Monday, September 25, 2006

All Change...

Latest news… We are both now driving our new car (the uniquely named Tata Indigo), which arrived a couple of weeks ago. Gareth surprised me with it when he picked me up at the airport after Sri Lanka. We both feel fine about driving here especially if you remember to forget all the rules of the British road, never stop at roundabouts (no different from Milton Keynes then…) and avoid all cows. Haven’t hit one yet but we’ll keep you posted. When Gareth picked it up he had to drive it home with a big ribbon wrapped around and heart balloons filling the back seat – very romantic!

We have now moved into the apartment, yippee! Which has been our home for almost 10 days! Organising furniture and the practicalities of setting up the flat took a little time, but overall everything ran smoothly and pretty much arrived when it should! One funny moment was Andi surrounded by four dominant Indian men ranging from painters to delivery guys to the landlord all telling her to ‘come here’ as the word ‘please’ does not exist in Hindi!

Another memorable moment was being shown by the landlord how to lock a door and which way the key needed to be turned, we have a lot to learn! We also now have a phone and internet access, which is key as in the future I (Andi) will work from home a lot. We also have a hob/gas cylinder for Gareth to cook on, mango chicken here we come....

Really feels like a proper home for us and have met our lovely neighbours as the word spread that the whities had arrived, we have been invited to almost everyone’s homes and look forward to getting to know them better.

Our view over the city is very special and we have a little balcony to sit out on and watch the sun go down - here are some pics for you to look at…


The view from our balcony.

The master bedroom, looking very tidy (cleaning was done especially for the photo).


The Throne room (we do have two western toilets also)


The Dining Room.


The lounge. We have had Tata (same company as the car) Sky installed, so Gareth doesn't have to miss a minute of the Premiership action. Unfortunately, League Two and the SPL are yet to come on air here.


A few days later one of our close friends from the UK, Kate was over with a small team from STL for a week’s visit of the operations in India. This meant we had a chance to spend a little time with her on the Sunday after church and took her out to see a bit more of the city. It was so lovely to just chat with someone we have such an easy and close friendship with and for her to share in some of our life here as though you try to, you can’t fully explain. She was also a brilliant passenger as we drove her around Hyderabad, not once saying a word just clutching the handle of the door occasionally…

Another couple of events worthy of a mention and huge congratulations was Andi’s parents celebrating 40 years of marriage on Sep 17th and our nephew Kieran celebrating his 15th birthday on the 19th. So glad you all had a special day and look forward to seeing you very soon. x

We head off to the UK in the next week for both work and a wedding, we’ll also have a chance to spend time with family and friends, which we’re looking forward to and will post another blog on our return.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Adventures in an Auto


I am not completely sure this story is blog-worthy, but I found it funny...

A couple of days back we were travelling in an auto (rickshaw) back from spending time with some friends. All was normal for the first 70% of the journey. We then stopped at some traffic lights and the guys on a motorbike next to us became fascinated by the fact that there were a couple of "whities" in the vehicle next to them. At first they smiled a lot.

The traffic light went green and our auto moved off. (There are no windows or doors in an auto, this is an important fact in this story). As we were travelling the motorbike caught up with us and they started shouting in, "where are you from?"...depsite this being an unusal setting for such a conversation I told them we were from the UK. They liked this. However they sped up and went ahead of us.

About 2 or 3 minutes later, they pulled up along side the moving auto once again (unbeknown to us they had slowed down deliberately and come back for more). This time the passenger (I forgot to mention there were two guys on the motorbike) stretched out his hand as if to shake. Again, despite the rather dangerous conditions (i.e. two moving vehicles) I, not wanting to come across as rude, stretched across Andi and tried to shake hands. We held for a moment, but at that stage the auto slowed down and the motorbike sped up...meaning I was actually now pulling the passenger off the bike! However, we both managed to let go in time and any potential accident was averted.

You may think this is where the story ends, but there was still one final twist...

Once again the motorbike had slowed down and once again came from behind to draw along side us. This time, the passenger was brandishing a bottle of Kingfisher (the local beer). At first he drank it himself, but then he offered it to us. (Let me reiterate at this point that both vehicles are still moving and at quite a pace) The driver of the motorbike kept insisting that we drink and the passenger was forcing the bottle into the auto we were in. However, you will be glad to hear we politely rejected the offering of golden nectar and decided it best to ignore the terrible twosome from this point on. It worked and they sped off into the sunset.

Only in India. (and maybe Glasgow!).

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Sri Lanka

I (Andi) spent five days last week in the World Vision Sri Lanka office based in Colombo. The country is seeing renewed fighting in Sri Lanka's 20-year civil war, which began in late July with air strikes on rebel territory amid a dispute over a blocked water supply.

A 2002 ceasefire between the government and rebels still technically holds, although both sides accuse the other of trying to force a full-scale return to war.

The fighting has effectively cut access by road to and from the Jaffna peninsula, leaving thousands of people trapped and running short of vital supplies.

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced and the capital Colombo has witnessed two bombings in the past month. Many families/ mothers also fear for their children, as some have been captured by the LTTE to be used as soldiers, and with a number of aid workers murdered a few weeks ago, this is yet another tragic situation faced by a beautiful country and its people.

Staying in a hotel in Colombo and predominantly working in the office for the week, James my new boss and I were there as the Asia Pacific Regional Office, which due to the heightened humanitarian crisis meant we are there to support and advise the comms team. Helping them put together a communications advocacy relief strategy, establish clear messages and respond to the media etc.

It was a good though intense week, personally I learned a lot, met some great people and developed relationships, which is important as I will work with them at times in the future. Plus also had time to get to know James and discuss my future role.

It was also a nostalgic trip for me, as I spent a couple of weeks travelling round the country with a friend six years ago and I have some great memories. So on my last day as I had a little time before my flight, I revisited the Galle Face Hotel just down the road from where I was staying. Situated on the ocean this beautiful colonial building brought back the memory of two backpackers treating themselves to a slap up meal and swim in the seawater pool, which overlooks the beach. Sadly didn't get a chance to do that this time.



Coming back to Gareth was really lovely after a week apart and we spent the next day just catching up and relaxing, especially as I had brought back a special present with me – a cold! After church we met up with our Aussie friends for a late lunch at local cafe Mocha, going on later for a cuppa and visit to their new home in Banjara Hills for the first time. A relaxed end to a busy week.