Early Days

When Bobby and I spent the last 3 years finishing a long list of tasks to get to the point that we could finally move to India, we knew there would be just as much for us to do once we landed. We set out on our first full day in the lovely city of Kochi ready to start knocking things off our list.

All my boys and all our bags safely arrived at the Mumbai airport. Thank goodness for trolleys. Wish our cats had been there with us.

To start with, our plan was to sign up for the banking account first, cooking gas second because of the long wait time necessary to actually get a gas canister, and then register with the police as all resident foreigners are required to do. But we quickly learned that neither the bank or the gas company would accept us until we had proof of address, which we needed to register with the police first to get.  We also quickly learned that while Bobby is perfectly able to get by in business without a single word of Malayalam, we will not be able to do the same in our everyday life. Good thing I was already looking forward to learning some! No one at the gas company spoke any English (nor has any of the delivery or installation men, though the police and most cashiers do speak a little English) so first we had to call one of Bobby’s colleagues and have her translate to tell us what they needed from us so we could get gas so we could cook in our home.

We went to the local police station like it told us to do online, but they sent us away to the central police station who also did not really know what to do with us. I don’t think they actually have many expatriates register with them. After talking to at least five people, we finally found someone who pointed us to a teeny tiny notice on a wall that announced the new way for Foreign Residents to register, which is online and then to drop off copies of their passports in the international airport, an hour from the city. Wouldn’t that have been nice to have known when we flew into the city?  But we do have 180 days to drop off the paper copies so Bobby can just do it when he goes on his first trip next week. First problem solved. Did  I mention that all the forms at the office for the Foreign Residents to register are in Malayalam? No other languages at all. Makes me chuckle. Glad we have friends.

I can finally cook again!

We did get cooking gas today too. Sreeja, the same colleague that helped with the police, helped with the gas company and convinced them that we were not crazy Americans and that, yes, we actually do live here now (everyone, police included, are so sure that we are confused and need help getting back to our hotel) and we really do know what we are talking about when we say we need cooking gas, It took her three days to convince them, but she did it and I just turned on my stove for the first time about three hours ago. This really does help solve a major problem. Now I can cook whatever I need to for my family, No more trying to eat only what we can microwave or eat without cooking or eat out only at restaurants Bobby is sure our gut bacteria can take (a short list at the moment).

The gas canister is just like one on a gas grill only bigger and it fits under a cabinet . Most people don’t have an oven, just a stove range, so the canister goes right under the burners. I’m glad the cabinet shuts though because I don’t really want to look at that everyday.

The bank is supposed to be taken care of too. Bobby is going in the morning on his way into the testing house to finish it up. We shall see. The poor man has spent most of this past week filling out documents and getting pictures and making things for “requirements” for the police and the gas company only to have them ignore them in the end. I think he did do some of his actual work sometime in there too. I can’t blame him for being frustrated. We seem to keep finding hidden rules. I told the boys to think of it as a treasure hunt today as we were carted around the city from police station to police station as they all tried to figure out what to do with us.

Funny, that we had almost no problems our first night here when we went to the mall and bought our washer/dryer, TV, and microwave. They were delivered the next day and installed the day after that.

There is still much to be done. This is only the tip of the iceberg. This place is too big and too full of life and newness to adequately describe in one blog post so I didn’t even try. I just thought you might be interested in what the Creasman family has been spending the majority of our time doing since our hop across the ocean. I can’t wait until we get all the basics of life settled and we really get to delve into this new city. It is so full of life! When we do, I will be sure to share the treasures that we find here on the Creasman Experience.