Another week in Hyderabad
Another week has flown by, although the nights seemed without end.
The neighbourhood dogs are still working on their a cappella – and they still need years of practice. Ideally not next to our house, though. Their diligent 2 am training sessions are starting to interfere with our sleeping patterns, health and sanity.
But things are improving – including the amount of sleep we get per night …
Staff and good deeds
No good deed goes unpunished. We tried to restructure the way our staff is paid for their services and in the process gave them a nice increase in what they take home. Unfortunately we failed to meet sky-high expectations (even a 100% increase did not meet expectations). The end result – a line in the sand was drawn, and we got rid of Estella.
Raju is looking a little pale after that, because he also got the message that he is welcome to work elsewhere if he is not happy. (Our offer is very generous in Indian standards and exceeded what our colleagues at Shriram recommended).
So currently only Raju and Alex are working for us, but in April we will employ another person to be the gardener / day guard. And so our empire grows …
Transport
We are very excited and expect to receive our new car today. New car = new driver. And we found one in record time. We sincerely hope his driving is better than his English, but we will find out shortly.
The new car is a Toyota Innova. It has enough room for visiting guests and for dogs. Pictures will be uploaded when the car is in our possession.
Working
Working on Saturdays is not fun. It is very difficult to find your feet in a new place if you only have one day off (along with the rest of the city). Also there is no Tyger Valley or Sandton City shopping centre to pop into and walk out with everything you need.
First it is a drive to the ATM (which is not present in shopping centres – only at banks), then a drive to the first shop; buy item 1; then the next shop; etc. (zig-zagging across the city).
Also working 6 days a week is not an incentive for an episode of The Amazing Race on a Sunday - it rather strongly promotes the amazing snooze on the couch…
TEA with the expats
TEA (Twin cities Expatriate Association) organises get togethers and events with expats. We have met the most interesting people – even an American who speaks Afrikaans. (He learnt it in the US from visiting South Africans). We really enjoy the interaction with and stories of the other expats. Some have been professional expats, moving from country to country for the last 14 years. Meeting people like these, along with the very friendly people at Shriram, gives us a lot of optimism for our time here in Hyderabad.
Namaste
That’s all from us for now – stay tuned for a new episode next week (if we feel like it!)
Theo & Marga
Theo Scheffler
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