Tuesday Update

Hi!

So, the girls have made it successfully (mostly) through 2 days of school now. Sacia really really has had a great time. Ella also enjoys it, but of course, doesn't get to 'play' as much as Sacia! Sacia had an extra special treat at school today. She got to RIDE a HORSE!!! The teacher said they took pictures, so we very much look forward to seeing those! Of course, a teacher was with her every step. I think she just loved it!

After bringing the girls to school, with Suresh, our driver, we dropped Brian off at work, then I headed to a playgroup in town with Zachary. We had a fabulous time there, meeting many new people, some who I'd already met at the OWC. There were mostly moms, with young kids 1 - 2 years old. Many had others in school, and they were from all over. One from Australia, several from England, one from Canada, Texas.... I really enjoyed meeting so many others in the same situation, and Zachary loved playing with the other kids, (well, for sure at least the toys!!). The host served snacks, including tuna melt sandwiches for lunch, and BROWNIES!!! Mmmm. Her name is Heather also, and she's from California. A great time was had, and I'm sure I'll come into town for another Tuesday playgroup after we've moved.

So, after arriving back at the apartment, I was expecting to have a break from all the driving (7;30 - 10;15 I was in the car, with the exception of walking the girls to their classrooms). I got an unexpected phone call from the school nurse, saying Ella wasn't feeling well, and had an upset tummy. I talked with a distraught and emotional Ella-gator on the phone, and then planned to pick her up early. That meant finding my driver, who was having lunch, getting him back here, and driving the long way back to Indus, over the same roads that we've seen so many times already. Interestingly though, I've only tired of the carride itself, not the interesting views from it! Always a little different, always so lively and colorful, and seeing unexpected things (even if it is unpleasant, as a small child squatting alongside the road, leaving a pile...ugh!). Mostly it is great, especially if Zach happens to be snuggling or watching closely as the rickshaws, motorcyles, trucks, cars, cows, dogs, and people go by.

I got to school, found Ella at the "infirmary", sound asleep. Once she woke up and we went to get her things, I could tell she was already feeling better. Great! We stopped by Sacia's classroom to bring her home also, as we would have arrived home at the same time we needed to pick Sacia up again anyway. It was really neat to see her, without being seen by her, and to watch her actively involved in the activity. She is doing SO well! I am so proud and happy for her! The drive home was pretty good, maybe because the girls had suckers in their mouth most of the time, when they weren't busy telling me about their day. Everyone was happy. They do need something to keep them happy and not carsick for the long bumpy ride.

By the time we got home, everyone was in good spirits, including Ella, who was back to her normal self, and feeling good. The girls played, I ordered Pizza Hut double cheese pizza, and Zach fell asleep early (before 6) and has been out since. Brian arrived home around 7, and I had ordered some 'surprise' for him from the place next door, as the pizza was all gone. Unfortunately all the cheese (well, 3/4 of it) had slid off the pizza sometime before it arrived here. We had to pick out some cardboard in order to enjoy the cheese! The girls are now asleep, and Brian and I are beginning to have more time to spend typing on our laptops after all is quiet here. He is working on a computer in Rochester as I type this, and also typing with another IBMer from Rochester who lived here for 1 year.

I'm trying to remember the rest of the weekend that I have not written about yet, but can't remember much other than another trip to LalBagh, and a bit of furniture shopping, and playing at the park area here with kids. Oh yeah, there were a few firsts! Brian and I each crossed the road (different times) in front of this place, and you really feel strange suddenly doing that after only really riding in a vehicle anywhere and getting dropped off at the door. Brian had to avoid getting stepped on by cows. I, on the other hand, only had to watch carefully where I stepped. The other first came at our wonderful 'Total' store, where we again shopped and even had a nice lunch afterward. I was very disappointed to learn, when I needed a restroom, that they do NOT have western toilets. Well, it had to be sometime!

Oh, Ella is excited that tomorrow she will have swimming! And she gets to also wear the swim cap, the one that we had so much fun all trying on the other night. Zach looked so darn cute!! We should have taken a picture. Next time! Also in news for us, our relocation consultant gets our keys tomorrow, and then will have the house cleaned so that we can move in Thursday! Yay!!! I'm not so down on this place. It's a little more manageable now that the girls are busy having fun at school, and it's just Zach and I. Very different. It's amazing how quickly they're all growing up. Sacia is just suddenly in school full time. I still have mixed feelings about that, but I'm so very glad that she's having a blast, and that there is so much for her to do there. It is so enjoyable to get to see them at the end of school and hear about all their activities...

Okay, time for me to enjoy a little Bailey's, which we got in London at the duty-free shops. (We learned that a bottle here costs 3 X as much as in the US, $60! If you come visit, you can pick me up some more ;)

Sleep is calling... and maybe Zachary as well!!!

Love you!
Heather & crew