Gosh!! We’ve already been in New Delhi for a month!! It doesn’t seem like that is possible! We have had a great first month here and have just about gotten fully settled here! I’ll try to highlight some of the things we have done over our first month here in New Delhi!
As I posted in the last blog we got into our flat (apartment) two weeks ago! It is great and spacious and a welcome retreat from the heat of Delhi! Believe me when I say it has been hot!! Once you get above 38C or about 100F it doesn't matter if its humid or not, its hot!! Right now as I type it is 12:05pm and it’s 104F but it feels like 112F! Needless to say, I will spend a good portion of my day inside today! But back to the flat! It’s two bedrooms and two bathrooms with a good size living and dining area with a small kitchen, but we are so blessed to have the accommodations that we do! Here are a few pics of the place!
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| The Living Room |
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| The Dining Area |
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| Our Bedroom |
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| Scott's Closet |
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| Kaysi's Closet |
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| Our Bathroom (Sorry About my Swimming Trunks in the picture) |
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| Guest Bathroom & Clothes Drying Room |
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| Our Kitchen |
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| The Washing Machine and RO Water System |
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Our Fridge!
I left out the picture of the Guest Bedroom.. its a little disorganized at the moment!
Now on to the rest of the blog!!It took a few weeks, actually it pretty much took a month, but we are now registered x-pats in India!! It took two trips to the FRRO (Foreign Regional Registration Office) but we got it all taken care of! It is quite a task to get all of the forms filled out as well as all of your supporting documents uploaded to their website before you even are able to get an appointment! Setting up our first appointment took Yashpal (one of the workers at VARDAN who is a huge help) and I about 2 hours of combined work to get the files to the appropriate size and uploaded. He also accompanied us to FRRO for our first visit! The second visit wasn’t as complicated! There were fewer documents to upload and it was a much smoother process! The second time Anupam one of the main managers of the clinic accompanied us and we were in and out in about 2 hours! (Thats quicker than getting a license at some DMV’s/MVD’s back in the States!). So yeah! We are registered residents of India now!!
Getting our registration completed also allowed us to get our internet at the flat as well as our sim cards for our phones! They are a little bit more strict on who they allow to have phones here (or at least foreigners who are here). After the sim cards were purchased it took about 5 days before they became activated. Before activating the phones there was a representative from the mobile company who came to our flat to verify we were who we said we were. That process included a guy who came to our flat, took down information from our visa’s, as well as pictures of them to verify we were legally here and entitled to a mobile phone! Much different than going down to your local Walmart and buying a Go Phone or walking into a ATT or Verizon store and then walking out the same day with a new phone and cell phone plan. So after that visit, a trip to a local market to purchase a phone (which I will write about later) and two phone calls to activate the phones after 5 days we had our own cell numbers!! Woohoo!!!
So, the trip to the market to buy a mobile phone was an interesting one. I had went earlier in the week to one of the big chain electronics stores and just couldn't bring myself to pay what they wanted for the phones. Granted it was less expensive than what you would pay in the States. So after asking my driver as well as Yashpal at the clinic where to buy a phone I was directed to the Central Market (a market I hadn’t been to prior). When I arrived our driver, Rakhesh, dropped me off and told me to call when I was ready. I asked him where to buy a mobile phone and he directed me to a few stores. On approaching the first store I was greeted by the security guard who pointed at my backpack and then pointed at a chair sitting outside the store … Its common for security guards to look through your bags before going in so I unzipped it so he could look in. He then again pointed the chair and said something in Hindi, so I sat in the chair.. He was a little puzzled so I stood up and asked if I could not take my bag inside. Luckily a man inside the store came to the door and allowed me in with my backpack. I guess my driver witnessed me struggling to understand the security guard so as I was being shown phones he tapped me on the shoulder and then became my translator! Which I was so appreciative of! I decided that all of the phones in that store were more than I wanted to pay so Rakhesh directed me down the street to a different store where he accompanied me in and helped me in finding a phone! I think I got a fairly good deal on it and it seems to work good and should do just fine for the next year! Now the craziest part of the trip to that market was as we were walking back to the clinic. I am getting pretty confident in crossing streets and even walking along side them. (Mom, you dont have to read this part!) As we were walking, I hear and then look up and see a car coming towards us quite fast.. I am very close to the cement divider so I am not concerned.. as the car gets closer I realize he is going to be very close to me. I had to slightly dodge the oncoming car and felt a good whoosh of air as it zoomed by! Rhakesh then turned around and stared down the car and said crazy driver in his broken english! Rhakesh also told Kaysi about the car almost hitting me the next day!
So a little about our driver Rakhesh. He’s a very nice guy and speaks some english and knows his way around Delhi great!! The couple before us Peter and Katie Rumford affectionately named his car the Ghetto-Mobile which I think is a fitting name. Unlike most of the other drivers the car is actually his personal car and although it may be a little older than some he is very proud of it! Unfortunately the gear box (transmission) had some issues but hopefully it will be repaired and back up and running soon! Until then he is driving us in his father’s car. Update on that, his car is now fixed and was able to drive us this weekend but the company he works for sent us a new driver today. He speaks very little english so we shall see how this arrangement works!
This past Friday there was quite a wind storm! It was on the same level as those I often experienced growing up as well as in my time in New Mexico. There were lots of tree branches that were broken off and unfortunately it knocked out our electricity for almost 5 hours! It made for a slightly uncomfortable Friday night but thankfully the power came back on about 30 minutes after we had decided to go to sleep! Things like this help to make you more appreciative of those luxuries when you do have them! We can see how throughout this year God will teach us patience in a variety of ways!
Kaysi is getting accustomed to work, although it may take a few more weeks to become fully adjusted! She is enjoying the variety of patients she is getting to treat as well as the freedom to treat that areas in which she sees disfunction! She is getting mentoring time throughout the week where she is able to mentor the Indian Physical Therapists(IPT’s) who are working at the clinic. They have also just hired on a new group of IPT’s and she is excited to see how they will progress and grow as they are introduced to Functional Manual Therapy! It is a joy and a blessing from my side to see her passion and excitement about the work she is able to do! It is even more interesting and fun to get to hear her ‘talk shop’ with the other CFMT’s that are here!
We are continuing to enjoy the church we have found and look forward to going each week! We have met some nice people through the church as well! This Sunday we had lunch with a couple we met who sat in front of us the first day we were there. I was able to have lunch with the husband and the pastor of the church this past week which was a good experience! We had amazing hamburgers that to my best knowledge was actually beef..It’s always nice to get out and about during the day and meet new people and also to help me from going stir crazy while Kaysi is at work! One place I have frequented often is Starbucks (sorry Rob) in the nearby M-Block market and where some of the baristas already know my name! I’ve also found a small grocery store that I can get some of the basics we might need during the week. Most of our main shopping for food is done in the Defense Colony Market which is just a couple km away!
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One of our staple items we buy at the market! Creamy Peanut Butt!
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Overall we have had a great first month in New Delhi! I have found that it is hard to recapture our experience in a few words so thanks for sticking with it to the end of the blog! We hope to get out to do more exploring here soon and when that does happen we will get some more pictures up and posted!! I am toying around with the idea of doing a whole post of simply pictures that remind me of people back home.. I'll see if that idea grows wings and takes flight! Anyhoo.. We love you all and thank you for taking time to join us in reading about our adventure here in India!!!
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