First Day of AES school

The kids all started school on Tuesday, January 4.  We have a car and driver rented for the week so we all rode together to the school.  I walked the elementary kids to the school and into their classrooms.  High school kid one ditched us at the gate after entering the campus.  She made arrangements with a friend the weekend before to meet up before school on the first day.  After the kids were all tucked into their classrooms I then went to a parent orientation and went around the school trying to get a few more business matters set up before I left campus.  Tried to arrange some after school activities, talked with the manager of lunch services about gluten-free options for the girls, filled out emergency contact forms for both the elementary and high school, just busy work, then left campus.
During parent orientation it was emphasized that as a parent we all need to take a deep breath, our kids had all made it into their classrooms and everything is going to be great for them.  I left campus knowing I was ordered to relax.  We had a longer than average drive home but I was ordered to relax so I didn't concern myself with the roads.
In the afternoon the driver and I went back to the school to gather the kids for our ride home.  When I met the kids I asked them to think of their answer and at dinner we discussed the best and worst of the day.  The answers are telling of how the day went for all three of them.
Kid one answered:  Worst was math class because the teacher gave an evaluation to the class on the first day back.
Best was Spanish class with a great teacher and awesome people.
Kid middle: Worst was lunch period was too short (mostly because she was talking so much she didn't have time to eat her whole lunch)
Best was she made a lot of new friends.
Kid three: Worst was he had forgotten to take a jacket with him to PE and the class was held outside in the cold 52 degree F.
Best was everything else.
And this type of attitude was how the week continued.  We just finished our first week of school at AES and the kids all LOVE their new school and all are making lots of new friends.  They have started taking the bus sometimes to school but often home after school and that too is not as bad as all had thought.  Although kid one is hoping we change our mind soon and just let the car and driver take them both ways.

Still In the Bags

Going on two weeks landed in Delhi and we are starting to have a grasp on night and day. We are still living with the same things we brought with us on the plane; the same ten suit cases and carry ons but we have all of them so that is a good thing. Our shipments have not arrived at our home yet but we are in the flat, our permanent house for the two years we will be here. We are thankful for what we have and try not to dwell on what is lacking.

Mister has been going into work and has a car and driver for that. The kids and I are still going by way of taxi when we leave the house at all. We will eventually buy a car/vehicle here for the family to use but we were hoping our van in the states would sell first so we could use that money towards a family car here. It is that whole waiting game thing all over again.

Kid one had some placement tests and AES to finalize her schedule. She is starting her new school and new semester on January 4 when the school resumes after winter break. Kid middle and Kid three will start at the same time. The two of them would have liked to start last week but the school seemed to encourage them to wait and we don't have a car so I didn't want to fight it. They are both excited that they will begin Spanish classes here. We moved to India for everyone to take Spanish class! I am sure odder things will happen.

Kid three had a small case of what is affectionately called Delhi Belly. He had a mild case though, no vomiting, just nausea, and the "other" symptoms he had but the fever only lasted twenty four hours. Kid middle pointed out that everyone is worried about kid one meeting people that she has been introduced to many high school aged kids yet kid middle and kid three have met nobody their age yet. Living out of suit cases with few things and little to do is beginning to wear on the two of them. They are last to call the computer time, last in line for the votes on what to get done, it is getting hard for them to be without the things that make time go by. So for the sake of the little ones, we pray our stuff arrives soon.

Looks like we made it!

We arrived, finally we arrived.  With Christmas packed along with school books and clothes all the bags were very heavy but we made sure all were under 50 pounds before we left our temporary home away from home in the hotel.  We left the USA and flew to Frankfort then to Delhi and arrived at about one in the morning on Monday, December 6.  All our luggage also arrived safe and in tacked for the most part, one handle broke.   The air was all a haze, even in the airport, so when we stepped outside the four of us who had never been to India didn't know it was outside, we only knew it was more hazy and a little cooler than the room we were just in. We compared the smell to campfire, mostly because that was something we knew. A gentleman greeted at the airport and then drove us to our new home. The drive at one in the morning to our flat was an easy one, nothing out of the ordinary.  We saw some tuk-tuks and other odd vehicles. We saw one accident, a truck turned on its side but for the most part it was a smooth ride to our flat.  Unfortunately the whole inside of our flat was freshly painted for our arrival and was made from the cool colorful walls we saw in pictures to the boring drab ivory we hoped not to see.  In the pictures it looked bright and fun, like we hoped for our life in India.  We will decorate with bright and fun and make it our home in India and all will be well.  You just come and see!