BUT Blogger won't let me post pictures normally. It's skewing all of the images and won't let me grab photos from Picasa or my hard drive like usual. Anyone happen to know what's up?
SO ... in the meantime, I'll post the "things I love about Delhi" post that I promised, on the heels of my recent whine post.
- The ability to expand my horizons and experience more than I ever would had we stayed back in the snowglobe of Ohio.
- The ability to teach my children compassion and respect - on a much higher plane than I ever imagined.
- The ease of making a phone call and having things delivered to your doorstep.
- The luxury of having someone to virtually do ALL of your errands and never having to leave my couch if I don't want to.
- Having a playground that my kids and I can walk to (never have lived in a community where that was possible before).
- Meeting some pretty darn amazing people ... to add to my circle of friends.
- Having a "built-in" babysitter so the Husb and I can have weekly date nights.
- No scrubbing toilets. 'Nuf said.
- Having extra time in my day to volunteer for the American Women's Association and the Delhi Network.
- Getting to see parts of the world that were "too far" to fly from the States.
- Having elephants and camels at birthday parties.
- Having chicken tikka masala be part of our monthly recipes that the kids now LOVE to eat.
- Watching Mia make roti with Shanti (roti (or chapati) are similar to tortillas ... kind of).
- Frequent discussions with the littles about where their friends are from - their awareness of the globe is much greater since moving.
- Being able to have amazing clothes tailor-made for my body for a fraction of what I'd pay at TARGET!
- Finding out that I REALLY like Kingfisher beer, okra, jalabi and the "shrimp" that are the size of lobsters.
- Taking photography classes weekly for between $5 - 10 USD.
- Saying to our mali (gardener) that I'd like to have colored flower pots and having him paint them all brilliant colors the very next day.
- Watching my children bob their heads like little natives and say "Tikka" (ok) unconsciously.
- Being able to have someone (i.e. Kushal) drive me for just under 20 minutes and end up in an amazing area like Nizamuddin, or Purana Qila or Hauz Khas.
- Nowhere else (I think, anyway) can you wake up in the morning to the sounds of Laughing Yoga, the echoes of sufi music and the call of the snake charmer making his rounds.
- Calling the pathology lab to come do a blood draw of a sick little, and having them come to the house just a couple of hours later - then to get lab results online later that day - and all for $6 USD.
- Watching local street dogs chase away the monkeys in Malcha Marg.
- Having our corner supermarket order our favorite things and then deliver them the next day.
- Being able to share our experiences of daily living with fun projects like hosting a Flat Stanley from Oklahoma.
- Having the doctor answer his personal mobile by saying "Naomi, hello. Who is sick?"
- Participating in amazing festivals like Dussehra (burning of the effigies) and Holi (throwing of colors).
- Seeing the magnificent wash of colors that is everywhere ... us American chicks could learn a thing or two about adding color to our wardrobes!
- Watching my children become less and less materialistic. That in and of itself, has made our move here marvelous! The television is nearly void of commercials about what new toy to buy and hearing them say before Christmas that they didn't even know what to ask for, was music to our ears.
There are days that Delhi overwhelms me and I want to pack our bags... and there are days that I can't imagine ever leaving.
I truly do think that we are better people for having experienced life overseas ... even if Delhi is the only foreign location we live as a family. I won't quite ever know the far-reaching effects that this experience will have on us, as I will only know our lives as they are now - day to day.
Perspective is a beautiful thing. It - when used properly - gives us the boundaries by which to judge our current surroundings. Only when we look at our situation from both sides of the fence ... the negative AND the positive ... do we truly gain perspective.
If nothing else, this move to Delhi has given me a better grasp on perspective. Thanks for letting me whine the other day ... and thanks for faithfully reading my comparative notes on what makes this an ok place to live!
A little perspective, like a little humor, goes a long way.
Allen Klein
