Flight

Writing you from the Paris airport..... just about to get on flight.

It was a great stay, excited to get to US now. And see Ashoka.

Paris

Paris is really a magnificent city. It's been exactly 20 years since I was last here, just a bit less for Tara.

The weather has been great and we have walked endlessly. Jonah booted in a brasserie while we were having dinner, I think we pushed him too hard. Tara reminded me he puked in Munich last year, the result of massive walking there, too. I think he was over-heated.

We spent the day at the Louvre, as well as going up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Both were great. Since I was here, they have put Monna Lisa (yes, it has two "n"'s, something I did not know before this trip) behind some glass and it is now acceptable to take pictures. Couldn't do that when I came the first time.

We spent yesterday at Notre Dame and just walking to and fro. That was fantastic. I will say, Westminster Abbey remains the greatest church I have ever seen in Europe.... but Notre Dame is pretty great, as well.

Winding down the day now....

Flying to the US tomorrow. Mixed feelings, but I will say that we have truly enjoyed certain aspects of being outside of India. Standing in line at Notre Dame, The Louvre and Eiffel Tower was a pleasure, I was all smiles. Thousands of people just agreeing to stand in a queue..... nothing short of amazing.

We have pictures, but no computer on which to download them, so please be patient!

Onward!

Paris

We have arrived. Sleepy. More later.

And that....

....my friends, is all she wrote.

727 blog entries and 684 days later.... after 7 new countries visited, many new friendships established, and nearly 5,000 hours of work.....

and a richness of experiences unlike anything we ever imagined.....

It is over.

We are getting on a flight tonight.

Thanks to everyone for everything. It has been great.

Last full day

Tara has been my joy in India, as she has been for nearly the last 20 years. She has a unique perspective, really knows how to enjoy herself and is often the source of funny stories. In her honor, here is a funny story from today itself.

Background - we often have our bills brought to us. Airtel is our mobile phone provider. So, Airtel called us and asked where they could bring our bill. Here's the conversation....

Disclaimer - some of the terseness and different phrasing is just how a conversation happens here.

********

Phone rings

Tara: Hello?

Airtel rep: Hello?

Tara: Yes, hello.

Airtel rep: Yes, ma'am, this is Airtel....

Tara: Ok, just tell me.

Airtel rep: Ma'am, your bill is due. When can you pay it?

Tara: Will you bring me the bill?

Airtel rep: Hello?

Tara: Yes. Listen, I am asking a question - will... you... bring... me... the... bill?

Airtel rep: Hello? Yes. Where do you live?

Tara: You have been bringing me my bill for the.... never mind. We have shifted to the Novotel Hotel.

Airtel rep: Hello?

Tara: Yes, hello?

Airtel rep: Yes, tell me.

Tara: We have shifted to the Novotel Hotel.

Airtel rep: [pause] Hello?

Tara: Listen. We... have shifted..... to the.... No..vo..tel... Hotel. Novotel, do you know it?

Airtel rep: Hello? Ok, tell me.

Tara: Novotel.... do you know it... Hotel?

Airtel rep: Ok, I have it.

Tara: Will you bring the bill?

Airtel rep: Yes. Hello?

Tara: Ok, bring it. Tell me the address.

Airtel rep: Novotel Doyoonoeit Hotel.

Tara: Say it again?

Airtel rep: Novotel Doyoonoeit Hotel.

Tara: [laughing] Ok, yes. Thanks.

Airtel rep: Ok, ma'am. [click]

********

And that, my friends, is the last - and one of the best - Tara story from here in India.

Last details

I am in the Webb's yard using their wireless connection on my work laptop. The movers just unplugged our internet connection. Just a few hours left until the place is empty.

The women who sweep the streets asked for a tip and Monga (the maid) has taken countless items and Subu (driver) is taking the portable DVD player. Essentially, it has been driven home that we are an entity on which various local people make their living, and then occasionally cannibalize our assets. Sometimes they ask - other times without asking.

Such is life lived within a world of disparities.

We're running around trying to get everything done while the ATM card is on its way. Based upon what Fed Ex.com is telling me, it must be over Turkey by now.

Major hassle.



Aidan really enjoyed India. He has a great ability to make friends and in India he had a great time with a multitude of buddies. He learned to play cricket and often stayed out until the sun set and he was no longer able to play.

He says he'll miss India because of the friends he made here.

Novotel

We're staying at the Novotel now. It's an apartment-sized suite, so it's pretty nice.

The house is being packed.

The company brought the guys back who stole our wallet. They denied it. I said, "If you are thieves, why wouldn't you be good liars?"

We will never see the wallet again.

Three new laborers are packing the house up now.

By the way, Ashoka has arrived in the US!!

I said I would write about the family, so here is about Liam.



Liam is a different kid and an excellent person. He has been trying at various points during his time in India, but he has also benefited from the experience. He will probably only fully realize that when he is about ten years older.

He is also pretty bright, so he has had a solid ability to grasp India from a regional, linguistic and historical perspective. He also has an exceptional cooking ability and can make a convincingly good Indian meal.

He's a work in progress and we hope returning to the US will provide him with some outlets he did not have here. We'll see! As I keep this blog updates for the first 100 days back in the US, he'll certainly figure into the updates.

As you can see, Liam was at the Urdu Medium School which we recently helped. He has had many cool experiences like this at a critical phase of his life. We hope it benefits him. He said the most enjoyable time he had was the high school trip to Gujarat and Rajasthan. That experience is captured on this blog. He apparently had a great time.

And so ends an era

Main aaj subba mera aakri Hindi lesson kiya. Jab main India pahucha tha, main kuch nahi Hindi mein bol sakha. Aajkal, main Hindi bol saktha hun, likh saktha hun and padh saktha hun. Hindi bilkul ek khoobsurat baasha hai.

Abdul, mere dost, bahut, bahut shukriya! Main Hindi khabi nahi bhoolunga.

___

Today I did my final Hindi lesson. When I arrived in India, I couldn't say anything in Hindi. Now I can speak, read and write in Hindi. Hindi is definitely a beautiful language.

Abdul, my friend, many, many thanks! I won't forget Hindi.

** Update on the wallet, we're raising hell with the moving company. There are a bunch of guys out on the street trying to recover the wallet via the mobile.

Just to add a bit of drama....

...the movers stole Tara's wallet. We now have no ATM card.

More to come.

Patrick - you are the man! Thanks for the generosity, but we're good and we'll figure it out.

One week

We figured that one week from today, Sunday, we will be in Paris. The way in which we will get there and stay there I am still working on. As it stands now, the move itself is consuming all of our focus.

We don't have television or internet right now. I am sitting on the Webb's patio using their wireless connection right now. It's kind of nice not to have these things running in our house - the fewer distractions the better.

This has become a much quieter place as of late. And knowing that there will be changes to who lives here and who does not, it'll surely be a different Hyderabad next time around. In reality, it was a different Hyderabad this year considering who was here during our first year and who left.

I have decided to continue to take say something about each member of the family during this last week, reflecting on their time in India.

I'll start with Jonah....



Jonah was great while here in India. He had a large number of friends and enjoyed every aspect of life here. Well.... almost every aspect.

Jonah is at the age where he doesn't know enough to guard his words or see things in their proper light. As such, he has often blurted things out that you simply don't say, or think, for that matter.

When we started here, it was a bit traumatic having people tap on our window begging for money. Some had no arms, most had no teeth and very few were well-kempt. We have since gotten very used to this and even have learned to ignore these people for the most part (sad to say, but true). But Jonah very early on declared "I don't like poor people." To him, they were frightening, dirty, scary looking in their various degrees of dismemberment, etc. So, it resulted in that comment.

We explained to him that was not a nice thing to say and that it was our obligation to help these people if we could (although giving them cash out the window was not the means that we should use) and that we would prefer that he not say that again. But, in his young eyes it was very simple - I come from a place where people don't look like that and don't tap on my car window and scare me, so India is a bad place and America is a good place.

As time has passed, he too has learned to let the beggars do their tapping and not be frightened by it..... but it took time.

He has declared that he will miss life here.

Jonah, like all of us, has had a connection back to the mother culture of America as a way of keeping tapped into where we are from. While I was addicted to Stargate Atlantis and Tara spent time on Epicurious.com, Jonah followed High School Musical and Camp Rock. He knows all of the songs and has seen all of the movies.

In summary, Jonah has been a brave little guy during this experience and his perspective has been refreshingly innocent, even raw, at times.

Thank you Jonah, we love you!

Changes.....

We had a nice dinner party this evening. Ward, Sylvette Matt and Jo.

Ward and Sylvette will be here at least one more year and have a great outlook. Too bad Whisper Valley won't be nearly as much fun without the Camerons! ;-)

The packers come Tuesday. The maid and the driver are starting to ask for items. Subu wants the DVD player and Monga wants the television upstairs. Good to go on both counts.

Onward

OK, at this point almost everyone has gone from Hyderabad. The list of people that are here is dwindling all of the time. And it is approximately one week until we leave.

We initially had a goal of staying in Paris for a few days on the way back. That was off because of the uncertainty about Ashoka. Now that he has gone ahead, we're back on for the Paris trip.

I have always thought that a great way to end the two year experience would be to stand at the top of the Eiffel Tower and declare the adventure as finished. Now we can do that.

We'll also seek to go to the Louvre.

More to come....

Fast and furious

It's all happening quickly now. Ashoka is going back to the US ahead of us. There is some sort of upcoming pet moratorium in both India and the US after June 25th due to the swine flu (?), which has caused several families to airlift their pets out of India. Ashoka will be in Seattle early next week. We will be reunited on July 1st in Charlotte.

It was sad to see the little guy go, the family has become very attached to him.

Water Purifier

We received an e.mail with pictures of the water purifier that we donated to the school. Now they will just buy two large jugs of water daily and hopefully things can proceed for the students in a bit of a better way going forth.

Tara is amazing, glad to see that she made this difference in the lives of those kids. It was the least we could do.....

Collage

So much of this experience has been captured in pictures, I will be creating collages of the experience over the next couple of days. Here is the first of those collages.

Click on it for the larger version, as always.

In the Old City

Today we went to the Old City to help a school. It is the culmination of the work of Tara and others in establishing the TEA Cares charity organization, a branch of the Twin-cities Expatriate Association.

We were joined by a few other friends. Tara and I gave the school a year's worth of water and the TEA organization gave the children in the school shoes and socks.

Liam was with us, Aidan and Jonah decided to stay home.

Here are some photos.



^ Going into the school. The place had no running water, no electricity. They had put a new coat of paint on the walls, but it didn't serve to help very much. It was rough.



^ A few girls were milling around the courtyard of the school.



^ Tara and Shah were introduced to the headmistress of the school.



^ There were boys and girls in the school, but it was mostly girls. It was explained to me that the families that these girls come from want them to learn pure Urdu, thus the schooling at this Urdu Medium School. Boys of this age bracket usually work full time, so there were fewer of them. At one point, the boys were called over to where I was having a conversation and asked where they worked. They all had an answer, which served to show me that these boys, too, despite their schooling - worked.



^ You can see the shoes in the background, from TEA Cares.



^ Here you can see a few of the boys.



^ This was kind of a strange moment. For background, there was a recent security risk in Hyderabad because it is believed that three guys who snuck in from Pakistan came to the city. So, that was in the background of my mind when this guy came in - huge beard, shades, turban. It was weird. Before that, there was just the older man with the walker. The guy came in and started asking questions, but eventually left. It didn't disrupt the proceedings, but a few of us were watching him closely.

No harm done.



^ We started to hand out shoes. Notice the creepy guy behind Shah, in the midst of his questioning.



^ More shoes, now being handed out by the kids that had come with us, very nice.



^ This is the water as currently used at the school. Not very clean water in huge barrels scooped out with a cut-in-half bottle. I am glad that we could set the stage for these being abolished at this school. But a small gesture.



^ This was interesting. These are the class notes of the solar system from a class at the school. Notice the Urdu script. This is the language of Pakistan, so these children being in this place and speaking that language is a remnant of a huge set of events from centuries ago. These children do not speak, write or read Telugu, the language of Andhra Pradesh.



^ Liam involved in the distribution of mangoes.



^ The closing picture.

Now, it is up to the community in Hyderabad to continue to make a difference through TEA Cares. This is but one of many events that have made a material difference in the lives of people around us. In recent weeks, two of our friends helped another school to start up and get running. Incredible!

Two years ago, TEA Cares didn't exist. It does now because of the good work of Tara and a few other women who came up with the idea, I am so proud of her!

Did I tell you that Tara means "star" in Hindi?

More good byes

The list keeps growing.

Good bye, good bye!

More good byes

We aren't really sure whom the people are that we're saying good bye to, whom we are saying "see you later" to and whom the people are that we'll see over the next few days and weeks.

We do know some folks have gone, since school ended yesterday. The De Souza family have gone back to Seattle, with a brief stay in London in between.

We went to two parties tonight, one with Jim and Sue Moore at Boulder Hills, the other at Hans and Katreyn's home. All good, I really enjoyed seeing everyone last night. And both parties were after a nice visit from Nicolai and Birgitte.

One of Aidan's best friends came over to play yesterday. He is moving to Abu Dhabi soon and is leaving Hyderabad. When he left both he and Aidan were pretty upset. After Matthew drive away, he and Jonah came inside and started crying pretty hard. The first of many tears.

I like how happy he and Matthew were in this picture below. That feels better, knowing how much fun they have had together.

Multiple riders

Here's one thing that people that visit India have commented on time and again. The multiple riders on motorcycles. This has to be the record - 7 people! Amazing.

I always enjoy that I cannot smoke a cigar in a pub here in India while people have their children on motorcycles without helmets and people urinate in public with utter impunity. It sort of feels that they got things out of order when they tried to make a positive change here.

So it goes....

Checking out

It's Friday morning here in Mumbai. I am checking out of the Maratha Hotel for the last time. I probably will be back some day, but never with the frequency of the last two years.

In addition to work, I have had the pleasure of spending time in Mumbai looking around and getting to know the city in a bit more detail. Both companies with which my company merged had Mumbai as their headquarters. As such, I worked with colleagues here as part of my integration efforts in that have formed the core of my role here for the last two years. It is a massive city, staggering the imagination in ways that few other cities could. It is everything that India has to offer slammed into a small coastal range of land. The worst of the worst and the best of the best are here. It is an exciting place. I have enjoyed getting to know Mumbai.

I have spent more time in Mumbai than any other place in India, excepting Hyderabad, of course. This has lead to me being extremely well-known at the hotel where I stay, the Maratha. As I come in now, I am greeted in Hindi and do the whole check in process in Hindi. It's pretty nice to be known. I keep anticipating that I will be forgotten, but it has become clear that I am remembered. At breakfast and dinner in the hotel, I get greeted in Hindi and do all of the ordering in Hindi, as well. So, I am a bit of a novelty here at the Maratha, and we all enjoy the uniqueness of the relationship.

I sat at breakfast this morning considering how I have become accustomed to hotels that once amazed me. The luxurious is common to me now. This will change upon return to the US. Hotel service and accomodation will take a step down upon repatriation.

And so it goes.....

I will write about the service we get while staying in a hotel in Charlotte during our first week back. it should make for some interesting reflections. As I have said many times, when I go back to the US I go from being "saheb" to being "aam admi". Tara and the boys will experience similar changes. This will take some getting used to.

When I come back to Mumbai, it will be as a visitor on a trip where Mumbai is "one of the destinations" during a relatively short trip. It may never again be my "second home" for my work in India.

Maybe. Who can tell?

Thanks Mumbai, it has been a true pleasure.

Tara at the luncheon

A group of women got together and had a luncheon themed on an Indian wedding, complete with eating off of banana leaves. Here are some pictures.

I think the women exchanged rings and did some Bollywood dancing class, as well.

Oh, the life they lead.....

Another farewell

We had a nice dinner with Goverdhan and Chandana tonight. Goverdhan and I worked together back in Charlotte and I worked to get him to come over to Indian to join the unit here. He is a great friend and colleague. We'll see them in Charlotte in August.

If anyone locally needs a reference, the new F9 Diner between HITEC and Whisper Valley is really nice. Same food as Fusion 9 and Deli 9, as it is owned by the same folks. And really nice set up. Enjoy!

Party

Avi and Reena gave a nice party Sunday night, we really enjoyed ourselves. They, like we, are returning to the US this summer - Seattle.

During the gathering the idea was put together that we would all assemble in Seattle and take a cruise to Alaska together. Sounds fine!

So, we'll hike Kilimanjaro and see Alaska with our friends from India.

I guess Mr. Disney was on to something when he put into our heads that it is a small world, after all.



^ Fun.



^ The gathered friends.



^ Did I mention that a certain group of women enjoy having their photos taken?



^ Soon to be dispersed, we will certainly miss our friends.

The plan

Our plans stand as such -

We will leave India on June 26th or 27th (have yet to book the tickets) and we will spend a few days in Paris. Thereafter, back to Charlotte for a few days, where we will be staying in the South Park Hyatt for the better part of a week.

We will be back in Charlotte in late July and living in a service apartment somewhere (not sure where) until some time in late August.

So, the house will get back in order without us living in it for a while.

Boy, I hope no thieves read this. I might as well give them the numbers to disable the alarm! ;-)

Remember, I'll keep the blog updated for 100 days after we get back, just to see life reassemble to a newly-disoriented Cameron clan.



^ Whisper Valley - point A



^ Hillingdon Road - point B. Our home has the grey roof.



^ A closer look at our home, most of it obscured by foliage.

Ashoka

By popular demand, from Patrick, here are some pictures of Ashoka. He is well-trained now, receiving three lessons a week from Rehan. It's great, he can sit and stay and heel.

Here he is in "stay" mode. I like to increase the challenge by putting a chicken sausage on the ground in front of him and ensuring he doesn't break "stay".

I remember when I was young that the bad guy from James Bond movie "Moonraker" had dogs that would sit in front of steaks until told to eat. That's the level of discipline that I am trying to produce with Ashoka.



"Stay".



^ Straining under the discipline..... notice the sausage on the ground in front of him.



^ It looks like the discipline is straining him greatly in this one.

He's a good dog, but not above his street dog impulses. We'll see how it goes going forth over the next several months.

For the record, he got two sausages for his discipline.

Off to Dar

Rob and Cheryl are off to Dar es Salaam soon. These are our friends who will connect with my college friend Molly, who lives in "Dar" (the name of the place in expat lingo). We're excited for them and their son Benjamin!

All the best, Rob and Cheryl!!

I have played around with Googole maps and checked out coastline property in Dar es Salaam. Check out this hotel, looking right over the Indian Ocean.

End of Year Extravaganza

The kids at ISH put on their end of year activity tonight. Here are the pictures. It was fantastic and moving. What a great experience for these kids. Liam and some other teenagers disappeared off into the ICRISAT property on bikes.



^ Tara on the drive out.





^ The crowd assembling.



^ Tara and Liam.



^ Ms. Sunita, master of ceremonies. Check out the international tree behind her.



^ Gymnastics troop.



^ The pirates....



^ ... and princesses.



^ High school band.






^ Jonah as an African. As you can see, he had a speaking part.



^ A dance.

And then the camera broke for the night. There was more - Aidan did Bollywood dancing!

Maybe next time. Wait...... there won't be a next time.

There'll always be a next time for things this great!

Then, my colleagues threw us a party at the Secunderabad Club. It was a great time with everyone, I was very complemented and enjoyed everyone's company. This has been a great professional experience, in addition to personal.