—David Hassler

Up, Up, and Away!

Tomorrow, it will be up, up, and away as we fly to our new home in Chennai, India! Well, after quick stops in Newark and Frankfurt, that is. We’ll be met on our arrival at the Anna International Terminal in Chennai about midnight and taken to our new digs in Besant Nagar to begin the process of adjusting to the 9.5 hour time difference from our old Hoosier home. Sarah will have a week of new teacher orientation at the American International School Chennai where we’ll get to learn not only about the school but also about cultural awareness, the city and the bureaucracy of registering with the FRRO (Foreign Regional Registration Office), and even about where to shop for groceries and to buy appliances (a mosquito bat is a necessity) and to decorate our flat. We can’t wait to explore the out of the way nooks and crannies of Namma Chennai and surrounding areas to discover unique furniture (a desk for my home office is a top priority), accessories, art, and even napkins and tablecloths and an induction cooktop . . . .the list goes on and on.

Our new urban digs in Besant Nagar

Oh, and we’ll learn more about where to grab a filter coffee or a cappuccino maybe with a nice croissant–The French Loaf perhaps? Hey, it’s only about a 4 minute walk from our flat so it will likely be the first stop once we wake up on day one, followed by lunch at Murugan Idli Kadai just down the street. Or to sip an after-school or weekend social beverage at BOATS (Based on a True Story) or M’bessy, a couple trendy restobars in our neighborhood–and big kudos to the  Chennai Expat Guide blog for pointing us toward these!

And then daily life will begin to settle in.

So, thanks to the Fifth Dimension, (yes, I remember them and I actually performed this song years ago, but that’s another story . . . ):

For we can fly, we can fly . . .

Love is waiting there in my beautiful balloon
Way up in the air in my beautiful balloon
If you’ll hold my hand we’ll chase your dream across the sky
For we can fly, we can fly.

Up, up, and away we go . . . .

Author: David Hassler

David M. Hassler was fortunate enough to have become a relatively rare male Trailing Spouse when his talented wife Sarah accepted a job teaching music in the elementary division of the American International School in Chennai, India, in 2017. His role included, for more than three years there, serving as her everything wallah, but also allowed him time for exploring, discovering, and sharing new places, new faces, and new tastes around Chennai, throughout south India, and beyond. When the pandemic arrived, Sarah retired and they moved to Lisbon, Portugal, where they continue to live and love life. David M. Hassler is a long-time member of the Indiana Writers Center Faculty and holds an MFA from Spalding University. His work has been published in Maize and the Santa Fe Writers' Project. He served as a Student Editor for The Louisville Review and as Technical Editor for Writing Fiction for Dummies. He is currently the Fiction Editor for Flying Island, an online literary journal. He is co-author of Muse: An Ekphrastic Trio, and Warp, a Speculative Trio, and future projects include A Distant Polyphony, a collection of linked stories about music and love, memories and loss; and To Strike a Single Hour, a Civil War novel that seeks the truth in one of P T Barnum's creations. He is a founding partner in Boulevard Press.

19 thoughts on “Up, Up, and Away!”

  1. I just signed on as a subscriber! Can’t wait to read of all the Indian adventure that awaits! –Gail Heffner

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  6. Please be safe my friends!! I will miss you terribly but I am incredibly excited for you and for me as I live vicariously through you!! Can’t wait to read all about it!
    Love you both!!

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  7. பாதுகாப்பான மற்றும் சந்தோஷமான பயணம்! Which either means “safe and happy travels” or “I’ll have the Aloo Paratha with extra peas.” Either way bodes for wonderment, joy and adventure for you two crazy kids! See you soon!

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