This is all a bit new for me this blog bit. Reminds me of my first time in msn messenger learning new "words" like lol or brb .. or my first time looking at Facebook and wondering what the hell I was supposed to be doing on it ... ORRRR landing in yet another new country and wondering what on earth (or you may use your own expletive of choice right here) we were doing in this dusty dirty smelly noisy hole that is Delhi or, to be more precise, New Delhi!
2 months in and I try not to ask myself that question anymore (the answer is too scary when you consider all we’ve been through so far), in fact the changeover has been quite smooth (Dean probably wouldn't agree) but I do wonder how the hell I'm going to manage another 2 and a half years in this maddening place!!!! Every day is a day that messes with your head, every moment outside is a kodak moment. Sorry I need to correct myself, these last 2 months have not been smooth at all, what I mean was emotionally from my perspective anyway ... it could have been a hell of a lot worse. It still could be, I mean we still don't have a house, our own car, our pets, our furniture & belongings, our kids are bored witless in this apartment and until the last 2 days of mid 20degree weather, have flatly refused to go outside (who would blame them when it's ranged from 30-44?). Read: they've been watching Hanna Montana on Tata Sky ad nauseum and bouncing off the beds to rid themselves of excess energy!
No-one can possibly imagine what it's like living here and some of the stories I share must sound quite silly, exaggerated, trite or downright ungrateful even (I mean I do have staff: a driver (a trial driver) and a cook, but that in itself is fraught with dramas & problems ... more of that later I'm sure) when they come out of my mouth but god's honest truth ... this country .. of which I am yet to see in all it's glory .... could seriously send you round the twist or straight to a mental asylum!
Recently some have said our entry to Delhi should be documented as “how bad it can be”, as we falter, cry, discuss, hypothesise, consider moving home, whinge, resolve to push through these first months of expat woes, while we - correction I - drink too much .. hey I’ve been given permission by fellow “in the know/been there done that” very supportive & understanding expat wives ... I’ve also been given permission to “let my inner b*tch out” too and I have and it was deeply satisfying to be able to scream and yell and throw the biggest tanty I ever have (and get away with it).
Dean’s fired 5 drivers in as many months. I’ve probably drunk as many cases of crap wine in two! We’ve been in the Jaipur paper, Emmaline’s foot is in a half cast, we’ve ridden elephants on safari, I’ve even driven a car – illegally - on the Delhi roads! We’ve checked out 60odd farmhouses .. and are still in an apartment with our furniture in storage an hours’ drive away and our pets still in oz, 24 hours flight away, and my Mum commenced radiation therapy this week for newly diagnosed cancer. And pretty much the only thing that’s kept me sane has been documenting our adventure so far, well that and calls/webcams home, online scrabble with a girlfriend in Dubai, and lots of Sunday brunches in 5 star hotels!
It's late, or early depends how you look at the clock ... and as this is really me practising to see what happens on my blog page when I hit save ... I'm gonna sign off now and clear my head with some much needed sleep. I'll write more guaranteed, as I am quite verbose when I get on a roll ... as my darling friends will attest! I've started a diary - already it's 30 odd pages .. typed in a word doc and I have more written in a diary I carry absolulely everywhere with me, but I'm a thinking I should transfer all I have written to date into a blog. For years I've been told I should write a book, so I guess this is me practising at writing for others to read. I'm trying hard to type faster than my brain will spew out words (luckily I can bash out words on the screen like nobody I know!). It will of course end up as garbled, rambling unstructured unconnected utter rubbish so if nothing else it might just give you a glimpse into the inner workings of my kooky, addled and still whirling by the things this currently blonde head has seen in Incredible India!!!!
Night for now
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