"Ideal" Beach

Andrew and kids trying to stay on their feet

I thought we would share with you our lovely day at the beach. On Sunday we headed down the coast about an hour away, to a beach resort called Ideal beach. Ideal, it was not, The surf was so rough the kids where getting dumped standing right on the shoreline and the current was flowing very fast to the left, you would end up in China before you new it. Lucky for us there is also a pool you can use, which was very "Ideal" the kids had a great day swimming and letting off some steam, we adults also found it to be just what we needed. It was great to escape the business of Chennai, all be it for only one day, it felt like one week away. Mac has discovered his water wings and is nearly swimming on his own with his floaties on.

Mac not too happy about being in the hammock

We have also joined a club at the Meridian in Chennai, which means we can go there any time and use the pool and gym. A pool is a must here, with no back yard the kids are going stir crazy. Some of the club membership is covered by the company and we footed the bill for the rest(a small fortune but worth it).

Gee it sounds like all we are doing is relaxing by a pool. That we are not. Andrew has started work on Monday and had a good first day. He is very impressed with the plant and says they could show Australia a thing or two. Life is a challenge with all aspects of living here, the language barrier is hard, we have had the same driver for the last 5 days and he will be finishing up on Friday as we just can not communicate with him. He is a lovely man and is a very safe driver, but too safe and it takes forever to get anywhere. Andrew got a ride to work with his boss yesterday and couldn't believe the difference with the driver. When you are travelling for a couple of hours to and from work you need a pro active driver in this city.

I am meeting with a housekeeper this morning to see if she will be suitable to come and work for us. She has given me a few references and we have followed them up and she comes very highly recommended. She will earn about 6000 rps a month which converts to $150. That seems to be the going rate so we will see how we go . She tells me she does lots of Western cooking so I may loose my place in the kitchen, what will I do with my self?

I need to try to get a phone today as mine is not working well and I need to be able to be in contact with Andrew to organize things. Our air shipment is waiting to be picked up but I need to go there with Saravanan, maybe tomorrow he will be free to go.

The kids are going to school tomorrow to sit a test to see where they are at and then I hope that the will start school the next day. They are both not looking forward to it. Noeleen is going to come with us as a bit of support, thank goodness.....

Oh, I finally found out our maids name, Pintoo, he is Macs best friend and is very good with him. The other day we where on Sype with Mum and Dad and he was fascinated watching and waving in the back ground, very funny.......he sleeps in the kitchen along with 3 other maids from other apartments. His english is very poor. He comes from way up north in India and has come down here to find work, he is married and has an 8 month old little girl and goes home every 6 months for 1 month, it takes him 3 days on a train to get home...... We are so blessed to have our lives and to have grown up in Australia, we always know that but it is good to be reminded of it every now and then. He just saw our portable DVD player and was amazed, "How much?" he asked probably one months wages for him. I wonder what he thinks of all this extravagance?

I sense the kids could get very spoilt living here, We will make sure that wont happen. Yesterday we had been out and got some groceries and Mac had fallen asleep in the car on the way home so I had to carry him up the stairs, Baskar our driver said "madame I will bring the bags up" I told him that the kids would do that, he kept insisting but I made sure the kids had to help. They work hard for so little. Although they do sleep alot during the day.

Well as usual I have rattled on, best go and pretty myself up for the day. Its only 9an and I have been awake for hours................................................................................................................................

TTFN.