Return to Gurgaon

Wednesday, February 11

We left lovely south India on a VERY early morning flight and spent part of the week catching up on life at the Crowne. It was fun to see the staff after being gone for 2 weeks. We’ll miss these people and the great service they provide.
Joe beat London’s big snow, only to experience a city capsized by it. He was delayed a day on the return.

Highlights of our week:

Tuesday the kids and I took books to Nehru Park, one of New Delhi’s big green spaces. This one has a ton of flowers right now – lovely oranges, reds, purples, pinks…from big and bold to dainty.

I had a chat with someone who wanted to understand what we were doing (science in the park). The concept of homeschool here is foreign. We’ve oft been asked, naturally, if the kids are on holiday – when I explain that they’re being homeschooled I get a blank stare. Upon explanation, most seem skeptical about the process. There is a huge emphasis placed on education here, and I think there’s one view of how it can be done: in a traditional classroom environment. The gentleman and I, in discussing school systems, concurred that both classroom and homeschool settings have pros and cons.

The Gurgaon Connection (ex-pat social group) re-launch took place Wednesday with a Web site presentation and discount cards. Attendance was huge and I got some tips on London life from a few Londoners. We haven’t gotten terribly involved with the Gurgaon group in our time here, as we’ve traveled quite a bit, and the mom’s group is geared for younger children. (Plus let’s face it, I’m a bit done with the playgroup thing.)Very nice group of people from many different places throughout the world, many who've gone from one ex-pat assignment to the next, and next and next...

I summoned the hotel doctor to look at Claire this week. She’d had a few mosquito bites and skinned her knees when we were in Kerala. A blister developed on one knee on the way home, then started growing at an alarming rate. The doctor gave us 2 kinds of ointments that deal with infected mosquito bites. We invited the doctor back after the sores continued to grow and were provided with an antibiotic that cleared whatever it was up – maybe impetigo?

For London weather we picked up a few things at one of Gurgaon’s many malls, then grabbed Pizza Hut pizza to take back to Miss Margie’s, who is in a cast following a broken foot. (Their pizza tasted surprisingly good – must be withdrawals I’m experiencing…)

I caught up w/ my hairdresser and squeezed in a pedicure and head massage. This time no oil, and she did my back and shoulders, too – mix of reflexology and pressure points. It was fabulous.

Friday we went to a melee -- a great big outdoor craft fair -- in Faridabad. I think every area of India was represented, along with Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Thailand and Malaysia. (Who knows who I’m missing; the place was so big I think we may have seen 1/3 of it.)

Before winding our way around paths lined with vendors, a huge “smells so good” food court and stages of entertainment (dancing and music) we were waylaid by a man with two white horses. He was offering rides so kids both jumped on that opportunity, each on their own horse.

I think the price started out as 200 R each, then became 200 R for both, then when I pulled my wallet out the bill was 40 R. I’m still confused and overpaid – the horses looked like they could use some extra food.

The melee was so big it had several gates. As noted, we didn’t make a thorough sweep of the place as our energy was limited, the size was intimidating and frankly I got textile overload. We did leave with a few things – scarf, leather toy horses for Claire, serving dish made from walnut wood and a bracelet for Ava, the jewelry queen. Lots of bargaining and good prices, it seemed.

After a 5-hour delay, Joe got in on Sat., so we met up w/ his tailor to review some suits he’s having made. I, too, am having a few things sewn – shirts from the silk I purchased in south India. My tailor was recommended to me by my hairdresser (aren’t they always “wired in?”. I think he’s all of 20 years old, works with a woman who owns Queens, a bra/underwear/lingerie shop in the Galleria. She’s great – very on top of things, seems to run a tight ship. And I think her business is a family affair – there’s always someone in there who looks related to her, or at least hangs out with great familiarity.

We managed to get the kids some shoes and hit the mall for a bit – Ava suffered from diarrhea on and off throughout the day so we cleared out so she could recover. This has been the first real bout of illness we’ve experienced since arriving – we’ve been lucky.