Getting a car so we can get around! it's a new Toyota Innova

Our first item of business once we arrived in India was to get a car. We had already decided to buy the Innova, since it seats 7 and looks and feels like a minivan. I wanted red since everyone here (and I do mean everyone) drives white or silver cars. I don't know how anyone finds their car in a parking lot - they all look the same! Anyway, our first day in India, Randy says we need to go to Toyota, and look, we can see it from the hotel, it is just a little ways. Let's not hire a car, we'll just walk. I laugh every time I think of this. Several things were wrong with this plan. First of all, it was about 100 degrees out. Second thing, it LOOKED very close, but really wasn't, especially since roads don't go straight to anywhere and there are no crosswalks or sidewalks. Thirdly, we are white, and white people do NOT walk places, and white people with 4 kids walking and crossing roads is enough to cause a traffic pileup. If our goal was to throw our kids in the deep end, we succeeded. We were sweaty, tired, and lost, and the staring was something else. We were such a freak show! Once we had to cross the street, and that means just weaving thru the cars and climbing over the median (they all have fences here). We also had to go thru a barbed wire fence. The cars were so close together and we were such a long chain of people! Then we ended up down a dead-end road, and when we stopped to figure out which way, some motorcyclists that were stopped to eat came to offer help and ask us if we wanted some tea. (?!) Then we had to turn around and backtrack to a road that went through.

Finally, we did arrive at the Toyota dealership, where we ordered the car, selected options and then asked them for a ride back to the hotel! Needless to say, the kids insisted on going places by car after that! Next step was getting money from Helac to pay for the car, and that proved to be quite a challenge too. The money wire took 2 weeks to arrive. (Sounds bad, but we can top it - we got a second wire from Helac (into our account since the company account wasn't open yet - that is a story for another day) and 3 MONTHS later we were still trying to wire it back out!)

By the time we were ready for them to deliver the car we had hired a driver, by stealing him from the taxi service we used :) . They delivered the car and we were so excited that we all piled in and Randy drove around the neighborhood! Then he drove the kids to the bus the next morning.

One more day and Ajay started work and we were mobile!! Wow, what a luxery that was! The options on this car include a CD player, roof rack, floor mats, a rear bumper guard, and seat covers. No tint on the windows, that is illegal here. Unlike most people, we park IN our driveway, which is narrow and as you can see, has a tree in the middle of it. Randy had to chip off a part of the fence so the gate would open wide enough.

The total bill, including options, licensing, registration and insurance was 950,000 rupees (or 9 and a half lahk rupees, as they say).

Randy drives occasionally, like to the bus stop or even the airport and the church a time or two, and he doesn't seem to have any trouble with the wrong side of the road. I tried to drive in the neighbourhood and couldn't keep it on the right side! Now, this IS India, so maybe no one would notice! The shifting is REALLY weird- with your left hand but the gears are in the same positions as at home.

One more thing to mention about the car - after a few weeks we had to go back to the dealership for our permanent license plate. They called and said it was ready so off we went. Of course, it wasn't REALLY ready - the guy was gone for lunch, and he is the only one, etc etc. The same old song and dance that we are beginning to expect. Anyway, after a wait, the guy came and made our plate. Yep, made it. It consists of a plastic plate and some letter and number stickers. Pretty hi-tech!

like everything here, no matter how simple, someone has to do it for you. Even to screw on a license plate, that requires a certain guy and you have to go to them, and there is no way to speed it up or make it simpler, it just has to be that way.