The Latest

We got a car!! A GOOD car! We bought it from a British guy whose wife just used it for shopping, so even though it's 10 years old, it only has 37K miles on it and looks brand-new inside and under the hood. We feel so much safer and happier. Now we just have to get rid of Growly, the albatross.

While running errands in the fancy new car today, I found one radio station that played Western songs. First it was the Scorpions. Then Deep Purple. '80s metal was never my thing, but it might be now. After that it was "Tarzan Boy," and between the three songs I was walking around 1987 Wiesbaden again. It turned out the station covered everything Western, because there was some Rod Stewart (crappy '90s Rod Stewart, not cool '70s Rod Stewart) and Maroon 5... but when I changed it back they had on Creedence. So it could work. It's just fun to have music in the car again.

A few words about Thai food. Today, for the second time, we went to a buffet that offered both Thai and Western food. (Is Western capitalized? Jenn?) I took both of course, because who am I to be rude? And... both times I found that I preferred the Thai food. The Western food tasted kind of bland, and both times it was actually well-made. They had a Greek-ish salad that made me quietly whimper with relief when I saw it. But Thai food is a party in my mouth. It's vivid colors on my palate. It's so good it might be ruining me.

On the flip side, I noticed the other day that I was getting some extreme afternoon sleepies. I thought about my habits; I'm sleeping fine at night, eating well and it's not a sugar crash. I remembered that I have iron deficiency issues! I looked up iron-rich foods and it's all things I have not been eating here very much, if at all: Beef. Beans & lentils. Spinach. Cereal. Oysters. Tofu. Dark chocolate! Most of these things were in my regular rotation back home, especially beans and spinach. Here it's been mostly vegetables, chicken, pork, and rice. Gotta look for a supplement.

Speaking of sleepies, I'm off to lie down. I would absolutely love to take a bike ride today but it's a bit too hot. I'd be a soaking wet mess in five minutes. Boo.

Two more days of summer vacation. I'm bummed out as usual, but we could all use a little more structure to our days. At least it will be a few hours a day that we won't have to hear the girls fighting.

A sad little lightbulb

Walking through the mall today, I saw the usual collection of white men with Thai wives. This is so common here that we haven't actually seen (or even heard of) any other Western couples outside of tourists. White men, Thai wives.

All of a sudden it occurred to me: Oh. Wait a minute. It's going to be a bit of a challenge for me to find friends here. Not that I can't be friends with Thai women, because the ones I've met are great. Not that I haven't met any other Western women, because I've met two-- but one is my boss and the other is substantially older. I do like them. But where will I find my Tina Fey or Amy Poehler, my partner in tasteless jokes, wine drinking and shallow concerns? Male friends are fine, and Nick and I are tight. But I need my ladies. Mouthy $h*t-starters, like me.

Errgh. It might be a lonely couple of years. 

Bike Love

I love my bike. Seriously, I love it. I feel like all I want to do is go out and ride it. I wake up in the morning and think about where I want to go on it that day. There is so much to see here, so many tiny nooks & crannies, and the town is so bike-friendly that I see it all at a nice relaxed pace. I'm getting fresh air, exercise, mental stimulation and entertainment all at the same time (and just maybe, in time, I'll get my pre-motherhood legs back too!). There are no screens to distract me. I grab one of the sweat rags handkerchiefs I bought in Ghana to mop my face, and off I go. It gives me an excuse to be alone, and if the girls want to come with me, I can only fit one at a time on the back, so they can't bicker. Sascha will ride on the back and mull over things out loud-- "What kind of tree is that?" "Why does their car look like that?"-- while Sophie will just sing and blabber on nonstop. I get them at their sweetest.

I just got back from about an hour and a half of riding in town. I found dozens of beautiful and fascinating side streets. Ducking down each one reminded me of when I was 11 and we first moved to England, how I'd spend hours exploring the area (this was long before helicopter parenting put the kibosh on those kind of unsupervised shenanigans), letting my mind wander along with the bike.  Poking through town without a plan makes me feel like that sweaty, flat-chested kid again. My little world was my oyster, and now over 30 years later, it is again.

Chiang Rai is cool. It's laid-back and accessible. I discovered the local version of Chatuchak Market! Much smaller, obviously, and more manageable, but what a find! I bought some fresh flowers from a smiley guy who taught me the proper way to say "beautiful" when I complimented his shop in Thai, and made me say it back a few times to practice. I bought a bag of rice from a woman with black teeth. I wanted to take pictures, but I couldn't decide where to shoot since I had 360 degrees of cool stuff on all sides of me. It's such a feast for the senses. I think I have a particularly sensitive sense of smell, because I ride through town like a dog with my nose in the air, taking deep breaths of smells that change every three seconds. Wood smoke, tea, incense, garbage, grilling meat, rain and wet greenery, fish sauce & lime juice, wood smoke again. Thailand, for the most part, smells fantastic.

Unrelated observations: The sun is pretty powerful here, even during the current rainy season when it's cloudy all day. I figured it would be, and I studied up on how best to care for my skin, but despite my 30 SPF efforts and frequent hats, my face skin feels kind of thick and rough. I do look tan, but that kind of stops being so great in your 40s when it brings dark blotches with it that don't fade with the tan. Urgh.

Before we came, I stocked up on some items I didn't know if we'd be able to get here. I've been pleasantly surprised to find that toothpaste and most cosmetics are widely available. The exception is deodorant, or rather the kind I like. It's roll-on and spray here, the end. And in the cosmetics department, skin-whitening products are wildly popular. This is oddly depressing to me. I've seen more than a few women who did a poor job of applying these products, and they have faint streaks of white on their faces.

Baking is not really a Thai thing, so in addition to most houses not having ovens (ours does, but it's tiny), it's hard to find baking pans. They're not big into dairy, either. Yesterday Nick and I went to the Thai version of Costco (oh yes!) and I was thrilled to find a wider selection of everything I hadn't found before.

I have no way to wrap up this particular post, I just wanted to gush about my great little bike. Until next time...

Elephants

We went to see the elephants yesterday. Northern Thailand is famous for its elephants, and there are a number of sanctuaries (and "sanctuaries"). I think we may have gone to the latter. The jury is still out, and our feelings are mixed.

The place is called Ruammit village, and we mainly went because it's so close. It was a five minute bike ride down the road to the pier. Well maybe not THE pier, but A pier. It was basically a dude's house with a few boats on the river. He knew exactly what we wanted though, and his price matched what the Internet had said. Off we went, after we ogled the tiny puppy and kitten in the yard, and his (wife? mother?) chatted to us in Thai and gave the girls big hunks of pumpkin from her lunch bowl.

The boat ride was loud (careful of your volume at the 10 second mark!) but just gorgeous. Lush and green and beautiful, and we waved at all the women fishing on the banks. I texted Nick "THIS DOESN'T SUCK!" Below is a video clip of the day, basically.

It doesn't show the ride back, where Sophie wailed at the rain and howled at wanting a snack because she hadn't eaten enough at lunch. (Lunch, by the way, was at a local shack where the four of us ate delicious slow-cooked pork and greens over rice with bottled water for three bucks. Total.) It also doesn't include when our boat hit something in the water and temporarily broke the engine, so we had to pull over while the dude waded into the water and fixed the engine in the rain.

But it is basically the day.

I spent a lot of time debating whether to post about it, knowing that I'm friends with many animal activists. You can decide for yourself, but I will at least plead our case in our decision to visit this camp.

I did a lot of reading online that basically said that: you have to make that decision for yourself. Some people thought the elephants were treated badly, some thought it was no different than having dogs on leashes. Yes, they were chained up, but I studied their ankles closely and didn't see any sign of wear and tear on their skin. The elephants were all friendly and didn't seem agitated. The one story that sealed the deal for me was this: elephants there were once used in the logging industry, which was banned 25 years ago. The village needed some kind of income, and the elephants had already been trained and sort of domesticated. Going there helps keep the village going, and keeps the elephants fed and cared for, because their care would be the first thing to go if they had no source of income. The rides are short, it gives them exercise, and the elephants are allowed to snack along the way. I didn't see any mistreatment, the saddles were well padded on their backs, and the elephants seemed clean, happy and friendly.

That said, I don't think I would go back. I didn't like seeing them all tethered like that, even though they are huge and (ultimately) unpredictable animals. There is a place in Chiang Mai, three hours down the road, that is a bona fide sanctuary. They don't do rides, which I'm fine with-- the ride was surprisingly rough and uncomfortable. I had much more fun down on the ground petting and feeding them, which is what people do at the Chiang Mai place-- hang out with them and help bathe and feed them. We will probably do that over Christmas, if not sooner. It's just a little pricey.

So there's our elephant story. Their skin felt nice, like old, rough magic. They smelled good, that clean damp manure-y smell. Some of them had really long eyelashes. I hate to use the word amazing, but the experience really was just that.

Observations at one week

It's been a full week here in our new town. During the first few days of settling in, I told a friend that I could feel tiny cracks of stress and homesickness forming. I felt like the mother in The Poisonwood Bible, although I haven't read that book in years; I remember her trying to hold it all together until the solid cake mixes broke her. I am sure that will happen to me too at some point, although the stress has ebbed.

I bought a bike! I am in love with it. I feel like a teenager with a brand-new license when I take it out, just totally free. I picked this color, only because they didn't have orange:

Behind my seat is a passenger seat for one of the girls, and we've taken many trial runs around the 'hood. I just love it so much, especially considering that the alternative is the car... Oh god that car. It's bad enough that we are going to rent a car for a month until we can sell this one and buy another. Our neighborhood security guard hears us coming and has the gate rolling open for us before we even turn down the street. We drove in the rain today and Nick said the windshield wipers were like a drunk guy sitting on the hood trying to rub the window clean. All of the seatbelts in the back are broken. I feel safer on the bike. This car is an abortion.

I came home to this the other day... "Trash Mobile." Sascha's label.

That said, it is fun to drive. It was long ago tricked out for some young gangster kid so it has a racing steering wheel, the clutch is tight and steering is responsive. But the bike! The bike is like wings! I rode it to get a massage yesterday!

Can you see the 300-ft tall Buddha in the distance?

I feel pretty safe because there are so many bikes and motorbikes on the road here that people are used to them being on the road. On the busier main roads, there are bike lanes almost as wide as the car lanes.

And the massage? I went to a hotel spa about a mile down the road. It was gorgeous. The massage involved a shower, a steam box (this weird contraption I sat in with my head sticking out), another shower, then a full hour rubdown with Thai herbs in this magazine-fancy room, all dark wood gorgeousness. After the massage, the woman brought me a plate of tropical fruit and a cup of green tea to enjoy in the beautiful lounge, windows open to a gentle tropical rain outside. In the states this would have cost like $300. Here? It was the highest priced massage on the menu at $30.

A few nights ago, I went to this tiny pizza place in our neighborhood to pick up a few for dinner. They said it would be 20 minutes, so I ordered a beer. As per local custom, they served it over ice.

It wasn't that bad, actually. When in Rome...

There was a huge ornate temple right next door, and while I was waiting, a series of bells went off inside the temple. About a dozen dogs in the surrounding area started howling along! It was one of my favorite moments of Thailand so far. Hilarious. I didn't have my phone with me (that picture above is from dinner last night) but I am determined to capture that on film. It was way too good not to share. Also: Two pizzas plus the beer cost about $9. The entertainment was free.

I have more pictures and videos to load, but they're still on my phone and Sophie is playing with it right now. This post is sloppy, whatever. I just need to get some thoughts down. 

Housework: There is a fair amount of housework, but it's actually kind of fun in such a pretty new house. We have no dishwasher here, fancy as it is. I don't mind it if the kids stay out of the kitchen and I can listen to my audiobook, but the dishes have to be tended to constantly because we get ants. They are teeeeeny weeny and fast, and not biters (I think), but they will swarm anything that gets left out. This is a nice incentive to keep the kitchen clean, but is also a pain in the ass. And it's hard to find Borax here, apparently. We'll figure something out.

I've seen enough House Hunters International to know that clothes dryers are virtually nonexistent in most of the world, so I expected to hang our clothes dry. I am enjoying doing my part for the environment, and there's a big part of me that actually enjoys hanging the clothes. But I am not a fan of the stiffness or how long it takes them to dry in this climate. I will just have to get used to the texture. The stores are loaded with fabric softeners but I'm leery about all the chemicals. At least the scratchy towels are absorbent. We just need to be more judicious in defining what needs to be washed. Unfortunately, with all of the sweating, it's still quite a bit.

Critter report: no heart attacks yet! Nick saw a medium-sized snake on his bike ride today (I nagged him into getting a bike of his own-- his lack of proficiency with a stick shift helped prod him), I saw a dead rat on my bike ride yesterday, there's a small finger-length roach lying on its back outside next to our washing machine (**lying on its back does not mean dead. I learned this the hard way in Texas. And finger-length does not mean big... It just means about 2" long... also learned in Texas). We have loads of small black snails in our little yard, as well as a few centipedes. We found out the centipedes are harmless and now they're Sophie's best friends. She played with one that was about 3" long the other night for about an hour. We heard about a local cobra sighting and something called a Huntsman (?) spider the size of an adult hand, but LALALALALALA I'm putting my fingers in my ears about both of those. Not Googling that spider, no sir, no. We have lots of geckos too, so I'm hoping they'll save us from the more disgusting critters. Speaking of geckos, we had one in our house the other night and now I know where they got their name. It was cute. And I found one in our bedroom today about the size of a quarter. Freakin' adorable. I'm so glad I'm not afraid of lizards or I'd have a problem.

We're heading out to dinner so I'm going to wrap this up. I will load more pictures and videos soon!

Chiang Rai

We’ve been in Chiang Rai for a few days now, and every day my brain has been in overdrive with the steep learning curve. I’m constantly thinking of things I want to write down and remember. Now that the initial triage of moving in has passed, I can sit and tap away!

Everything we own, right there. 

A few years ago, I saw this show where Jillian Michaels went to someone’s house to help their family get in shape. After a day or two, they started to complain about how hard it was. Jillian said something that has really stuck with me: “What, did you think I would just show up and you’d suddenly be healthier? You have to actually do the work!” Desire has nothing to do with it. Did I think we’d just show up in Thailand and I would suddenly be a confident, physically fit, Thai-rattling, well-adjusted expat? Hah! 

Not being an active participant in my life over the last few years or so, I’m not used to having to actually do the work to learn anything. Sounds silly but it’s true. I moved here because I was coasting. It’s not that I’m complaining; I don’t think the challenges have been particularly difficult, they’ve just been surprising, reminding me that these kinds of surprises and challenges were exactly what I wanted. So the bottom line is, so far I’m loving it here. 

Let’s start with this crazy house. It is truly awesome, and so foreign in its modern sleekness. I want to keep all of the surfaces clear, which has been difficult with all the settling in and catching up on laundry. Unpacking has been more challenging than I’d expected! I thought we’d just empty our suitcases and start living. The challenge has been that the house is not quite as fully furnished as we’d expected, so we’re constantly running out to the store to pick up extra towels (there were two here), pots & pans (there was one small pot), clothes hangers, etc. The kids’ rooms are separate from the rest of the house, so when they’re playing there, it is QUIET. So quiet. It’s heaven. And the girls are playing together so much! It is wonderful. The TV choices here are pretty bad—what western shows there are, are sort of secondary WB-network type shows we’ve never heard of—so the girls are pretty much stuck with each other and their imaginations. It’s magical, and works about 80% of the time. The other 20% is when they’re fighting or complaining about how bored they are, but I think that’s a damn good ratio. Right now they are playing hide & seek with their stuffed animals. Here's a video of the house that will do a better job than my description.

 Being here with just our family and little noise (like TV) makes me realize the value of a vacation, how necessary it is for the strength of a family. It’s considered such a luxury in the US, but I wonder how many split-up families would still be together if they had some stress-free time alone every once in a while? 

 

Now, onto cultural immersion: I find myself thinking about the foreign students back home a lot, because now we are them. We have to pick up Thai fast, and use what little we know. Surprisingly, what little I know has done the trick on most occasions, and the rest is supplemented with my mad charades skills. Fortunately, it’s the land of smiles, so everyone has been wonderful so far. This makes me think about the ELL kids back home again and how hard it must be for them and their brown faces or headscarves, things not always met with smiles in the US, while they’re struggling to adjust. Here, people are fascinated by Sophie’s blond hair. Yesterday in the store a group of older women were oohing and aahing over her, trying to get her to speak Thai, and every time she did they would clutch each other and dissolve in giggles. It was fantastic. 

One aspect of culture shock for me has been the food. I knew it would be different, but it’s like that Jillian quote—oh, it really IS different, it really IS a challenge to adjust. I never realized how Mediterranean-based my diet is: bread, wine, cheese, salads (western salads with vinaigrette), tomatoes. All of those things are hard to find here. They exist, of course, but in small pockets. Decent bread and cheese. Yogurt is not sold in big containers, so I’m going to start making my own to satisfy Sophie’s addiction. Wine? The cheapest wine I could find was about $10 a bottle, and it’s pretty vile. Most bottles are about $20, which is a special-occasion price to me. Again with the Jillian: I had read this, and I knew it was going to happen, and I planned to drink less wine. Oh wait, now I have to actually do it? What? As stupid as this sounds, 95% of the food here is Thai. That’s right, Captain Obvious. I’ve just lived my entire life (even in Europe) with more of a variety, that’s all. Not a bad thing! Just an adjustment. It’s not exactly red wine weather anyway, to be honest, and there’s plenty of cold beer to be had. And so much of the produce is different. I imagined we’d be all, fresh produce all the time!, and that’s not out of the question, we just need to learn the produce. Guava? Delicious!! Mango & pineapple? Of course! We eat several bananas in a row, they're so good. Tons of apples in the store, but berries are nonexistent. Who knew? It’s just a learning curve. “What should we do for dinner?” has been met with slightly fearful blank stares (from me). Last night we had spaghetti with jar sauce. Why can’t I remember what I used to cook? What was there besides salads and pasta? I am a culinary school graduate, dammit! My memory is just blinking back at me like an idiot. Maybe I’m too relaxed.

And let’s talk about the coffee. This area of the world is a big coffee producing area, and we couldn’t wait to dive into the rich black goodness. Wellllp… most of the coffee consumed around here is INSTANT. Seriously. We couldn’t even find a coffee maker in the megastore. For now, we are making do with the instant with brave faces until we can find a machine. It’s generally made with sweetened condensed milk, and I have to admit... it's not bad.

We also had a tour of our school. It looks pretty great! Very nice classrooms and facilities. I’m looking forward to not having to pack a lunch every day; they even have breakfast there (both meals free for staff). Packing lunches for the following day was my least favorite job back home because it was always the last job of the day when my brain was crying with exhaustion. I used to call it the 26^th mile. Anyway, we met several of our colleagues, and they all seem genuinely cool. It was fascinating to see how acclimated they are to the weather. While I played wet t-shirt-dress contest and politely tried to ignore the sweat running off my eyebrows and chin, these guys were in long pants. One of them was wearing a hoodie. Zipped up. At this point in the game, we’re just trying to keep the AC in the house as high a temperature as we can tolerate (or just running fans). Right now that’s about 26 degrees Celsius, and I’d have to Google its Fahrenheit equivalent because even though I’m a science teacher, I’m still an American which means I’m a metric ignoramus. I went running this morning (yeah, gotta actually DO it now) and changed my RunKeeper app to metric, so my time/distance updates meant nothing to me. Eventually it will. It’s all about immersion. 

Okay, I need to wrap this up. Wait, what am I talking about? I don’t need to do anything but maybe a load of laundry! Hah! No, we’re going to buy some bikes today. I’m dying for a bike. I’ve adjusted quickly to driving on the left side of the road, but it takes intense focus, and I can’t stop to admire anything like a bright golden sunset over the mountains. I’ve done a lot of driving around to learn the town and get my bearings, and it’s so much fun, there’s so much to see! I just want to slow it down, which was our entire purpose for moving here.

Bangkok

Oh. So much to say... again. I'll just jump right in.

We survived the flights! Just as Nick was scanning our passports at the first check-in, all the computer screens went blank and it was the big United Airlines shut-down for a few hours. No big deal; it was a pain but our flight was only delayed by an hour or so. The flights were uneventful, and yes, very long, but the girls slept through most of them so they were drama-free. I had really been looking forward to getting sushi in Tokyo airport, but we were so out of it at that point that neither of us cared. We just vowed to return. We got to our hotel here in Bangkok around midnight and showered-- I was so sour-smelling that I threw my shirt out and scrubbed until my skin hurt, very Silkwood-- and fell into bed. Sleep was hit or miss. The only room they had was one with a single king bed, so we've been piling into that together every night. It's not so bad. I always like sleeping with my girls.

One funny note about the long flights: for several days afterward, Nick and I have had a little vertigo, like we were on planes so long that it gave us sea legs. It still comes back on & off and we've been here four days. 

So! My first impressions of Thailand. Well. Obviously it's hot. However, I don't feel like it's that bad. There's always a good breeze, and I'm so excited to be here that I'm still willing to forgive a whole lot. It's just part of the experience. My memories of Ghana are 16 years old at this point, but I still think Ghana was hotter. Chiang Rai is apparently a good ten degrees cooler than BKK most of the time, so if that's true then it's going to be perfect.

I was expecting more people to speak English. I was under the impression that English was common in BKK but not so much in the rest of Thailand, but it seems to be pretty rare here! I'm okay with that, and with the ten or so Thai words and phrases that I know, a woman told me this morning that my Thai is very good. It must be a pretty low bar. I'm trying so hard to pick out words when I hear it spoken, and to translate characters as I see them, although I haven't studied those as much as I'd intended. C student in Thai... I will have to up my Thai game in Chiang Rai for sure.

BKK has some very distinct smells, mostly smoke from cooking fires and incense from the many Buddhist shrines all over the place. Sweet and kind of spicy. I love it. 

They don't over-AC buildings here! It's quite nice! Even just after a few days, 77 degrees in our room feels comfortable (bordering on chilly). I just ran an errand outside when it was probably in the mid-80s, and I thought "oh, I could run in this, if I stayed in the shade."

So far, I like it a lot. I can't say I love it yet... and here is why.

Kids ruin everything.

Our first day, we just hung out by the hotel pool and took naps to recover from the trip. That was fine. I did yoga by the pool under a tree that smelled like honey. Day two it was time to get out, so we went to the Chatuchak Market. It was awesome, in the true sense of the word.

They only quit complaining when we put something cold in their yappers.

I call this the Chatuchak Manicure. Heh. Hey, Germany friends: doesn't this remind you of Eurrailing?

But the thing about a place like that, which is a feast for all of the senses, is that you need to be able to take it all in. You need at least a moment to digest what you are seeing and smelling and so on. There was no such moment. It was nonstop bitching from the munchkins about the heat until we finally gave up. I should add that bitching kids = snapping adults. I spent the rest of the day with them back at the pool and Nick napped.

After that, we were a little gun-shy about doing anything that wasn't the pool. We decided to check out one of the famous malls here, but we went with the one closest to our hotel. Now, I was told about these malls, and I thought, "what, who cares, it's a mall." Just the word brings to mind same, same, same. And my friend Taya, who went on and on about the great shopping in BKK, is a trained fashion designer. She is also very thin, which broadens her options considerably. She was telling this to a frumpy, overworked, overweight suburban middle-aged mom (that'd be me) whose fashion sense boils down to stretchy and cheap. Old Navy, Target, ponytails; I've kind of given up. Shopping does not appeal to me, as a general rule.

WELL. My sincere apologies to Taya, because I was so, so wrong. This mall (not even considered one of the better ones!) was an absolute revelation. Even Nick wanted to shop, and this is a guy who calls to me, "pick me up a pair of 33/34s" when I'm heading out to Kohls. This place. It was full of tiny stores, and each one was -- I'm having a hard time describing it. Each one was its own thing, not a chain, but a wee individual boutique, and the clothes were all so unique. Almost like nothing I'd seen before. It was like an art show, but all actually wearable, not like weird high fashion-- and not expensive!

Whoops... Something got lost in translation there.

A typical store. Each had its own theme.

It made me realize what an incredibly narrow selection I've had almost my whole life. I left that mall starry-eyed, newly inspired to dress better, and of course drop some weight first. Protest all you want about what I look like; I'd at least like to be able to wear my wedding rings again. There are parts of my neck that touch other parts of my neck, and I'm not a fan of that sensation. Sigh. We all have our crosses to bear.

We left the mall and the kids immediately became mewling baby birds in the heat. I remembered finding this cool indoor playground for kids on the web a few months ago, so we hopped in a cab and went on a whim. It was incredible! Huge climbing structure, a track for bikes, a climbing wall! They had a place for the kids to make and decorate their own cookies.

We stayed for three hours, then... yep, came back to the pool.

Granted, it's a pretty nice pool.

Now I remember why I took this picture! THOSE EARS. 

So today is our fourth and last day in the Big Mango. We have not seen any temples. We have not seen the floating markets. We have not eaten a single bite of street food. We can't even take any tours by car because the girls start fighting in long taxi rides, oblivious to the crazy cool things going on outside the windows. I have managed to sneak out for a couple of massages, which were... you know, the A word again. But by and large, we've missed out on most of it. I am disappointed, but not mad; I mean, we do live here now, and Nick and I have already decided that we'll each make trips back by ourselves to see the cool stuff. We've seen enough of the city to feel like we could manage it on our own. It would be a cheap, easy weekend, but kind of a bummer since we won't be able to make memories together. Kids ruin everything.

My wilting flower

The silver lining to their suckage is that they are becoming closer to each other, which is really fun to watch, and one of our intended objectives. And I have to hand it to them, they're actually doing very well. I was twice their age when we moved to England-- a temperate, English-speaking country with few surprises-- and I was wretched about it. (Mom and Dad, I am so sorry.) At least if we stay poolside, they're happy.