April 2nd - First Impressions

Things are better with a little food and sleep.  We have had some good
days, not too stressful, but making progress.  The boys start school
tomorrow, and I have to hit the ground here and keep up with some Marathon
work.  I have another real estate agent to meet with tomorrow.  Things are
actually kind of expensive here, I will probably be paying over $4000/mo
in rent for a furnished apartment!  I paid $5 for a jar of american peanut
butter, but I have to easy Thomas into non-familiar brands.

I have seen a wall being built, each stone carried to the wall 1 at a
time, on the head of a woman, with other women carrying a bowl with the
mortar.  We've seen ox carts, donkey carts, families of 5 on a
motorscooter and Jake got to drive an autorickshaw part of the way home.
People keep refering to Jake as a girl, but that doesn't bother him.
Everyone asks where we are from and how old the boys are, how long we are
staying, but are very friendly.  I think that is why I liked this place
the last time I came, people are mostly friendly and helpful (a little too
helpful if you like your personal space sometimes).  Jake can walk through
the crowds in the commercial street like he's always done it.

I hope we don't get too spoiled in the hotel.  It's nice, but a little
claustrophobic.  I met another expat family Saturday morning, the family
lives near by and came over for a breakfast out Saturday morning.  Not
being shy, I went to speak to them and they are going to our school!  They
took us to Rugby practice Saturday afternoon and introduced me to some
other expat families.  I hope the network starts to link up and find me a
good housekeeper.

I have to start taking pictures, without being too obvious that I am
trying to record the harsher side of life here.  It's truly amazing what
the people have to go through for ordinary life.  There is a big issue for
the government to set quotas for school admission to OBC people (OBC-
Other Backward Classes/Castes).  That is what has been in the news.  Now
there are calls for the government to be more specific about who is in the
OBCs - still trying to get my head around the discrimination that must go
on.