FAQ

How is living in India? So far...great! It's definitely a little bit different then we expected, but we are really enjoying ourselves. Living close to the school and embassy makes everything easier. We are very busy with school right now, so exploring is temporarily on hold except for some weekend market shopping. Did you make friends? Yes, there are some great fellow newbies and we are getting to know a lot of other teachers. For those familiar with Tuesday Night Dinners, we have started it up here in Delhi. This week will be hosted at our house. You have a maid? How's that? Weird. But also nice. The housekeeping profession here in Delhi is very established, and most receive what is considered by local standards to be a middle class income. Our housekeeper/cook/dog walker takes Ruby out a couple of times during the day and also does a bit of cooking for us. She is an AWESOME cook who has worked in the past for Italian, French, Korean and American families, so her repertoire is pretty varied. Just the other day she made us an amazing spicy, coconutty vegetarian dish from her home state of Kerala! What have you been eating? Delicious Indian food (Kelly LOVES all the choices), as well as Thai (there's a good place within walking distance), middle eastern, italian...you name it! We even had DELICIOUS mexican food in Connaught Place (the heart of New Delhi). Each state in India also has an office here in Delhi (most in our neighborhood) so we've also been able to eat some great food from other parts of the country. Last week we went over to the Sikkim House and had some tasty veggie and chicken momos (steamed dumplings)! Tasty! We havent been doing a very good job of keeping track of the names of Indian dishes that we like, but we will promise to do better! How's the weather? Wet. It gets pretty hot and humid and then pours down rain. Thankfully we are in climate-controlled buildings for most of our day, truly a luxury! The air quality right now is quite nice, however it will get much worse as the temperature gets nicer (cooler) because people will start burning whatever they can find to stay warm. What's the time difference? When and how can I talk to you? Delhi and the rest of India are on India Standard Time (IST) which is currently nine and a half hours ahead of the US. We have Skype and can be reached through that, our name is rjkabroad, and soon we will also have a Vonage setup that forwards calls from a US number through to our Indian cell phones. That means you'll be able to call us for the price of a regular local cell phone call in the US! Yay! Call us! Aside from that e-mail is still a great way to get in touch! Are groceries and other things super cheap? Yes and no. The commissary on the embassy compound has a lot of US groceries and for the most part things there are about the same as they are in the states (sometimes a little more expensive, sometimes a little cheaper). Indian grocery stores vary widely depending on whether or not you go to the stores closest to our neighborhood (jacked up prices for the diplomatic community), or to the open-air Indian markets (much cheaper with good bargaining skills). For the most part we've been able to find all the groceries we want/need EXCEPT for avocados (sold imported sometimes at a local supermarket) and mangosteens (Kelly's favorite fruit that isn't in season right now). How's your stomach? For the most part really good. We wash all our vegetables in a cleaning solution used to disinfect stuff for babies, but we still get the brief bug on occasion. Outside of our home, the school, and the embassy, it's just a matter of figuring out from people what is safe to eat from different places. Do you have extra space for me to visit? We certainly do! We have an extra bedroom and an office/bedroom as well as two living room couches! How's Ruby? FANTASTIC. She loves being walked at all times throughout the day and it totally blown away by the all the different smells. A walk around the block takes forever because she stops every few feet to get some hardcore sniffing in. We do have some stray dogs in the neighborhood, but with our selection of sticks (we have 3), we're ready for anything. The security guard for the house next to us is also a huge animal lover (think Ace Ventura), so he makes sure that all the canines and felines around us behave. All the exercise she gets means that she is super tired by early evening, and usually curls up right on our pillows on the bed! How's the wedding planning coming along from abroad? Great! We already booked the venue and got The Jonas Brothers! Is there anything you are really missing? Ummmm yes. Our families and friends!!.............also being able to communicate with everyone around us. Sometimes its hard to deal with the language barrier, but Jake's Hindi classes start in a couple of weeks!