Amazingly, things are starting to come into place here in Hyderabad. It was a big weekend for feeling "settled": DSL at home was installed, a nanny was found, a pre-school program selected, a car mostly decided on. Now, we need to finalize the car and get a driver (a necessity here), and then our big "choores" will be done.
Oh yeah ... and we have to unpack once our shipments arrive. Two shipments (boat shipment sent in November 08 and air shipment sent January 09) should be arriving any day now. The last shipment isn't expected until late March or April. However, I expect there will be a lot of things in the shipment we decide we don't really need. Except for a lack of toys for William (he's getting really bored of the few we could put in the suitcase!) and a little more variety in my wardrobe, there's not much I "need." Pictures for the walls, decorative things to make it feel like home, William-sized chairs and table, etc. will be very welcome - but I still suspect some things shipped will end up being donated.
Greg is slightly mortified, but we have decided pretty much on a Toyota Innova as our car, a SUV-minivan type of deal. We decided we needed more seats than a sedan had, because often when a family goes somewhere the nanny also comes ... so if you do the math (driver, nanny, Pam, Greg, William) we're at 5 seats - and pretty crowded with William's car seat. We looked online at the Maruti Versa, which is less expensive, but kind of (well, really) ugly. And then the other options were all imported and out of our budget. While reviewing the different levels for the Innova, only one version (the highest) had anti-lock breaks and air bags. So that decision was easy. And while reviewing the colors, only one (silver) is kept on the lot and the others have to be special ordered. So that decision was also easy. Actually, in the end, we didn't have to make any decisions except for a bench seat vs. bucket seats in the second row (we went bench).
In addition to our house having extra beds, now our car will also have two extra seats. So really there's no excuse for you not to come visit!
6 comments:
Can't wait to see more pictures. How is the sod doing on the upstairs deck? Have a good week
m/E/Gmo
Just figured out that the blog is on Pacific Time in case any one else is interested. Should have been able to guess that as it is sponsored by Google
There was an interesting and possibly disturbing article about the waste from drug manufacturers in the Hyderabad area. Apparently there are ponds that have extremely high rates of antibiotics and they are leaking into the rivers and the public water. The amount could be thousands of time the allowable US levels. The comment was made that even taking a bath or shower in this water (even after purification which doesn't touch the antibiotics)could give one a full dose of 20 or more antibiotics.
Those are big things coming off the to do list! Post some pictures. How do they like your Telugu?
No worries, Stan - we only drink and cook with bottled water. But I must say my hair is not as curly as it was in the USA with all the strange minerals and who knows what else in the water!
Pictures coming - one thing at a time! And the Telugu is going great, though people say we talk like a dictionary since street Telugu is more an amalgamation of Telugu, Hindi and English.
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