VISA heachaches

So the paperwork for a VISA to work in India is insane.  The sheer volume is bad enough but the application process is mind boggling.  The Indian consulate has outsourced the process to a company called Travisa.  You must first fill out the Indian application form online.  This sounds easy but it is NOT.  The questions are vague and the instructions are hard to follow.  Once you complete the form you must print it out and you can not make any changes at that point. Then you must fill out a form for Travisa.  Again you can not make any changes once it is complete.  So if (when) you realize you made a mistake you have to fill out both forms over completely and it is NOT possible to make any changes once you arrive at the Travisa location.  If you so much as leave a letter out of your name you have to make another appointment to come back once you fix it.  I have literally spent at least 8 hours filling out the forms.  In addition IBM has to give us about 20 forms to submit.  We have a check list of items IBM gave us and a check list from Travisa of what we need however none of the names match so we are going on faith that we have them all.

Next Ken will need to drive to Houston (3-4hrs each way) to submit the forms.  Ken tried to submit them on Tuesday.  Unfortunately, IBM filled out one of the forms incorrectly and the application was immediately rejected.  This means that IBM has to correct their forms and we have to redo the online paperwork again. Ken schedule a second attempt for Wednesday.  The person was nice enough to go through all the forms and said the rest were fine but I am not going to believe it until it is all done.  Ken went back on Wednesday and they took the paperwork for his VISA only.  The other VISAs need a copy of his VISA to be complete so we have to wait for his to return before we can submit the other three.  Thankfully, our entry VISAs are only suppose to take 24-48 hours instead of the 4-5 weeks for an employment VISA.  Today is Tuesday, just 6 days later, and we are suppose to receive Ken's VISA via FedEx.  While we are very happy about this and we can start the process for the other 3 VISAs it is annoying that Ken did all the extra things to get it in ASAP because it was suppose to take a month to process and it took less than a week.

We are now in the process of actually planning our move and a going away party.  We are thinking about spending a week in Europe on our way to Bangalore.  We are hoping that the week stop over will make the jetlag more bearable. This way we have a 6 hr difference to adjust to and then 4.5 hr change a week later. It also means that instead of waiting for our shipment at home or in Bangalore we get to explore the world even more.  I feel a little guilty that the children will be starting school 2 weeks late but Ken keeps reminding me that the exposure to different cultures is one of the reasons why we are taking this assignment so the trip to Europe is just part an expat perk.  One possible plan is to fly into London, then go to Paris and Rome then back to London.  If you have suggestions of places to visit that are kid friendly let us know.

The Indian Massage

So I went into the Leela Palace Spa to schedule a massage.  They asked if I wanted a Swedish massage or a traditional Indian massage.  I thought there couldn't be that big a difference so I decided to be adventurous and go with the Indian massage.  It was NOT what I expected.

First,  during a typical massage in the USA you go into a room, undress to your comfort level and get under the covers on the massage table and wait for the therapist to come in and start.  For this massage she handed me a pair of disposable panties and told me to change and put on the panties and a robe.  We then went to the massage room where I was instructed to take off the robe and sit on a stool. Yes, that meant I only had on the disposable panties and nothing else. She then put a palm full of oil on the top of my head, another one on my neck and a third on my shoulders and gave me a head, neck and shoulder massage.  I should state that I had not intended to wash my hair after the massage because we has somewhere else to go and my hair takes a long time to dry but my plans changed.

After the head, neck and shoulder massage I was instructed to lay face down on the table.  She then gave me a very nice massage on my entire back side.  She started by covering my body in heated oil.  She used so much oil, it was literally dripping off of me onto the table.  I guess they don't want to have to reapply because they do some extremely long strokes.  One of the strokes started at my shoulder, over my glutes(butt) and continued all the way to my feet.  I then turned over and was given a massage on my front.  This included the peck muscles and my stomach.  I have to say that it really helped to relax my muscles.  She did not touch anywhere inappropriate but I do know a few people who would have felt very uncomfortable at this point.  Again, there is nothing covering any part of your body other than the panties.

After the massage I was told to relax while she got the shower ready.  I did not realize it until this point but there was a shower in the massage room.  She started the shower and gave me a mixture that was a body scrub.  She scrubbed my back and then I did the rest of my body and washed my very oily hair, twice.  I then dried off and put on the robe to return to the changing room.  I felt very relaxed and did not feel sore at all the next day.

So, if you do not feel comfortable sitting naked in front of a stranger, you may want to steer clear of a traditional Indian massage.  However, I have to say it was one of the best massage I have ever received and I will likely get another one when we return to India. 

Look-see trip 2

Well, we looked at the three of our top houses from day one, Pebble Bay and a few more houses over the course of the next few days.  We are now in the process of negotiating for a house in the north part of town.  It is about 20 mins from IBM and 20-30 mins from the school.  The. process for renting in Bangalore is similar to buying a house in the USA.  You have to negotiate everything that is to be included and changed.  We are asking for everything from white goods (ie, oven, washer, bigger fridge) and A/C's in each bedroom, to things I would have assumed like a  professional cleaning before move in and pest control.  You can take nothing for granted when it comes to the negotiations.  Thankfully, we are well within our allowance for housing so Eugenie, our relocation specialist, can get more things done with an increase in monthly rent.  The biggest surprise for most people when negotiating a house is that the deposit is 10 months rent for an 11 month rental.  This is the standard practice and no one seems to think it is outrageous.   Wish us luck on getting this rental.  It has been owner occupied for the last 7 years and appears to be in MUCH better shape than any of the other places we saw.  It also had a lot of little upgrades that we really like.

The last day of the trip we went to the Overseas Women Club of Bangalore.  It meets at the Leela Palace and is a great resource.  I anticipate attending the meetings on a regular basis when I arrive.  They keep a book of people looking for work as cooks, maids, nannies and drivers with references from previous OWC members.  I am looking forward to having these services.  Currently, with cost is about $100/month for someone to come each day for about 2 hours to clean your house 6 days a week.  Similar cost to have a cook come each day and cook dinner and prep for breakfast.  The driver is an absolute necessity for an expat.  A driver costs about $1000/month for a driver who provides his own car (Innova), all tolls, gas and parking.  If you have your own car and just need a driver, that is about $225 per month for him to come 6 days a week for 10-12 hrs/day.  Most people from India buy a car but if you are here less than 2 years people tend to get someone with a car.  We are right on the break point so we are unsure which we will do yet.

The next thing we need to figure out is TV for India.  We are currently looking into using a slingbox.  This and phone are a very complex issue so I will post on those separately.  We are trying to set up a service so people in the US can call us for free using our current cell phone numbers.  I will let you know if we get it set up.  

Drivers and Doctors

Today was very interesting.  It started out with a doctors appointment for me for a chronic condition that requires IV medication each month.  Ken decided to go with me since this is such an important thing to get straight before we arrive. We talked about my condition of course but we also discussed Expats and her opionion of discipline of expat children, how people were not very nice, ie stuck up, in only one part of town and also discussed other hospitals and their lack of quality products.  The appointment started at 9:15 and we talked to the doctor until 10:15.  Then she asked if we could stay for a few minutes while she saw another patient.  About 10:30 she came back out and called the head of nursing, the head of insurance and the head of the pharmacy to introduce us to them.  The head of pharmacy was not in however the other two came to her office and discussed my issues and the complications they would need to help us with to get my medicine and get it administered at that hospital.  We finally left at about 11 with cards from all of them.  Hopefully this means we will get this all to work out.

We have been told to make sure you get a good driver when you come to India.  Your driver is your lifeline.  We decided today that it is indeed of most importance to get a good driver.  The one we had today was horrible.  He took us to the wrong place, twice.  Both time he insisted he knew where we were going but really had no idea.  We even passed one of the places and he did not realize it.  I had to tell him to turn around and go back.  I know it is always dangerous on the roads in India, however, he was a poor driver by India standards.  I am thankful neither of the two buses hit us. 

I will post more later on our next days adventure.

Look-See trip

We are in the middle of our look-see trip.  This is where you are suppose to spend 5 days in country to find a school for your children, a place to live and get oriented to the new location.  How anyone can accomplish all of these tasks in so few days is beyond me.  Add to this the fact I must find a doctor and it is mission impossible.

Luckily for us, I looked at schools when we visited Bangalore in September and the school decision has been made.  We are going to the school Monday to finalize paperwork and to let Ken see the school.  The boys will be attending an IB school in the very north part of town. 

We left Austin on Wednesday July 11th, and arrived in Bangalore at 3:30am on July 13th.  We met the individual who will be helping us with this process at 11 am on Friday.  Yes we were exhausted, but we have limited time.  We then proceeded to look at 12 properties that day.  If you have ever been house hunting you know that by the time you get to property 5 or 6 you are starting to forget what the first property was like.  Add to this the massive jet lag and I am not sure if we are remembering anything accurately.  We have decided on our top three and will be looking at them today.  I was hoping to post some pictures of the choices, but my phone died when we were looking.    Unfortunately, one of the places we thought we would like to live has been black listed by IBM.  We were not allowed to even look at the location.  We contacted the policy people and asked for an exception and after some convincing, we got approval to look at Pebble Bay.  We still do not have approval to live there if we like it but we can go look at it.

Eugenie, the person helping us with everything in Bangalore, took us on a city orientation on Saturday.  It included a stop at a new grocery store with a lot of imported goods.  It was great to be able to check out what is available and at what price.  I will be going to Costco to buy a few jars of peanut butter.  An 8 oz jar was approximately $4.  If anyone is heading to Bangalore while we are here, please let us know.  We may ask you to bring some of our favorite items to us.

Sunday was a day off for Eugenie so we spent the day with another couple from IBM who is leaving in 3 weeks.  They took us to some places around town to shop and gave us plenty of first hand advice on how to handle the International Assignment.  I also decided to get a massage.  I decided to get a traditional Indian massage which is very different.  I think I will wait and post on that adventure separately. 

Today we are off to finalize the paperwork for the school, look at the top three housing choices, Pebble Bay, and buy school uniforms.  We are starting to get past the jet lag and should be right on Bangalore time on Thursday when we are scheduled to fly home.