Picture of the Week: Auto!

Alright, last week's post was a bummer. I know. Here is something a little more peppy...transportation!

Seriously, this is fun. We are without a car for the time being (and probably will be for quite a while) so our main modes of transportation around the city are walking and auto-rickshaws. The best they can be described is a kind of 3-wheel turbo powered golf cart. The driver sits up front and you (your kids and all the stuff you got at the store) pile onto a bench in the back. You can hail an auto by simply patting your hand out (Lydia knows how to do this now). Then you tell them where you want to go, negotiate a price and then off you go! Sometimes, yes, they do try to get more money from the obvious foreigner, but don't worry there are plenty...as soon as you start negotiating 3 more autos usually pull up behind capture your business.

Anyways, it's not a bad way to travel. It's open air (so, mostly breezy...ish) and I get to look around while my driver concentrates on the road (which is chaos), and I can get most anywhere for under $2. The girls have grown to love it (Molly usually falls asleep, Lydia finds cows and pink scooters along the way) and Brian is a master negotiator (once holding onto the auto while the driver refused to give him change...an equivalent of about 20 cents, but it was the principle off the thing!).

Picture of [Last] Week: Disconnected

Sorry, no picture from last week. We didn't have internet (and therefore no facebook, blog, email, skype, facetime, vonage phone, or...my latest while-I'm-feeding-Molly perusal...pinterest) for just about a week. So, I suppose I could cheat and post a picture from last week, but instead I'll share an interesting thing about life here.

A picture paints a thousand words. A lack of picture may just drive home a point.

Things take a lot of time. In a relational society (not time/task-oriented like the good ol' US of A), you can call to get your internet fixed and you will hear "Yes, Madam, of course, no problem. We will fix it in the morning." And as you wait for the service man to show up (which he doesn't...not at 8am, not at 10am, not all day), you can either a) accept the differences of this kind of society and appointment-keeping and see this not as rudeness or promise-breaking but simply as a difference or you can b) get more and more frustrated with each passing minute and feel like your day was wasted and take it out on your kids and husband because all you really want to do is check your email, update your status on facebook, blog your thoughts, and call your friends back in the States and then feel guilty about your dependence on such things. Guess where I landed?

So, eventually, yes they fixed the problem. But it took 6 days, many phone calls, and much worrying over [really truly!] nothing. Here, though, is another reality of culture shock and ethnocentrism and...sigh, my own heart. I wanted things to be "normal" (aka just like in the States). I want to have everything I need right at my fingertips. I want control. I want to thrive in two worlds...and it's getting harder.

Picture of the Week: Vegetable "Soup"

Life here has it's oddities and inconveniences. We live in a large city and the grocery stores carry a good bit of what I need (for instance, just found oreos...and yes, I needed them). There are American restaurants, air-conditioned buildings and coffee shops. Nothing to complain about really, but despite all this there are a thousand little things to adjust to. A thousand little reminders that I am in a very different place (like the herd of goats I saw walking down the street just a minute ago). And here I go adjusting.

In case you were wondering, this is bell peppers, zucchini, broccoli, little red onions
and avocados (yes, I found them here!) 

For instance, produce. Because of the unsanitary conditions, when one buys fresh fruit of vegetables one must soak them in a purified water and bleach solution for 20 minutes, then again in purified water for another 20 minutes. Then, enjoy! Not that bad right? Try to forget about the trace amounts of bleach you are ingesting. And I suppose I will get used to this little system, a few extra steps in dinner prep. Adjusting, yes here I go.

Picture of the Week: Married Toes

It's official. Brian and I are married. Yes, I know that happened almost 7 years ago, but on this side of the world we have marked a new milestone. 

I have declared it with my toes.

 In this country, that ring on my left hand doesn't announce my relationship status. Toe rings do the trick. A trip with some girl friends to the "commercial district" and I came back a [culturally declared] married woman. (We also managed to find culturally appropriate...and cute...sandals [worn here] and clothing!)