Greetings From Hyderabad!!
Hi everybody in CoopBroLand! #3 checking in from Hyderabad, India. Week one is down and we have 11 to go! It seems like this whole first week has been the hardest one because of all the adjustments. Here's a quick blow-by-blow:
SATURDAY
We arrived in HYD at 11:30PM and checked into the Novotel Hotel. It is an Accor hotel rated 4 stars and is actually quite nice. Getting through customs at the airport, getting our luggage, and travelling to the hotel was an interesting experience. There are so many people that loiter around the airport regardless of what time it is. Here are some pics
SUNDAY
Natalie had a team lunch so I had kid duty right away. We also went to see the Jayabheri Apartments where we would be moving the next day.
The kids slept okay but were up a good amount of time at night.
MONDAY
Natalie's first day at the office. I'm watching the kids at the hotel. We are living out of the suitcases so keeping the kids entertained is tough. After Natalie gets home from work she smacks me on the butt and tells me to go put on something sexy. I tell her that she never appreciates me anymore... Just kidding. We then move into the Jayabheri Apartments and unpacked all of that food we shipped ahead. Some of it did not get handled well and we had to throw it away. We tried getting some sleep but it wasn't happening. Full batteries at 2AM for both girls.
TUESDAY
Trying to find a routine that works. Natalie is taking to the job of managing this team like a duck to water. I'm taking to full time parenting of two kids like a lead boat anchor to water! It aint easy! A strange Indian woman comes to clean the apartment and takes 4 hours. The whole time all of the doors and windows are open so all the bugs can get in. After Natalie gets home, we venture out to another hotel for dinner that night. We check out a suite room in the hotel we stayed at as an alternative to the apartment because it is starting to suck.
I realize that I am going to LOVE evenings. We try to get some sleep. Delaney wakes up again at 2AM. It wakes Lillian up. Natalie wakes me up. Life sucks! The apartment, we are realizing, is less and less comfortable. The window units are very loud and make the rooms cold. They don't do anything to make the rooms less humid. With them off it gets hot and arid. Natalie is miserable because she can only take a luke-warm bath at best. You have to turn on the hot water heater on the wall and wait. Also the beds are very hard and uncomfortable.
WEDNESDAY
Natalie and I are running on no sleep. So are the kids but they don't sleep in at all. Today is particularly tough because Natalie has to fly to Mumbai. She doesn't get back until 10:00 PM. During the day I take the kids swimming at the pool. Here are some pics of that, and hanging around the apartment.
This last one is really sweet. Lillian was walking around hugging this picture of Finley that we brought. It touched me. I should say that she has been the biggest trooper through this whole ordeal! I am so proud of her!
There are no other American's here in this complex, nor other foreign expatriates like we originally thought. We stick out like a sore thumb. I think the idea of a man staying home to watch the kids is alien to a lot of these people and I get a lot of weird stares. The pool staff are not particularly friendly. I get warned about Lillian not having a pool cap, splashing water on the concrete, and having plastic toys in the pool respectively. The guy came around every ten minutes.
Anyway, later I made some of the spaghetti we brought for dinner then got the kids to bed and said a fervent prayer that they would sleep throught the night. I am hopeful because Delaney was the only one who got a short nap during the day. I use the time between then and when Natalie gets home to listen to some music on my ipod and unwind. I'm listening to a praise song that has "Come to me weary now and I will lay you down (and give you rest)" in the lyrics. It hits home in a peculiar way. I feel particularly rejuvenated from the experience and praise God for it. I begin to improve my attitude and look forward to Natalie coming home.
Natalie gets home and tries to go to bed. We are both overtired at this point so I sleep like a brick... That is, untill 2:00AM. We get up with the kids, but this time with some struggle we get the kids back down. We have to go turn the AC in Delaney's room on and off every hour to make a somewhat liveable (sleep-able) environment. We can't get back to sleep. Natalie and I have some heated discussions about the apartment and our alternatives. We end up making the decision that this would be our last night at the Jayabheri. Since we are up we start the packing process. We are both ass-whipped as all get out.
THURSDAY
Natalie goes to the Hotel on the way to work to check us in. The kids wake up and we have breakfast then go to the park. Later on I decide to make a trip to the hotel with as much as I can take. I try to get situated and get the kids down for a nap. It is so much easier in the hotel because you can make the rooms really dark. Natalie gets home and we go to dinner in the hotel restaurant. Major improvement! Later on we get some much needed sleep. Delaney still wakes up, but she is convinced to go back to sleep. It's nice to be back in the hotel!
FRIDAY
This day is the first that feels like somewhat of a routine. We still have half of our stuff at the Jayabheri (and most of the food) so we make due with what we have. Our room includes a nice breakfast buffet so we go eat before Natalie goes to work. The day passes fairly quickly. Still getting settled, but it feels like progress is being made. The rest of the day is uneventful.
SATURDAY
Slept in as much as possible. Natalie got some much needed kid time and I got some much needed chill time. I worked out at the Hotel's Gym. It is very nice. In the afternoon I had the driver take me back to the apartment to get the rest of the food that we had shipped along with the rest of the toys. Basically we are out of there now. Here are some pics in our room (the kids' adjoining room:
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful until the very end. I'm sure you heard about the terrorist attack in Hyderabad at a park and local restaurant. Two bombs went of within 5 minutes of eachother. Pretty scary. We're fine though. Please don't worry. The Hotel is very safe. Security is very tight. The guards check every car for bombs. None of the authorities here care if they "racially profile" either, meaning if you look suspicious you will be checked out. If something else happens like this, Deloitte might send us home early. You can read about it on any news website, or do a search for Hyderabad News on Google.
SUNDAY
Not much going on. Just glued to the TV. We ordered pizza from Pizza Hut for dinner. The dinner buffet is great, but I was getting tired of it. The buffet consists mostly of Indian food, which I love but it gives me some pretty mean farts. Natalie thinks something is wrong with me.
Next week I will start the Business plan and marketing plan for my little company-project. Also, I may get together next weekend with a guy named Edgar Sathuluri, who is from Andhra Pradesh (the state we're in in India) and who runs a local Christian Mission group named NATIVE. I've heard through my church what great things he and his group are doing here.
Anyway, I'll post more when I can. All in all though, the rest of the trip should be pretty un-eventful. We won't venture far from the hotel until the smoke clears from the recent attacks.
SATURDAY
We arrived in HYD at 11:30PM and checked into the Novotel Hotel. It is an Accor hotel rated 4 stars and is actually quite nice. Getting through customs at the airport, getting our luggage, and travelling to the hotel was an interesting experience. There are so many people that loiter around the airport regardless of what time it is. Here are some pics
SUNDAY
Natalie had a team lunch so I had kid duty right away. We also went to see the Jayabheri Apartments where we would be moving the next day.
The kids slept okay but were up a good amount of time at night.
MONDAY
Natalie's first day at the office. I'm watching the kids at the hotel. We are living out of the suitcases so keeping the kids entertained is tough. After Natalie gets home from work she smacks me on the butt and tells me to go put on something sexy. I tell her that she never appreciates me anymore... Just kidding. We then move into the Jayabheri Apartments and unpacked all of that food we shipped ahead. Some of it did not get handled well and we had to throw it away. We tried getting some sleep but it wasn't happening. Full batteries at 2AM for both girls.
TUESDAY
Trying to find a routine that works. Natalie is taking to the job of managing this team like a duck to water. I'm taking to full time parenting of two kids like a lead boat anchor to water! It aint easy! A strange Indian woman comes to clean the apartment and takes 4 hours. The whole time all of the doors and windows are open so all the bugs can get in. After Natalie gets home, we venture out to another hotel for dinner that night. We check out a suite room in the hotel we stayed at as an alternative to the apartment because it is starting to suck.
I realize that I am going to LOVE evenings. We try to get some sleep. Delaney wakes up again at 2AM. It wakes Lillian up. Natalie wakes me up. Life sucks! The apartment, we are realizing, is less and less comfortable. The window units are very loud and make the rooms cold. They don't do anything to make the rooms less humid. With them off it gets hot and arid. Natalie is miserable because she can only take a luke-warm bath at best. You have to turn on the hot water heater on the wall and wait. Also the beds are very hard and uncomfortable.
WEDNESDAY
Natalie and I are running on no sleep. So are the kids but they don't sleep in at all. Today is particularly tough because Natalie has to fly to Mumbai. She doesn't get back until 10:00 PM. During the day I take the kids swimming at the pool. Here are some pics of that, and hanging around the apartment.
This last one is really sweet. Lillian was walking around hugging this picture of Finley that we brought. It touched me. I should say that she has been the biggest trooper through this whole ordeal! I am so proud of her!
There are no other American's here in this complex, nor other foreign expatriates like we originally thought. We stick out like a sore thumb. I think the idea of a man staying home to watch the kids is alien to a lot of these people and I get a lot of weird stares. The pool staff are not particularly friendly. I get warned about Lillian not having a pool cap, splashing water on the concrete, and having plastic toys in the pool respectively. The guy came around every ten minutes.
Anyway, later I made some of the spaghetti we brought for dinner then got the kids to bed and said a fervent prayer that they would sleep throught the night. I am hopeful because Delaney was the only one who got a short nap during the day. I use the time between then and when Natalie gets home to listen to some music on my ipod and unwind. I'm listening to a praise song that has "Come to me weary now and I will lay you down (and give you rest)" in the lyrics. It hits home in a peculiar way. I feel particularly rejuvenated from the experience and praise God for it. I begin to improve my attitude and look forward to Natalie coming home.
Natalie gets home and tries to go to bed. We are both overtired at this point so I sleep like a brick... That is, untill 2:00AM. We get up with the kids, but this time with some struggle we get the kids back down. We have to go turn the AC in Delaney's room on and off every hour to make a somewhat liveable (sleep-able) environment. We can't get back to sleep. Natalie and I have some heated discussions about the apartment and our alternatives. We end up making the decision that this would be our last night at the Jayabheri. Since we are up we start the packing process. We are both ass-whipped as all get out.
THURSDAY
Natalie goes to the Hotel on the way to work to check us in. The kids wake up and we have breakfast then go to the park. Later on I decide to make a trip to the hotel with as much as I can take. I try to get situated and get the kids down for a nap. It is so much easier in the hotel because you can make the rooms really dark. Natalie gets home and we go to dinner in the hotel restaurant. Major improvement! Later on we get some much needed sleep. Delaney still wakes up, but she is convinced to go back to sleep. It's nice to be back in the hotel!
FRIDAY
This day is the first that feels like somewhat of a routine. We still have half of our stuff at the Jayabheri (and most of the food) so we make due with what we have. Our room includes a nice breakfast buffet so we go eat before Natalie goes to work. The day passes fairly quickly. Still getting settled, but it feels like progress is being made. The rest of the day is uneventful.
SATURDAY
Slept in as much as possible. Natalie got some much needed kid time and I got some much needed chill time. I worked out at the Hotel's Gym. It is very nice. In the afternoon I had the driver take me back to the apartment to get the rest of the food that we had shipped along with the rest of the toys. Basically we are out of there now. Here are some pics in our room (the kids' adjoining room:
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful until the very end. I'm sure you heard about the terrorist attack in Hyderabad at a park and local restaurant. Two bombs went of within 5 minutes of eachother. Pretty scary. We're fine though. Please don't worry. The Hotel is very safe. Security is very tight. The guards check every car for bombs. None of the authorities here care if they "racially profile" either, meaning if you look suspicious you will be checked out. If something else happens like this, Deloitte might send us home early. You can read about it on any news website, or do a search for Hyderabad News on Google.
SUNDAY
Not much going on. Just glued to the TV. We ordered pizza from Pizza Hut for dinner. The dinner buffet is great, but I was getting tired of it. The buffet consists mostly of Indian food, which I love but it gives me some pretty mean farts. Natalie thinks something is wrong with me.
Next week I will start the Business plan and marketing plan for my little company-project. Also, I may get together next weekend with a guy named Edgar Sathuluri, who is from Andhra Pradesh (the state we're in in India) and who runs a local Christian Mission group named NATIVE. I've heard through my church what great things he and his group are doing here.
Anyway, I'll post more when I can. All in all though, the rest of the trip should be pretty un-eventful. We won't venture far from the hotel until the smoke clears from the recent attacks.
2 Comments:
GREAT post, Mark!
Holy shit, though, I am reading some of the news out of Hyderabad and it's not exactly filling me with deep joy, if you know what I mean. Not that I want your cool adventure to end, but Deloitte better not fuck around about pulling y'all out of there if the Indians don't solve this quickly and reassure everyone that it won't be repeated.
Somehow I doubt this was done by Methodists . . . .
Yeah I agree. One more incident and we are out of here. Hell, even if there is buzz about a future threat we may still call it. There has been no real solid information made public, only accusations. The Chief Minister of Andrha Pradesh is accusing an Islamic outfit known as HuJI.
We don't necessarily have to wait for Deloitte to pull us out or anything. They have recalled expatriates in countries before with tense situations on the ground though. For now we are content staying in this hotel.
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