Tough questions

When you live outside of your home country, you must ask yourself and discuss tough questions with your family.

The husband and I are thinking of buying another vehicle here. He's been all kinds of freaked out about the munchkins and I driving around in my current smallish vehicle of choice. The 'new' vehicle would cost more than what we paid for our current vehicle of choice. I refuse to drive a 'mum's taxi'. We're looking at used Land Rovers. Which brought up some other questions.....

Are the munchkins happy here?
Are we - the adults - happy here?
Are we ok with the current state of medicine here (ie we might have to start flying mum and Munchkin #2 home every few months or so for doctors)?
As we acquire more costly possessions here, how do we set up our paperwork to deal with sharia law (sp?) should, God forbid, something happen to the husband?
Do we really honestly and truly want to stay here for the next 7 years?

When we first left the homecountry, it was on a 2 year contract. We're now in our 5th year. And we're staring down 7 more here. We've got a dog, a cat, stuff that we own here that we like. Tough tough questions. At what point do you say, "It's time to go home."

As for the medical....it's weird. Docs are better in the home country with regards to Munchkin #2's medical condition. But, our medical benefits are WAY better living outside the home country. It's probably cheaper/better to fly home an extra two times a year than moving home to be closer to the docs. Totally utterly messed up!

The munchkins seem to be really happy here. The husband seems to be happy here. I have no clue how I feel. I loathe not feeling like I can take care of myself in this place simply because I'm a woman. Feeling so totally dependent on the husband is a horrid feeling. I don't care if it comes with a Land Rover with a leather interior and vacations in 5-star hotels - feeling dependent just because I have two X chromosomes is rotten. I live from plane ticket to plane ticket.

Tough questions.

Peace.

Thpppttttt!!!!!

That's the sound of sticking out your tongue, closing you lips around it and blowing. Yup. That sums it up.

Busy, busy, busy. There's never enough time in the day to do all that I want to do. So...I sit here and write at my computer. Writing helps me clear my head. Calms me down.

Part of being an ex-pat is dealing with the constant travel. The husband's most recent trip was to Cairo. We'll be flying through Amsterdam over the Winter Break. Lots and lots of travel. I have to travel to see family, I have to travel to stock up and bits of stuff I can't get here, I have to travel to feel like it really is 'winter break'.

As a kid, I lived in terms of school years. The end of Spring term was the 'end of the year'. As an adult, I started to think in terms of when taxes were due, when this bill or that bill was due. Now, as an ex-pat, I think and live in terms of plane tickets. When are we going home? Have we bought the plane tickets yet? How long can we stay at home? Can we work something fun into all that flying like a day trip somewhere? Do we still have blank pages in the passports for visa stamps? Do we have enough of the correct kind of currency? Do we have the warm clothes that we'll need? And on and on and on....... Makes my head spin.

In the middle of all of THAT, there's the usual school end of Fall term stuff to deal with. There's holiday parties.

Time to go back to work.

Peace.

Understanding each other

I had a really cool experience recently. I needed to purchase a child's foam mattress to use a dog bed (much cheaper than buying a specifically made doggie bed here). There's an older part of town that is lined with shops that sell all kinds of household goods at much cheaper prices than the local hypermarkets. I went into one and bought a small mattress at a good price (about $6 US). The shopkeeper asked me where I was from. Now, this can get tricky. Are they going to get upset when they hear where I'm from? Nobody talks about government and politics, but it's always out there dancing in the room.

I smiled, "Can you guess?" That's always good fun for me. It's an excellent game. When I was in a tough spot one time, I claimed to be German when the shopkeeper guessed, "German?" - and it worked - no political discussion followed. {Note to my Dad - brush up on your German. It's great to talk in a language shopkeepers don't know when you're discussing a price.}

Well, on this one day, I knew my surroundings etc....blah blah blah....so when the shopkeeper couldn't guess I told him. He said, "Really? I am from Iran." The political discussion that followed was really very good. Three other shop keepers joined in with lots of laughs following. The general consensus is that Persians and many westerners are actually very much alike. We love our countries, we value education, we pride ourselves in hard work. We demand to be taken seriously by those around us. The things that we see in the news whether it's BBC, CNN or Al Jazeera do not really reflect the people represented by various governments. There is 'government' and then there's 'the people'.

Here's to hoping that cooler heads, open minds, and friendships prevail over less savory alternatives.

Peace.

Not much happening

Well....not much happening. But, I thought I write a quick post to prove that I'm alive and kicking. It's been very busy the past few weeks. I can't even remember what my last post was about.

Just in case....and because I'm too lazy to go back and read through my old posts....

Munchkin #2 was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. She's on meds - a very high dosage of anti-inflamatory 'naproxen'. It seems to be working. She'll go back to her sport of choice this week. We're all very very greatful and thankful for all the help, love and support.

The husband has to make a trip to Cairo. I am so very envious. Maybe I can send him shopping a bit for me? I'm glad he gets to travel around so much. But, we all miss him here when he's gone.

Oooooooo..... I almost forgot! We adopted a kitty! He's four years old, has a 'bent up' right front paw, and meows A LOT. He came with the name 'Hoppy'. We thought that was lame and wimpy. We've renamed him 'Max'. Right now, he's confined to an empty spare storage room, hallway, and the kitchen. After Winter Break, we'll let him out to explore the garden. He loves to cuddle all curled up in your lap. He's a nice addition to our critters.

I guess we do have a lot happening.

Peace.