“Strength and dignity are her clothing, And she smiles at the future.” Proverbs 31:25
“We have to go look at another house?”
“Garrett, guess what? I made maggi! You’re favorite!” “No thanks mom, I’m tired of having Maggi.”
“I just want to wear my normal clothes! I am SOOOO hot.”
“This milkshake tastes bad.”
“If I have to say ‘NO’ one more time!”
“Mom, all you do is say no!”
“Did you just say a bottle of wine is $20!!!”
“Kids, no cookies unless you eat your burger king.”
These are just a few of the headlines of week 3. Can you guess who said what?And a milkshake tasting bad? That is about as bad as a bottle of wine being $20. Rough week on the whole living in a hotel, house-hunting front. Everything and everyone got tired and cranky. The novelty of fast food was over and dehydration was settling in. Even the taste of the hotel’s coffee and eggs that was made for us daily, became an aversion.
But, when the coffee gets old, you break out your pour-over and buy your own coffee, am i right? And you head to the nearest import store to find some comforts from your home country. Well, at least we were going to until we found out honey bunches of oats was $10.
But week 3 was not all bad. One of my biggest fears of moving to India, was the fear of going out on my own. And this week, I took an uber to a store all by myself, as well as walked home and hit up some more shops and grabbed an iced latte! When in doubt, shop it out. Just kidding. Kind of.
But for real, this brings me back to the Kurta. This was my first solo shopping trip and I went into about 4 different stores as I walked down the street. In each store, immediately the employees greet me with a “Hello, mam.” And then proceeded to follow me around the store. Some are silent, while others take every article of clothing I even glance at and set it up in the dressing room while also suggesting others.
Yeesh. Shopping in America for me looked like 45 minutes of solitude walking through TJ maxx looking for the $10 and under section.
So I am still getting use to this, and I am finding my voice to be able to say, “I will let you know if I need anything,” or “No thank you, I do not want the three piece summer suit.”
But at the end of my outing, I felt like I had gained confidence to take a car and/or walk on my own in town, and also gained a BEAUTIFUL KURTA! And these ones were different. Talk about finding my niche in the Kurta world. In the world of Indian dress, there is many different forms for different occasions. I am still learning as I have stuck only to the Kurta. But give me a flowy, airy Bohemian Kurta with leggings anyday, and I am in my glory!
This anecdote may sound simple. A girl shopping. However, our journey to India has been years in the making. Some of you know, and others may not, but this journey has been a story of ‘perfect love that casts out fear’, 1 John4:18.
A few other highlights were watching the cows herd themself down the road for their daily loop around the neighborhood. Finding out Jackson is a natural at posing for the locals. The indoor play area where the kids got to climb and play and beat the heat. Garrett lost his first tooth! And we hiked a park called Smrtri Van where the peacocks owned the land and catching a glimpse of a Neil Guy was an honor.
Our week ends with hope that we will find out soon if we can move in to the house we have found and start settling into a routine and out of hotel life.
Motherhood & Mindfulness 