Shipping Ahoy!

After a month and a half of living out of suitcases, the shipping agent here has started making noises about our ship arriving! The ship will arrive at the Bombay port, and then the truck will come to Delhi container depot where customs will release it after their whims have been satisfied! The Delhi agent who to put it mildly, is not very clear about anything (least of all custom rules) said "Its coming today!", for several days in a row, and then one day it really was here and we had to go to customs. 8 hours we sat in the customs shed trying to get our items cleared and get some signatures, and finally left after paying a minimal customs charge, but a larger amount to the customs officers.
The excitement wasnt over! In the major streets of delhi, trucks ply only at night, which helps traffic indeed, but this meant that the truck was going to move to our (temporary) house only at night. We went over at 1:00am, and directed the move which completed only at 4:30 am. Surreal! The neighbors would have hated us, except they didnt yet know who we were.
Finally, our things are back!

Seeking out familiar things

Slowly and after making numerous trips to little grocery store (that are popping up like mushrooms all over the place) we are starting to find things we love. Krafts Mac and Cheese tops the list! And pesto sauce. We love pesto so much that I actually brought parsley and basil seeds! Besides food, my daughter has found her favourite TV show "Caillou", but it is in Hindi and she is still a beginner. She has a new babysitter who she is calling Julie (you, guessed it, thats cvaillou's baby sitter)!
Onwards and upwards....

Finding our way in the new world

Everything seems hard, and the heat is like a living sauna (45 C/113 F).
Dont know where to start living life here. My husband has currently spent all week bogged down in a mountain of forms and has been held up by numerous obstacles.
If you dont fill the forms you cant start formally - you cant get housing - if you dont get housing you cant get a mobile phone or driving license - if you dont get those you cant get anythng else..
I hear we have to get a PAN card to start, appropriate in "never never" land.

Goodbye San Francisco

Todays' the day we leave. The time has come. We load our 6 suitcases into a borrowed minivan and make our way down 101 for the last time in a while. We will be spending a few days in London, and that will give us a much needed break.
Goodbye San Francisco, we'll miss you...

Saying our Goodbyes

Our things are off, and we have a week to stay with friends and take the time to say our goodbyes. Most of all we need time to say our goodbyes to San Francisco, which has been our home for so many years. We have decided to stay 1 or 2 nights at a friends house, and then move to another. Although each of these visits was cherished, and made our daughter forget in the excitement of so many sleepovers that we no longer had a house or a life, they were sad as well. Every time we said goodbye, she asked "Are we ever going to see them again", and we had to say "Not for a long time". Now she hates saying goodbyes now and doesnt respond and casually turns away each time someone says goodbye.
The first few days were good and we had a great time, and even a lovely mother's day lunch all the while realizing that our time was slowly drawing closer.

Shipping Day!

Cant believe the day is here. The 'container' is going to show up and take all our stuff- contemporary, old, borrowed, knickknacks and memories out of our beloved San Mateo house and on its way across the seas. Wait, it looks kind of small - Hope everything fits - Hope we see our things again some day.
The movers started slow and then speed up, so much that we couldnt mark off items anymore, and let them go as 'Misc'. At the end of it there were still things in drawers that we missed and yes, our favorite beer steins still in the freezer.
There it goes, lock in place, something clanging ominously, swaying down the road to the Oakland terminal and then onto a ship. Pretty sad, all our years in the US locked in a 20 foot container. We each came with 2 suitcases, and we are leaving with 199 boxes (plus some misc.). Lets take a photo. Is the lens a little blurred... is it a tear.. naah, must be the San Francisco fog..

Deciding to go for it

Well, looks like we are going for the gold. They say that such a drastic move should be talked over and all the pros and cons thrashed out, but we never did that maybe due to a fear of having to face up to our fears!
We are just going along with the flow, and the flow is taking its own course. Right now it is a scaaaaryyy move, but the long term results may be worth it. It is scary to contemplate, right now, though...

"..Let me take you down, cause I'm going to... strawberry fields...
nothing is real..."