Visit to the park

It was so hot yesterday 39.5 and who not realising decided to go for a walk in the park???? well it was Keith's idea really. It is first time we have been considering it is only over the road from the sector gate we really should have been before. However to get there is one big hurdle well it is for me! a three lane duel carriage way. and if any one knows any thing about the roads in India they will be understanding to my plight. There are zebra crossings, but they are to decorate the road, or distract the eye from the odd pot hole. Now we are standing on the edge of the road, 3 lanes streaming down, the only saving grace are a couple of speed humps that 'should' slow traffic. We were lucky!! a police complete with rifle and big stick helps us he puts his hand up and no one dare to not stop. A big relief, then it dawned on me we were only going to the central reservation, we still had another 3 lanes to tackle the other side. Keith grabs my hand, walk slow, do not run, that way cars and bikes will not hit you. Oh my god!! oh my god!! that's all i could say, and Keith is leading me over like a child, and we made it. Tryed not to think at this point we have to go back, any way if 'push come to shove' we will get an auto rickshaw, there is always a way.

It was so pleasant when we started walking, lots of trees, and green grass, people having a picnic, couples lying down on the grass, but it got hotter and hotter. Spent some time resting in the Buddha garden, lovely and peaceful for a while only to be interrupted by a crowd of young lads about 10-13yrs, Auntie, Auntie, (that's what they call us ladies of a certain age) they came over and started giving me a acrobatic demonstration, i felt a bit worried at first, sitting there on my own, Keith had already decided he had walked enough and buddha did not have such a strong pull as the bench by the gate in the shade.. No need to worry, they were very happy to show me their back flips off the bench, before going on their way.

I will post a picture of Buddha to share with those who want to spend a moments contemplation!

The day the TVs arrived.

We have waited a while for these TVs and today they have finally arrived and been connected, much to the excitement of not only Keith and myself, but Gopal, Lucky, Rup, and the rest of the building have all been congratulating us on the arrival. Apparently it is tradition to give out sweets when you have any thing new.
It cost me 50rupees the other day to treat the postman on his first delivery, i asked if i have to give 50 every time i get mail, 'no only the first time'!
Well every positive has a negative, i get home after spending over 21/2 hrs waiting in the Vodafone shop to change my tariff to be told the server had gone down and it could not be done today, this is not the first time some thing like this has happened so i used my customer choice and told to them to disconnect me. I am now going with Air tel. lets see if that turns out to be a saga.
I arrive home to be greeted by a very forlorn looking Lucky, 'mam' the fridge is not working. She was right, I opened the freezer door and there sat defrosted mutton and chicken we had filled the freezer with the day before. Then came the mammoth cook fest, the only way to salvage meat. Unfortunately Keith's butter scotch ice cream kind of run way!!!!
It has been our experience here that when you need to get any service engineer they will arrive so quick, you may think they were hovering on the corner, or they just do not come after promising to be there in say half an hour, then when you ring their phone is switched off. In the end Keith gets some one from work to come out, he very kindly contacted another enginer, he also kept ringing me to make sure he had come. Well he did, he arrived had a look and said we need another enginer to re-gas the fridge he will come tommorow afternoon, ok, that will have to do. Then at 7pm in middle of dinner two! engineers arrive with gas. We now have a fully working fridge again, hey!!! And Keith  is enjoying watching Stoke Vs Spurs on our new flat screen TV.

Visit to the Camp

There have been other development since I last wrote. Keith is walking pain free the first time in years!!!!

This came about due to our land lady who seen an ad in the Hindustani times about a camp for knee braces to help with osteoarthritis the theory is the brace takes all the weight off the knee, allowing the cartilage to rejuvenate. The brace is worn for as long as that takes and is monitored by the Dr. She was going to go, it was in Delhi. Worth a look so off we go. I just love the way the Indians organise things at times. (apart from the club) we arrived at 930 am, Gopal took us. It was in a house, the front lawn had been set up as a large waiting room with scaffolding holding up a canopy to protect from the sun. Chairs were laid out in lines facing the registration desk, to the side a long table with a tea urn and snacks, it reminded me of a garden fete!

After registering we sat and waited, people were arriving all the time, all ‘hobbling in’ a lot were women and some were unable to walk unaided, and did not look that old, but of course there is no health service here. Keith had to take an x-ray with him the Dr who devised this brace and has it licensed in India assessed Keith and felt he would benefit even though he has had a partial knee replacement, he also felt Keith should have one for his other leg. It meant another x-ray, fortunately there was a local trust hospital close by. Not a trust hospital as we know it. This semi is private/government. All donations greatly received.

The x-ray was going to cost 100rupees, (£1-20p) we paid and sat by x-ray room and waited a few minutes before he was called in. Well!!! I have never seen any thing like it, talk about health and safety. The room door remains open, Keith lay on the couch, in the room was Keith, Gopal, the radiographer, and bloke who was being nosy. Gopal has to hold Keith’s leg in place, no protection apron, and only the radiographer went behind the safety barrier ( he must know something!!!) the door is still open and there are a full row of seats with the full attention of the audience sitting on them.

Keith is then told to wait outside, we stood in the sunshine, holding the X-ray plate, allowing it to develop and dry. Other wise we could have pegged it up to dry. Where else can you have an experience like that, India is real magic at times. Back at the ‘camp’ he sees the Dr again, gets measured for brace, and told to come back tomorrow. At this point he is thinking, ‘I’m not going to wear them,’ but when he went back next day and had them fitted he could not believe how pain free he could be. There have been teething problems, but he is persevering, and able to walk much better. We did speak to others at the camp, and the feed back was very encouraging, he goes back after 2 months for check up.

Saga of the club

Hi again well we are now in March, and where as the time gone? All is plodding along nicely, I say plodding because sometimes that just how it feels living within the Indian culture.
Today I am afraid I finally lost it with a couple at the welfare, they can not be described as ‘jobs worth’ worse than that. This is all to do with joining the club. It has been a long drawn out saga which is hopefully coming to an end as the committee meet on Saturday, and our application will be viewed then we will be ‘invited’ for a interview. We have had to gather together :-
Fill in 8 page document
Get a proposer /seconder
copies of pass ports,
Copy of Keith’s CV,
3 passport photos each,
Copy of tenancy agreement.
The money, 2 cheques one for member ship one for month in advance bar bill. (you do not use money at the bar)
Certificate from the welfare society confirming we live on sec 15a,
To get the certificate from the welfare we have had to:-
Fill in a two page document
pay our dues, (we did not even know we had any!!! )
Copy of Keith’s CV
Copy of tenancy agreement
Copy of passports
Copy of utility bill
If you are fed up by now imagine how we feel. We both think if it was not the fact this is our local social outlet we would not bother! Plus we have had to wait till now. Today I went to the welfare with Gopal in case I needed a translator, to pay our ‘dues’ to enable us to have the certificate as we needed it for the club, well with out going into it too much they told me to wait 2months before joining the club because the ‘dues’ we were quoted were only till the end of march then we have to pay again, they were worried we would get this certificate for the club and then not bother to pay April’s dues. Well I had enough. I told them I was fed up with all the rigmarole and angry with the system, they can have their money and walked out. I was so upset and angry I think I would have ended up a blubbering mess, so best thing exit fast. The walk home done me good though, people were looking at this crazy foreigner marching down the road like a person on a mission in the midday sun. It all worked out in the end. Gopal sorted it and they gave us the certificate with out paying any extra money. I’m glad to say I have calmed down and the papers have been submitted to the club and we are to expect a phone call today to attend the interview with the committee tomorrow evening, who knows we might be having a drink at the club tomorrow.
Tomorrow came and went, no phone call, we find out they have decided to meet next week now. To say we are not happy is an understatement. Apparently it is to do with the up coming elections for the club and the welfare. Madu our land lady comes to the rescue and phones the president on our behalve as we decided if they were like this we did not want to join. We would have our money back! they say money talks, because later that day we have a call from president, we are now full members an exception has been taken we do not have go for interview and keith was welcome to join them watching the cricket that evening. He did not go as he had spent the day walking around the Mall in Gurgaon, but tonight we will be there!!!!!Thats the thing about India one minute you hate it, the next you love it all over again!!!

house hunting.

Jan/feb 2010

We have been out house hunting, the first one did not appeal nor the second or third, i was beginning to get worried i would never find any where i like. However yesterday we found some thing, in fact two. isn't that always the way. They are both houses, decided we do not want to live in high rise even if they have their own swimming pool and gym.The first apartment is on the second floor of a house, very pleasing to the eye from the out side, lovely deep balcony, three bedrooms, two with unsuite, lounge, dining area kitchen. it is dated furniture wise, and needs revamping a little decor wise. we have been assured this would be done. there is also a roof terrace. the owners live below, and they told us there was a european living there before. Well when we saw the place we both felt this was it and we could put up out dated furniture ect.i pictured my self sun bathing on the balcony when the sun comes out!!!! later that day had a phone call there was another house to view on a different sector this other sector has more social facilities and possibly a chance of more foreigners. this one is ground floor. two bedrooms unsuite bit more up to date furniture and decor wise. big terrace that surrounds the outside that is surrounded by a brick wall about 5/6 ft to make it private. Each bedroom, and the lounge opens onto the terrace. it was more pleasing to the eye, lots of big plants around the terrace, in fact more outside space. there is a live in caretaker, not sure here she goes during the day? she a little room in the shape of a lean-to on the side of the house, the owner told me she had been with her 30 years and 'very reliable' so it looks like she comes with house. i asked about the sun on the terrace, very proudly told they do not have any, it is north facing well one side of it must be as it is on a corner. it is strange, we have the sun as a selling point they don't. we have been told it gets very hot here' like fire outside' according to Ragid the care taker of the guest house. it might be better having no sun. it was evening when we viewed so i have asked to go back, going monday morning to have another look. we think out of the two the second was the better, and keith likes the sector more as it is closer to work and other amenities.

We are now indian citizens temporally any way. had to go the the high commission in Delhi on friday. what an experience that was. the place was crowded, loads of people from Afcanistan. Lucky for us we we were looked after by the HR man from keith's company, he came with us and did all the necessary paper work as well as going to the front of all the long queues, we were out in no time.

we decided to go out for a 'curry' last night to a place called Karims, it was recommended to us, and it was good. not too expensive about 700 rupees, that's £9-50 then called in at hotel for a drink 620 rupees for a half beer and a cocktail, these hotels are a rip off.
Yet again i have lost the internet whilst writing, but this time did not lose so much.

Well back again!!!! power cut.

Tuesday.

Well we have been back to the house for second view an decided we will have it. The company have made the nessessary arrangements and told us this afternoon we can move in 1st feb. Would have preferred to have moved sooner but never mind the time will soon go, we have been here 11 days  already, another 12 days and we should be in.

We went out for a walk the other day. There's some bloody money here! you want to see the size of the houses that are being built, they are massive. It definatly is a country of the have and have nots. So many contrasts, one side of the road they are building the houses the other the workers and families are living on the waste ground in make shift tents. Washing from a comunial tap, and their sanitiory arrangments do'nt need mentioning. I did read today in the TheTimes of Delhi, they are trying to abolish the public defication on the streets, and the'Scavengers' (People who clean it up), this is more prevelant in the outer lying districts.

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Our journey to India

jan 2010



Sorry for the delay in writing, it has taken me time to get over jet lag and get my head together. I hope you are keeping warm in england, and dry in spain. not sure what the weather is doing in Ireland, but i can tell you it is cold here and the fog is trying to lift, it is not as bad as it was when we first arrived.

Well we finely made it after epic journey which started at malaga airport after our flight to gatwick was cancelled by air lingus. After much confusion at the air port and queuing for over an hour for mythical flight we were told was due to leave at 130 that lunch time, to find out it did not exist for us as it only catered for the people who had their fight cancelled the night before.
We made our way to the end of another queue at the air lingus office. Our spirits were heightened when we found out we could get a flight to Dublin leaving within the hour, then on to Heathrow. Great!!!! as we had booked a coach to get us to heathrow from gatwick. After dashing as quick as we were able through security, and running to departure gate we made it to the plane. Relax!!!! sit back and enjoy.
Arriving over Dublin we have to circle as they have to clear ice off run way, we circled, and circled until Captain informs us we have used up reserve fuel and would continue to Shannon refuel by then Dublin would be open. We were first in line and fuelled up. Dublin taking longer than captain expected. Our 15min stop over turned into five an half hours, only to be told the crew had now run out of legal flying time. The decision was made by the powers that be that we and the 7 other air lingus planes parked up with us and just as full of passengers would be coached back to Dublin, and this at evening time, the roads in dublin had been at a stand still that day due to weather, and the wrong kind of snow!!!!!!. God knows what time they got there, we phoned air lingus whilst still on board and changed our flight as we found out there was a flight to heathrow from shannon the next day, how proactive were we???? we even booked a hotel for the night.
Well it does not need much imagination to picture the chaos the resulted. Poor Shannon airport did not know what hit them. Two of the 7 other flights were trans continental to the USA. They all had to be put up for the night in hotels. While coaches had to be arranged for the rest. I must say the 'few' staff they had on duty, ( they only had three at the beginning and had to call staff back) were very professional. I felt for the baggage handlers, you can imagine what faced them!!!. We had to wait well over an hour to get our baggage and we were no way near the end. It did not help that two of the planes were from eastern europe so language barriers were a problem, there were many wandering around franticly trying to find the baggage.
Any way here comes a light at the end of a very long tunnel.
I spoke to staff to ask if they would clarify our change of flight as we had no access to computer, to be told there was a delayed flight to heathrow going this evening, and there were seats available'i could have kissed her'. It should have left at 17-30 it finally left at 22-30 with us on board. We got to our hotel around 1pm. got ripped off by taxi £19 for a 5 min journey. We were past caring, head down good night sleep and ready for the next leg of journey.
The plane to Delhi was delayed an hour due to fog in Delhi. The flight was good, The rest they say is history.

We are now settling down, presently staying in company guest house, being looked after which is great and gives us time to find our way around and orientate ourselves to the area. We are staying in a suburb of Delhi called Noida. It looks like this is where we will be living as living in Delhi is apparently not very good, too many people, traffic, and cost the earth, not that bothers us as the company are paying. But Keith has to think about commuting to work. We have been told there have been three apartments highlighted for us to look at in sector 50 Noida. Noida comprises of sectors, about 167 I have been told. The area was only developed around 30 years ago and is very up an coming for industry. It is about 16 kilometres outside delhi. I was very surprised when i read it was a relatively new area, it looks run down in many area's around sector 18 that is where the main shopping area is. It seems the older shopping area has been neglected due to the new shopping malls that have appeared.

I will have to close now, I stared this yesterday and had to retype loads after internet went down twice, then power cut. I have just been asked if they clean my room so I am off for a coffee.