OK, I'm not dressed up. I'm actually sitting at the computer in my pajamas with a cup of coffee. I truly don't have anywhere to go though. It's the middle of a long weekend here when most expats try to get out of town and explore more of India and beyond. We've opted to stick around for this one, and travel the next (Sri Lanka!!). So I thought this would be a perfect time to explain a little more about life here. Sometimes the differences between the US go without saying, other times they're more subtle.
It's amazing how quickly we've gotten into a routine. We've been here about 6 weeks and things feel "normal." Oscar is busy with work. Little Oscar has settled into school and happily takes the bus every day. Livi and I have playdates and little outings with fellow expats (Livi starts preschool soon). Oscar gets home from school and we hang out until Dada comes home from work. Our bedtime routine of baths and stories has stayed the same, and after good nights the kids usually play for a few minutes in their room until they go to bed. With this pattern we could be anywhere in the world.
Here's a few details of our daily lives that may be different than say, suburban VA:
-Our driver, housekeeper, and cook who help us immensely and make life easier in countless ways - like knowing how to get anywhere in the city, buying/cleaning the fruits and vegetables, washing floors, and cooking yummy meals. All of these things we could do for ourselves, but would take 10 times longer and would probably involved lots of tears (from me at least).
-Needing to remember to brush our teeth with the bottle of water on our counter and not the tap water. I think I've driven the point home to the kids because now Oscar always asks if the water in the cup is safe to drink, and Livi will say "no me soup" ("I won't drink it") when asking to bring a cup into the bathtub to play with.
-It's a given that you take your shoes off whenever you walk into someone's house. I absolutely love this concept and wish it was global. You can track in gross things on your shoes just as easily from the streets of Hoboken as you can in India.
-We have an amazing yard with a swingset and large lawn, but we honestly don't spend that much time in it since it gets so hot. (note to self: use the yard more! when the bikes and scooters come we can have races around the driveway...)
-We can't buy alcohol in the stores here, but the commissary thankfully stocks some that we can buy. We essentially put it on our tab and pay at the end of the month.
-While there are taxi's here, most people use tuk-tuks (auto rickshaws). They're incredibly cheap but you always need to know the price you want to pay and establish it before you get in since you have a good chance of being overcharged. If you know the fair price the driver may be a bit surprised, but will typically accept.
-I sheepishly write this, but the kids do not always ride in carseats. When we're in our car, Livi has a car seat and Oscar has his booster (except for the time the ants found a lone cheerio in Livi's carseat and she rode on my lap instead of being covered by the little buggers). However, when car pooling and in tuk-tuks, it's simply not an option. We justify it in saying that we drive slower here and sometimes you just need to, but I still feel incredibly guilty about doing it since I would never even consider it in the US. We are not alone in this among the expat community, and although I feel badly about it every time we do it, sometimes you just "need"to.
It's Sunday afternoon, our driver is off, Oscar doesn't have his license yet, and we're essentially just hanging at home because we really don't have anywhere to go. We could take a walk, but not far since we'll inevitably end up carrying the kiddos and be covered in sweat almost immediately. And while sticking home on a Sunday isn't necesssarily a bad thing, I can't help wishing for a nice cool breeze....
It's amazing how quickly we've gotten into a routine. We've been here about 6 weeks and things feel "normal." Oscar is busy with work. Little Oscar has settled into school and happily takes the bus every day. Livi and I have playdates and little outings with fellow expats (Livi starts preschool soon). Oscar gets home from school and we hang out until Dada comes home from work. Our bedtime routine of baths and stories has stayed the same, and after good nights the kids usually play for a few minutes in their room until they go to bed. With this pattern we could be anywhere in the world.
Here's a few details of our daily lives that may be different than say, suburban VA:
-Our driver, housekeeper, and cook who help us immensely and make life easier in countless ways - like knowing how to get anywhere in the city, buying/cleaning the fruits and vegetables, washing floors, and cooking yummy meals. All of these things we could do for ourselves, but would take 10 times longer and would probably involved lots of tears (from me at least).
-Needing to remember to brush our teeth with the bottle of water on our counter and not the tap water. I think I've driven the point home to the kids because now Oscar always asks if the water in the cup is safe to drink, and Livi will say "no me soup" ("I won't drink it") when asking to bring a cup into the bathtub to play with.
-It's a given that you take your shoes off whenever you walk into someone's house. I absolutely love this concept and wish it was global. You can track in gross things on your shoes just as easily from the streets of Hoboken as you can in India.
-We have an amazing yard with a swingset and large lawn, but we honestly don't spend that much time in it since it gets so hot. (note to self: use the yard more! when the bikes and scooters come we can have races around the driveway...)
-We can't buy alcohol in the stores here, but the commissary thankfully stocks some that we can buy. We essentially put it on our tab and pay at the end of the month.
-While there are taxi's here, most people use tuk-tuks (auto rickshaws). They're incredibly cheap but you always need to know the price you want to pay and establish it before you get in since you have a good chance of being overcharged. If you know the fair price the driver may be a bit surprised, but will typically accept.
-I sheepishly write this, but the kids do not always ride in carseats. When we're in our car, Livi has a car seat and Oscar has his booster (except for the time the ants found a lone cheerio in Livi's carseat and she rode on my lap instead of being covered by the little buggers). However, when car pooling and in tuk-tuks, it's simply not an option. We justify it in saying that we drive slower here and sometimes you just need to, but I still feel incredibly guilty about doing it since I would never even consider it in the US. We are not alone in this among the expat community, and although I feel badly about it every time we do it, sometimes you just "need"to.
It's Sunday afternoon, our driver is off, Oscar doesn't have his license yet, and we're essentially just hanging at home because we really don't have anywhere to go. We could take a walk, but not far since we'll inevitably end up carrying the kiddos and be covered in sweat almost immediately. And while sticking home on a Sunday isn't necesssarily a bad thing, I can't help wishing for a nice cool breeze....
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