Holy cow I have really fallen off the blogger world. Has it really been four months since my last post? The past few months have been a whirlwind. Now that we are finally settling in to life in India, it's time to get the blog up to date.
We were still in Alabama waiting for visas when I posted last. In March, Ella and I spent a few weeks in Seattle while Andrey was in Chennai working and finding us a place to live. He had his visa but Ella and I had just strangely been denied. Thankfully it was an unofficial denial and so based on advice from Andrey's employer we moved to Northern Virginia/DC area for the month of April so that we would reapply for our visas at the embassy there. We applied in early April and just three weeks later had our visas in hand. That was a huge miracle and brought on quite a high as we finally made plans to move to India.
After a visit to Nova Scotia in Canada to see our family, we flew to Chennai on May 12th. We did not expect to be greeted at the airport at 1:00 am by anyone other than the hired driver but to our surprise, we had a cheering section waiting for us. I was overwhelmed and emotional from their kindness and consideration to give us such a welcome so late in the evening and the fact that after a year of planning, anticipating, praying and waiting, we had finally reached India. The staff had gifts and signs with our names and were very happy to see us. Considering they have been waiting a long time without a leader in the office I can see why they were celebrating. Waiting so long also had us anticipating our move to India so much that we were way more excited about it when it finally happened than we would have been otherwise.
The first ten days in India were blissful. We were just so happy to finally be here. Everything was exciting. The heat, the food, the auto-rickshaw rides, our apartment (that Andrey found for us during his trip in March) and new neighborhood were novel and welcome gifts. We stayed in a hotel for the first three nights while we bought basics for the apartment and then stayed in our new place for a week. That was our India honeymoon.
An unfortunately timed work project required Andrey to be in Manila for two weeks just 10 days after our arrival in India. Instead of Ella and I hanging out in Chennai on our own and while the very last thing I wanted to do was pack and travel, we decided to join him and spend time in Cebu while he was busy. Arriving in Cebu felt strange but we had a lot of fun and were really glad to be there. We saw all our favorite people, visited all our favorite restaurants and ate lots of favorite Filipino food and treats. Ella kept saying, "Awww, I want to stay here 100 days!" By the end of it we were both exhausted and Ella was sick with a virus. So when we came back to Chennai to our living room full of boxes - our shipment of stuff we had sent away in Cebu 11 months prior - it wasn't long before I was overwhelmed and exhausted and just wanted to give up. I ended up sick too and so at one point I just put everything on hold until I felt better. At least we were able to get Ella's room, our room and kitchen set up enough to live before I checked out in bed with a fever.
It's been a month since we flew back to Chennai and we have made much progress. We bought an oven, a TV, a desk and bookcase. We are set up enough to live and host visitors for dinner. Still no photos on the wall but hopefully soon. We don't have a car yet but just yesterday finally got WiFi set up at home and we have a lead on a driver. Yay!!
Thankfully, India has Uber! What a fantastic taxi service that I learned about in the US. You just book it from your phone, can track their location as they make their way to pick you up and your credit card gets charged automatically after every ride. It has made getting around so much easier. It's totally professional. The only challenge is trying to explain to the driver how to find you (although they do have a GPS with your location which should technically help but they always call to confirm or clarify it). It took me a while to learn how to speak English in a way that is understandable to the Indian ear (still working on that). It's all about landmarks and switching up your sentence structure. If you want to say your place is opposite to Blah-Blah hospital you say, Blah-Blah hospital opposite. I find it helps to do the head bobble while talking to the driver over the phone. Definitely makes it clear. I had trouble the first week as I couldn't even tell if the driver was speaking English or Tamil to me! Lame right? The accent is just that strong and it's taken me a while to decifer the Indian English. I still have to guess most of the time or just give the clueless look.
I have felt a little lonely at times and I realize that there is something very comforting about being in a place where you are known. That will take some time but until that comes I often feel like I'm out somewhere far away on my own. Wait a minute. That's because I AM OUT SOMEWHERE FAR AWAY ON MY OWN (sort of)! With Andrey working his usual more-than-full-time job, that leaves me with a lot of time to figure stuff out on my own. There are just days when it is easy to feel a little isolated and lonely. The nice part of having done this a few times is that I know this is normal and that it will get better. Thankfully, I have started making some friends and for this early in the game that is really saying something - more than I expected at this point!
I am just so grateful for internet on my phone since we arrived. With Google maps, Uber, Skype, WhatsApp and Facebook messenger I have been able to get myself around and not be totally cut off from connecting with family and friends from afar. I just shamelessly call or message someone when I need to talk or connect and I know some great people who have been so encouraging and supportive. Just requires me being a little needy and putting myself out there a bit. Being in a similar time zone to Cebu has been super helpful as I'm able to connect with friends there in the middle of the day. Have you tried leaving voice messages on WhatsApp? I love that feature and use it all the time to have half-conversations at at time. Now that is just quality time spent right there.
I want to wrap this post up with a list of perks of living in Chennai, India. Many of them unexpected:
We were still in Alabama waiting for visas when I posted last. In March, Ella and I spent a few weeks in Seattle while Andrey was in Chennai working and finding us a place to live. He had his visa but Ella and I had just strangely been denied. Thankfully it was an unofficial denial and so based on advice from Andrey's employer we moved to Northern Virginia/DC area for the month of April so that we would reapply for our visas at the embassy there. We applied in early April and just three weeks later had our visas in hand. That was a huge miracle and brought on quite a high as we finally made plans to move to India.
After a visit to Nova Scotia in Canada to see our family, we flew to Chennai on May 12th. We did not expect to be greeted at the airport at 1:00 am by anyone other than the hired driver but to our surprise, we had a cheering section waiting for us. I was overwhelmed and emotional from their kindness and consideration to give us such a welcome so late in the evening and the fact that after a year of planning, anticipating, praying and waiting, we had finally reached India. The staff had gifts and signs with our names and were very happy to see us. Considering they have been waiting a long time without a leader in the office I can see why they were celebrating. Waiting so long also had us anticipating our move to India so much that we were way more excited about it when it finally happened than we would have been otherwise.
The first ten days in India were blissful. We were just so happy to finally be here. Everything was exciting. The heat, the food, the auto-rickshaw rides, our apartment (that Andrey found for us during his trip in March) and new neighborhood were novel and welcome gifts. We stayed in a hotel for the first three nights while we bought basics for the apartment and then stayed in our new place for a week. That was our India honeymoon.
An unfortunately timed work project required Andrey to be in Manila for two weeks just 10 days after our arrival in India. Instead of Ella and I hanging out in Chennai on our own and while the very last thing I wanted to do was pack and travel, we decided to join him and spend time in Cebu while he was busy. Arriving in Cebu felt strange but we had a lot of fun and were really glad to be there. We saw all our favorite people, visited all our favorite restaurants and ate lots of favorite Filipino food and treats. Ella kept saying, "Awww, I want to stay here 100 days!" By the end of it we were both exhausted and Ella was sick with a virus. So when we came back to Chennai to our living room full of boxes - our shipment of stuff we had sent away in Cebu 11 months prior - it wasn't long before I was overwhelmed and exhausted and just wanted to give up. I ended up sick too and so at one point I just put everything on hold until I felt better. At least we were able to get Ella's room, our room and kitchen set up enough to live before I checked out in bed with a fever.
It's been a month since we flew back to Chennai and we have made much progress. We bought an oven, a TV, a desk and bookcase. We are set up enough to live and host visitors for dinner. Still no photos on the wall but hopefully soon. We don't have a car yet but just yesterday finally got WiFi set up at home and we have a lead on a driver. Yay!!
Thankfully, India has Uber! What a fantastic taxi service that I learned about in the US. You just book it from your phone, can track their location as they make their way to pick you up and your credit card gets charged automatically after every ride. It has made getting around so much easier. It's totally professional. The only challenge is trying to explain to the driver how to find you (although they do have a GPS with your location which should technically help but they always call to confirm or clarify it). It took me a while to learn how to speak English in a way that is understandable to the Indian ear (still working on that). It's all about landmarks and switching up your sentence structure. If you want to say your place is opposite to Blah-Blah hospital you say, Blah-Blah hospital opposite. I find it helps to do the head bobble while talking to the driver over the phone. Definitely makes it clear. I had trouble the first week as I couldn't even tell if the driver was speaking English or Tamil to me! Lame right? The accent is just that strong and it's taken me a while to decifer the Indian English. I still have to guess most of the time or just give the clueless look.
I have felt a little lonely at times and I realize that there is something very comforting about being in a place where you are known. That will take some time but until that comes I often feel like I'm out somewhere far away on my own. Wait a minute. That's because I AM OUT SOMEWHERE FAR AWAY ON MY OWN (sort of)! With Andrey working his usual more-than-full-time job, that leaves me with a lot of time to figure stuff out on my own. There are just days when it is easy to feel a little isolated and lonely. The nice part of having done this a few times is that I know this is normal and that it will get better. Thankfully, I have started making some friends and for this early in the game that is really saying something - more than I expected at this point!
I am just so grateful for internet on my phone since we arrived. With Google maps, Uber, Skype, WhatsApp and Facebook messenger I have been able to get myself around and not be totally cut off from connecting with family and friends from afar. I just shamelessly call or message someone when I need to talk or connect and I know some great people who have been so encouraging and supportive. Just requires me being a little needy and putting myself out there a bit. Being in a similar time zone to Cebu has been super helpful as I'm able to connect with friends there in the middle of the day. Have you tried leaving voice messages on WhatsApp? I love that feature and use it all the time to have half-conversations at at time. Now that is just quality time spent right there.
I want to wrap this post up with a list of perks of living in Chennai, India. Many of them unexpected:
- I can walk to my grocery store, produce market, ATM machine, printer repair shop, dentist, Ella's pediatrician, and some really delicious ice cream shops. Now that is something India is not short on. Who knew there would be so much yummy ice cream everywhere?
- There are always auto rickshaws around when I don't have time to wait for a taxi. Unfortunately most of the auto drivers are jerks but I'm learning how to haggle with them and get them to take me to more than one location at a time.
- I love the hot weather! It's not as humid as I expected and that makes the heat more bearable. That's the Florida girl in me. Gimme some heat and I feel at home.
- Cheap fruits and vegetables - hello daily mangoes!
- Beautiful new clothes. Chennai is very conservative and traditional and it's important to dress appropriately. There are many things in my closet I just can't wear here. And that's fine. The clothes here are colorful, comfortable and affordable and I wear an Indian tunic (kurta) with various types of India pants nearly every day. Love it.
- Our house-helper. She has worked for all the other IJM directors before us and is just wonderful. She smiles easily and is always ready to share helpful tips with me about making life easier here. Oh and she loves to cook and bake. She is a real gem. Oh my goodness, what the heck do I do all day?!
- Ready-available, fresh, pasteurized, non-UHT milk at every shop nearby that only costs about $.70 per liter. It must come from somewhere nearby because the packaging date is always within a day or two of finding it. We have not bought fresh milk since we lived in the States and it just tastes so much better; the way it's supposed to taste. In the Philippines and Thailand we only drank UHT (ultra heat-treated, boxed) milk that came from Australia or New Zealand and it just has a funny taste to it.
- A lack of dirty old white men parading around with local women half their age. Oh I can't tell you how nice that is!
- When Ella and I are out and about, no one pays us any attention. Well, we get a little attention but NOTHING compared to the Philippines where there are way more foreigners! Doesn't make sense but I LIKE IT!! We get a few looks but nobody really stares and keeps staring. No one asks me if Ella is my daughter and is my husband Filipino. We do get asked where we come from and sometimes I say Canada, sometimes the US, sometimes the Philippines. All are true. :-)
- Online shopping! India has Amazon and a few other online shopping websites where you can get quite a lot of great stuff delivered to your door. We now buy our Indian coffee beans online and soon will order medicine too. Last week instead of taking a taxi to go out searching for a few small appliances I needed and carrying them around along with looking after Ella, I just ordered them from the comfort of my home. That is hard to beat. I realize just how American I am. Now if we can just get some wheels...
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