We've Moved

After months of preparation, and four days of absolute chaos, we are finally in India. I am happy to report, that while the move took longer than expected we were able to finish all of our home improvement projects. We couldn't have done it without our DC friends--they provided boxes, helped us pack, cleaned, loaned cars, stored our extra boxes, and provided us with delicious meals. Two families were forced to stay up late waiting for us to finish Sunday night--we will definitely owe them when we return to the US.

Our flights were quite uneventful. Everything was on time and our seats were comfortable--we even enjoyed bulkhead seats on the second leg. All four checked bags arrived with minimal damage. We were met at the airport by two interns we had befriended during our training week in DC. They drove us back to our flat and gave us a brief overview of the unit. Some of the oddities include electrical panels with more than six switches--there are at least three of these in our one bedroom unit, lights that only work when you flip the switch just so, and a very fancy water filter that signals its readiness with a lovely beeping noise.

The next day an intern gave us a great tour of the area. We visited the office, found the local cash machine, grocery store, and restaurant. We also visited a nearby shopping area called Bandra and a portion of the nearest beach called the Bandstand. We finished off the day with dinner at a deli in the Hyatt.

Now we are off to find the post office--wish us luck. Few streets are labeled and many look quite similar to us at the moment.

(Isaac edit:) Andrea neglected to mention that our arrival into Mumbai was somewhat exciting due to the current India holiday. It involves everyone shooting off really big fireworks, so there were big explosions going off all around the airplane... I suspect that this may be part of why the pilot announced "20 minutes 'till landing," then 3 minutes later "10 minutes" and then were almost immediately on the ground. It was a very abrupt landing. Thankfully, there were firework light plumes on many of fireworks, and the guy next to us was Indian, so we weren't completely at a loss as to why Mumbai wanted to shoot down a British Airways flight.