be hiring a maid and a cook.  We're considering hiring our driver's wife since her current job will be ending in a month anyways.  And she cooks too.  She's already made me nice lunches...aloo (potato), poori (hand made bread thingy), and raita (yogurt/cucumber thingy to cool the palate).  I've thought about doing without 'staff' but already we've scrubbed the floors 3 times and they just do NOT get clean.  It's so dusty here.  And since I'd still like to cook a little bit it will be nice to have her around to cook the local Indian food.

We were finally able to move in yesterday.  We spent the entire day cleaning...well Glen did most of it as I was starting to feel ill.  He did a marathon of bathroom cleaning and floor mopping.  We had to get it done before his friend Thor arrived...which is today.  We went to the grocery store to stock up on a few staple items.  Anything imported is extremely expensive.  But if you don't get the import you take a chance on it tasting really strange.  Most chips, even Doritos taste strange if not imported.  When I want a Dorito, I want it to taste like a damn Dorito.  So we're making do with the limited selections.  We bought some celebratory wine and champagne.  $30 each.  Imported.  You do NOT want to drink Indian wine.  No bueno.  For dinner we treated ourselves to Pizza Hut pizza, Kingfisher beer, and the Hot Tub Time Machine.  Hysterical.  But only because I love the 80's.  During the movie though I was noticing I was having body aches.  So much for christening the new abode.  We went to bed.  Glen couldn't fall asleep because the air conditioner was too loud.  I couldn't stay asleep because unbeknownst to me I was developing a fever.  I ended up staying up all night with the shivers.  Just in time to meet Glen's lovely friend Thor.  So much for being a good hostess.  =(

Overall...I'm relieved to be out of that damn hotel.  It was our safety bubble for a while but I'm ready to do this on our own.  We have a place to call home again.  And right now I can't think of anything better than that.              

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