A Fresh New Day

Just like our every arrival seems to come on a dark and rainy night, international moves also seem to inevitably include fresh new mornings.  Yesterday was a long and exhausting day where I stayed awake until 10:00pm - and was very proud of myself for doing so.  That late bedtime helped me to sleep until 6:30 this morning, a perfectly rational time to wake up.

That early morning hour made me the first in the house to wake up, and brought that fresh new day feeling.  The sun is filling the living room with light, I've managed a hot cup of tea, and the house is quiet aside from the absurd number of bird in the sky... and the 6 year old who just joined me on the couch.

We have moved enough times for me to recognize the patterns - the film noir evenings and the fresh new day mornings.  One of my patterns is concentric circles - where we explore gradually larger spaces. 

After we arrived on Thursday night, the girls and I stayed in the apartment all day Friday.  It is a lovely apartment with loads of windows, a pleasant kitchen, and plenty of space.  This will be a happy home and we already feel cozy in this space. 

On Saturday, I drew a larger circle around our home when Dave took us out for a walk.  We strolled down the promenade at low tide and saw the mangroves with their streamers of garbage.  We walked up to the market street and checked out a few of the many shops and stalls.  Most of the vegetable stalls looked delicious with large cauliflower, beautiful garlic, these adorable striped baby eggplants, and plenty of other appetizing vegetables.  The fruit vendors have their own stalls, and we only saw two, both covered in flies.  That may take some more exploring.  We saw butcher shops and chemists and housewares shops and electric shops.  We learned that you do not buy nightlights at the housewares shop, where they sell buckets and hangers.  You buy nightlights at the electric shop, where they can also advise you about moving your microwave - and, in fact, will be happy to do it for you on Monday.  We saw the main grocery, which is more similar to a market at a children's museum than to a Safeway.  This is no supermarket, although the workers were very helpful and kind.  They remembered Dave on sight and introduced themselves to me right away.  We learned that you can not approach the store expecting to grab everything you need.  You must go to the store with a list.  If the shopkeeper does not have everything on the list, you move on to another store.  That next store had air conditioning and homemade peanut butter at a surprisingly reasonable price and a large selection of organic dry goods and a $15 bottle of maple syrup.  Overall, the shops seemed pleasant and not particularly intimidating, although it will be a long time before our kitchen feels fully stocked.  After shopping for a few hours, we came home with only some fruit, some eggs, some yogurt, and some pricey maple syrup.

Saturday evening, we broke out of that cozy little neighborhood circle to attend a dinner party on the other side of town.  Everyone was warm and friendly, the kids played together happily, the food all tasted good.  And the evening kept us awake to a reasonable time.  Breaking out of the circle was worth the effort, but also exhausting.

Today's circle will broaden only slightly.  We'll go to church in the neighborhood and figure out how to watch a movie at home.  We may eat at a restaurant, something that appears daunting to me but which seems easier than making pizza at home.  Tomorrow I may leave the house without Dave, and Tuesday will be the first foray to the school.  Wednesday will take us to the Consulate and the circles will progressively widen from there.

Mumbai has a charming feel to it, as if a familiar city was placed in the jungle and then smooshed in  from all sides.  It does not look American in any way, although every once in a while a Starbucks sign will pop up.  It does not really look British, either.  But something about the whole neighborhood feels a bit familiar, as if people not so different from me are living here.  And if all of these people can live here without too much trouble, than clearly I can, too.