I’ve been back now for 5 days. It’s great to be reunited with the family. How was the travel back and how was the welcome ?
There was once the idea to stay up all night until we left the apartment since pickup time was at 1 am. But by being back around 10 o’clock, I had the opportunity to do some final packing (last presents still needed to find a spot) and take a one-hour nap.
The drive to the airport was very smooth. The nice surprise was the premiere to have the first drive in the new car ! Cool 🙂
Check-in went smooth but it took a long time to get through emigration. For some reason, they took their time to check everyone. No problem, we had the time.
Of course, we had to visit the business lounge in Hyderabad as well. Even at 3 o’clock in the morning, there were people there to serve you. The ambiance was also very nice. Luxury and relaxing atmosphere. Quite nice. The score so far: at the first place Dubai, second place Hyderabad and finally Brussels.
As before, the service from Emirates is without blemish. Even though we left 20 minutes late, we got in Dubai on time. A quick visit to the lounge there (nice Bircher muesli 😉 ) and off to the final track to Belgium.
Flying Emirates is great, but having a 4 and then a 6 hour flight in the middle of the night is not great for getting a good night sleep. Even all the luxury of business class can’t help with that. I can understand that some people to take Lufthansa or British Airways because the timings are better.
Arriving in Belgium was quite a weather-shock. About 10 degrees colder and rain. Luckily I had foreseen to take my raincoat with me. Luckily I didn’t have to search long for the driver and could head for the final lap to home.
Well, a small hurdle. Accident on the highway so 10 minute delay due to small traffic jam !
But that didn’t spoil the fun in coming back. Everyone was waiting outside (the rain had stopped) and very happy. So was I of course ! It was fun to get a tour to see the changes in the house (Elena changed her room and is ready to have friends sleep over), the new inhabitants (2 chicken), the changes outside of the house (everything has grown a lot!), …
Everyone was also very happy with the presents from India, both from me and other people. Azmath had chosen very nice dresses for the kids and Anne was extremely happy with the mango’s Ramesh had gotten her. We will also make sure the Buddha relics will get a great spot in the house.
With all these presents, I was able to show something new every day till Tuesday. It was like a prolonged Saint Nicolas that kept on giving. A lot of fun to be able to do that.
Sunday was a very nice day to relax, continue to find my feet at home and enjoy the good weather. What was this again about almost drowning ? I had also started to soak urad dal and rice on saturday, so prepared some idli’s for lunch or, better, late breakfast. Hmm, still need some more practice. The taste was OK but they were pretty solid, not fluffy at all.
Monday back to work. Since I hardly read any mails in India, there was a month of backlog. First things first though and get welcomed + present the presents from the colleagues in India. Now I’m back into the rhythm of work (the good and the bad) with a good load of knowledge transfers one-on-one with Vamshi. Since he’s staying in Belgium, he missed the ones I gave there so he got some private (and condensed) sessions. I hope his brain didn’t explode.
Yesterday was also great with the final singing course. We first practiced in the normal place but then went to the church to continue the session there. That was great. The acoustics is wonderful. Also, you have to fill the place so it challenges you to take the next step in opening up your body for sound. Thanks Greet for organizing that.
This morning, Anne’s sister arrived with her kids. It’s great to see them again. They also took the sun with them so they are double welcome 🙂 Right now they are watching the soccer match of the Belgian Red Devils against Sweden 🙂 It seems it’s a thrilling match. Let me go and watch the final minutes.
