Saturday 11 June 2011

Flight and accommodation booked, visas issued....

We've been rather quiet on the blogging front lately, mostly down to us making frantic preparations for India and also settling into our new life in Italy. We completely forgot how tiresome and hard work relocating can be, and pretty much 2 weeks after our return from Delhi, we all have to move permanently to Venice. The thought of all that reboxing and unboxing is hideous but it's a lovely thought that the next place we move to will be our family home for quite some time to come!

Italy seems an fascinatingly odd country, and I always question any place where a 250ml can of Coke Light can be EURO 2.5 and a 1500ml bottle of (really quite good) wine can be a mere EURO 2!!!!! The smallest tasks seem to take forever to do here, it seems to take an hour to buy a stamp at the chaotic postoffice, and always seems to involve a lot of shouting and possibly unnecessary complexity, but that is all made up by the fact that it really is quite a stunning place to live.

Festivities here seem to involve a lot of pride, history and passion, and we have tickets to watch 'Il Calcio", a notoriously violent football game that has been played in Florence since the 16th Century. Since we know very little about sport, I thought Wikipedia might help me better understand the rules of the game. I think the wikipedia entry "The modern version allows tactics such as head-butting, punching, elbowing, and choking, but forbids sucker punching and kicks to the head" definitely gives us a sense of what will be in store!!! Sounds like a true gentlemanly sport.

All our shipping arrived from Hong Kong on Friday, and it was truly wonderful to look through all the baby clothes and items we have bought and not seen for about 8 weeks. We recently bought our return tickets to Delhi, received our tourist visas, and finally secured some good quality accommodation in Delhi. The accommodation problem was no mean feat to resolve!!!! We have to stay 70 to 80 days to complete all the complex passport and UK citizenship red tape, so even cheap accommodation can add up in no time for that length of stay. Add the fact that, like most people, we have to keep our flat in Italy during this time, we've spent ages bashing calculators and making budgets to ensure that all goes to plan.

Fortunately my work means I can easily relocate to Delhi for 3 months and work from the apartment, but I do have a sneaky suspicion that the UK government make it as long winded and complex as possible to gain citizenship for children born through surrogacy as a preventative measure. Fortunately life (and a great employer!!!!) has allowed us to work through this to make it a reality that might be impossible for many UK IP's, so we feel blessed that our 3 months in Delhi is achievable.

And of course, if the UK government allowed it, we would like to return home with our baby as soon as possible. But we take great comfort and excitement in the fact that we get 3 months together in India to be a family. Sadly family and friends (and our beloved dogs) will not get to meet him/her until they are 3 months old, but at least we get 3 months of private time to privately be the family we have wanted to be for so long.

11 comments:

  1. Glad to hear everything is going well and keeping busy... love the new look of the blog! The third surf board :)

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  2. Haha, thanks Toban. So little to write about at the moment, Adam keeps himself busy 'summering up' the look! Hope the nursery decorating is going well, sadly we can't decorate our babies room until we move again end of September. Oh well, at least we have room decorating rather than blog decorating to look forward to!!!!!! Hope all's good :)

    Michael

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  3. Congrats guy - we're currently in Thailand with our newborn! just you wait it's so so amazing!
    Today is our 8th day of having hm back to the apartment and yes it's terrific being a family for a while before returning to 'normality'

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  4. I am a Surrgoate here in the UK, and currently trying to get pregnant for my Intended Fathers and I wanted to say i take my hat off to you both for dealing with this all as you have! It must be incredibly stressful and frustrating, not being able to put your roots down finally, set up your home for your impending arrival, and deal with all the red tape but you will get there soon enough! Makes our scenario of simply getting a Parental Order a breeze. Good luck and keep at it!x

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  5. After you return home, you will be genuinely grateful for your sequestered time in India. You guys are rounding the corner of excitement. Can’t wait to hear all about it! Good luck.

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  6. oh my so soon now! You must be BURSTING with excitement. 3 months sequestered will a great time for daddy bonding!
    Oh and Calcio? Sounds hot. Just sayin.
    K

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  7. Time is Flying........watching the space!

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  8. right now Bill and I wish we could take three months off...what a treat... times 2. :-)

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  9. Hi Adam and Michael,

    we have arrived in Delhi and yes will defiantly still be here when you arrive!
    Will have our little ones by that stage hopefully.
    Love to catch up and do lunch dinner drinky whatever!!!!
    It is hot here, very sticky. Monsoon on its way!

    Sam and Phil

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  10. Hi Sam and Phil,

    Thats great!!! Can't believe your little ones aren't here yet! I keep checking for the pics and good news!!! We leave in about 2 1/2 weeks so not long now! When do you think yours will arrive?? So exciting!

    See you soon for celebratory drinks!

    Adam and Michael

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