Actually, I guess yesterday marked one week of living here in New Delhi. We're slowly settling in and figuring things out. It'll still take some time to fully adjust to the very different way of life.
Yesterday was our first trip to somewhere other than the embassy. Stewart and I had made plans to head to the embassy to take care of business but he found out that he needed to take a group picture for work and a long sleeve button down and tie were required. He didn't pack any in his suitcases like he thought! So we asked the downstairs housekeeper where we could go, and her husband volunteered to go with us. We got a taxi and headed off to Sarojini Nagar Market. It was crazy assault of smells... not all of them good. There were tons of shops for saris which I can't wait to go back and browse through. I will say I felt much more comfortable having Raj with us as he was able to speak with the taxi driver to make arrangements and knew exactly where we needed to go to make sure we didn't get ripped off. The downside to the trip was that I picked out a shirt for Stewart that was red and white checked. It looked nice so we got it. It wasn't until he was dressed and heading out that I realized if you weren't close to him, it was very much a pink shirt. Oops.
Today, I went with our social sponsor and another spouse to a function at the Park Hotel in downtown New Delhi. It was nice being able to see another part of the city. We drove by Parliament and other fancy government buildings. The function was an informative session on the culture of India titled "Why do Indians do that?" I found it interesting that the head bobble they do actually means I'm listening to you with respect. I also learned that they don't like to say no so they told us how to tell if you've asked your help to do something they can't do. It was helpful.
Now I'm back home in our quiet flat with the dogs. They still haven't adjusted fully. Last night was the first night that they decided to start barking in the middle of the night. That's nooooo fun. I am highly amused by the fact that people here can't say "Scout" for some reason. He keeps getting called Scott or the housekeeper downstairs thinks his name is Skunk. John says Bella as Bayla. She's coming around to him mainly because she figured out if she goes in the kitchen and sits he'll give her a treat. Needless to say her dinner did not get eaten last night!
Yesterday was our first trip to somewhere other than the embassy. Stewart and I had made plans to head to the embassy to take care of business but he found out that he needed to take a group picture for work and a long sleeve button down and tie were required. He didn't pack any in his suitcases like he thought! So we asked the downstairs housekeeper where we could go, and her husband volunteered to go with us. We got a taxi and headed off to Sarojini Nagar Market. It was crazy assault of smells... not all of them good. There were tons of shops for saris which I can't wait to go back and browse through. I will say I felt much more comfortable having Raj with us as he was able to speak with the taxi driver to make arrangements and knew exactly where we needed to go to make sure we didn't get ripped off. The downside to the trip was that I picked out a shirt for Stewart that was red and white checked. It looked nice so we got it. It wasn't until he was dressed and heading out that I realized if you weren't close to him, it was very much a pink shirt. Oops.
Today, I went with our social sponsor and another spouse to a function at the Park Hotel in downtown New Delhi. It was nice being able to see another part of the city. We drove by Parliament and other fancy government buildings. The function was an informative session on the culture of India titled "Why do Indians do that?" I found it interesting that the head bobble they do actually means I'm listening to you with respect. I also learned that they don't like to say no so they told us how to tell if you've asked your help to do something they can't do. It was helpful.
Now I'm back home in our quiet flat with the dogs. They still haven't adjusted fully. Last night was the first night that they decided to start barking in the middle of the night. That's nooooo fun. I am highly amused by the fact that people here can't say "Scout" for some reason. He keeps getting called Scott or the housekeeper downstairs thinks his name is Skunk. John says Bella as Bayla. She's coming around to him mainly because she figured out if she goes in the kitchen and sits he'll give her a treat. Needless to say her dinner did not get eaten last night!
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