Lots of people ask what is it like living in India ... it's actually really hard to explain as it's a minute by minute roller coaster of calm, chaos, happy, sad, contentment and frustration but overall its a wonderful experience that I would not trade for all the tea in India ...
This morning I had so little faith in Indian bureaucracy that I sent our driver to the FRRO office at the police station with my paperwork (as I needed to update them my new passport information). I sent him for many reasons including; 1) I didn't want to spend 2 hours sitting around trying to entertain Izzie in a dirty waiting room, 2) Because I was sure they would send me away to get some additional un-necessary paperwork 3) If they saw me they would probably want a "gift" to proceed, 4) Pure laziness. Uh oh I am getting way used to this "staff" thing.
Obviously Izzie and I had far better things to get on with like going to the Veggie shop which is conveniently located at the front gate of our complex.
We were choosing mango's when all of a sudden a man emerged from under the table ... he had been asleep but the delivery truck had arrived and his job was to unload it. Another man hopped under the table & proceeded to roll out dough for chapatti's on the smallest wooden board which meant the dough was going on the floor where I was practically standing.
The Veggie shop men always laugh at me because I buy such a small amount - 2 carrots, 6 potato's, 1 egg plant etc they are used to Indian house wives who buy at a 1kg minimum.
As we were going to a lunch later in the day we stopped by the "florist" (a man sitting out the front of the family beauty salon) and brought a beautiful basket of red & white roses for Rs100 or $2.
Izzie wanted to check out the new playground as they have recently replaced the broken & rusty 1950's equipment with nice shinny new plastic swings & slides. We were however a great source of entertainment for the men who were digging a massive hole in the ground with a garden shovel. They all stopped to watch until it became all too uncomfortable. Digging random holes is one of the great Indian pass time.
Next up we were attending the Navi Mumbai Expat Ladies lunch in Belapur. We met our new neighbour at the gate so her dodgy driver could follow us and not get lost. He is an agency driver and tends to get "lost" often as he is paid by the kilometre.
Anyway the ladies lunch was lovely and it was great to mix with the various nationalities and hear of their adventures & share our frustrations. We now have 23 members and 3 children.
It's going to be a hard act to follow as Deborah (half Kiwi/Dutch) had a beautiful big apartment and cooked up a storm.
We ended the day with goat chops on the BBQ & a nice India Shiraz. I wonder what tomorrow will bring?
This morning I had so little faith in Indian bureaucracy that I sent our driver to the FRRO office at the police station with my paperwork (as I needed to update them my new passport information). I sent him for many reasons including; 1) I didn't want to spend 2 hours sitting around trying to entertain Izzie in a dirty waiting room, 2) Because I was sure they would send me away to get some additional un-necessary paperwork 3) If they saw me they would probably want a "gift" to proceed, 4) Pure laziness. Uh oh I am getting way used to this "staff" thing.Obviously Izzie and I had far better things to get on with like going to the Veggie shop which is conveniently located at the front gate of our complex.
We were choosing mango's when all of a sudden a man emerged from under the table ... he had been asleep but the delivery truck had arrived and his job was to unload it. Another man hopped under the table & proceeded to roll out dough for chapatti's on the smallest wooden board which meant the dough was going on the floor where I was practically standing.
The Veggie shop men always laugh at me because I buy such a small amount - 2 carrots, 6 potato's, 1 egg plant etc they are used to Indian house wives who buy at a 1kg minimum.
As we were going to a lunch later in the day we stopped by the "florist" (a man sitting out the front of the family beauty salon) and brought a beautiful basket of red & white roses for Rs100 or $2.
Izzie wanted to check out the new playground as they have recently replaced the broken & rusty 1950's equipment with nice shinny new plastic swings & slides. We were however a great source of entertainment for the men who were digging a massive hole in the ground with a garden shovel. They all stopped to watch until it became all too uncomfortable. Digging random holes is one of the great Indian pass time.
Next up we were attending the Navi Mumbai Expat Ladies lunch in Belapur. We met our new neighbour at the gate so her dodgy driver could follow us and not get lost. He is an agency driver and tends to get "lost" often as he is paid by the kilometre.
Anyway the ladies lunch was lovely and it was great to mix with the various nationalities and hear of their adventures & share our frustrations. We now have 23 members and 3 children.
It's going to be a hard act to follow as Deborah (half Kiwi/Dutch) had a beautiful big apartment and cooked up a storm.
We ended the day with goat chops on the BBQ & a nice India Shiraz. I wonder what tomorrow will bring?
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