Adopting a new mantra

April 12, 2016We are making progress. We hope to get into the house this week. Last night we had dinner with new friends from CEPT. They live in a quiet neighborhood in a brand new apartment house that is quite expensive but absolutely lovely with beautiful furniture, curtains, etc. They were helpful giving us some tips about shopping, drinking water, etc.

This morning I woke up to a case of what is affectionately called “Delhi Belly, aka traveler’s diarrhea. I am sure it was from yesterday’s $1.00 lunch on campus as I didn’t feel well afterwards. Ron and I ate the same meal so go figure. Anyway I skipped breakfast and quickly recovered. I decided I had best get busy shopping so hired an auto rickshaw to take me to a recommended mega store for sheets and towels. I was fortunate to land a driver who spoke English and knew the store. I was not wild about the quality of the merchandize but had been told they had the best sheets. I got one set because I realized I didn’t know the size of the beds. They look like king size beds but the largest sheets they carried at the store were double. Like Sri Lanka the pack comes with one sheet and two pillow cases. I went ahead and got two packs of the same pattern. There were no solids. I will continue to search out better stores. The towels also were not a good quality. Since I don’t know Ahmedabad yet it was more important to get a few basics so we can move in. I managed to get two towels, two sheet sets, a bath mat, dish and laundry soap, pot scrubber, floor rag and various stainless cooking utensils for $66. I will go out later today or tomorrow in search of more items. 
When I returned from shopping a staff member helped me up to our room with the items. I couldn’t get my key card to work. All of a sudden the door opened from inside and there was another staff member in our room. Not sure why he was there but I will talk to the manager later today. We are keeping jewelry, cash and passports locked in one of our suitcases because the two safes they have provided don’t work. I am not sure why the university uses this place other than it is close to campus.

I left for lunch and only ate half of my lunch in case my digestive problem wasn’t resolved. It took me several searches through all our suitcases looking for the needed meds before Ron told me to look in his brief case. Bingo. We always travel with Cipro, a antibiotic and Imodium, guaranteed to stop the flow so to speak. I was so grateful that this wasn’t food poisoning which is a totally wretched experienced that I have had in three different countries. Anyway I am all well now.

April 13, 2016
Today I called my new driver, Jignesh, who speaks English and off we went to the upscale mall, Ahmedabad’s newest and biggest which is now four years old. I found a terrific store and got everything I needed: a set of cookware, cutlery, a knife set, glass food storage keepers, and a trash can for the kitchen. I will come back to this store for any other needed items. Right now I just want the basics so we can spend our first night at the house and figure out what else we may need: coat hangers, shower curtains, more kitchen equipment, ???? 
It was 107 today. May is supposed to be hotter. Really?

Today we found out that the person at CEPT who can seal the deal with our lease is out of the office until Friday. At the earliest we will move Saturday morning. Ron got pretty frustrated. But he has now adopted a new mantra to help keep his frustration in check: Everything will be all right in the end. And if it is not all right, it isn’t the end! It really helps. 

The best news is: tonight we found a specialty grocery store that carries out favorite chocolate: Lindt dark chocolate with sea salt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who cares that is costs double what it does in the US. We bought the three bars they had. They also carry good cheese. Most cheese here is processed which I don’t consider cheese. The exception is paneer. We saw aged cheddar (white, the best), Edam, blue, and brie. Life is good, real good. We even saw granola. At home I make our granola, but here, there are no ovens typically in homes. At 107 degrees why would you want one?

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