It is friday again..

End of another week...time to write some more in the blog! It has been a busy week. training course the first 3 days which occupied a substantial amount of time, then Prachi had an interview with Ajilon on Thursday (which meant I was home for some time during the day) and then I started the Norwegian course in the evening. But the weather improved substantially on Wednesday (with lots of sun) which is good.

I took Prarthna for a long walk yesterday and then Prachi took her again to Ritu's place so that she could play with Norwie. We went to Roy's this evening as it was another nice day. It is good to get these walks after eating all the high calorie stuff. We had cake again in the office today and then Roy and Marja fed us lots of sweets!

It seems that we have been able to make quite a few acquaintances but ofcourse, we have no history with them. These are very new friends, and I really miss the old ones, especially Eric, Jan, Rajul, Jayanto, Pete, and more. But life has taken us in a new direction, and lets hope that it is for the best!

We might go shopping (again!) tomorrow to see if we can get some deals in the after after christmas sales. I can't believe how much stuff we have accumulated in the short time we have been here.

The last day of my old life

July 28, 2005 6 PM EST (probably 1 PM local time)

Finally, the day arrived when we were supposed to bid adieu to the United States in pursuit of new places and new things. It had been a very hectic last few days of preparation and wrapping up. On Saturday, the cause almost seemed lost, but we did a lot of work on Sunday and Monday to feel ready. Tuesday was mildly relaxing although we did have some stuff to do. In two days, we had finished shipping everything, cleaning the apartment thoroughly, packing, and also seeing friends for one last time. On Wednesday, we still had a couple things to do before we set out for the airport. We had to return the computers to Murray Johnston and also take care of a couple things at the post office. The last people we saw before we stepped out into the unknown were Missy (she was kind enough to come and give a couple last minute gifts to Prarthna) and Sudhaker. Then we set out for the airport (after making a quick stop at AAA). Prarthna slept all the way and not withstanding a traffic jam on Belt Parkway, we arrived at JFK in very good time. That was the beginning of a major adventure….

Everything had gone according to plan so far (well, almost – Prachi was angry at me for bringing her to the check-in without eating lunch. So, I tried to pacify her by getting her a Snickers bar). So we were in the line before we went to the agent, and as soon as she opened her mouth, that began the adventure. She told us that the Delhi airport is closed and we cannot go and we have to go to rebook. We were like – what is she talking about? We were totally aghast.


This is all I wrote that day....I am publishing it now on Jan 21, 2006

OK...that's it!!

The thought of writing about our life in this land has always been in my mind, but for a variety of reasons, it has not happened so far! So today on the 21st day of January, I say it is enough, and take the plunge. It could be a simple start, but I need a start. So I have gone ahead and published a post which I created a few days back and now will add this one.

We are in the middle of another weekend right now. It is 1 AM and so we are past Saturday night. We had a lovely evening with Amarjit and Paramjit's families. They are nice people. Amarjit was the one we met on the plane to Bergen. He was the first Indian we met (although he and his wife have never lived in India but they is probably more Indian than us in some ways). They invited us over soon after we landed here (and he also took us shopping before that) and gave Prarthna a wonderful Christmas present. His brother Paramjit is much younger to him and is probably like a son. Anyhow, Prarthna was again the life of the party with her antics and she got some new toys today and had fun with Kiran, Amarjit's wife. The food turned out to be quite good and they all seemed to like it. We had chaat followed by dinner with kofte, paneer, and the trademark bhindi, karela, aaloo, pyaaz along with roti and chawal and then halwa for dessert and some tea in the end.

Tomorrow we got to Jerome's place who is a colleague of mine. He is french and his wife is norwegian and they have a son who is about Prarthna's age.

Last weekend was very packed as I said earlier but it was also wonderful. The evening with Sushma and Priya's families was delightful. The girls played so well together and the food was great as well. Saturday was shopping with Sangeeta (we have had many days of that now and she probably expects that we will join her - so may be she felt lonely today) and then dinner at Sandhya and Sumit. They were perfect hosts with plenty to eat and drink and nice conversation. Sushma and Chandru and Amarjit and Kiran were also there (Kiran and Sushma are twins - they are 8 sisters + 1 adopted sister and 1 brother, 6 of whom live in London). The Deans came on Sunday and we had 3 kids in the house for the first time! It went quite OK although prachi feels that they did not like the food very much and she wants to try something completely different next time.

We have a 3 day FLACS course coming up on Monday, and so it will be somewhat hectic next week with ofcourse some regular work to be done as well. May be a dinner out on Tuesday night and the dinner at Deans on Wednesday.

God has blessed us so much. I pray to him that He blesses the work that I do and makes it a success. Only He can, I don't have much in my hands. And we ask that He supply something for Prachi to do. She definitely needs something that occupies her mind, as I suspect that she gets quite bored with being prarthna the whole day. This sometimes results in squabbles as well.

OK, I will end here. atleast we have begun....

Weekend plans

What never happened (did not even come close) in so many years in the US is going to come to pass in the first few months in Norway. Norway of all places !!! We are seeing people for dinner this weekend on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! Friday and Sunday we have invited people and we just got an invitation for Saturday. It is amazing in a way.

Sushma's family and Priya's family (finally we will meet her after all the talk - she is from Jaipur and hence Prachi's townmate) will come on Friday and the Deans will come on Sunday. That is also another amazing tale. We met Mr. Dean (from Pakistan) because he was our taxi driver on our way back home from the airport (when we returned from Spain). We had a nice conversation (there was a funny incident to begin with when I asked him in Norwegian if he spoke English and he said that I not only speak English but also Hindi) and he was gracious enough to invite us to his home on Christmas day. He has two grown up children (with families of their own) and a small child with his second wife. They served amazing food and gave a big gift to Prarthna.

We did not know a soul when we first landed here but by God's grace, we have been able to make a few acquaintances in a short amount of time. He has blesses us richly and I want to thank Him for our life here so far.

Prachi's interview

Prachi has an interview with Prototech today. It would be wonderful if she can find something which is relevant and exciting. This job is good as Prototech is a sister concern, and we woould almost have the same workplace. I just want to pray to God for favor today.

Unfortunately, the PM fellowship did not work out. The bad part is that we heard the news on her birthday. They probably did not like the idea of her staying in Norway. Dr. Wexler was quite hopeful of a positive result and so were we. Now, because of that, she needs to look for a job here. Hopefully, it will all be for the best.

The big concern if she gets a job is ofcourse, Prarthna. She has almost never stayed away from both of us. But the encouraging thing is that she loves kids and people in general - so if we can find a good day care, that should be OK.