It's been a big week for us but we have arrived safely in Bangalore, and have unpacked 'most' of the house. The moving process really had me in a spin for some reason - after 13 moves in 18 years you would think I would be chilled about the whole thing. However, this one had me nervous. I'm actually not sure why but I think I had read too many horror expat moving stories in the last few weeks -containers falling off ships, trucks missing (yep !!), things stolen, boxes completely missing at the other end - it really had me stressed.
Things then took a turn for the worse when one of the two removal trucks (we only asked and expected to have one...) went missing for about a day. No one seemed to be able to tell me where the truck was, and in one case, I was told there "wasn't a second truck at all!!" After a number of stressful hours, many heated conversations (most of which no one understood me), lots of head wobbling, we managed to relocate the truck and when it arrived, we noticed that the items inside were packed a little differently. This truck had dropped off the goods of another person in Bangalore. His items were at the front of the truck, therefore they had unloaded out things, got his things off and then reloaded ours. Why oh why ? When questioned, I yet again got the standard Indian head wobble.......
After all of that, the guys did a great job unloading and removing all the boxes and wrapping. And we ended the move with two small breakages - both lamps that were not important. A job well done but a job not wanting to be done again for two years - I hope!
So, to our new home in Bangalore. We are living in a great gated community with just over 70 villas and then some apartments and duplexes in the towers at the back. The community has a great layout with loads of walking tracks, an indoor and outdoor pool, basketball, tennis, squash and badminton courts and loads of space for the boys. I should mention that the community is an environmentally friendly community with earth sheltered homes and are very keen on conservation. A future blog will be on the waste management process - I'm sure you're holding your breath waiting for that one ??!! I have taken a few photos for you to get a feel for the new 'hood'. Plenty of space for visitors - hint hint !!
Monday was the start of a yet another new school for Max - his fifth in six years - and Jack returned to boarding school but for now he will be weekly boarding. Day one was a huge success and both boys seemed happy with everything. However, late Monday night we were notified that school would be shut for two days due to a bandh. A bandh is strike or protest, and this one was from the trade unions who are protesting the governments anti-work policy's. When a strike like this occurs in India, it can result in violence on the streets and most of the public transport, tuk tuks, banks, etc are impacted. Therefore, most often the schools are closed to ensure safety for the children. Some Indian states are more volatile than others, and luckily Karnataka isn't too bad.
It turned out to be a very quiet bandh, but the school is remaining shut today. So both boys have had 'virtual learning days'; where the teachers post work online and they complete it and can discuss things with the teachers if necessary. It actually worked quite well and kept Max busy for a few hours.
Until next time - start planning that Indian trip :)
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| The lake at the back of the community, called Hoodi Lake |
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| where the boys will spend most of their time |
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| or here...... |
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| Our Villa |
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| Jack's room |
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| Max's Room |
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| My office |
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| this is on the roof - eco community |
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| the roof |
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