Christmas in July

One good thing about packing out three weeks before arrival is that your things arrive faster!  Our UAB shipment (700 pounds of amazingness) were delivered on Thursday.  This was great for many reasons:

1) We had been wearing the same clothes for a month
2) We were almost out of toothpaste
3) The girls were bored with their toys and had reverted to playing with our blinds, our dirty laundry, silverware, and everything else NOT a toy...
and the major reason
4) ELIA's HIGHCHAIR - now we can strap that girl in and make her eat AND not worry about her falling off onto marble floors.

Oh, and another awesome reason was that I was slated to close the office all week which meant I arrived at 8am and got home around 6pm...and I walk.  So that was basically a ten hour day, everyday.  Thursday - I left at 4 and had someone else close up the section and I didn't feel guilty about that at all.

The week was so hectic and so long that these 6 boxes of awesomeness was just the bright shining star we needed this week.  The girls got TOYS!  Anya opens her Melissa and Doug cookies and cookie sheet and exclaimed - THESE ARE FROM AVA!  We opened a framed photo of her and her bestie Imaan and now that is displayed predominately in her room.  Elia was happy having more toys to throw and Raj even made a playhouse out of one of the shipping boxes that the girls now love and have decorated.

Moya made out too - she got more food, cat litter, and her BIG cat box.  Christmas for the cat!

We all got more clothes, some essential medicines (I don't know who needs five bottles of children's Claritin and Tylenol but we are prepared!) and FOOD.  Can I tell you how amazing it is for the girls to have their oatmeal (Omi-meal, as Anya refers to it) in the morning?  And COFFEE just before we ran out of our stockpile, and those 90 second bags of microwavable rice?!  Pretty exciting stuff.

Other awesome things we got that I am so glad I packed:  Anya's stool for the bathroom, TRASH BAGS, ziploc bags, a trash can, bath mats, rain boots! and HANGARS.  I almost don't care for our HHE to arrive.  This is entertaining me enough.

We also rearranged some furniture, had our bookcases and mirrors secured to the walls, and got some additional furniture and rugs.  Our place is feeling more like home and looking less sterile.  We have patio furniture now which we have not used because it has rained every day since it was delivered, we made a play corner for the girls, we put decals on the walls in the girls room, and we picked out fabric so we can have slipcovers made for our mustard yellow couches.  All in all it was a busy but successful week.

We miss you friends and family!

One week anniversary of arriving...

I keep telling myself that in two months time, six months time, one year time  - we are going to forget about the craziness of the first week and absolutely love New Delhi, our home, our lifestyle, etc.  But we don't love it just yet.

Our first day at the Embassy - getting badges.  Anya and Elia scored badge necklaces :)

For the most part we are settled:
1) the girls are sleeping pretty much on their old schedule, though we still have to wake them up at nap time which means we get an hour of cranky babies until they eat dinner and go back to bed.  Silver lining -- they nap!
2) we have A/C in our bedroom.  Yup, the crazy beeping was our alarm, and when they came to fix that they broke ALL of our A/Cs in the house.  They were able to get them all working except for the one in our bedroom.  Given this was a three day holiday weekend I complained pretty loudly and got it fixed before everyone enjoyed vacation.  Of course, to fix it they had to turn off another A/C.  Silver lining:  sleeping last night was GLORIOUS
3) we secured our first all-rounder (we hope).  We interviewed two and one was supposed to watch the girls on Thursday while Raj and I went to orientation at the Embassy but she canceled at the last minute.  Thank goodness Embassy teenagers want babysitting gigs!  But that made our decision pretty easy on who to not hire...so we offered the position to a woman named Benne and she accepted!  She is supposed to come next week to get her paperwork figured out and work a little and then officially starts July 15.  PHEW
4) We know where to buy food.  We have tons of amazing restaurants in our neighborhood which is great, and just behind that we have a vegetable man, a milk store, a bread store, an electronics store, a phone store, a pharmacy (which we are told not to use but they sell tampons!  I'm a woman, I care about where I can find such things...) and our flower guy is right outside our doorstep.  There is also a guy who sells wicker chairs and he rides around on his bike through our neighborhood.  Its just a matter of time that I overpay for about three or four of these chairs/stools.
5) we bought alcohol.  Not much...two bottles of wine and four bottles of beer.  Since we drank our way through packout and vacation we were ready for a little detox, but moving to a foreign country also has its stressors.  Please note in the photo that the wine is stamped:  For Diplomatic supply only.  We were not allowed to ship any alcohol with our belongings and were very nervous about the expense and availability of foreign beer here.  Good to know that it really is not that much more expensive than at home!
Silver Lining:  DC prices are equivalent to overseas overpriced prices :)

Pretty Impressed with the Commissary selection of beers - and the wine was only $4!

Everyday Raj has taken the girls to the pool and they are really loving their daily grilled cheese sandwiches.  We have visited Lodi Gardens, Nehru Park, and India Gate...tomorrow is the July 4 celebrations at the Embassy and we really want to visit Hauz Khas, Old Fort, Old Delhi, and Raj found a site already on hauntings in Delhi - there is a place walking distance from our house!

Tuk Tuk Ride back from India Gate our first Sunday here.  What rebels we are!

The girls enjoying a little playground time before the pool at the Embassy Compound.

Raj and Elia at India Gate - afterwards we all had to change our sweaty underwear.

We also met three of our Embassy neighbors and so far they seem pretty cool.  All in all, we are starting to find a groove.  Though, our half bath is still out of commission and we found a dead baby lizard on our windowsill one morning :P  Oh and MOYA - she is alive, but sneezing non-stop and did have about 5 days of watery eyes.  I think she is adjusting too.

**Disclaimer:  In all photos our girls look red and sunburned.  They are not.  They are simply hot and their faces get flushed.  We are excellent parents who never forget to sunscreen and so far there are no sunburns to report!**

2 Malcha Marg

Our home is 2 Malcha Marg FF (FF means first floor, which to us Americans is really the second floor).  Anyway, our home is brand new.  There are four apartments total and we are only the second family to occupy the building.  The other two apartments are still being built.  I would argue ours is still under construction as well, though it seems as if noone wants to work on it.  The first night in the home was fine - the girls went to bed around roughly midnight, soon after arrival.  I put some things away, showered and got into bed at 12:45.  The girls slept until close to 4:30 and I laid with them for another hour until I decided we were all to excited to explore the house and look out our windows to sleep more.  Furthermore, there was a beeping that occurred all night long, about every two-four minutes and I could not wait to get it to stop.

I sucessfully made coffee and fed the girls bananas and toast with peanut butter and then put away all their clothes and my own before we were picked up to go to the Embassy for check in.  I thought maybe I would do check in, say hi to my colleagues, and head back home for some more sleep but it turned out I worked most of the day.  I did leave the office a half hour early (at 4:30).  When I got home Raj had managed to get us hooked up with Wi-Fi and a plumber came to look at one of our bathrooms that was unusable.  Both girls had been sleeping for over three hours and we couldn't wake them so I took the opportunity to try and sleep.  But that BEEPING!

Turns out it was our alarm.  It was beeping because the kitchen window was not locked.  I thought - easy fix!  Nope, the window would not lock because the mechanism was not properly aligned so I had to disarm the alarm.  Easy again!  Not.  Nothing worked.  So I called the Embassy and someone was over in a matter of minutes to disconnect the alarm.  Great!  But not...because then, all of our A/C units went out as did our refrigerator and most of our electricity in the master bedroom.  Another call to the Embassy...only this time noone came right away.  I figured, its after hours so we will make an easy pasta dinner.  By this time it was almost 8 at night (the girls woke from their six hour nap just minutes before).  However, we could not get the stove to light.  I eventually got my camping cap on and decided I could just light the gas stove with a match - amazingly I had those packed in my suitcase - and was able to boil some water.  During dinner I had about four interruptions of phone calls regarding our lack of power which was great that people cared but unfortunate because I was just tired and hungry.  Finally at 9pm electricians arrived and fixed MOST of the A/C units except for the one in our bedroom...MOST of the lights, except for one in the kids bathroom, and taught me how to use the stove.  By 9:30 I was toast.  Anya stayed up to watch the Little Mermaid, Elia fell asleep at 9 and I went to bed.

Unfortunatly bedtime didnt last long.  The girls woke at 1:50am and Raj stayed up with them in their room until 4:30.  Again, coffee being made, we enjoyed an early morning of learning our house and how to use the million lightswitches (that is what I needed to do to turn on the stove...hit a lightswitch...what?!)  Breakfast for the girls consisted of mangoes, apples, and goldfish - breakfast of champions!  and I stuck to peanut butter and toast.  The rest of the morning was spent shopping at the commissary where things are cheap, just kidding!  You can get a jar of miracle whip for about 9 USD.  What a steal, who even likes miracle whip?!  Being conservative we found some basics and essentials that we couldn't be picky about (like laundry detergent).  I also got a ton of sticky pads to label our lightswitches so I know which ones go to lights, fans, appliances, and which ones do nothing.

We also fit in some pool time and the girls finally went down for a nap at 1:30 again...after being up for 12 hours I think they might want a long nap but that is not going to be allowed! No Sir!  At 3:30 these girls are getting up and going to the park and having a GRAND time before a more reasonable 7:30 bedtime.

I. Am. Exhasted.

The Flight

A lot seems to have transpired in the past four days.  Not having a cell phone to blog from means this post will have no pictures.  Sorry, but I figured I would warn you now.  Trust me though - the story is eventful!

I wish wish wish I had a photo to show of us and all our belongings at the airport.  We called a taxi from the Oakwood and specified we would need a van, or two.  We had two kids, a cat, four extra large suitcases three regular sized suitcases, three small bags, two car seats, a stroller, and a child's hiking pack.  Amazingly we crammed ourselves into one van.  Then, somehow, we made it to check in at United..where no one wanted to assist us and the piles of baggage that followed us.  It took us over an hour to check in (and there was no line).  First there was the fight about what the extra bags cost, how many extra bags we were checking, and what the federal government paid for.  Let me tell you friends, we get no break for moving overseas.  United only allows ONE bag a person and the second bag is an extra $100.  Good thing we only had two extra bags.

Then there was the cat fiasco.  I had made reservations for Moya about a month in advance.  I had paid for her vet visit (twice, because I didn't know it had to be done ten days before we departed) and I ensured I had the right FAA approved carrier and all the necessary paperwork (again, shout out to Kendra for getting all that done for us while we were on vacation!)  Still, the United person at check in was confused and called over her supervisor.  Her supervisor asked if we were military, to which I responded "no."  Then he told me that because I was no military I could not bring my cat.  WHAT?!  Raj immediately had the United website up on his phone which clearly stated federal government could bring pets on United and I had an email from the U.S. Embassy which told me the ONLY carrier that allowed pets was United.  He stood by his word for a while but eventually broke down and called someone else who said, if we were Foreign Service it was ok.  Now, technically I am a civil servant going overseas on a foreign service LNA tour, but I was not about to lay those cards on the table.  Instead I insisted he look at my travel orders and take those.  He looked all over and said, nothing here says you are foreign service.  *sigh*  or rather *Brie FREAKOUT*  In the end, he conceded and allowed Moya to board.

After all this we had about one hour to get through security and to our gate.  So much for us being worried that we would have all sorts of time to kill.  Raj is carrying around a backpack and a car seat, I have a kid, a diaper bag, and two other carry-ons, and Anya is pulling her weight with her penguin backpack filled with toys.  I am already dreading the flights.  Luckily the flight to Newark was a short hour and the girls were pretty well entertained, until we landed - and then sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes because we had no gate.  By the time we got off the plane we had just enough time to eat dinner, get the girls changed into pajamas and have the United folks check our passports before it was board time.  I credit Kathleen Diina-Feldman for her blog of her summer vacation because that gave me the idea to lug this crazy carseat on board.  We were the only smart parents who did - Elia slept for about 11 hours of the 14 hour flight.  Anya watched three movies and then slept for about 4 on the floor of the plane.  The last three hours I switched seats with Raj so he could have the most fun :)

Arrival in New Delhi was a bit confusing.  Being diplomats getting through immigration was easy - then we found our carousel and luckily retrieved all six of our checked bags.  We eventually figured out the other car seat, stroller, and hiking pack arrived at another carousel and got all our belongings in about an hour.  The fun part was reuniting with Moya.  Noone seemed to know where she was or how we would get her.  One guy told us to ask a United agent (noone was marked as being affiliated with United, because why would you?) another guy told us to go to carousel 14, another person said they will find us...really?  Eventually she did come out, she was alive, and the girls were excited to see her.  We quickly found our social sponsor who brought the biggest van known to man to get us so we easily fit all our belongings into it.  A half hour later we were in our new home....more on that later!

The last supper

Today is the last evening we have been n the United States.   Well, I guess we technically have a full day here tomorrow but we have to get to the airport by 130 to check in....so for us this is the last supper.

Our flight from Montana to DC was sad.  Anya even said "I'm sorry momma".  I said for what? And she responded,  "for leaving here. "  soooo sweet. I think my girls might be mountain ladies.

We got back to VA and father's day was around the corner.   I celebrated by going on a ten mile run with Natalie and letting Raj enjoy the girls :)  luckily for him they slept in til 8am which is huge for our girls.  then we enjoyed a buffet breakfast at Freddies (the gay bar near our house) and enjoyed a last day with my parents.  We ended the evening with a pool party with friends (Lauren, Ryan, Nora, and Alice). It was a great evening and a good distraction.

The next day we spent running errands like getting haircuts and saying more goodbyes,  to Raj's parents, Marvin and Kendra (who awesomely took care of Moya and ensured her paperwork was ready for India), and Sonia and her daughter Natalya.  Anya will miss her buddy!!!

Tomorrow we leave.  Raj and I are half packed,  the kids have no idea what this move means,  and I am strangely calm knowing I start a new job in two days and will he living halfway across the globe.

We will shut off cell service in two days...new people are living in our house, and three of my friends gave birth to baby girls this week.  I will miss everyone!!!

A Listical...Seven things I love about Andi

So, one of the great things about my cousin getting married in Montana was that I could visit some new National Parks. ..which I have now accomplished.  Most importantly I have managed to do this with my very best National Parks friend,  Andi.  I will also give credit here to Ann (Vorick) Juba for the introduction to Dane Alexanders National Parks and Monuments class...where the connection began.

Anyway, since Andi and I met rafting the Canyon in 2003...we have traveled to many national parks.  And now Glacier.   So, an ode to Andi, the seven reasons she is awesome and why I will miss her:

1) She doesn't wear makeup while camping
2) She really listens to Anya tell stories and asks relevant questions even when the tale is bogus..
3) She drinks beer
4) She doesn't know the right way or the wrong way, only the adventurous way
5) She still brings Rocky, our bear mascot, on vacations...the one we bought more than ten years ago on our trip to Death Valley, Yosemite,  Sequoia,  and Kings Canyon. And trusts my girls alone with him too.
6) She knows my bathroom habits to the point where she lets me go first :)
7) She plays great games with me, from silly alphabet games to serious Euchre games and everything in between.

I will miss you, Andi (and Andy!!)  What a great way to close out our vacation.

Rocky Pegmatite Granite

Monday was a good day of driving from Chico to Missoula.  We took one last dip in the hot springs, said our last goodbyes to Adam and Les and made a quick visit to Bozeman.   After a delicious meal at NoVa (came recommended but also sounds like home) and some shopping we were on the road again.


We arrived in Bonner/Potomac around 430.  Just in time for the kids to play with their new friends and eat some amazing Elk steaks courtesy of Scott and his hunting skills.  The girls were pretty wound up and failed to fall asleep until close to 10pm.  I am pretending not to note that would be a midnight bedtime on the east coast.  I blame the sun for never setting in Montana.



Tuesday we headed for Glacier National Park!  I started to feel a bit sad on my drive Monday...leaving family behind and thinking our vacation was nearly over...but Tuesday brought a new excitement especially because we were meeting up with Andy and Andi!  Anya was also stoked to learn she would have her own bed and bedroom with Elia in the same place fir four whole nights.

We even got to stop at a local butcher for rib eye steaks and buffalo jerky.  Yummm.  We had a great afternoon complete with a short hike,  our picture at the park entrance,  and stamps in our passport books.

As I write this the girls are "resting" after a nice four mile hike to Avalanche Lake.  Anya walked back almost the whole way too!!  The grandparents arrive soon and that means tomorrow Raj and I get to go on an adult hike :)

I am very glad we are on this vacation.   Not thinking about our renters who just moved in, the builder we have to hire, and the bills we will be paying from all our hotel stays!!

I attempted to upload photos to this blog and failed. ..more to come!