Well, I survived The Trip Over Alone. I've lived to tell the tale. 14 hours is quite a long time with an almost 11 month old in a plane. Liesl did good as she was mesmerized by movies for her entire wake time. I also broke down and bought airport toys for the sake of sanity (or something like that...).
Observations so far:
:: Being from Z, I smile and nod at just about everyone. In Dubai, I had the urge to strike up a conversation with the taxi driver and, seriously, She wasn't interested.
:: Toys are SO cheap. An $80 toy in Z is $15 here....the exact same toy. That's really blown my mind.
:: On the contrary, it seems as if food is more expensive here.
:: One morning, it started to rain and my first instinct was "get ready for the power to go out...water boiled, bottles ready, laundry done". It was just a one second instinct but I chuckled to myself.
:: Laundry! What a dream to throw in 2 or 3 loads a day!! I'm loving it. Maid or no maid, it's fun to do laundry here...other than the ironing.
:: How in the world do mothers do their thang here? How do you get your groceries in the house without your kids falling down the stairs? How do you get out of the house without a maid?? Do your kids sit in high chairs all day?? 😂 In the house, I'm okay but trying to get any-wheeeeeere is a serious challenge. I'm used to pulling up. Beep! (once and politely, mind you) Out comes the maid. We all carry in something and then the maid finishes up. Then, while I unpack the groceries and put things away in the cupboards, the maid takes the kids outside to play. How do you all surviiiiiiiiiiiiiiive???
:: I knew this was coming and it's already here. I get paranoid about everything when I'm in the States. I don't want the kids to play in the grass because it's been fertilized. They can't chew on the rocks or the sticks because fertilizer might have touched them. I panic about Lyme disease. 😐 I'm not so germophobic this time around but there's a fair share of things that I'm on high alert about. Whereas back home, the kids eat dirt; pet the animals; chew on sticks; etc; etc...
:: And oh the shopping. Oh the shopping. Oh the shopping. I almost got shaky today in Marshall's there were just gobs of beautiful things. But, I'm almost shopped out at this point which is a good thing.
So we are well and loving being at Omie and Opa's. Friday is a big day as that's when Leon arrives. And then Monday is a great day as that's when we see cousins (!!) and aunties and uncles and great Grandma. So lots of smiles and happiness the next few days.
Looking forward to sharing more!
