Settling In

It's been two weeks since my last post. Last time we were in ecstasy over having our furniture delivered. It's amazing how much that has changed our experience here. Yes, it's good to have a real bed to sleep in, comfy chairs, and enough dishes that we can go two meals without having to wash between them. But, emotionally, it's like we have our safe place and a home base to return to. It doesn't feel so much like a temporary place where you don't want to touch stuff because you don't know who's been there before you.

We had our boxes unpacked and our furniture placed within 5 days of receiving it. So we've been able to go out and about the past two weekends.
Last weekend we visited the home of and went shopping with my co-worker and his family who coincidentally moved back to Chennai right about the time we moved here. He was raised here but spent many years in the US, so he can give us good tips about places to go here that align with our American sensibilities. Plus he and his family are just very nice. We did some shopping and had a really good lunch. (It's all about the shopping and the food, as you will see.)

Last Sunday another pair of co-workers arrived for a business trip. So it was our turn to play Chennai hosts. We went shopping at this crazily-busy store in a crazily-busy neighbourhood. They did some gold shopping and we discovered that gold prices are pretty well global, so you will have a huge selection here but will not get a steal. We saw a parade of people heading to their temple. It was led by a "float"- a carving covered in bright flowers. Then came the men with pierced faces. They had wires probably 4-5 feet long pierced through their cheeks with little balls at the ends. Each had a helper who cleared people away from the ends of his wire so they wouldn't get jostled. Last was a man who had something that looked like a wire tomato cage over him, with a bunch of wires piercing his torso and head and all meeting at the top of the "cage" over his head. None of these men looked very happy to me. It was quite a sight, and I'm glad our visitors got to experience this.

This past weekend was also busy. Now that we have furniture I'm anxious to get the house looking nice. First I'm on the hunt for curtains. Most critical is to get something dark on our bedroom windows so we can sleep past the 5:00 AM sunrise. A co-worker's wife gave me a great list of places to visit. The first place we hit was two building, several floors each, and as nicely stocked, laid out, and clean as any store at home. They will visit your house, take measurements, and sew custom drapes. We visited a few places like this, then needed a bit of a break. So we stopped at a very nice Sheraton and had some coffee and a brownie in their cafe. Mr R read the paper and we just luxuriated in the comfortable elegance. Then we realized we had to run if we wanted to make it in time for the buffet at the lunch spot I had chosen from our Chennai restaurant guide. After a bit of lunch we hit one more fabric store then called it a day.

Once home we spent some time in the pool to try to work off the lunch calories. It's very cool sitting in our pool and hearing the waves hit the beach a block or so away. And, as you know, the beach is best savored from afar here.

Yesterday we were due for another Sunday brunch, this time at a hotel nearer our house. Salads, Indian food, meat, western food. Plus wine and some nice deserts. No better way to spend a Sunday! We checked out a new hotel on the way back but I wasn't too impressed. Our last stop was for a foot massage for both of us.

So when we have no home maintenance projects or every day house cleaning to do, as you can see, we have some free time on our hands. We will have to start looking for some activities other than shopping and eating.