Thursday, 27 November 2008
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Waterlogged
http://newstodaynet.com/newsindex.php?id=12312%20&%20section=7
There is a Big Bad Cyclone in the Bay of Bengal and we have been watching the big fat wet rain for the last 24 hours. Trees are down and many of the streets are waterlogged, all government schools and offices are closed. The guards are knee-deep again - the pump installed last week just doesn't seem to make a jot of a difference. All the staff had excuses for being late/going early. Our phone (just when we finally get International Direct Dial and I was planning on calling you all) and Internet are intermittent and my trip to the corner shop was interesting this morning as I waded to their door in the hope of finding some fish fingers. The mosquito's are getting bigger, fatter and more thirsty by the day, but, I did manage some Christmas shopping today in between downpours. Christmas is another topic altogether, because at the moment it is lost, I can't find it anywhere...I think I need to look a bit harder...which perhaps means a little more shopping? What a shame!
There is a Big Bad Cyclone in the Bay of Bengal and we have been watching the big fat wet rain for the last 24 hours. Trees are down and many of the streets are waterlogged, all government schools and offices are closed. The guards are knee-deep again - the pump installed last week just doesn't seem to make a jot of a difference. All the staff had excuses for being late/going early. Our phone (just when we finally get International Direct Dial and I was planning on calling you all) and Internet are intermittent and my trip to the corner shop was interesting this morning as I waded to their door in the hope of finding some fish fingers. The mosquito's are getting bigger, fatter and more thirsty by the day, but, I did manage some Christmas shopping today in between downpours. Christmas is another topic altogether, because at the moment it is lost, I can't find it anywhere...I think I need to look a bit harder...which perhaps means a little more shopping? What a shame!
What Do We Miss?
In answer to this question I conducted a quick poll...
DS - ??? don't think he understood the question!
DD - England, Imogen, Thomas, William, Aunty Sally, Nanan & Grandad, Daisy, Snow, Milkshake TV, Hatton Farm Village
DH - Driving
Me - Friends and Family, Walking, Waitrose & Sainsbury's Ready to Cook Range(!) Washed and bagged salad, Autumn, Feeling Cold, Aqua Aerobics.
Hmmmm, us girls seem to be missing the most things!
DS - ??? don't think he understood the question!
DD - England, Imogen, Thomas, William, Aunty Sally, Nanan & Grandad, Daisy, Snow, Milkshake TV, Hatton Farm Village
DH - Driving
Me - Friends and Family, Walking, Waitrose & Sainsbury's Ready to Cook Range(!) Washed and bagged salad, Autumn, Feeling Cold, Aqua Aerobics.
Hmmmm, us girls seem to be missing the most things!
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
In Answer to Some of Your Questions Part 1
DH is settling very well into his new job. There will be even more challenges ahead for him now that this recession is snapping at all our heels. We knew his commute to the factory would be a tough one, and it is. At least he doesn't have to drive it himself, and although he denies it, I'm sure he catches 40 winks here and there. He's working hard and has been fantastic in organising and getting things in place at the house.
The kids are adjusting. DS has been like a duck to water, he's everyone's best friend and has everyone wrapped around his little finger. He loves all the attention and has been throwing the most spectacular tantrums known to man - if there was an Oscar to be had he'd win it - and he's still 6 months of being 2. Help me! Three mornings a week I take him to a U & Me session at a fantastic Indian school http://www.kidscentralchennai.com/home.html and he really loves it, I tell him we're off to school and he runs to fetch his shoes and when it's time to leave I literally have to drag him away kicking and screaming.
DD started off fine, embracing everything with gusto and energy but then I think she lapsed into a case of Culture Shock as it dawned on her we weren't going to be going home sometime soon and she began questioning everything around us. She enjoys her school http://www.aisch.org/ but found the size of it daunting at first (ages 3-18) especially with so many 'big kids' around. She now goes 3 full days and 2 mornings, the mornings tend to be very focused with no time for play with others, whereas the afternoons are pretty free, so for the last couple of weeks she has been staying all day and has been making some friends. She has a brand new swish haircut since Saturday and the salon even painted her toe-nails for her. She was so good and was as pleased as punch. It was a joy to see her very wide grin as she sat in the chair beaming into the mirror. As we were leaving she comes out with, 'Shall we go for a coffee now Mummy?' But the best 'out of the blue' question she has come out with this week, was today as we're on the way home from school, 'Mummy, how old will I be when I wear a bra?' I choked on my water and Kumar had a chuckle. You are 4, not 14 sweetheart!!
The school run to DD's school in the morning takes an hour there and back, traffic and weather permitting. 45mins at lunchtime and in the afternoon. DS's is just 5-10mins away.
Yes, our house in the UK has been let, tenants are moving in either before Christmas or early January.
As for Hair and the Monsoon....let's just put that under a banner title of Hair & Humidity! Good and bad days. Many more good (well, acceptable) than I first thought thanks to John Frieda Moisture Barrier Hairspray - thanks for that great tip Michelle! Yes, I brought what I hope will be a year's supply.
Now for a biggie...Do we notice the different culture? Oh yes, big time, all the time and I really don't quite know where to start on this one at the moment. Just fathoming out the people and how they tick is a minefield. As the weeks have gone by, and I pinch myself that is just weeks, we have seen/heard/encountered so much that it seems like a big sensory overload. I think I've switched off for the time-being, just to survive getting us up on our feet. Either that or I've de-sensitised to it already, but I don't think so as things still surprise and shock me but I'm tending not to dwell on things as much and concentrate on us as a family. It will be interesting when we have fist time visitors to India, here to stay at Christmas. I wonder if I will notice the things they notice?
The kids are adjusting. DS has been like a duck to water, he's everyone's best friend and has everyone wrapped around his little finger. He loves all the attention and has been throwing the most spectacular tantrums known to man - if there was an Oscar to be had he'd win it - and he's still 6 months of being 2. Help me! Three mornings a week I take him to a U & Me session at a fantastic Indian school http://www.kidscentralchennai.com/home.html and he really loves it, I tell him we're off to school and he runs to fetch his shoes and when it's time to leave I literally have to drag him away kicking and screaming.
DD started off fine, embracing everything with gusto and energy but then I think she lapsed into a case of Culture Shock as it dawned on her we weren't going to be going home sometime soon and she began questioning everything around us. She enjoys her school http://www.aisch.org/ but found the size of it daunting at first (ages 3-18) especially with so many 'big kids' around. She now goes 3 full days and 2 mornings, the mornings tend to be very focused with no time for play with others, whereas the afternoons are pretty free, so for the last couple of weeks she has been staying all day and has been making some friends. She has a brand new swish haircut since Saturday and the salon even painted her toe-nails for her. She was so good and was as pleased as punch. It was a joy to see her very wide grin as she sat in the chair beaming into the mirror. As we were leaving she comes out with, 'Shall we go for a coffee now Mummy?' But the best 'out of the blue' question she has come out with this week, was today as we're on the way home from school, 'Mummy, how old will I be when I wear a bra?' I choked on my water and Kumar had a chuckle. You are 4, not 14 sweetheart!!
The school run to DD's school in the morning takes an hour there and back, traffic and weather permitting. 45mins at lunchtime and in the afternoon. DS's is just 5-10mins away.
Yes, our house in the UK has been let, tenants are moving in either before Christmas or early January.
As for Hair and the Monsoon....let's just put that under a banner title of Hair & Humidity! Good and bad days. Many more good (well, acceptable) than I first thought thanks to John Frieda Moisture Barrier Hairspray - thanks for that great tip Michelle! Yes, I brought what I hope will be a year's supply.
Now for a biggie...Do we notice the different culture? Oh yes, big time, all the time and I really don't quite know where to start on this one at the moment. Just fathoming out the people and how they tick is a minefield. As the weeks have gone by, and I pinch myself that is just weeks, we have seen/heard/encountered so much that it seems like a big sensory overload. I think I've switched off for the time-being, just to survive getting us up on our feet. Either that or I've de-sensitised to it already, but I don't think so as things still surprise and shock me but I'm tending not to dwell on things as much and concentrate on us as a family. It will be interesting when we have fist time visitors to India, here to stay at Christmas. I wonder if I will notice the things they notice?
Sunday, 23 November 2008
Mr Fixit Does Ice-Cream
My kids love Ice-cream and it's always a handy stop-gap to have some in the freezer. Some shops here have freezers with lots of the stuff inside them but with all the power cuts you wonder how safe it is to buy and eat so tend to give it a wide berth.
Ice-cream parlours are also quite common and it was as we passed a rather downbeat looking Baskin Robbins (others look great, it was just that this one prompted my thought!) that I asked a question...'Kumar, do you know of a good place to take the children out for Ice-Cream?'
'Madam, my brother's son works in an Ice-Cream factory, anything you want I will get for you.' He makes a phone call. 'Madam, my brother's son has told me to come this afternoon and he will take care of you.' Ok then I think, let me see, some vanilla and some chocolate would be good to help maintain my 'Best Mum In the World Status' in the eyes of DD (she's 4 and will realise one day that I'm really not that good!), and give him my freezer bag, ice-packs and some Rupees.
We sat, we waited. The kids had dinner and ate it ALL up on the bribe that Ice-Cream was on it's way, and still we waited. Bath time was looming and DD begins to get agitated, I call Kumar and he tells me the traffic is very bad, and it is, ALWAYS.
Five minutes later he screeches up the drive and deposits not only a box of vanilla and chocolate but a huge array of ice-lollies, tubs, screwball type things without the bubblegum and tells me these are all free samples and anything else we order will be given with a hefty discount and that any Ice-Cream will be freshly made and frozen on the day we buy. He read my mind.
DD was so impressed that she even gave Kumar an ice-cream as a thank you, I didn't like to tell him that it was because she grabbed the first thing she saw and then saw something better and quick thinking as she is, found a way to off-load the less interesting one! She then redeemed herself by giving our new maid, who started this week, a choc-ice for her two year old son.
Ice-cream parlours are also quite common and it was as we passed a rather downbeat looking Baskin Robbins (others look great, it was just that this one prompted my thought!) that I asked a question...'Kumar, do you know of a good place to take the children out for Ice-Cream?'
'Madam, my brother's son works in an Ice-Cream factory, anything you want I will get for you.' He makes a phone call. 'Madam, my brother's son has told me to come this afternoon and he will take care of you.' Ok then I think, let me see, some vanilla and some chocolate would be good to help maintain my 'Best Mum In the World Status' in the eyes of DD (she's 4 and will realise one day that I'm really not that good!), and give him my freezer bag, ice-packs and some Rupees.
We sat, we waited. The kids had dinner and ate it ALL up on the bribe that Ice-Cream was on it's way, and still we waited. Bath time was looming and DD begins to get agitated, I call Kumar and he tells me the traffic is very bad, and it is, ALWAYS.
Five minutes later he screeches up the drive and deposits not only a box of vanilla and chocolate but a huge array of ice-lollies, tubs, screwball type things without the bubblegum and tells me these are all free samples and anything else we order will be given with a hefty discount and that any Ice-Cream will be freshly made and frozen on the day we buy. He read my mind.
DD was so impressed that she even gave Kumar an ice-cream as a thank you, I didn't like to tell him that it was because she grabbed the first thing she saw and then saw something better and quick thinking as she is, found a way to off-load the less interesting one! She then redeemed herself by giving our new maid, who started this week, a choc-ice for her two year old son.
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
When it Rains
It really rains in Chennai. Big Fat Wet Rain, there's no such thing as drizzle or a light shower here. This is what happens to our driveway. From where the picture is taken the water is ankle deep. Top left is the guard's hut and they are knee deep. On this day, I left for school at 8am, and it had just begun raining. When I returned at 9am this is what I found. Our landlord agreed that the driveway drainage needed addressing. Lots of digging, lifting of paving etc happened last week, fingers crossed it's now sorted.How Many Men Does It Take To...
Whatever job is being done, whatever service you require it takes an awful lot of men to make it happen here in India, here are some examples...
To Install and Check a Phone Line - Answer 4
One to hold the carrier bag of bits, one to do the work, one to give opinions and one to stand around and gawp at your house and belongings.
To Install Broadband - Answer 3
One to fiddle, one to scratch his head and one to realise that the wireless switch on your computer is off (whoops! mea culpa!)
To Measure Up For Curtains - Answer 5
One to bring and hold the fabric samples, one to measure, one to write it down and two to stand around and gawp at your house and belongings.
To Fit Kitchen Window Blinds - Answer 4 (two separate occasions)
One to carry said blinds in, one to hold the blind and leave dirty fingerprints all over it, one to
fix it, one to stand and gawp at your house and belongings and one to ask for a tip - he didn't think dirty fingerprints were a problem, we did.
To Argue that You're Kitchen Blinds DO Fit and it's your windows that are wonky - Answer 2
This one was a classic and a perfect example of how the majority of Indian men won't listen to anything a woman has to say. The bottom of the blind is 1.5" shorter at one end to the other, he swears it's the window that is squiffy...I am there with tape measure (this goes on for an hour by the way) I measure the window, then measure the blind and each and every time he offers to hold the tape measure and then moves it to his advantage and tells me again and again that the walls are not straight. PLEASE! I do now how to measure a bloody window. They leave. DH removes the blind, we take it back to the shop, the owner looks at it and agrees it's wrong and needs replacing. 1 week later two different men arrive to re-fit, I tell them to wash their hands first, they take forever to re-fit it and then blatantly ask for a tip. So do you think they got one?
I have more evidence and incidents...but you get the picture, right?
To Install and Check a Phone Line - Answer 4
One to hold the carrier bag of bits, one to do the work, one to give opinions and one to stand around and gawp at your house and belongings.
To Install Broadband - Answer 3
One to fiddle, one to scratch his head and one to realise that the wireless switch on your computer is off (whoops! mea culpa!)
To Measure Up For Curtains - Answer 5
One to bring and hold the fabric samples, one to measure, one to write it down and two to stand around and gawp at your house and belongings.
To Fit Kitchen Window Blinds - Answer 4 (two separate occasions)
One to carry said blinds in, one to hold the blind and leave dirty fingerprints all over it, one to
fix it, one to stand and gawp at your house and belongings and one to ask for a tip - he didn't think dirty fingerprints were a problem, we did.
To Argue that You're Kitchen Blinds DO Fit and it's your windows that are wonky - Answer 2
This one was a classic and a perfect example of how the majority of Indian men won't listen to anything a woman has to say. The bottom of the blind is 1.5" shorter at one end to the other, he swears it's the window that is squiffy...I am there with tape measure (this goes on for an hour by the way) I measure the window, then measure the blind and each and every time he offers to hold the tape measure and then moves it to his advantage and tells me again and again that the walls are not straight. PLEASE! I do now how to measure a bloody window. They leave. DH removes the blind, we take it back to the shop, the owner looks at it and agrees it's wrong and needs replacing. 1 week later two different men arrive to re-fit, I tell them to wash their hands first, they take forever to re-fit it and then blatantly ask for a tip. So do you think they got one?
I have more evidence and incidents...but you get the picture, right?
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