A Week in Bangalore

 Meeting with Family…

After our introduction to Joshua Samuel at the airport, we joined him for church on Sunday. It was our first day calling an Uber and navigating to the church ourselves. We made it with 25 minutes to spare (thanks to Tony’s regimented approach to being everywhere early). It was so lovely to meet with complete strangers and still feel like we were at home. The singing was wonderful and many songs we knew, accompanied by an amazing contemporary band. The people greeted us as brother and sister, the warmth and friendliness was overwhelming after feeling like aliens in another land. The preacher taught well and spoke on purpose, planning and pursuit. It was sound teaching with some very practical applications for the people. The service was attended by approx 1000 people and it was the 2nd service for the day. It is astonishing to witness such numbers in a Hindu strong nation, however, we were made aware of the government laws concerning conversion. 

  The setup of this church in a university begins at 5:30am

Out to lunch with new friends

After church we were invited out for lunch with a group of young people. We experienced Chinese food (Indian style) and continued our fellowship. The food was really nice, but we didn’t always know what we were eating. Tony looked at me at one stage, his eyes bulging a little, taking big breaths he pointed at his plate….’It’s not a bean!’ He had bitten straight into a green chilli. We now both check red and green veggies before we chow down 😂

The chilli culprit!

French Visa Pursuit…

The main purpose for staying in Bangalore was to apply for our French Long Stay Visa (FLSV) - a process we have not found easy over the last couple of months. For those of you who are unaware, the FLSV application can only be submitted 3 months prior to entering France and when you apply your passport is taken and sent to the French Consulate. Our process was complicated by the fact that we needed to be in India during the 3 month period, therefore, we had to apply for it in India. We had tried multiple times to book our appointment back in Australia, but every time we made it through to the payment section, an error would appear - your payment may not have been processed, please check your account over the next 2 hours..this became our frustrating nightmare over and over. We gave up and pursued the appointment in India instead, confidently approaching the task, only to be disappointed yet again with the same message 😡. 

During the evening, Tony woke up with a thought - maybe our credit cards are not accepted in India! We had experienced this already with the Uber app and were having to use cash instead. So, come Monday morning we contacted the Komanapalli family here who very graciously trusted us to use their credit card details to apply for the appointment…SUCCESS!!!!! 

But wait…

my appointment was processed, but Tony’s fell out mid payment and then his application number kept coming up as used. The whole process is the most frustrating thing in the world. What to do now?? We made our way to the office ready for my appointment, thinking that they may take Tony at the same time. HAH! Foolish us, it couldn’t be that simple. Thinking that the agency was an international one and our credit card would be accepted was again a mistake. Tony had to learn to cross a very busy 6 lane road in India, navigate his way to an ATM, learn to use the ATM and then make it back safely. Half an hour later he returned safely with a pile of cash ready to pay for my visa application. One submitted, one to go! Later that evening we started Tony’s full visa from scratch in order to obtain a new application number and went back to the centre the next day - prepared with cash!! It turns out we were meant to do it in two stages as the gentlemen who processed my visa had made an error and it was only picked up by the operator processing Tony’s application.

Mega long story comes to an end when our passports are delivered back to us via courier to Amalapuram and signed for by a complete stranger at the school 👀Our visas were approved and we were completely relieved to have our passports back in our hands.

One day left to explore

On our last visit to the visa office, we were driven by a very friendly Uber driver. By the end of the trip we had booked him for a full day tour to Mysore the following day.

6am and the Uber driver arrives. Traffic is so bad in Bangalaore that an early start is essential in order to get out of the city. A 3 hour drive with breakfast on the way. We had researched some places to visit and the majority of them were fantastic. Here is the run down in photo form:

Musical Instrument Museum

The purpose behind the museum

Indian Music Wax Figures

Australia Represented!

Just one room of many full of unique instruments

Mysore Palace

Amazing outdoor Pergola 😂

A picture for Justin and my Dad

An indoor reception room

Travelling in Style

Train Museum…of course!

Inside the old trains

Sandsculpting Museum

Our awesome driver Praveen.
He haggled on our behalf - even the price of using the public washroom!