Since our last blog entry, we had quite a desperate couple of days. Things are back to normal now, but this entry is devoted to the our diem horribilis.
It all started on Monday morning when we game down to reception to find that the receptionist expected us to check out. It turned out that the relocation company (and at this point I should mention that there's two relocation companies working with us: one in Britain and one in India. I can't say good enough things about the British firm, but I wonder how the employees of the Indian firm manage to find their way out of the house in the morning. Anyway... I digress) had only booked us in for a week, not the month that they were supposed to. They'd also failed to arrange payment and so the apartment manager was expecting me to pay the bill.
After a few phone calls we got the relocation company to pay the bill and we were put up in the room next door for that night. It only had one room, but as Daisy's cot hadn't arrived she was sleeping with us so we only really needed one room anyhow.
So, the next morning we arose, filled the car with our stuff and headed off to another apartment block in a dfferent part of town. The new area was pretty crummy and not the kind of place I wanted Daisy and Leanne to be out walking in during the day, but that wasn't the worst of it. The room that had been arranged was just that: a hotel room. There were two single beds, and an ensuite shower/toilet. No kitchen. No space for our car-full of stuff and no space for Daisy to sleep. It was about as unsuitable as you could imagine.
The relocation girl hadn't accompanied us here but we soon had her on the phone and finding us somewhere else. Sat in the reception of the hotel was the low point of our travels so far, and it was quite an emotional time. It was then that we had to talk about what our contingency plan was. If things hadn't got better (which they have) then Lea and Daisy would have been on a flight straight to Australia. I would have stayed on here in India as it's a very good deal and it's far easier to house a single bloke than a family. I would have travelled to Oz for Daisy and Leanne's birthdays which are only a few days apart, and Nic's wedding but it was still far from ideal. Anyhow, that's all been shelved but if we find ourselves in the same situation again that plan may have to be revived.
After what felt like two hours in the hotel reception we headed off to meet the relocation girl at the place we're in now. It's a nice place in a nice part of town. Not great for Daisy as the marble surfaces don't go well with her experiments with standing and walking but there's a playground nearby and they can always get the driver to take them to a park if they want a bit of green.
This afternoon, Lea went to see two more apartments in the complex we want, but they were awful. Both were dingy and one overlooked a rubbish dump. It also turned out that one place that we'd expressed an interest in wasn't available at all and so we've no idea what they were up to in offering it to us. That leaves us with one place left that we like. If that turns out to be a red herring, we may have to hunt for places ourselves rather than relive the events of recent days.
The photo above is of a vegetable seller who was passing the apartment. In the background you can see a few stalls where people iron clothes. Everything here is done by hand. There's 10 storey buildings going up without a single crane in sight. Amazing. I'll post a picture soon that shows a boy who works one of the ironing stands.
So, we knew that there would be challenges, but we have to be extra-cautious with Daisy around. We must have a place to sterilise her bottles and prepare her food, and we must have a bed each. Camping out in pokey hotel rooms just ain't acceptable.
I think just about everyone else has been brilliant. The people who ran our first two apartments (including the one where we just sat in reception) were very professional and pleasant. Or relocation girl in Britain is brilliant at getting things done depite being thousands of miles away. Our driver Raj doesn't understand everything we say (and vice versa) but he loves Daisy and is the best driver I've seen since arriving. The people at the Dell office are pleasant and obliging and I know I'm going to enjoy working with them.
We're starting to understand how things work out here. It's a very different culture and we've still loads to learn. Tomorrow, Leanne's heading to the Bangalore Overseas Women's Group meeting at a local hotel. Aparently it's the only place to be (if you're a female visitor to Bangalore) and she's really looking forward to meeting people who are in the same boat as her.
So after a rocky couple of days we're looking forward to the coming months in India & all the travels and experiences we will have.
Thank you to everyone who's added comments to the site. It's great to know that you're all reading our posts and it's a real encouragement to keep the blog up to date.
2 comments:
The apartment we are living in now is on the third floor of a small building. It is two storeys high inside and I think the master bedroom suite is bigger than our house in Reading! The ground space is lovely and Daisy is having fun lushing her 'pushalong' sideways on the marble. If she pushes it correctly it gets up quite a speed and runs away from her. We have been told that our permanent apartment will be ready on Sunday but I have told the relocation chick that I will get excited when we actually move in. It is very hard looking after my little family like this. Chris and I eat pasta or rice for dinner and Daisy is mainly on jars of food which are very expensive over here as they are all imported. Indian babies just don't eat baby food. They are breastfed til they are 20 or so and then they eat curries! When we get settled I will start making mashed rice and we can get sweet potatoes. When we get settled I will get our meals sorted out. Chris's lunch is usually a twix chocolate and a can of coke. There is a little play area around the corner form here and two afterrnoons now, around 5pm we wander down and play with a lot of children. Yesterday I put her on the dirt and she thought it was christmas. Some other little girls came up and played with her. One of the girls has just returned from Barcelona for three years and spoke fluent spanish! We then went and palyed in the sandpit (which to us looked more like a dirt pit with only slightly softer dirt than outside the pit) but Daisy just loved it. She tried to play with a tractor but the little boy was not impressed. A little girl gave her a spade and bucket and Daisy was set! Overhead the thunder was rolling and I feared we were going to be caught in a monsoon outburst but this didn't evenutate. It jsut got hotter and steamier. So we came home and I filled Daisy's little plastic tub with water and added dettol and threw her in. i am very vigilant about her getting the water in her mouth and we just have to hope for the best. Thne she crawls around and we have dinner. She sits on our lap so feeding her without Chris around is quite the messy experience with spoons and hands and food flung in all directions! I usually need a clothes change after meals! Then she has no real bedtime routine and eventually passed out about ten pm and then spends the whole night rolling around between us. I hope she doesn't get used to sleeping with us. I would dearly love a good nights sleep. Soon, they promise, soon.....
Oh, what a horrible start to the week you had! I can think of few things worse than suddenly finding yourself homeless in a foreign city! Sounds like you handled it all fantastically, though, and called all the right people and explained clearly what needed to be done. Fingers crossed that you get your housing sorted out in the next week though--all this moving around has got to be unsettling, too!
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