While there are some positives to working the night shift in India (awake and working when my NAM colleagues are online, avoid the sweltering heat and humidity of the daylight, not as much traffic back and forth to the office), I have been acutely aware of the downfalls to such a shift... Difficult to handle necessary tasks such as government office registration, home utility set up, and banking transactions, challenging to function somewhat normally on the weekend when my daughter would like to leave the compound and do things, and lack of time to explore the world around us with a crazy sleep schedule. These challenges have presented themselves to me quite a bit over the past several days.
Saturday we had a team outing for work. The plan was to arrive at Jade Resort around 10, after heading home for a quick nap after my 5 am shift ended. Good plan. Well, I like to sleep. So waking up at 9:30 after falling asleep around 6:30 was a challenge, but I did it. Got myself moving and in the car, communicated poorly with the driver, showing him the resort's address and map that I had saved to my phone (correct, still no 3G service!) and asking him to take me there. Trying to pronounce the 2 cities the resort falls between and the perplexed look on his face only got me frustrated (remember, going on 3 hours of sleep here). So I showed him the virtual map again, said the road name (ECR, that's a pretty easy one) and pointed in the direction I figured we needed to be going. So he went. And we eventually made it there, after he stopped twice to ask locals for some help. I don't know if he was asking them to take the grumpy American off his hands or if he asked for directions, but either way, we made it. So I went in to the front office and asked for the Maersk party and was directed to the third building back. So I walked to the third building and looked around for familiar faces. Nope. So I walked over to the desk and asked this guy for the Maersk party. Blank stare. Taking me back to the Aloft days and I just knew I was about to hear, "Maam, I can't get you." But instead, he pointed to the bulletin board nearby and asked if my company was listed. Nope. "No, I don't see it, but I know we are meeting here." Based on this guy's doubtful expression, if I hadn't actually looked at the website at work with the coordinator, Asif, then I might wonder if I was at the wrong place, but I was sure this was it. So I called Selvam, my boss, and told him I was there but didn't see anyone else. He said he would call Asif and have him call me back, not to worry. OK, I wasn't worried, just a little tired and grumpy. So I sat on the couch in the waiting area and told the desk they were on their way. I am pretty sure the guy at the desk still didn't think the white girl knew what she was talking about, but I just sat there drinking some mango juice and relaxing. It was really OK just to sit and I probably could have taken a little nap if it hadn't been for all the in and out of some guests of the resort. Lots of stares. After about fifteen minutes a man in a suit came over and asked me what party I was waiting on. "Maersk Line." "We do not have a confirmation under that name." "Asif? Mohamed? Selvam?" "No, these are the only companies we have coming, madam," gesturing to the bulletin board I had already reviewed. "OK, well they told me they are coming so I will wait, no worries." And then, "Please come." This is a common phrase here. It is half statement, half question, all directive. I think - nah, I am ok - and don't respond. He repeats, "Please come." Sigh. Fine. So I get up and follow him around the corner to a large closet turned office and the 4 young men that are crowded in there stop their banter and smile as I walk in. He directs me to his desk and asks for the number of the party I am meeting. But I don't have Asif's number in my phone, like a genius, and I already called Selvam. So I told him I already called, they are on the way and will be here shortly. "The number, please?" Again... sigh. Fine. So he calls Selvam and they chat for a bit. Turns out he's OK with Selvam telling him that they will be here shortly and he asks me to wait in the office until they arrive. Ummmm, OK. So I play bejewled on my non 3G enabled phone and wait for another 10 minutes or so. Then Asif pops his head in and says, "Nikki, please come." Of course.
So then the party begins. I walk upstairs and open the door to the banquet room and the music is loud and everyone cheers. "Nikki, come dance!" I hear. Uhhh it's, like, 11 am, I haven't had enough sleep (or a drink!) and it's only the guys on the dance floor. "Oh, I'll wait a bit, thanks." And I sit. No dice. A team member comes over, takes my hand and pulls me to the dance floor. Oh, Lord. So I dance to Ace of Bass' "All That She Wants" until it's over and then sit down about as quickly as I can, graciously declining further requests to dance more. So this was the team outing. Hm. More music played. Some good stuff, mostly American. It was fun to watch the dancing, laughing and cutting up. I think the few girls on the team felt like they needed to sit with me and took turns coming over. I really was content, just watching and taking it all in, but I suppose from their perspective I looked like I needed interaction. Anyway, after about 45 seconds of the song playing, it was abruptly cut off and the guys booed and jeered until the next song started, and at that point they all cheered and hollered excitedly. This happened for about 15 songs. Every time. And then it got quiet, one of the guys on the team was orchestrating something that everyone seemed to be interested in... I wasn't sure what it was, though. Dance contest? A few minutes went by and then it started. What else? A push-up contest! Yep. Not everyone, but many of the guys were excited to show off their strength while the group counted how many push-ups they could do. It ranged from 17 to 70, with the latter being the champion.
When the push-up competition was over we moved onto a game with a tennis ball, a cross between "hot potato" and musical chairs - don't be holding the ball when the music stops. And then a game where we had to say the word BUS on every multiple of 3. That was pretty funny. Oh, and they made David, a somewhat fresh manager to Maersk Line and myself give speeches. Quick, but I started with "Venakkam" and ended with "OK, that's enough of my bad Tamil!" And then we walked outside for some refreshing beach volleyball. And when I say we, I mean not me. I sat in the shade and watched for a while but decided it was entirely too hot (about 95 F) and went back in with a small group who agreed the heat was too much. Soon it was lunch time, a buffet, and my favorite was biryani. After we ate, it was about time to pick up Savannah from Ila's (she had gone to a school carnival, which was, to her, about as amusing as my outing) and run a couple errands and head home for some sleep.
Sunday we did not do much. I slept the day away, much to my own chagrin because I really needed to try and sleep "normally" so we could go to the FRRO office again to register our flat's address on Monday morning. So after about 2 hours of sleep Sunday night, I got up Monday in another lovely mood, got ready, barked a few orders at Savannah, who had to join me in case they wanted here there (last time they said they didn't need her over the phone but then demanded her presence when I arrived), and headed to pick up my co-NAM expat, Tom on the way. We made our way down there and met Gideon and made it through to our "number" within about 45 minutes... Not bad. So the lady called us up, reviewed the papers, then told me "Be seated." And moved our paperwork to the side. And then called others. Tom was done right after us, and we were still just waiting, not knowing why, but not wanting to annoy with too many questions. So the lady left with our papers, came back without them, and Tom went out to talk to Gideon after about 45 more minutes of no change. Another half an hour or so, she called us back up to advise we were out of Chennai city limits and needed to go to another office to register, and we must do so with seven days. Ugh.
So Gideon decided that Tuesday would be best, since my sleep schedule was already messed up, so we planned for a 10 am departure. He told me to keep Savannah out of school again, as we were going too far to go pick her up if they wanted to see her. Sigh. We left this morning and headed to Kanchipuram to register. A full hour and a half later, after picking up a "local guy" on the way and driving down a very scenic road through many small villages, we made it to our destination, which happened to be the police station. Savannah and I sat in the car while Gideon and our local host took our paperwork and went in to get the 411. I kept expecting them to pop out and motion us in, but time passed and they never did. They brought us paperwork to fill out and then carried it back in for us. We sat and waited some more. I forgot to bring my nook so it was pretty boring... played Fruit Pop on my phone for a while. Took in the sights. Oh, we had to go get some copies made and new passport pictures done - they like a lot of passport photos for everything here - and Savannah was able to translate our local guy asking the photographer if they turned out OK and how long it would take before they would be ready. I was pretty proud of my girl - catching onto Tamil pretty quickly. Good thing, since I am apparently quite a slow learner with this language biz. So the pics were done, copies were made and we had eaten lunch. Apparently they told Gideon we would need to come back in a few days, but he convinced them it should be quicker. And after lunch, and after some more waiting, it was done. Probably the fastest out-of-city FRRO address change/registration in the history of this turtle-paced country. Unspoken ways to make things happen faster were no doubt involved, a reflection of the culture we are now immersed in. Lots of questions from Savannah on the comments about an investigation and the questioning "tactics" of the police that were overheard by our co-travelers. Questions about how we got it done so quickly. And herds of oxen and cows crowding the roads and making our trip back into town longer than the way out. Interesting day for sure.
This entry sure is long. Just a reminder that I can't tell a short story, I guess. As a last note, I'll ask that you please keep us in your prayers. I am short with Savannah more often than I should be - going to blame it on lack of sleep (but probably an adjustment to this new lifestyle, among other things, contribute as well) - and have to apologize often. We are missing our family and friends very much. We are still challenged with communication breakdown when we aren't in the office or at school. We had to get Savannah some shoes and a belt for school tonight after the long car ride and the driver didn't know where to go. I was ready for melt-down mode when we finally made it to the Nike store (where I paid twice as much as I would have in the US for her shoes!) and then found a place to buy a belt on the road home. It is hard to go from being very independent, handling everything on a daily basis, to not have a clue where to go or how to get what we need for even some of the basic necessities. So, yeah, still needing those prayers for both of us.
Love and hugs from India!
Saturday we had a team outing for work. The plan was to arrive at Jade Resort around 10, after heading home for a quick nap after my 5 am shift ended. Good plan. Well, I like to sleep. So waking up at 9:30 after falling asleep around 6:30 was a challenge, but I did it. Got myself moving and in the car, communicated poorly with the driver, showing him the resort's address and map that I had saved to my phone (correct, still no 3G service!) and asking him to take me there. Trying to pronounce the 2 cities the resort falls between and the perplexed look on his face only got me frustrated (remember, going on 3 hours of sleep here). So I showed him the virtual map again, said the road name (ECR, that's a pretty easy one) and pointed in the direction I figured we needed to be going. So he went. And we eventually made it there, after he stopped twice to ask locals for some help. I don't know if he was asking them to take the grumpy American off his hands or if he asked for directions, but either way, we made it. So I went in to the front office and asked for the Maersk party and was directed to the third building back. So I walked to the third building and looked around for familiar faces. Nope. So I walked over to the desk and asked this guy for the Maersk party. Blank stare. Taking me back to the Aloft days and I just knew I was about to hear, "Maam, I can't get you." But instead, he pointed to the bulletin board nearby and asked if my company was listed. Nope. "No, I don't see it, but I know we are meeting here." Based on this guy's doubtful expression, if I hadn't actually looked at the website at work with the coordinator, Asif, then I might wonder if I was at the wrong place, but I was sure this was it. So I called Selvam, my boss, and told him I was there but didn't see anyone else. He said he would call Asif and have him call me back, not to worry. OK, I wasn't worried, just a little tired and grumpy. So I sat on the couch in the waiting area and told the desk they were on their way. I am pretty sure the guy at the desk still didn't think the white girl knew what she was talking about, but I just sat there drinking some mango juice and relaxing. It was really OK just to sit and I probably could have taken a little nap if it hadn't been for all the in and out of some guests of the resort. Lots of stares. After about fifteen minutes a man in a suit came over and asked me what party I was waiting on. "Maersk Line." "We do not have a confirmation under that name." "Asif? Mohamed? Selvam?" "No, these are the only companies we have coming, madam," gesturing to the bulletin board I had already reviewed. "OK, well they told me they are coming so I will wait, no worries." And then, "Please come." This is a common phrase here. It is half statement, half question, all directive. I think - nah, I am ok - and don't respond. He repeats, "Please come." Sigh. Fine. So I get up and follow him around the corner to a large closet turned office and the 4 young men that are crowded in there stop their banter and smile as I walk in. He directs me to his desk and asks for the number of the party I am meeting. But I don't have Asif's number in my phone, like a genius, and I already called Selvam. So I told him I already called, they are on the way and will be here shortly. "The number, please?" Again... sigh. Fine. So he calls Selvam and they chat for a bit. Turns out he's OK with Selvam telling him that they will be here shortly and he asks me to wait in the office until they arrive. Ummmm, OK. So I play bejewled on my non 3G enabled phone and wait for another 10 minutes or so. Then Asif pops his head in and says, "Nikki, please come." Of course.
So then the party begins. I walk upstairs and open the door to the banquet room and the music is loud and everyone cheers. "Nikki, come dance!" I hear. Uhhh it's, like, 11 am, I haven't had enough sleep (or a drink!) and it's only the guys on the dance floor. "Oh, I'll wait a bit, thanks." And I sit. No dice. A team member comes over, takes my hand and pulls me to the dance floor. Oh, Lord. So I dance to Ace of Bass' "All That She Wants" until it's over and then sit down about as quickly as I can, graciously declining further requests to dance more. So this was the team outing. Hm. More music played. Some good stuff, mostly American. It was fun to watch the dancing, laughing and cutting up. I think the few girls on the team felt like they needed to sit with me and took turns coming over. I really was content, just watching and taking it all in, but I suppose from their perspective I looked like I needed interaction. Anyway, after about 45 seconds of the song playing, it was abruptly cut off and the guys booed and jeered until the next song started, and at that point they all cheered and hollered excitedly. This happened for about 15 songs. Every time. And then it got quiet, one of the guys on the team was orchestrating something that everyone seemed to be interested in... I wasn't sure what it was, though. Dance contest? A few minutes went by and then it started. What else? A push-up contest! Yep. Not everyone, but many of the guys were excited to show off their strength while the group counted how many push-ups they could do. It ranged from 17 to 70, with the latter being the champion.
When the push-up competition was over we moved onto a game with a tennis ball, a cross between "hot potato" and musical chairs - don't be holding the ball when the music stops. And then a game where we had to say the word BUS on every multiple of 3. That was pretty funny. Oh, and they made David, a somewhat fresh manager to Maersk Line and myself give speeches. Quick, but I started with "Venakkam" and ended with "OK, that's enough of my bad Tamil!" And then we walked outside for some refreshing beach volleyball. And when I say we, I mean not me. I sat in the shade and watched for a while but decided it was entirely too hot (about 95 F) and went back in with a small group who agreed the heat was too much. Soon it was lunch time, a buffet, and my favorite was biryani. After we ate, it was about time to pick up Savannah from Ila's (she had gone to a school carnival, which was, to her, about as amusing as my outing) and run a couple errands and head home for some sleep.
Sunday we did not do much. I slept the day away, much to my own chagrin because I really needed to try and sleep "normally" so we could go to the FRRO office again to register our flat's address on Monday morning. So after about 2 hours of sleep Sunday night, I got up Monday in another lovely mood, got ready, barked a few orders at Savannah, who had to join me in case they wanted here there (last time they said they didn't need her over the phone but then demanded her presence when I arrived), and headed to pick up my co-NAM expat, Tom on the way. We made our way down there and met Gideon and made it through to our "number" within about 45 minutes... Not bad. So the lady called us up, reviewed the papers, then told me "Be seated." And moved our paperwork to the side. And then called others. Tom was done right after us, and we were still just waiting, not knowing why, but not wanting to annoy with too many questions. So the lady left with our papers, came back without them, and Tom went out to talk to Gideon after about 45 more minutes of no change. Another half an hour or so, she called us back up to advise we were out of Chennai city limits and needed to go to another office to register, and we must do so with seven days. Ugh.
So Gideon decided that Tuesday would be best, since my sleep schedule was already messed up, so we planned for a 10 am departure. He told me to keep Savannah out of school again, as we were going too far to go pick her up if they wanted to see her. Sigh. We left this morning and headed to Kanchipuram to register. A full hour and a half later, after picking up a "local guy" on the way and driving down a very scenic road through many small villages, we made it to our destination, which happened to be the police station. Savannah and I sat in the car while Gideon and our local host took our paperwork and went in to get the 411. I kept expecting them to pop out and motion us in, but time passed and they never did. They brought us paperwork to fill out and then carried it back in for us. We sat and waited some more. I forgot to bring my nook so it was pretty boring... played Fruit Pop on my phone for a while. Took in the sights. Oh, we had to go get some copies made and new passport pictures done - they like a lot of passport photos for everything here - and Savannah was able to translate our local guy asking the photographer if they turned out OK and how long it would take before they would be ready. I was pretty proud of my girl - catching onto Tamil pretty quickly. Good thing, since I am apparently quite a slow learner with this language biz. So the pics were done, copies were made and we had eaten lunch. Apparently they told Gideon we would need to come back in a few days, but he convinced them it should be quicker. And after lunch, and after some more waiting, it was done. Probably the fastest out-of-city FRRO address change/registration in the history of this turtle-paced country. Unspoken ways to make things happen faster were no doubt involved, a reflection of the culture we are now immersed in. Lots of questions from Savannah on the comments about an investigation and the questioning "tactics" of the police that were overheard by our co-travelers. Questions about how we got it done so quickly. And herds of oxen and cows crowding the roads and making our trip back into town longer than the way out. Interesting day for sure.
This entry sure is long. Just a reminder that I can't tell a short story, I guess. As a last note, I'll ask that you please keep us in your prayers. I am short with Savannah more often than I should be - going to blame it on lack of sleep (but probably an adjustment to this new lifestyle, among other things, contribute as well) - and have to apologize often. We are missing our family and friends very much. We are still challenged with communication breakdown when we aren't in the office or at school. We had to get Savannah some shoes and a belt for school tonight after the long car ride and the driver didn't know where to go. I was ready for melt-down mode when we finally made it to the Nike store (where I paid twice as much as I would have in the US for her shoes!) and then found a place to buy a belt on the road home. It is hard to go from being very independent, handling everything on a daily basis, to not have a clue where to go or how to get what we need for even some of the basic necessities. So, yeah, still needing those prayers for both of us.
Love and hugs from India!
