4:00 they call and tell me to come back down, it will only take 10 min. Just need to get my photo taken. Guess what----they were serious. After a little confusion with a recipt that I did not have, I got snapped, signed the signature pad, and was out the door.

It should be delivered here to the office at 7:00, sharp.

10:30, I headed to the RTA office to get my picture taken. "It will only take 10 min" Bala says.
I go. We wait. I talk to some offical looking guy in a 3rd floor office, he says that I need a noterized afidavid showing my residency. We wait. We go for a walk. We wait. At 1:00 we leave.

2:45 Back from lunch and the receptionist says that no one came for me. Can you believe it?
Just called Bala's phone and he screened me. 2 min later the receptionist cam in and let me know that Bala will be here at 10:30 tomorrow (sharp) and we will go and get the license ourselves.

I can feel it coming.

1:15 I am going to lunch. This joker is not showing up.

12:45 Called Bala to check if the consultant is going to be here at 1:00. Yes of course.

11:01, I called Bala. He had just spoken with the consultant and he is going to be here at 1:00pm.

How does a foreigner get a driver’s license in India?
-September 21, I ask Bala (the office coordinator guy) how someone (like me, a foreigner) gets a driver’s license here. He says that he will check and see what is needed and call me tomorrow.
-September 23, I SMS Bala and ask if he found out what was needed. 2 min later he is at my desk letting me know that I need 2 passport photos, a copy of my passport, a copy of my NE drivers license, and a consultant. I know what you are thinking, what is a consultant? Essentially you pay someone 500 to 800 rupees (so for me, a foreigner that means 800-1000) to go stand in line and fill out your paperwork at the RTA (Regional Transportation Authority), like our DMV. Bala calls a consultant, I get some photo copies.
-September 27, the following Tuesday Bala is going to stop and get my stuff to give to the consultant, never did
-September 28, Bala comes on Wednesday, consultant does not show up.
-September 30, that Friday I call Bala, he can’t get the consultant on the phone.
-October 4, Tuesday we fire the consultant and find a new name, his phone rings at his brother’s house so messages take a day to get through, but things are looking good with him for about 2 weeks.
-October 10, Skip a week to Monday, we fire that consultant and find another one.
-October 11, Tuesday he shows up!!! We hand over the stuff and his consulting fee of 800 rupees (that is about$18).
-October 12, Wednesday he calls Bala from the RTA saying that they need a letter from our apartment complex, proving residency.
-October 13, Thursday we have the letter written and call him back, we get a brother (not the same brother mind you, we are on Consultant number 3).
-October 18, Tuesday, hand the letter to the consultant (“number 3”), he calls later the same day and says that they want a phone bill with our name and address on it. Nothing of the sort exists---consultant number 3 goes silent, Bala starts to think I might have lost my 800.
-October 17, Monday I have Bala call Consultant #3 and who answers the phone? Yeah, a brother. He informs Bala that Consultant #3’s wife had a baby today, but he will have everything done tomorrow. Bala is pretty sure that I have lost my 800.
-October 19,Today Wednesday, Bala talks to Consultant #3 and he says that he has the right guy at the RTA to get past the residency thing (that is going to cost me a couple hundred in ‘pleasantries’ I can tell).

They say I am going in tomorrow---11 sharp—to get my license. Yeah right.

Have I mentioned that I really miss nachos from Taco Inn?

Thanks to everyone’s concern about our safety in light of the earthquake in Kashmir. Hyderabad is quite far from this location, we are safe, we didn’t even feel a tremor. Unfortunately the number of casualties is increasing every day. Please keep the people in this area in your thoughts and prayers.

Saturday Clay played in the inter company cricket match. Unfortunately his team was smoked 117 to 58. I only caught the end of the game, but I hear it was pretty ugly. Clay was the “wicket keeper” which is somewhat like the American baseball catcher. Unfortunately when it was his turn to bat, he got out on the first throw, because he stepped out of the box and didn’t step back in soon enough. It was a rookie mistake. They were all so excited that he was attempting the game that they wanted him to go again (both teams), but he wanted to play according to the rules, so he didn’t. How nobleJ

Saturday night we went to a Dasera (correction- in the last email I referred to it as Diwali) celebration at the Hitex Exhibition center with 2 co-workers and 4 of their friends. We arrived at 8:30pm, when it was supposed to start, but no one was there. So we went back to our apartment and introduced our 6 companions to the fine game of UNO. It was quite the hit. We wandered back to the exhibition hall around 11:30pm when things were just getting hoping. It was quite a site, everyone was dancing in a circle and they all had beautiful bright outfits on. Many were dancing for fun, but there was also a competition going on. We danced along with the crowd, I’m sure we looked ridiculous. I did catch a photographer snapping a shot of Ash and me. Who knows where that will show up. Probably in the “what not to do” section of the Dasera manualJ We left at 1:00am, and people were still coming. I’m guessing the celebration went on until 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning. It was a family event, kids of all ages were there, but of course little Clarinski was sleeping by 8:00pm.

Sunday we went shopping in an area called Abids. We bought Claire a couple of toys, some shirts for Clay and me, and shoes for Ash and me. It was nice to get out and walk around in a shopping area like that.

Clay is off to play in another cricket match tomorrow, Kenexa vs. Google, wish him luck!

“Had your lunch?” I was reminded about something this week when I received an email from my friend Matt who is currently working in the Philipines (he mentioned a similar observation which prompted me to include this paragraph in the email). A common greeting here (and in the Philippines) is, “Had your lunch (breakfast, dinner)?” At first I thought when people asked that they really wanted to have a conversation about lunch, or maybe they were just making fun, I didn’t know. Now I realize that it is just a nice greeting. Just like we would say, “How are you?” in passing in the hallway, they will say, “Had your lunch?” with a brief pause for an answer. Whether my answer is “yes” or “no,” they smile and keep walking. So I have come to learn that this is a greeting, not a conversation starter. This initially struck me as different when I arrived, but I had since gotten used to it and forgot to mention in my emails.

Claire Update:
We had a first this week. Saturday afternoon she slept in the car on the way home from the cricket match, but Clay and I wanted to take a nap when we got home. So we thought we might be lucky enough that she would want to lay down for a bit. We put her in her crib, shut the door and went in our room to lie down. We heard her through the baby monitor; she was saying random things like, “milk, horse, shoe, etc.” Sometimes she mumbles as she is falling asleep or while she is sleeping. So we let it go for a while. Then we heard a lot of wrestling around, so we decided that she wasn’t going to sleep and we might as well give up on our naps. So I went into her room to get her and she wasn’t in her crib or her room. She was in her bathroom pulling things out of her closet and drawers, hats, barrettes, and anything else she could get her hands on. She had climbed out of her crib onto the regular bed in the room, got down on the floor then went into her bathroom and started raiding her closet and drawers. Nice.

Claire’s New Words:
Papes=Shapes
Waya An=Watering Can
Raya=Running

Hyderbadi Quotes of the week:
“I am here, right now currently”
“We are doing that, as of now currently”

Sincerely,Julianna Ehlers

Saturday Clay played his first game of Cricket. Then complained about being sore the rest of the week:) This was the practice match for the inter-company game this coming Saturday. He said that he kept trying to apply baseball principles to the game of Cricket. The more seasoned Cricketiers thought this was quite funny. Instead of blocking the ball from the wickets, he was swinging at the ball. His co-workers told him that he has been here for 4 months and this was the first time they had seen him look like an American. I thought that was funny.

Saturday Ash and I went to the salon for a manicure and pedicure and decided to be daring. We tried eyebrow threading, which is India's version of waxing. I didn't mind it much, but I don't know that Ash will do it again. I envisioned these women pulling out individual eyebrow hairs by tying pieces of thread around each one. It isn't like that at all. They take big chunks out at a time, just like waxing, but it’s more of a cutting sensation.

Saturday night we went on a scavenger hunt organized by TEA, the expatriate organization in Hyderabad. It was quite fun. Our driver really got into it too. One of the items on the list was a license plate with the number 4 in it, he was calling all of his buddies and family members trying to track one down for us. Finally he got a hold of another driver friend whose employer was also in the scavenger hunt and they took their license plate off and gave it to us. I doubt that our "competitors" knew what was happening. Either way, we lost...by a long shot. Third place was 142 points and we had 81:) Oh well, it was lots of fun and we met some new people at the dinner afterwards.

Sunday Clay and I went to our first Hindi class. We learned "Suar" which seems to be the vowels of the Hindi alphabet. We have been meaning to take some classes and just realized that we have been here for 4 months and neglected to take advantage of our surroundings. We’ll be attending class twice per week for an hour each lesson. So watch out Hindi speakers, we'll be practicing a lot.

Sunday afternoon we ventured out without our driver. It went quite well, ah...the freedom. Clay is maneuvering around in this city quite well. We found a great little German/Swiss bakery here called the Ofen. Mom-you will really like this one when you get back, great French breads.

Monday there was a solar eclipse and we were given several pieces of advice from a co-worker that I thought you all might find interesting. Due to the eclipse:
-We shouldn’t eat after 1:00pm because we won’t be able to digest the food well.
-Claire shouldn’t be outside between 4:20-6:20pm because the sun rays will be bad for her.
One other eclipse related item…Clay was supposed to have a new employee start on Monday, but he called that day and explained that due to the eclipse his dad told him not to start until Wednesday. It’s not auspicious to start a new job on a day with a solar eclipse.

Thursday and Friday were early cricket practice mornings for Clay, he’s gearing up for the big game tomorrow. Wish him luck.

Saturday night we are going to a Diwali festival with some of Clay’s employees. I’m not sure what to expect, but hopefully we’ll have some good stories for you next week.

Claire’s New Words:
Baff=Bath
Fan
Kirt=Skirt

Phir Melingay! (That’s “See you later” to our non-Hindi speaking friends and family. I actually learned this one from Claire watching Tele Tubbies in Hindi, not in our Hindi class:)


Sincerely,Julianna Ehlers