frro

ugh.  serious ugh.  

so, this time around, since i'm here on a business visa (opposed to a tourist visa) which is valid for more than 6 months, i need to register with the foreigner's regional registration office.  given that this a governmental agency, the process is often a logistical nightmare.  for starters, here's their website.  the photo isn't even of the office ... it's the gateway of india!  i've called the number before, and it is not correct.  the number goes to some random dude's home phone (from what i could understand).  secondly, the email addresses are pointless because no one answers them (i've tried), and one of them goes to someone at the india times newspaper!  nor is there anything on here describing the requirements for registration.  (which, after listening to many others' stories, i can only describe as arbitrary at best.)

i went on monday with the following:  my passport plus 3 copies of it and 3 copies of the visa, 4 passport photos, and the original plus 3 copies of the letter used to obtain my visa.  this should have been good enough.  but i was told that i needed to also bring a copy of our lease along with an additional sponsorship letter and a copy of the indian sponsor's passport.  (what she failed to tell me but luckily i'm smart enough to figure out, is that i'll also need to bring 3 sets of copies of each.)  so, i'm headed back down there today.  oh yeah, and it's downtown, so it takes anywhere form 1-2 hours to get there. 

when i went on monday, i was with a friend who also needed to register.  he had everything he needed, including a local guy who fixed everything for him.  the process went as quickly as it possibly could, and it still took 2 hours.  i'm SO not looking forward to this.  i only have 14 days from arrival to finish this before the fee increases. (and yes, i do realize that i'm doing this last-minute, but their office has been closed the past 3 days due to diwali!)   i hope they let me in this time!!

neckerchief

i was going to comment on the unfinished bathroom ... but prefer to focus on the worker's choice in neckwear.  classy.

we need a new home

i'm searching madly for a new apartment for us.  today i saw 8 with 2 brokers.  this one comes fully furnished, was obviously once a rockin' bachelor pad (look closely), and comes with this very inviting pillow.  and in the lobby ... (gasp!) ... a gym!

jesus, ships, nudity, swans

we should take this one, for the art alone.

back

i'm back in bombay.  m stayed behind, he has work to do and a wicked head cold.  i honestly think that if he got on a plane in his state, his head would literally have exploded from the pressure.

this guy was arrested this morning and has been transported to the jail in bandra, where we live.  this has set off lots of rioting.  buses have stopped, the trains are not traveling to town, and taxis and buses are being burned in the streets.  so far i haven't heard or seen anything.  i think we're isolated a bit from this sort of stuff because of where we live ... not near any major roads or markets or malls or whatever.  regardless, it's making it difficult to get anything done today.  it's simply unsafe to venture outside of the immediate neighborhood ... and everyone i was hoping to meet up with is staying put.  

jet lag has wrapped it's little self tightly around me.  i was up, bright-eyed and full of energy at 6am today.  i'm sure i'll be ready to drop at 2 this afternoon.

the internet is out at the house, and has been since i got home.  i'm now at a coffee shop ... which has become a rare-ish thing here in bombay.  due to the fact that many of the latest bombings in india have been planned online, from computers being used in coffee shops, many establishments have stopped offering wireless internet.  (this is a new thing.)  the place i'm at now makes you enter your name, address, and phone number into a log, along with the time, before using the interwebs.

the apartment search has begun again.  ugh.  i saw a place yesterday which was decent but seriously maybe only 400 square feet.  i think that our clothes + m's photo equipment would take up 400 square feet.  eep.  it was definitely in our budget ... but sooo tiny.  i hope to see another one tonight.  brokers are scarce today, due to the riot nonsense.

as is often the case, we have a house guest.  our portland friend tom, another photographer and a current tenant of the san rafael house, is in bombay for 2 weeks.  i hope he doesn't mind looking at apartments ... cuz he's gonna be doing a lot of it!  

ahhh, home

i'm sitting in the dining room, the windows and doors are open, the weather is fantastic, and i can smell the beer brewing down the street.  it's good to be here.