Namaste (hello) and welcome to our blog.
Earlier this year we made a decision to move to India for 6 months, to experience and learn another culture, to be inspired, challenged and to explore! 2 weeks ago, after a 30-hour journey via Saudi Arabia and Mumbai, we arrived at our new home in Surat ready to start our exciting new adventure.
Surat is in the state of Gujarat, on the west coast of India, it has a population of 2.4 million (now plus 2) and it is well known for its textiles and diamond cutting and polishing. Grandma’s house where we are living is at the end of a small Cul-de-sac, it is opposite a silk factory so the rattling of the looms can be heard all day and night! From the upstairs terrace you can see passenger and freight trains screeching by arriving/ departing to the nearby train station. There is also a third floor terrace that will come in useful for the kite festival in January. There is no garden but we do have a mango tree, which will hopefully produce lots of tasty mangoes in the coming months.
The past couple of weeks have been very relaxed, settling in and getting to know the area. Every morning Mohan comes by to sell fresh vegetables, he goes door to door and does this all morning until all his produce is sold. Around lunchtime a lady comes to the house to help with the cooking, we have picked up a few tips so that we can recreate some of the tasty dishes when we return. We may even include these on the blog so you can have a go too! Gujarati food is vegetarian so we have been eating lots of vegetables, beans, lentils and rice. Eggs are also not eaten so all the cakes that you find in the supermarket are egg free.
It is winter in Surat so everyday the sun is shining, until about 6.30 when it gets dark and then the stars are twinkling instead. We were lucky enough to see the lunar eclipse last week, which was very exciting. There are really only 3 seasons here: Winter (hot and sunny), Summer (very hot and sunny) followed by the Rainy season starting in July/ August (hot and rainy); so we can look forward to no rain until we return to England! As there is not much rain throughout the year, there is a problem with water supply in the state so drinking water is only available in homes in the evening between 7.30pm and 10.30pm, so we have to remember to fill up various containers at this time everyday in preparation for the following day.
The main way to travel around is by rickshaw; it is cheap (approximately 50p for a 10-minute journey). A rickshaw is meant to seat 3 people, but you are more likely to see whole families squeezed in, 6 – 7 people!! The roads mainly consist of rickshaws, motorbikes, mopeds and trucks; there are not many cars. Roads here are chaotic! There are no lanes, no give way, no indicating, no pedestrian crossings… basically no rules. You can travel in any direction even if it is a one-way street! There are no proper pavements so vehicles are also dodging people – crossing the road is a very interesting and scary experience; we have also discovered that Anthony and his legs have the ability to stop traffic and attract curious glances!!!! To be continued…………….
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