Lotus Valley

Getting into an Indian school is about exams and interviews for the children. For the parents it involves a tremendous amount of waiting, flattery, and ultimately patience.

The children passed their school placement exams today at Lotus Valley International School. They both did really well and will enter at their current grade levels. Audrey is really charged up about starting saying: "tomorrow is going to be the most exciting day of my life." She is sure she will have a new friend by the end of the day. Evan is more reserved, but gladly didn't fuss about wearing a uniform.

Although there is protocol at every turn, the staff have been warm and welcoming. The kids' first day of school will be on Tuesday (tomorrow!!).
The kids have been amazing for the entire past week. They are experiencing massive amounts of change -- time, culture, accent, food -- and taking it all in stride. They have hardly fussed through multiple long days of apartment hunting, school interviews, Indian meals and waiting, waiting, waiting.

The other BIG event today was that we signed the lease on our apartment at ATS Green Village. It is a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom flat overlooking the gardens and pool of the complex (known as "Societies" here). The flat includes a secure, separate room and bath for a live-in servant. We plan to hire both a cook/housekeeper and a driver at least for the first few months here.

Establishing a utility service, a bank account, buying a cell phone - any task involving paperwork is agonizing here. There is always a proper order of events, a protocol for signatures and review, and a specific number of copies to be made... Passport photos, copies of passports and visas, copies of lease-contracts, letters of employment, all seem to be required to set up any service. Standing in a queue or waiting a significant amount of time before, during and after each step seems to be part of the price of admission.

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...

Dipping our toes in

We made it to Indira Gandhi Airport late Monday night. The flights were long but actually pretty good... kudos to Continental Airlines. The kids were fantastic... and in hog-heaven since they had access to movies, shows and video games for almost 14 hours. : )
We are comfortably staying in the Radisson-Noida for our first few days... my only complaint is that the internet is slow and last night it wouldn't let me send out any emails... going to call their IT today to see what the issue is. Spent most of our first day starting to register the kids their school and looking at 8 or 9 possible apartments. I think we have it narrowed down to 3 or 4 good possibilities right near the school and work. More on this later.
We also have a cell now... I will send the number out today if my email is working. Lesa has already sent this out to a few folks via her work email.
Today brings us more apartments, school registration and a little exploration. I will bring my camera today to get a few pictures. Namaste.