Saturday, December 13, 2008

The Guesthouse

We have moved into the Freescale Guesthouse after spending 3 days at the Radisson-Noida. The guesthouse is definitely a nice change of pace. The home is lovely and spacious. We have 2 bedrooms and access to a living room upstairs and are fed 3 home-cooked meals a day. The kids are enjoying playing in the yard and having their own bedroom.

Lesa and I like to watch the comings and goings on the street out front. All the usual traffic... buffalo-drawn carts, auto-rickshaws, bicycle-rickshaws, wandering cows, you name it. This morning we saw a family of 4 riding on regular bicycle... Mom, Dad and 2 small children. Laxman, the cook/caretaker of the house is wonderful. He and the staff are very kind and help us with pretty-much anything we need... Ha! It's nice to have someone bring you a cup of coffee with warm milk and sugarcubes!
Yesterday was spent going to a few local department stores to get a better idea about the cost of new furniture and appliances. We are hoping to purchase some of these used from other expats readying to end their overseas assignments. If we can do this it will save some rupees since we are on a limited budget.
Today we are just resting and unpacking some of our belongings so we can be a little more comfortable. Our next goals are to finish enrolling the kids in their school and to sign an apartment lease. Once the lease is signed we will have a "permanent address." This is a big step because it will enable us to set up a bank account... then the fun of really establishing a household here begins...

4 comments:

Heidi said...

Sounds great. Though we have just dodged the possibility of moving, it sounds great nonetheless! Keep the posts coming.

Unknown said...

Hey, are you planning to have your own household crew as well once you get a permanent place? You know, that is one of the unique experiences of living in Asia. Of course, you'd be completely spoiled afterwards.

I keep forgetting how India's suburbs can resemble Indonesia. The guesthouse looks like something right out of Jakarta! Complete with the gated high fence, utility lines and all...

Anonymous said...

I thought it was going to be stressful, and yall would want to come home right away. Yet, your blog does not exude this sentiment, rather it sounds exotic, intriguing, lush, relaxing (coffee brought to you by a person named, "LAXman" how appropriate), and strangely mystifying-cows, buffalo--perhaps you will see some other sort of strange animal sights, chickens perhaps.... I am happy it sounds so good. Ok, we're coming, as long as Laxman follows yall to your new home.

HouseBoy said...

Yes.. We plan to have a staff. A driver and a household person who will cook and clean. Our apartment (we signed the lease today) includes separate servant quarters. Although setting things up here (utilities, etc) is very tedious we ARE having a lot of fun so far... : )