Dutchies in Mumbai

Half marathon

2011-01-18T08:47:00.012+05:30

Last Sunday Mumbai had to wake up early since the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2011 hit Mumbai. In a crazy mood a few friends of mine and myself had decided to run the half marathon which is 21.098km or 13.1miles. Of course it sounds a little crazy to expose yourself to such physical endurance in this climate but I had ran the half marathon a couple of times in the past so the decision was easily made in the end.

After months of preparation and the last 2 weeks even refraining of all kind of 'bad' behaviour like drinking:-) finally the day was there. On Saturday evening there was a "little" stress moment when I found out that my ladies had chucked away all my marathon stuff, e.g. my bib and my time chip. Luckily like a good Indians behave they did not really put it in the garbage but had stored it and I could retrieve it. Needless to say that my blood pressure went up just a bit..:-) Since the event started at 6.15 am (pfff) I got up at 4.00. After a huge breakfast we went off to the start. For the half marathon 11.000 runners were expected so it was kind of busy... It was surprisingly well organised in a way that crowd stayed clam and there was not a lot of pushing and shoving as we expected. They even had a separate holding pen for Veterans (yes unfortunately the category where we were running in...:-( at least that was what the sign said, but after 20 meters everybody ended up in the same area and we all had to start from the same place. All of us were relieved when finally we started and were heading for the Sealink which was one of the absolute highlights of the race. It was still dark when we crossed. When the sun came up behind the high risers it was a wonderful sight. Gabriela and I ran the majority of the race together which was a pleasure. Experiencing Mumbai by foot is totally different than going around by car. Another positive thing was that at this early hour the temperature was fairly low and chilly sometimes which helped a lot or could have helped a lot to achieve a good time. When we almost hit Chowpatty Beach we saw the front runners of the marathon passing by and it felt like a flock of gazelles passed us. It was a wonderful sight and both Gabriela and I got goosebumps just watching them. Of course when you realise that they run the full marathon faster than we the half one it is slightly dis encouraging....

Well we all made it safely to the finish and were proud of ourselves that we achieved it. It was a great event to be part of and I am very happy that I have shared this with my friends who all ran. Also thank you to the friends who came to support us at that ghastly hour.

My time is NOT worth mentioning since I did not improve myself at all and am disappointed after the all the effort I have put in. So for the half marathon in Vienna (17 April) the goal is set and a lot of work lays ahead:-))

The Bandra shopping experience

2010-12-03T17:02:00.005+05:30

After spending 3 weeks in Europe and enjoying even the Czech supermarkets I thought it was time to share the grocery shopping experience here in Mumbai and in particular in Bandra. In Bandra we have a market for veggies, fruit, meat and all kinds of other things called Pali Market. Even before I moved I was told that this is the place to be for a great shopping experience. At first sight I was a little surprised, is this where everybody was raving about??? It looks dirty, I see rats running through the shops and where is the refrigerated dairy section???:-) But after a closer look I do understand why people tend to go there. They simply got (almost) everything you would want. The stalls sell fruits and veggies and all try to lure you in. Of course you choose your stall based on recommendation by your friends so the sellers are very keen to draw your attention and make you their client. Whenever they see you approaching they will instantly help you, it doesn't matter that they are already helping another customer. Furthermore they always keep something 'special' for you hidden under the counter, either it is better quality or some rare European vegetable..

Across from the stalls are the shops that sell almost anything you wished for and if they don't have they can order it for you. When you enter the shop somebody will run to you and you either point out what you want or you handed it to them. Madame shouldn't carry anything herself obviously..:-) Once finished they use the good old calculator to determine what you must pay. No money on you? No worries, they will write it down and you pay them later:-) The butcher is also worth a visit. The first time I went there and asked for chicken he took me to the back asked me which one I would like to have. They keep live chickens in cages and you take your pick. I declined the offer firmly but friendly and we agreed that he will just give me chicken without any options to choose from..:-) The best thing though is the fact that everything will be delivered to your home or at the neighbors who happen to be Dutch too and of course we all look alike… But no more carrying of shopping bags is one of the great things of being an expat in this country.

Monsoon Mumbai

2010-09-06T18:40:00.011+05:30

After spending a long summer in Europe we returned to Mumbai on 10 August. It was quite an adjustment after being in Spain, Holland and Prague for almost 10 weeks. We had to get used again to the aspects that expat life brings into your life, especially living in Mumbai. No unplanned car trips, lovely supermarkets with a great variety of products or just popping over to see grandma and grand dad. But everything comes to an end and the kids had to go back to school.

At the moment it is monsoon season which started on 5 June and will continue till approximately the end of September here in Mumbai. According to the media this at least 2 weeks later than normal.

The amount of rain varies from day to day. There are days that it rains only a couple of times, sometimes drizzle and sometimes heavily. Last week it was really bad and I even lost the view of the ocean because of a rain curtain blocking it.

It is heart breaking to see the circumstances that people who live on the street are dealing with now. Everything gets soaking wet and a blue plastic cover won't keep the heavy rains of their belongings. In this time of year people use great amounts of blue plastic to protect their belongings, houses and even verandas are covered with it.

Even the inside of our apartment is damaged by the monsoon, clothes and leather goods are getting moldy and some of the walls that are exposed to the water too long are giving in. So we have the ventilators and ac's running day and night. Last week the first batch of workers started their repair works in the maids quarters and stair case. Also our play room and bed room is damaged. I am afraid it will take a long time before everything has dried and the walls are back to normal.

The monsoon also has a positive side. The air is clean so running outside is actually enjoyable and everything is green and the streets are washed clean. The reservoirs for drinking water are filled and because of the heavy rains the expectations for the crops are very positive. And this is what India needs: enough water and food to feed all its people. So no complaining but grateful for nature is delivering.

Calcutta

2010-04-27T18:08:00.009+05:30

Last week Dick had to go on a business trip to Calcutta and I decided to tag along. That turned out be a great idea. Calcutta or Kolkata how it is called today used to be the capital of British India until 1912. There are a lot of old English building and the majority of them are reasonably well maintained. I was actually surprised how the clean and well organized the city is, especially in comparison to Mumbai.

I found a tour agent on the Internet and booked myself a guide for the whole day. He took me to most of the interesting sites and we strolled along the river Ganges, the holy river. We also went to the Mother Teresa house. This is the place where she lived and is buried now. I found it really impressive, the whole atmosphere is very serene. The organisation it self is still operating and continues with their work to help the poorest of the poor. Here is a link to their website with photos when they celebrated her centennial birthday last year. Unfortunately the memory card of my camera was corrupted so the majority of the photos are deleted. Another highlight was a tram ride in a very ancient tram which was good fun.

The next day I went to visit a school called Loreto Day School Sealdah. This school is a run by an Irish nun who is living in India since the fifties, Sister Cyril. When she came to the school she thought that the space should be used more efficiently and she decided to use parts of the building as a shelter for the slum kids, called Rainbow children. These kids are taught here (partially by the kids who go to school here regularly), fed and well looked after. This initiative has resulted in a wide spread organisation with many different projects to support the poorest children and provide with basic education. I met Sister Cyril when I was there and she is an amazing woman. I have deep respect for her and her organization and all the projects that they run. They really make a difference in the lives of the poorest kids. ING is sponsoring this project through Holland through an organisation called the Partnership Foundation.

This month India accepted the Right to Education Act which means that every child in India has the right to go to school. Unfortunately there are not of schools nor staff to provide this, furthermore child labour is still something very alive. Even in domestic households children are still put to work and are not able to got to school, even very young ones like 5 or 6 years old. Here is an article on this subject. I am still shocked that this is happening here. Probably very naive of me.

It was a great trip and I hope I will be able to return with the kids to take them to the school and show them the nice places that Calcutta has to offer..

Go Indians go!!

2010-03-14T19:47:00.007+05:30

Yesterday we went to an IPL 2010 cricket match together with a group of friends. This a yearly event which runs about 4 weeks. There 8 teams participating from all India. Usually the owners (or co-owners) are Bollywood stars and you may even catch a glimpse of them if you're lucky..) They play so called T20 matches. A T20 match hardly takes more than 3 hours to finish. In this fast paced world, people don’t want to wait for 5 days or even a single day for the result of a cricket match. We were intrigued by all the controversy beforehand since Shah Rukh Khan, one of India's Bollywood heroes had publicly disagreed with the political decision to refuse the Pakistani players their visas. This stirred the whole country so we had to check for our selves what is was all about and we were in for a big surprise. T20 matches are indeed a big spectacle, it is party time for 3 hours. The whole crowd goes crazy and they use everything to show how they feel.

The match started at 3pm and finished at 7.45 and WE WON(Ok the Mumbai Indians..) with 4 runs (4 points in human language) !! I had never expected that I would like this game so much. It got a lot of similarities with baseball so that makes life a lot easier. Noah and Milan also came a long but they both were not very interested unfortunately. We went to Breach Candy afterward where we evaluated the game and had a few drinks and food. My throat was hurting because of the cheering. Hopefully we can go again this series since it is great fun and very exiting!

Here are a few pics of the match and the spectators. See anybody familiar..??

Update and miscellaneous

2010-03-11T22:38:00.007+05:30

It has been a while since my last posting, apparently not enough time to sit down and write something. Highly surprising since I have the feeling that my days are basically filled with hanging around, waiting and sitting in traffic. The latter is not surprising since the traffic can be horrid sometimes.

Kids have settled in quite nicely at school and seem content and so is Dick. The boxes are almost unpacked and I am afraid that the majority will remain unpacked..:-)

The children are enjoying their after school activities, merely organized by school. For Milan we found a football club where he goes 3 times a week called the Indian Tigers. (http://www.indiantigers.co.in/)

Our apartment in very comfortable and the BBQ is working perfectly. Up until now the weather has been gorgeous. Relatively cool with a breeze, but it is changing. You can feel the humidity is getting higher so it will feel warmer. I started running and training for the half marathon next year January. Found a running buddy who is very kind to put with me because after doing nothing for 2 years there is a lot of work to do. We run outside early in the morning because of the heat which is lovely, it definitely beats the treadmill. I will take some photos of the run we are doing, quite interesting and distracting. It is nice to have this goal to work to and hopefully a few of my friends will come over for this special event. Will keep you posted.

Finally moved!

2010-01-13T10:54:00.008+05:30

Not for Indian standards that is. We managed to get everything, more or less, organized within 2 months after we left Prague. According to people here that is not bad at all.

Ok the house is still a mess..:-)) But that is nothing new.

We are living in a neighbourhood called Pali Hill in Bandra West. This is in the north of Mumbai. It is a very green and relatively quit area where a lot of famous Indians reside. In the building next door lives an actor and whenever he has a party the street is completely blocked by news channel vehicles.

We live on the 11th and 12th floor which is very pleasant since we can keep the windows open, even at night. There are not that many mosquitoes so sitting outside on the terrace at night is very nice. Furthermore we have a a nice garden and a swimming pool for the kids and there is even space for Milan to play football and Rosa can ride her bike.

The best feature of our apartment though is the roof terrace where we have put our Boretti outdoor kitchen (thanks to Gijs!) and all we have to organize is a gas bottle and some decent meat.

Needless to add that the house suits us really well and we feel at home already!

View from our living room terrace at 8am this morning.

Oliebollen and head lice

2010-01-01T20:42:00.009+05:30

It may seem a strange title but after reading you will understand why our last day of the 2009 was a strenuous one.

We spend a great time in Holland with family and friends. On Sunday when we arrived it started snowing heavily which caused a lot of problems at Schiphol and on roads and train tracks. We had a lot of fun in the Vondelpark and enjoyed the snow a lot.

We even managed to smuggle 3.5kg of beef into India without being caught but it was a close call since the customs officer did ask me to put my suitcase to be scanned but I asked him if we could skip this since my kids were shattered and I had nothing to declare anyway..:-) At that exact moment skips past us and shouts Mummy mummy... But we got of the hook so hopefully the BBQ did get into the container.

After arriving in Mumbai we found out that unfortunately we couldn't move into our apartment like we planned and we had to postpone it to Monday. That was a pity since we had 6 days to settle before we leave to Goa next week and now we have to do everything in days. But nothing you can do so we just have to it fast.

At the last day of the year traditionally Dutch people spend their day hanging above a deep frying pans to cook oliebollen. It is a smelly job because everything gets drenched in fatty fumes but the end result is usually very delicious. I brought 3 packages of flour and raisins so the job could be done even in Mumbai. The good thing that out hallway is almost empty so our neighbours do not have to evacuate their apartments because of the smell.

In the morning Dick had to go to the office and I took the kids to our apartment to see if the work progressed ok which was the case. After picking up a pan and oil we headed back to the Hyatt. I booked a hair appointment for both Milan and Rosa and than fate struck. I saw the stylist looking at Milan's hair and talking to her colleague who was looking after Rosa. Than it struck me that my itching skull (since 2 weeks!!) could only mean 1 thing: lice!! Disgusting and made me scratch even more... Fortunately both girls were not shocked at all and continued working and removed a lot of lice and nits at the same time. They even contacted the concierge for me and asked him to go and buy the necessary meds and a comb which delivered to our room. So the rest of the afternoon I spend baking the oliebollen and killing the lice. I did warn Margit where we would go for new years eve to tell her my shameful experience but she was fine about it and we were still allowed to come.

We spend the evening at Rob and Margit's and it was a great end of the year. Sitting on their terrace, enjoying nice foods and drinks, it got midnight very fast. Couldn't have wished for a nicer way to start the new year.

We would like to wish everybody a fantastic 2010 and hope that all you wishes will come true!!

X-mas assembly at ASB

2009-12-19T21:21:00.008+05:30

Yesterday we had the end assembly for the elementary school at ASB. After years of Noah being a Shepperd or Rosa being a sheep in the nativity plays in Prague we were kind of wondering what the kids would show us this time. We didn't get any requests for special outfits meaning that we could leave our sheets in one piece this year.

Elementary and primary school are the same (lagere school for Dutch people) so it meant that all of them were performing except for Noah who was relieved. Of course Dick was present too, first assembly at the new school.

We gathered in the sports hall were the AC was blowing us away again. This is common practice in India but I don't seem to be able to get used to it somehow. So I was cold again with an outside temperature of over 30 degrees Celsius. It was a musical assembly in which all the religions were celebrated.

Of course we don't want you all to miss out on our excellent singing kids so here are some videos that I shot. have fun:-))! We will heading to Holland now for 9 days where it is freezing and the majority of our winter clothes are still in the shipment. So we have to do some shopping when we arrive, what a shame:-).

Music addiction

2009-12-18T17:25:00.000+05:30

As many of you know Dick (my husband) is addicted to music. In normal live it means that I am exposed to his love from 09.00 on Saturday till Sunday night and during the week whenever he is home. of course the volume goes up because 'otherwise I cannot hear it properly'. In Prague he went a lot to a music club named Lucerna Music bar. This club is based in basement (dark and smokey) and many of Dick's heroes came here to perform. Often I had to come with him and wished after 10 minutes when it would be finished. Especially with bands that are playing on instrumental music (a lot of jazz) and you think the song is finished and want to start clapping, but no it was just in intermezzo and the song continues for another 5 minutes:-)

Moving to Mumbai put to immediate stop to this, what a shame. But of course the replacement was discovered quickly. His new temple is called The Blue Frog and is a modern, nicely designed club with tables to have dinner and a bar. The only downside is that the AC is blowing north-pole winds so you to bring at least a cardigan to stay kind-of warm. Yesterday evening we went to listen to the Louiz Banks-Joe Alvarez Collection featuring Tony Lakatos. The latter is famous saxophone player from Hungary. I never heard of him and so didn't Margit. Rob and Hilde who went with us but we had high expectations since Dick was very enthusiastic.

We had a very nice evening and enjoyed ourselves a lot. Amazing all the things Mumbai has to offer! I taped a few minutes so judge it for yourselves.

Charity work

2009-12-16T21:15:00.013+05:30

Since I couldn't imagine a live without doing something besides lunching, drinking coffee and shopping. It didn't take me long to get in touch with a volunteer group who help orphans living with HIV/Aids. The group is called Support for Orphans Living With AIDS (Solwa) and they go every Tuesday to an orphanage called Ish Kripa (God's Mercy) which is part of the larger Helpers of Mary orphanage compound Naya Jeevan, currently housing about 350 children. SOLWA has adopted this home to try and improve the lives of these children.

Yesterday they celebrated their x-mas party and for me the first time I went up there. I got a ride from Robyn and it took us more than 90 minutes to get there. The distance we had cover was about 80km but the conditions of the road are slowing down all the traffic. The orphanage looks quite nice and well maintained to me. Comparable even to the detsky domovs that we saw in Czech Republic. In Ish Kripa are living 42 children who are HIV positive or even have full blown aids. Solwa makes sure that the kids get the meds and care they need and even tries to educate them. They are paying for 3 full time teachers to try to get the kids better prepared for working live since they have to leave the orphanage at the age of 18.

For the x-mas money was collected to buy gifts and and necessities. They all received a Santa stocking and a towel. Furthermore Sharon arranged food for all the children from the Hyatt and everybody had a great time. The children did songs and dance for us and read their x-mas wishes. They all had a great time including the adults and kids that came to celebrate with them. I am very happy to be able to be involved in this group. It gives me the opportunity to make a small difference for the kids since it really touches me to see how they respond to all of us who came for the party. Of course it makes me think about the conditions that Noah, Julie, Milan and Rosa were born in and partially lived and I feel I simply have to do this.

Rickshaw adventures

2009-12-15T10:10:00.000+05:30

After spending a lovely (but very cold) week back in Prague it was nice to be back in Mumbai on Monday. The kids had a good week without me but were happy to see me again. At least on Monday they were:-))They have to get used to our new help (maid, as they are called here) and that is not an easy process. The comparison to Sona who has been with us for 8 years is obviously not a fair one but understandable from their point of view. It probably needs some time.

I arrived at the Hyatt at 6.30 without getting any sleep the previous night and instead of going to bed I had to go out and fill the fridge since Dick had been 'very' busy and no time to do so:-( So off I went to the supermarket together with Margit, my Dutch friend. Since Dick needed to the car to get to work ('you want me to walk to the office??') I took a rickshaw. For those who are not familiar with this, rickshaw are yellow and black scooters with a roof that officially can carry two persons at the backseat. As you can imagine this is not a strict rule. The drivers should pass an exam but again this is not a strict rule:-) and you can tell when you see them driving. I tried to capture the feeling while we were driving.

A rickshaw ride may seems challenging based on the images but time wise it is a lot faster usually since you do not get stuck in traffic that much compared to a car. And isn't live all about challenges??

Sinterklaas came to Mumbai today

2009-12-05T22:32:00.004+05:30

In Holland we celebrate on the 5th of December one of our most important national events called Sinterklaas. It is comparable to Santa but the history is different. Click here for more information on Sinterklaas.

This year he came to Mumbai by boat to the Gateway to India where the children of the Dutch and Flemish society (who organized it) had gathered to welcome him. Our crowd attracted a lot of curious Indian people which almost got a little out of control. The police managed to keep everything in good order though. The children sang a few songs and we walked to the Dutch Consulate where the children were invited to talk to Sinterklaas and got a present. The parents where treated with Dutch and Flemish treats like cheese, beer and speculaasjes. (special biscuits that we eat in this time of the year)

When we got home we found out that the Sint even brought presents to our hotel and we celebrated pakjesavond like we always do, with the treats that I brought from Holland. The kids had a great day and were very happy with their presents.

Here is a short impression of this event together with a short film.

Sight seeing in South Mumbai

2009-12-03T22:18:00.001+05:30

In every expat city you can find numerous clubs run by expats, usually women. Of these club here in Mumbai is called the Mumbai Explorers. Their setup is different from the regulars clubs. Meaning instead of organizing coffee mornings and charity lunches the members have to organize a trip for the other members. They do that in pairs, usually an 'old' and a ''new' member are randomly selected and they have organize a trip and a lunch. Yes of course you need to need to eat as well:-). The organizing members are expected to inform the participants about the backgrounds, history of the place that is being visited. I am on the waiting list since there is a lot of interest and they want to keep the group medium sized. Fortunately members are often allowed to bring guests, like today.

Today the trip took us to a temple complex with a holy tank, named Banganga, in the south, in Malabar Hill. Because of the traffic it reduces the time that you can actually spend there so the program cannot be to extensive. It is situated in a quite part of Mumbai and we could walk around without being 'jumped' on by beggars. There are numerous temples scattered around the tank and they are dedicated to different Hindu Gods or their ... The holy tank is built in 1127 but already mentioned in the famous Hindy epic the Ramayana which dates back even BC. I will write a different posting on the different religions in India. We walked around the tank and visited a couple of temples. We also saw a Dhobi Ghat, where local clothes are washed by laundry men. We ended the trip in a local restaurant where we had a nice lunch, vegetarian of course since we are in South India and here the majority of the people are vegetarians.

Getting settled

2009-12-02T22:16:00.005+05:30

Since our shipment is still on the boat on its way down here and our apartment is not ready yet, we are temporary residing in the Grand Hyatt Residences in Santacruz. The Hyatt offers both hotelrooms and appartments for long-term residents. In our side of the building there is a swimmingpool, playground, football field (soccer), a tennis and basketball court. Being fairly new to this lifestyle we were overwhelmed by all the facilities that are offered. We are staying in 2 apartments, one with 2 bedrooms and one with 1 bedroom across the hall. This works out really nicely since it gives us (me especially:-) the opportunity to sleep in in the weekend. Noah has soccer/football practice at 07.30(!!) in the morning here on the hotelgrounds so he has to get up very early. He can do that without waking us up, which is great. Furthermore we have a small kitchen with a washing machine and dishwasher but you can also use the laundry service and the room service. The travel time to school is only about 10 minutes which is quite good for Mumbai standards, but I will write a different posting about the traffic here in the city.

Bottomline is we are gettig really spoiled here so it is time to move into our home. That will take another 4 weeks since the moving date is set on 30 December. So New Years Eve between boxes..:-) I think we will survive!

Leaving Prague

2009-12-02T09:22:00.001+05:30

Leaving Prague after 9 years... I never thought that it would be so hard to leave this city after living here for such a long time. The weeks before we left had lots of happy, sad, warm and other emotions, it was an emotional rollercoaster. It is great to know that we have such good friends and that the distance between us all will certainly not change how we feel. I went from surprise party to lunch, to dinner and back. Gained an enormous amount of kilo's (thank god my scales are still in the shipment:-) and had lots of fun and great times. Strange that you only seem to appreciate what you have when you are about to loose it. Thanks everybody for making these days so special!!x