Lazy Saturday, but then again ... maybe not

Late brunch, some games in the room, then all of a sudden we thought we should use the day for something, so off shopping again ...! We have shopped more in a week here than in a year probably in Germany ;-)
Galaxy Mall again - there is a lovely shop called Anokhi with good quality clothing suitable for the climate. Ian got 5 shirts!!! Maia a little something and me too.
In the evening we went to a place called  Cyber Hub - a perfect name!

Had a Mojita, a Cosmopolitan and a Lime Soda before the pizza (as you do) ...

 ... then coffee in Starbucks sitting outside people watching.

Suddenly this little girl walks by with her family - "Hello, Maia". It was someone from Maia's class. She is known in Gurgaon already ... :-) A really strong girl, who is coping extraordinarily well under the circumstances.

One week in Gurgaon already

Royal Endfield, the pride of India - it is here in Gurgaon, Anders L, if you want it ;-)

Pieces of glass on top of a wall. Better than barbed wire?

Suddenly it feels like we have been here for several weeks already. We have packed so much into this week! Sitting with a well deserved, post-workout, pre-shower and dinner G&T contemplating what the h-ll we have done ....!!!! .... feeling pretty good. I have met a lot of really nice, helpfull and interesting people this past week. Although one might think that sitting in the lobby of Maia's school for 3 days would be REALLY boring, it has been very interesting to observe how they work, how the children, staff and parents interact, and also have discussions with parents and staff about different philosophies concerning up-bringing, teaching, learning etc etc.
Today I met Suchitra, a young artist who's son is in nursery school at Kunskapsskolan. She was a virtual fountain of information about stuff for children to do, clinics for back ache (!), places to go and see, etc.
The school uniforms were handed out today. Maia proudly presents:

School uniform

PE (physical education) uniform with proper Adidas shoes

Last but not least the view of Gurgaon from the roof top of the hotel. On one side is the Kingdom of dreams - we thought we'd go tomorrow, but someone warned us that weekends a LOT of other people have the same idea usually.
The pool will open in a week they said 4 days ago (yeah, right ...) - summer has just started and pools are not heated here, so they usually close outdoor pools over the winter.

Kingdom of dreams just behind the park.

School has started

Maia has been to her new school for 2 days now. It is going fairly well. Some things she will have to get used to though ...
Her old school: in a nature reserve surrounded by Lake Constance, trees and birds, 14 children in total, started at 9 o'clock and always outside the first 30 minutes at least.
Her new school: in Gurgaon (about 3 million people and probably as many vehicules), 550 children in total, starts at 8 o'clock and not much time outside at all - well, it is very hot ;-)
She seems to manage quite well. I have been in the school both days all day, and she has not needed me more than a couple of times. Tomorrow she will be getting her new uniform and she wants a back pack with the school logo on it.
Last night we met Anna Andersson and her son Anders. They are just about to move to London, so they were looking for a new "home" for their driver and maid. Great! We met both and they seem very nice, speak good enough English and Anna swears they are both very reliable. I was dreading having to interview maids and drivers ... what do you look for anyway?? Well, apart from the obvious thing that they have to speak enough English so we can communicate. Problem solved. Turns out Anna needed to get rid of plants, a satelite receiver and 2 UPS - a device, which keeps whatever electronics are connected to it going during the time between a power cut and until the power back up in the house is running. Hmmm, ok, new things to learn. These breaks in the power supply can apparently damage electronic devices quite severely. Another problem solved, a problem we did not even know we had! Thank you, Anna!!! Have a great time in London :-)
Well, it did not end there - she also needed to find a new home for her plants. Ok, but we don't have an apartment yet! This is India, anything can be solved - might take time, but my impression is that there are endless possibilities (if you have money :-( ) - we asked the hotel manager, so our new plants are currently embellishing the garden in front of the hotel and will be cared for by their gardener. Fantastic!

Still feels a bit like holiday

On Sunday we saw 10 apartments in 6 different condominiums - pew! And still we missed a few apartments because the landlords had already left with the keys tired of waiting for us! I don't know how much time they plan in each place, but it could not be very much.

One of the places, La Lagune does look very interesting. The only thing is that it is brand new, and we have been advised to be careful with that because the new houses have a lot of teething problems - we have heard more or less horrific stories!

Yesterday we visited Maia's new school! Fabulous - I am sure that will turn out really well. Lisa, the head of administration, a Norwegian/Indian lady, showed us around the whole school and answered all our questions. Then we met the headmaster Mats Rosén - from Abbekås! - and had a chat with him. I have no idea how he did it, but he managed to be very sweet, informative and professional although he had just had probably one of the worst days of the year behind him - the first day for the nursery and Kindergarten children AND their parents (and this after just coming back from Punjab, where Kunskapsskolan just opened a new school). He must have been absolutely exhausted, but was still very happy.

Today, April Fools, we went again with the estate agent to see some apartments.

View of Gurgaon from a balcony at La Lagune

View of the second building in La Lagune complex

This is where the workers live while they are building. Once it is finished, they have to move.

We needed a break again - maybe not the most exciting culinary experience we ever had ...

Some pictures from The Summit

Last but not least a few pictures of today's result from yet another visit to a mall. In it we found Le Marche Sugar & Spice, a grocery store where all kinds of goodies can be found, also some European if the cravings get to strong.

Don't know what it is, but liked the name .....

Lars, Mido and Julien - no need to bring Lindt or Milka!!!

Finally we found some clothes for Maia to wear! Well, I might have found something also ... What I am wearing cost all in all about 14 euros ... excluding the sun glasses ...

This is what we have to suffer in the evenings. I certainly hope the container does not take too long to get here!

We have arrived in Gurgaon, India!

Here am I thinking I would have lots of time to write about our arrival, post pictures and let you all know we have landed and are doing very well. (Where on earth did that idea come from?)
Not so - instead, here I am, 4 days later and posting my first insert from India! Well, maybe that is actually me already getting accustomed to the Indian way ... a bit of the "mañana" mentality :-)

In any case, the flight was fabulous (Lufthansa flights were on time in spite of the rumour of strike, which reached us the day before departure!).

... sparkling wine and gin tonic ...

... food and films ...

... and finally a good sleep!

We arrived at the Indira Gandhi airport in New Dehli a little ahead of time at 07.40 on Friday March 28, 2014.

All 6 (!) bags arrived with us!

Although summer has begun, it was actually not as hot as it can be at this time of year. The car, which was supposed to meet us and take us to our hotel, was 1,5 hrs late - we were prepared with patience, so no problem (I wonder how long that will last ... ). A very helpful guy offered to call the missing driver and at the same time taught us our first very useful lesson - keep at it! He kept calling the driver every 10 minutes to check that he was actually on his way. 30 minutes later he did show up and took us to a hotel - however, not in Gurgaon but in Manesar, which is a little outside Gurgaon, where Ian will work. Someone had booked a room very convenient for Ian - a nice suite with a little kitchen even, close to work - but unfortunatelly very inconventient for Maia and myself. They had not received the information that Ian was coming with family already from day 1.

At breakfast suddenly this guy turns up - on 5th floor hanging in a rope outside the window cleaning it!

Not a problem though. The very next day we moved to another hotel in town close to shopping facilities, restaurants and most importantly close to Maia's new school - Kunskapsskolan. From here Maia can take the school bus even!

We checked in, left the luggage and immediately asked the driver to take us to some place where we get some summer clothes. Maia was still wearing her lined trousers and long sleeve shirt! Galaxy Mall was our first stop. A really nice and not too big shopping mall, where we found some clothes suitable for the climate - and looking good!

Conny - they do have big sizes in India!

A great surprise was the great Chinese (!) restaurant on second floor! We had lovely dim sums - Maia tried the spinach ones ... and liked it! YES!

Next - the Ambience Mall - the complete opposite! Huge!

Here we found an airtel shop and purchased prepaid sim cards for our mobile phones - now we don't feel "naked" anymore. Strange, isn't it, how quickly one gets used to having a phone at all times. How on earth did we survive before mobile phones??
This is also where Ian first found out about Kunskapsskolan in Gurgaon.

In the evening we had a meal in the hotel - yet another Chinese restaurant ... The waiter asked what we wanted to drink - beer, please. A large one? Sure, a pint, that's fine.

A mistake we will not make again! I could hardly lift the glass ;-)

Maia was happy - yes, she really was, but here looking cool! - in her new hat.

On Sunday we spent most of the day looking at apartments in different condominiums together with an estate agent and her driver. Exhausting, interesting, informative and hot! They left us at the Ambience Mall again since our phones, in spite of brand new sim cards, refused to dial or receive calls. Of course, it was too easy ... they had to be activated, not once but twice in different ways ... (don't ask) ... We stayed for a while and explored - turns out there is a cinema, an amusement park and lots of other things in this mall! Maia and I went to a 5D movie - a .... special experience ... then for the possibly best part of the day ... the taxi back to the hotel.

If ... some of us look a bit apprehensive it is because we are in a disguised moped on the motorway in CRAZY traffic with no seat belts, no doors and a driver who looks about 14!

Fun though ....

... until next time