3 weeks

I typed "3 weeks" and started crying.  Savannah and I have had a great experience so far, but we sure are missing home.  She was sick this weekend, which is not fun anywhere, but maybe a little extra not fun in a hotel room with no comforts of "home" other than your doggy and your mommy.  And even those probably aren't very comfortable when the dog was sick, too, and your mom is grumpy about having to clean that up... in a hotel room, nonetheless.  In any event, she is feeling better now, but it made her long to be back stateside a little bit, I think.  And I have done better with not crying about every little thing anymore.  We have been busy, getting acclimated to our new city, our new culture, getting the flat details ironed out, Sav focusing on school and her new friends, me trying to focus on work for the few hours I am in the office each evening and start learning names and faces.  It's certainly enough to keep our minds occupied and not thinking about the friends and family we left... but when we sit for a few minutes, and not let our minds be distracted, our hearts hurt a little bit more than we expected.  It would really be nice to have a hug from Michael or my dad right about now.  I think Savannah could use a talk with Megan and Olivya or hang out by the pool with Clare.  It would be fun to go for pizza and bellinis with the girls and my mom at the Grotto to celebrate Mom's birthday tomorrow. And I could just cuddle Kate and Kam for hours on end... but these aren't options for us right now.  It's the longest we have been away from our loved ones and it's pretty tough. I know we will be OK.  And I am SO thankful for technology such as Viber (download it to your phone if you don't have it - really awesome app for free calls/texts overseas!), Skype, Facebook and even this Blogger site.  Even with all the technology available, we still miss you guys and can't wait to start making plans to come home in December.  Gives us something to look forward to, that's for sure.
Enough about that!  When Savannah was feeling OK on Sunday we went to have dinner with the other NAM expat, Tom, at Gideon's home.  He was so gracious and invited us to share a home cooked South Indian meal after taking us to a local church Sunday evening.  We met his lovely wife and daughters and enjoyed a nice visit and a nice meal.  Poor Gideon has hauled Savannah and me around enough to know that she is NOT looking forward to making Indian food her staple, but he's been patient and kind and working little by little to introduce it to her.  She has said several times how she doesn't like spicy so he had his wife prepare the mail with "less spice" and even made two chicken entrees and she made one "very bland" just for Savannah.  haha  We had beef cutlets, fresh cucumber, roti roomali (almost like a tortilla YUM!) and I don't remember what the chicken dishes were called, but one was green and one was red.  I reallllllly liked the green one a lot.  Savannah did not enjoy it as much, poor thing, but her friends at school are still making her try something Indian almost every day, so it won't be long and she will find something she likes :)  Other than the food, the dinner itself was very interesting. The families eat much later here than in the US.  Generally dinner is served between 8:30 and 9, so that is one big difference.  And then, the table was set with three settings... just enough for the guests.  So we sat to eat, but Tom and I kept asking our hosts to please eat with us.  It took several times of us asking, but Gideon made a plate and joined.  His wife then made a plate for the youngest daughter, Sharon (she is a wild one, reminds me of Kameryn :)) and we chatted while we ate.  But first, they watched our reaction as we tried each of the new foods.  If you have seen the movie, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, (I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it yet!) it was reminiscent to a scene where a guest goes to the home of a staff member and everyone is anxiously awaiting her approval of the food she was presented.  It was very sweet and we had a nice time. Pretty neat first for us.  We are so thankful to have Gideon as our first point of contact here in Chennai. 
And our flat should be ready for move in Friday/Saturday of this week.  A few days behind schedule, but probably better so we do not have to pull Savannah out of school for a day and we are still looking for help that can stay overnight with her while I work.  Hoping to firm that up pretty quickly.  Once we get in, I will post some pics.  It's really lovely and the landlord has been very kind working with us and our crazy American ways.  We are blessed.
Hugs and love and thanking you for your continued prayers as we miss you all so much!

"I can't get you, maam."

These are the words I hear several times a day, mostly from the hotel staff, but I am sure once we are out on our own we will hear it more often: I can't get you.  The American translation is: blank stare, "Huh?"  I have the blank stare often when someone tells me his or her name.  I try to listen closely and sound it out as they say it.  And repeat it (the blank stare is multilingual and multinational). And generally repeat it again when I say, "I'm sorry.  One more time?" with a hint of hopefulness that this time I WILL get it. More often than not, the conversation turns away from the formalities of one's good name and continues onto whatever it is the purpose of our meeting began with.  And that is generally when I hear "I can't get you, maam."  
Example:
Ring Ring
 "Transpotation."
"Hi, this is Nikki Grant from room 138. I need a car to the office, please. Can it be ready at XX time?"
   "Hello?"
"Hi, yes, I need a car at XX time, please?"
  "Maam, you need a car?"
"Yes. I need a car at XX time."
  "Maam are you ready for pick up?  Where are you?"
"I am in room 138 and going to Prince Infocity at XX time. OK?"
  "I can't get you, maam.  Can you please repeat?"
(slower and maybe a little bit louder) "Prince Infocity.  Maersk office."
  "Merk?  M - E - R - K?  Prince Infocity, maam?"
"Yes.  At XX time, please?"
  "What is your room number, maam?"
 - and Savannah is laughing in the background because this is almost every conversation.  And I hang up and sigh.  I wonder if the other participant in the conversation is bothered by my thick accent?  Like I used to be when I called a service provider for help and couldn't understand the person on the other end of the phone... Or if it doesn't have any impact on them at all, other than needing me to repeat myself so they can get the necessary information and do the needful.  
There is a lot of doing the needful around here.  I thought it was a "Maersk thing" - like Thanks & rgds at the and of a telex (yes, that's right... telex for all you non-Maerskies out there.  We are in e mails, now but that's a recent jump into last century we made). But, no, it's an Indian thing.  And the SOP following.  I called for some soup for my kiddo a little bit ago.  It was 12:24 PM.  Lunch begins at 12:30.  The in-room dining attendant who took my call said she would check with the manager to see if they could accommodate the early request for lunch menu items and would call me back.  She did, and they did... But it's just another example of a shift in mindset Savannah and I will be working to understand and appreciate.  Different for sure.
What else?  Oh!  Last night in the office I participated in the first birthday celebration here.  I was plugging away on the computer and a young lady came over with a basket of Kit Kat candy bars.  She handed me one with a smile.  I thanked her and said "how thoughtful."  I thought it was just a Friday treat, maybe.  I haven't had a chance to meet much of the staff, so did not know this girl, but appreciated the thought and continued with my e mails.  A couple hours later, Asif, who I had met the night before, walked over and asked if I would like to come to the "cake cutting celebration for the girl's birthday" - "Sure, what girl?" - "The one who was passing out candy bars earlier. It's her birthday."  So we went to the cafeteria and the entire team gathered around a table with a beautiful cake and everyone was laughing and smiling and taking photos.  I decided I better introduce myself so I wished her a happy birthday and asked her name (bet you think you know where this is going...).  She said, "Marcy."  Blank stare.  In my head - Did she say Marcy?  That's too easy.  Surely that's night right.  But I'll go with it. "Ok, Marcy.  Nice to meet you and thank you for inviting me to the birthday celebration" - hoping I said her name right so as not to offend the birthday girl.  A warm smile and "Thank you" relieved my tension.  I guess I got it.
So the cake is out of the bakery box and Marcy is ready to cut it.  But everyone is taking photos with their phones.  I want a photo, too!  So I asked the girl in front of me to snap one real quick because I see it has her name on the cake and I can confirm if it really is Marcy! 

So it wasn't Marcy, but that is how it was pronounced, and that is close enough for me.  I will tell you quickly about the cake cutting celebration.  I am more intrigued with the culture each day.  The birthday girl cut the first slice of the cake and then began to hand out bites - yes,  just bites - to the managers, myself included.  Hmm, ok, I will eat this bite.  Oh, and it was yummy, too.  Moist and fresh.  Anyway, she waited for each of us to eat our bites and then proceeded to cut slices.  And serve them on little cake plates.  But only to the managers, again. I really wasn't hungry, so politely declined. She stood there holding it for me. "Just one?" she asked. "Oh, really, no, thank you." "You did not like it?" "No it was delicious. Ok I will have it."  Sigh.  I can't refuse anything for fear of offending someone.  I just THOUGHT I was going to come over here and lose some weight LOL.  So the managers all had their cake on plates (I had a spoon with mine - figure that is my western heritage they noticed) and then the staff began taking pieces from the cake plate almost all at once. Everyone was in a hurry to grab a piece - no plates - and eat it up.  The cake was devoured in under 2 minutes.  I know the Olympics started and if cake eating was a sport, this team would have a gold medal.  It was neat to be part of the celebration and to see how happy Mercy/Marcy was to have everyone there enjoying the cake in her honor.  I am glad I was invited.
Today Savannah and I will go find fabric for the curtains in the new flat and a modem and a land line handset.  And probably a couple towels and dishes to tide us over until our container arrives (hmm I should check on that, as it was scheduled to load yesterday.  Maersk better not have rolled it! haha).  Our driver is here so I will go now.  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and can't wait to tell you on Tuesday or Wednesday that we are in our new place :) 
Hugs and love from Sholinganallur (a section of Chennai).  Try to say that!  hahah

Various Photos

Looking for a new place to live is exhausting...

Elsie the cow waiting on a bus with everyone else

Aloft staff with "their Dynamo"

Do you know how excited I was to see "margarita" on the menu?  Too bad it was alcohol free... Savannah enjoyed it.

She doesn't even really like pizza, but was thrilled to have it last week.

Savannah's horsey ride on Elliot's beach

Our first south Indian dinner, with Sulochana from my office

On the way to school.  Day 1 in India!

Savannah's first breakfast in India

Our first meal out of the hotel - Marrybrown Chicken

Gandhi. Among other things.

It's been a few days and many of you have asked for an update.  Sorry, I am a little new to this "everyone wants to know what's going on" thing.  Usually a Facebook status update every few days is sufficient, but I guess when you up and move to another continent, friends and family get a little ansty for news and updates.
My last post was about racism.  I was sad, hurt, confused.  I am better today.  I had to put it back in big picture scope, which is generally something I am pretty good at but apparently failed here, and realize I had a bit of negativity thrown into our otherwise uneventful move across the globe.  Everyone else has been warm and welcoming.  Curious, without a doubt, but friendly.  So we will move right along and put that behind us.  
Apartment/Flat update - It's good news! Met with the landlord today and he had workers at the flat taking care of business already.  He's agreed to all the requests on our list for furniture and appliances/white goods and we are hopefully set for move in of next Tuesday or Wednesday!  It can't come soon enough because I started  my evening shift tonight and this schedule difference will be a challenge with Savannah and me, but throwing in that we are sharing one room at the hotel doesn't make it any easier.  As a matter of fact, I am pretty sure my clicking of the keyboard is probably not helping her rest well, so I will try not to be too long tonight.
First day of work went well... really was only a few hours in the office and all of them spent catching up on or cleaning up my e mails. I did take a few minutes to go visit the Diversions team I worked with in February long enough for them to hear me massacre the few Tamil words and phrases I have learned and laugh hysterically at me.  Good times LOL  The funnier part will be when I know LOTS of Tamil and I hear them talking about me and I call them out on it.  I can hardly wait on that day! haha
Savannah started school Tuesday and absolutely loved it.  She made a friend, Ila (Eee-luh) who is Indian, but grew up in Las Vegas up until about 2 years ago.  She was here visiting family on vacation and her father had a heart attack.  Instead of trying to go back to the US with his poor health, they decided to move and she enrolled school then.  There is another Indian-descent boy who just moved from Dallas about a month ago, so she has some American friends already who she can relate to that have gone through or are going through similar feelings about such a big move.  (This relieves Mom immensely!)  I picked her up from school on Tuesday and I am pretty sure she didn't quit talking until she fell asleep.  She talked about her teacher, Salomon, and Ila, and how they are going to make her start trying Indian food until she likes it, and how she is going to graduate early (remember that was her original plan...) and how Ila is graduating early, and how the little kids in the hallway stare at her and touch her, and how the older kids joked about how the school is now "posh" because they have a "white girl" attending.  Oh, it's funny to listen to her go on.  She was just as chatty today, which makes me really happy.  Until she doesn't stop. And then it reminds me how we need to be in that multi bedroom flat ASAP. hehe  One of the stories she was pretty proud of was that Solomon asked her if she knew who Gandhi was and she did. His face is on all Indian Rupees, the currency here.  And she explained his role in India and credited her teacher, Mr. Strickland, from World Geography last year for focusing on India when she told him she was moving. 
Last night on the way back to the hotel, she and I stopped at a cell phone store to get her a new phone to use with a local number so she can get in contact with me all the time and, of course, text her new friends. So we were looking at all the options, which are considerably more expensive here than in the States, by the way, and selected a phone for her.  Funny shopping trip: In walk Nikki & Savannah.  All 5 employees stop their chatty conversation and stare at us. I smile, tell them we are looking for a handset for my daughter and already have a postpaid sim card.  So one brave soul walks over and starts showing me the phones. Well, I am an iPhone girl.  This Android stuff confuses me and I don't know about anything other than how to download an app for whatever it is I need. But the iPhones are nearly a grand and that is SO not happening. So I tell them she needs to be able to download a texting app, basically. And make local calls and texts.  Easy enough.  We decide on the Samsung Galaxy something or other (not the new one, it's a more simple Indian version, I think) and we pay too much for it. But as we are there looking at phones, I see movement out of the corner of my eye and I look up.  One of the employees has his phone out and is taking pictures!  LOL I smiled and waved (what else would I do?) and asked if he wants one of Savannah and me together.  Well, he was mortified, embarrassed, and wanted to crawl in a hole and his buddy told me he wasn't taking pictures, of course not, no, no, no.  He was adjusting his camera.  Ummm OK.  It's just funny.  People are curious about us.  I am not sure why, but they are intrigued with the western world and our pale skin, I suppose.  It was a funny trip that ended with them telling us Savannah looked like a movie star over here - tried to catch the name but never quite got it to look her up - and doubt that's the case, but it was a cute cover up.  
Curiosity is OK with us.  We will answer any questions and talk to anyone.  It's not always comfortable, but it's OK; we will happily oblige some friendly conversation.
Well, I am sure there are more funny stories to tell, but I am tired (it's 2 AM again - 2 nights in a row for this almost third shifter!) so I will leave with a quote from Gandhi, known as the "Father of the nation" according to a conversation with our great host (Gideon) yesterday, and many online sources: Where love is, there God is also.

It's because we are white, isn't it?

It is Sunday... late afternoon, early evening.  Savannah and I ventured out into the city twice this weekend "on our own" - but not really because we had drivers from the hotel who were super nice and made sure we were well taken care of.  But maybe it's OK to say we were on our own when it came to speaking with sales people, ordering lunch, etc.  Because the most we have done that previous to this weekend was at the hotel, and that doesn't really count.  Yesterday we went shopping around at furniture and white goods stores for prices and items we would like so we could give a list to the prospective landlord for the flat (apartment) that we we are interested in. He has been very willing to work with us (re/Dynamo) and gave us a decent budget so that we could furnish the flat since that is part of our need.  We did pretty well by ourselves, I think.  We only had to ask the driver once to help us translate to Tamil, but it turned out the seller wasn't speaking Tamil at all, rather Hindi, so we left and came back later when there was another employee for us to speak with.  And we stopped at KFC (Savannah's request) for lunch and ordered without assistance.  Pretty exciting!  LOL  (Sometimes it's the little things...)
Today, though, I am sad to say we were not as successful.  We did not make it up early enough to attend church, which starts around 0730 at most locations.  We need to look online and see what our options are and prep for next week.  We woke up and ate breakfast and then came back to the room just to relax a bit.  Late morning, housekeeping wanted to come service our room so I told Savannah we would take Dy for a walk around the building and then we decided to sit in the lobby because it's not a very big building and lazy Savannah did not want to go around again.  So we just sat and enjoyed the atmosphere for a little while with Dy on his leash and laying around the chairs we were in.  As we were seated, a girl from the restaurant who always ask about Dynamo (See previous "Where's your Dynamo" blog entry), saw us and said, "Dynamo do you want to come play?"  Well, Savannah did not have a grip on the leash and BOY DID HE EVER want to go play!  He raced towards Desley and she became terrified.  She threw her armful of books at him (yes, AT him) and ran the other way.  He was so confused.  Poor thing.  So of course Savannah and I raced over to get him and apologize and, really and truly, worked really hard at suppressing our laughter. I mean, this is a grown woman, throwing her very large armful of books at the 15 pound Boston Terrier who she just invited to play...  It really was funny.  BUT, I am very worried that this is the type of attitude everyone is going to have - fear of our sweet boy - so he will always be confined to a leash outdoors.  I guess it's not that big of a deal, but I am trying to impart the seriousness to Savannah.  Savannah, who laughs uncontrollably when she tells me (remember, she needs friends?) the story of Dynamo and Desley.  15 times since it happened.  And still cracking up every time.  Sigh.
Shortly after Dynamo "attacked" (AKA wanted to play) the hotel staff, I decided we needed to get out for a while. Savannah was complaining she was hungry so I found some restaurants online and we decided to try Italian food.  We went to a nice place in the city and saw lots on the menu we recognized.  As we were enjoying our caprese salad, a large party of two families came to be seated at the table near us.  One of the women turned around, looked us up and down, and told the other woman and the husbands something, and they took their kids and moved.  Moved to another table in the restaurant.  Because of Savannah and me.  I was so confused.  And hurt.  And sad.  And disgusted.  And then sad again.  I did not really enjoy the rest of my meal with what I thought had just happened weighing on my heart.  I wanted to ask the waiter if they moved because of us, but Savannah did not want me to, so I didn't.  We finished our meal.  I was a little grumpy.  We split tiramisu and it was delicious.  I was a little less grumpy.  But as we walked out, we passed that family and I got sad again.
When we left the restaurant I told the driver what happened and he said, motioning to his arm, "It is because of the skin color."  That was it.  He reaffirmed what I already knew.  I might have been judged by a million other things in my life - my clothes, my taste in music, my friends, my hair, my accent, who knows what else?  But my skin color?  This is a first for me and I am having a hard time with it.  And if that wasn't enough, Savannah wanted to pick up a couple snacks from the store on our way back to the hotel so we stopped nearby and we were followed through the entire store (granted it was little) by an employee.  And then we were charged 435 rupees, which is around $8 for a box of pop tarts.  I was flustered and upset, paid for them and left.  The driver could tell I was upset and asked for my bill (receipt) and went back in the store to get it.  I told him I knew we were charged too much, but it was OK and let's just go.  I am not sure what he said to the store owner, but he was very sweet and I could tell he was looking out for us.
So, that's my recap of this weekend.  I am hoping tomorrow starts out a better week and we get to move forward with the flat and start to settle down some.  Savannah will start school on Tuesday so she will have a chance to make friends and not have to talk my ear off all the time.  Those are two great things to look forward to :)
This white girl is sending lots of love and hugs from India to all my friends and family back home, no matter what color your skin is.  Miss you all terribly!

Friday update

Vennakkam!

I was trying to think of something clever to call today's post, but either I am too tired or I've just lost my creative edge for the week.  It has been a long week, but feeling pretty productive.  Savannah is enrolled to start school.  We began the Indian immigration process yesterday and made it to "round 2" so will go back Monday afternoon, hoping we are approved and that is the last step.  She will begin school on Tuesday, even though in south India (where we are), Tuesday is considered an inauspicious day to begin a new journey.  This is according to some the ladies in the office and searching google it appears to be linked to the Hindu religion.  Fortunately for us, we are Christian and she can get out of my hair on Tuesday and not have to wait until Wednesday LOL.  We thought we had a good feeling about an apartment we viewed earlier in the week, but after a second run through last night, decided it needed more work that we originally thought and are now looking at others.  Please keep the house hunt in your prayers.  I need to get into the office and start working next week, so really needing to move forward with the home and in-home help - the person to stay with Savannah over nights while I work.  We have spent a lot of time with our admin host, Gideon, from the ML office.  He is a Chennai native and has been extremely warm and helpful.  He enjoys Savannah's humor and has gone out of his way to make sure we are comfortable and acclimating well.  We ate lunch at places suited to "her" taste (that might be mine, too, shhh) like Marrybrown, Don Pepe MEXICAN!, Subway and Pizza Hut.  Savannah has been quite pleased with these choices.  Today, though, Gideon has half threatened/half promised Savannah that she will try Indian food.  I am not sure if she is up for the challenge, but I figure we better give it a whirl now as we will surely immerse ourselves over the next 2 years.  Hmm what else?  I signed up for the local bank.  They actually came to the office for me and the other expat from NAM, Tom, and we had to sign a zillion forms but we have an official Indian checking/savings account and a debit/visa card to be spending all our rupees.  Oh and yesterday after we visited the immigration office - I was pleased there was AC for that trip! - we drove by the Baltic Sea coast, which is very near, and then stopped at the Express Avenue mall.  It's quite high end and we won't be going there very often, unless Mommy needs some Mac make up.  haha 

I will end with a note that there have been times when I look around at the dirty streets, cows and goats in the road, crazy drivers (understatement of the year!) and the overall different world we are in, I am overwhelmed with homesickness and wonder why I am here.  That happened a couple times yesterday on the drive to and from the immigration office.  And each time, almost as quickly as I thought about it, something beautiful would come into my vision.  A lovely lush area with trees and the most fabulous orange flowers I have ever seen.  A beautiful toddler dancing around her young mother as they walk down the street. A courtyard adjacent to a women's university that offers hope to a desolate area.  A cathedral so beautiful and detailed that it can only be by God's design.  He is reminding me of the beauty I am overlooking.  I literally laughed out loud yesterday about the third time He showed me. There is a reason we are here.  I will find the beauty and share it with the world as I reaffirm it to myself.   

We are about to head into the office again and do some apartment hunting with Savannah and Gideon.  And I am guessing some Indian food for our late lunch :) Should be fun.

Where's your Dynamo?

Our little stowaway out of his kennel on the first flight over. Shhh don't tell Lufthansa!

It has been a couple busy days here in Chennai.  Savannah and I have been out and about checking out schools and apartments.  She decided on Gateway American, and I think it's an excellent choice.  She will have the opportunity to advance her studies and graduate from here during our 2 years.  If I haven't said it before, I am very proud of this girl. We will turn in application information later today and hopefully have her starting early next week.  We have also been searching for our home for the next two years.  There are lots of options, but Savannah likes the fanciest ones best, of course.  We have to take into consideration factors like commute to and from work for me, school for her, security, maintenance availability, expat neighbors, noise level, and more I can't even think of right now.  I am pretty confident we will firm something up by the middle of next week, but having little Dynamo with us has been a challenge because there aren't a wholeeeeeeeee lotta pet lovers here in India.  Cross your fingers for us, because this hotel room is getting smaller every day... 2 double beds, a mom, a teenager and a dog.  Did I mention the teenager doesn't like to be quiet?  Anyone who has hung around my kiddo for any length of time knows she is a talker.  And when she's not talking, she is singing. Or humming. Or smacking her lips.  Or cracking her knuckles. The list goes on.  Can you tell we need our own space? LOL
So, speaking of our little challenge, Dynamo, funny stories about this guy.  I was stressed out before we left the US because we had to get permits to bring him here and the pet transporter I was working with flaked out on us.  Fortunately I was able to make connections with another to walk me through the process and obtain an official USDA approval form and get what we needed in place so we could get a No Objections Certificate over here to allow him into India.  We decided to carry him in cabin with us on the Lufthansa flights over and might have fudged a bit on his height in order to do so...  but it all worked out.  He sat in his little soft-sided carrying kennel like a champ for both flights.  He did not whimper, whine, or bark once.  He even spent about half of each flight in Savannah's lap, under a blanket, without anyone being the wiser.  When we were leaving the plane in Chennai a lady behind us was so surprised we had him, as she hadn't heard him the entire flight, unlike the toddler in the row next to us. hehe  Before we got here, my colleagues in the ML office indicated it was a bit of a headache to find a hotel that allowed him to join us, but they did, and we are being well taken care of at the Aloft. As a matter of fact, the hotel has treated us very well, and I think part of it might be due to the celebrity we have brought along.  EVERY time we leave the room or come back into the building, they always ask "Where's your Dynamo?" - no bother about Savannah and me and how we are, but just want to know where our Dynamo is.  It's very cute and they all like to pet him and talk to him when we take him out for walks.  At first the staff was stand offish and a bit leery, especially the men.  Now they ALL love him and Savannah might even be a little jealous of the attention he gets. 
Well it is a little after 8 AM here and although I have been up for over 4 hours (better than yesterday when I woke up at 0230!) I suppose I should get out of bed and get the day started.   We learned how to say HELLO in the local language, Tamil, yesterday, and plan to learn one word or phrase a day together.  So I will hop in the shower and go tell everyone Vanakkam when I take their favorite guest, Dynamo, out for his walk.
Love to you all!

Welcome to India!

So I guess this crazy trip all started late last summer when I was getting restless in my last few classes at school.  I was due to complete my degree program through University of Phoenix in November, 2011, and it could not come quick enough.  I was praying every day for God to give me guidance on what I should be doing with my degree... Do I stay at Maersk Line, the company I have loved since I started 11 years ago even though there is not a lot of opportunity in Houston - and I had been doing the same thing all those years? Or do I branch out, keep an open mind, and look for something else? I left it in God's hands, asking for guidance often and prepping for degree completion. 

November finally arrived.  It was an exciting month.  My friends and family threw a big party and we had a great time.  My colleagues at work had a special day planned with food and a beautiful keepsake engraved. I was proud that I had stuck with school even going through a divorce and raising Savannah through her early teenage years. I was glad to be an example to her and hoped it inspired her to go to college sooner than her dear old mom. It was a wonderful time and led right into the Christmas holidays and onto 2012.  All the while, I was still praying for guidance in my career.  "OK, God.  I am 35 and done with college now.  What's Your plan?"  (I might or might not be a bit impatient.)  I was looking on the internal job portal at work to see what else was out there.  I tried to be open minded and looked outside of The Woodlands office and even went down by the Galleria for an interview... oh, how that drive would have killed me.  But nothing jumped out, so 2012 crept in and I celebrated the degree once more on a week long cruise with my closest friends, Savannah, Robert and Mom.  Then I traveled to Charlotte, NC for some training.  The training was called Leading Others and it renewed my passion for leadership and customer service. (Sometimes a bit over-zealous in my methods, sometimes over the top in voicing my opinion, but the bottom line is that whatever I was fighting for was either for my team, or for my customer, and it was worth a battle, if necessary.) One exercise we ran through was a coaching session, and as the "victim" in this one, I discussed my desire for something more in my role and wanted to work on some career-pathing. 

When I was back in the office after that training and self-reflection, I sat down to chat with my director about what a beneficial week it was and how I would like to focus my search on roles that suited my passion - customer service and/or leadership.  No individual contributor roles for this girl, unless I knew the road led back to my foundation in CS or leading.  We had a good conversation and then the subject changed.  In October of 2010 we were advised that some tasks currently handled in our team were transitioning to a team in our Global Service Center in Chennai, India.  One task was the diversions process and the supervisor of that team had been heavily involved in the transition, just keeping the rest of the management team informed of progress.  My team was responsible for their own diversions and we did not have their work on the radar for transition, knowing any handover of work would have its share of hiccups and it was best not to burden our high profile customers until the process was smooth and we could seamlessly transition their needs.  Apparently while I was out of the office, the transition had gotten bumpier and the customers were suffering.  Dennis asked if I would be willing to travel to Chennai and help guide the team for a week.  I was excited and ready to go.  What an awesome opportunity - an international experience for work!  

After working closely with Rhonda at work to secure a visa and travel details, Danielle to keep my kiddo and dog, and Deidra for some quick hitter diversions refresher courses, I hopped on a plane (ok, 2 planes) and made my way to Chennai.  Nearly 24 hours later I was on the southeast coast of India at nearly midnight on a Monday.  I wish I could remember all my initial reactions to relay, but I can't.  I remember being so tired and not knowing where to go to find my driver.  The hotel was sending someone to pick me up and he was to be holding a sign for me to easily identify, but I did not see him anywhere in the droves of people waiting out front holding up signs and waiving me over to take their car where I needed to be.  In a bit of panic mode, I called my contact at the ML office, Harish.  I am not sure exactly what he heard in my voice when I called (fear? exhaustion? sensory overload?) but he called the hotel on the other phone and I heard him tell them "The driver is not there. (pause) Tell him find her! (pause) She's AMERICAN - what do you THINK she looks like?? She can't be that hard to spot!"  Even in my state, I knew that was pretty funny as I looked around.  He was right.  I kind of stood out.  And minutes later, the driver found me.  Imagine that.  

The week was wonderful. The team was open and kind and full of excitement to gain the knowledge I brought with me.  I had a terrific time, although I did not get out to see the city much at all.  Friday I did go to an Indian lunch with Harish and Shrimohan. We shopped for a Sari for Savannah, got mendhi on my left hand and found some souvenirs to take back to my team. After only about 2 hours of sleep we went running around in the heat all day and then went to work that night. I don't know if the lack of sleep set in and deliriousness was in full effect, (I was working over nights - NAM, North America, hours and as the week progressed I got less and less sleep), but I never laughed so hard as I did on that Friday shopping trip and luncheon.  The team made huge progress by having someone there to fill in the blanks in the process and help connect some dots that were not making sense.  I received many e mails and IM's while I was there saying what an upswing the process seemed to be taking in my few days of presence.  It was terrific and fulfilling.  I left a happy leader, and I made some new friends as well.


Upon my return back to Houston, I had an e mail from my vice-president of customer service thanking me for the trip and advising that he understood the director of the One Team (the team I had visited and worked with) was looking for a long term NAM representative to join his team for a year plus and asked if I was interested.  I chuckled to myself.  "Umm, no.  I don't think so."  And then laughed again.  But I was not quick to reply as I was catching up on more pressing e mails and put it on the back burner with many more.  Two nights later, I woke up in the middle of the night and knew I was supposed to be in Chennai.  I am not sure why, but God laid it on my heart.  I replied back to Henning the next morning and told him I was open to discussions.


That was early March.  It is now mid-July.  Savannah and I are in the hotel, listening to the endless honking on the nearby busy street at 7 AM on this hot Saturday morning.  We are adjusting to the time change and started the school visits and apartment hunting yesterday.  We will continue our efforts today, in a few hours.


Emotionally, I am wrecked.  Seeing our home of 15 years packed up last weekend was more than I was ready for.  Telling my best friends, the man I love, my nieces, my step-son and my parents that I would see them in December broke my heart.  I cried on the plane a dozen times for what seemed like no reason to anyone else.  But I would hear a song in the iPod that reminded me of something or someone and I would cry.  A baby in the row ahead of us would smile and it reminded me of my sweet Kameryn and I would cry.  I closed my eyes and saw my empty house again and I cried.  Changed planes in Frankfurt, talked to Michael, texted Mom, and cried.  I figure this crying thing (which is pretty out of the norm for me) should pass.  I hope it does, anyway.  Savannah doesn't understand it and the only thing I can tell her is I am OK, just adjusting.  After 35 years of living in the same 7 mile radius and always having my friends and family within a few blocks, I am on the other side of the world.  

I know God has a plan for us.  There is a reason for us to be here.  I am not worried or scared.  He worked out every step of the way for us to get here... opened doors and provided opportunities that would not have otherwise happened without His touch.  I stand firm that this is where we are supposed to be.  But the adjustment will take us some time.  I will not be too proud to ask for your prayers.  Savannah has been much stronger than I could have ever imagined.  She has made me so proud and I tell her often.  I am pretty sure she is tired of hearing it, especially since it is often through tears.  "Really, Mom?  Again?"  That's her most used phrase these days.  


So... that's how we got here. Savannah and a handful of my friends have dubbed us the Indian Princesses. So these Indian Princesses better get moving to eat some breakfast and explore our new city and try to find the place we will make our home for the next two years.  I will try to keep this updated with our adventures along the way.