This is a long one!!
Baby Sara just woke up from a nap so I don't know how far I'll get with this post. We'll see!
Shakil just went back to work after being off for 4 days in a row. It was great having him home!! We went out to Pizza Hut one night which is where we usually go once a week. You know you've been there 1 too many times when you can start recognizing the waiters and they are recognizing us. Well, I've told Shakil they have no problem recognizing me since I'm the only white girl in the restaurant everytime. Wait, I can't really say everytime because I have seen a few foreigners other than myself there before. Most of the time, it's just me though. Some people might ask if that bothers me at all. You know, being the only white girl. When I first came here to Pakistan, yes it did bother me. I felt like I was constantly being stared at which I'm still stared at don't get me wrong but I guess I've just become used to it. I really don't think I even notice it anymore. I do have dark brown hair and maybe that helps me blend in just a little opposed to me having blonde hair or something. I dunno, I'm just used to it all now. I guess I'd have to get used to it after having lived here for 1 1/2 years.
So in my last post I was discussing how I'm spoiled. Yes, I'm still spoiled and I need help here!! What I mean by help is servant help. We went over to the in-laws the other day because I needed to do some laundry. Laundry/ironing were just two of the things that our servant was doing for us. Now you might think how could laundry be so difficult and why can't you just do it yourself Tara? Let me answer that for you...I think I've mentioned before how we don't have an automatic washing machine here at our house. I would compare it to a portable washing machine. You just fill it up with water yourself, put your detergent, toss your clothes in (which can only be 3 or 4 shirts and maybe a trouser), turn the knob to 15 minutes and it jiggles them around - nothing compared to an automatic machine. Automatic machines will spin out your clothes - not ours. Automatic machines rinse the clothes - not ours. You have to manually drain out the water, rinse the clothes and wring them out yourself. Now keep in mind all of this is being done in 100 degree heat. It's horrible! So the point I'm trying to make here is that I went to the in-laws to do the laundry because they have an automatic washing machine and I don't have to go through all that other bullshit. It's still a pain in the ass though. I do the laundry and then I hang them out which at the in-laws there is no clothesline outside - just have to use a clothes rack inside. The clothes never finish drying AT ALL so we get fold them all up, toss them in a bag and truck them back home to hang outside on our clothesline. I probably need to stop bitching because at least I have the option to go over to the in-laws and get 'er done (some southern accent for ya!)
So the evening rolls around over at the in-laws and Shakil's khala (Mom's sister) shows up with her 2 kidos for visiting. We (Shakil and I) were in the process of leaving, getting all the laundry in the car and ready to go when they showed up. So of course we had to stick around a bit longer - which was ok by me. We were all sitting chatting, etc. more chatting by them than me considering there is lots of Urdu spoken and I can't converse in Urdu. I know many words now but I can't phrase anything to carry on a conversation. Good thing is that I understand a hell of a lot more now than I used to. One of the advantages for living here so long - you start to slowly pick up the language in your way.
Discussion came up about K (K is our servant). Shakil was discussing how she still hasn't shown up and Wednesday made 2 weeks she has been gone - mind you she was only supposed to be gone 2 to 3 days. 2 to 3 days has now turned into over 2 weeks now. Shakil has made many efforts to call her village and see what's going on but we can't get a hold of them nor can we get a return phone call. Well, Shakil's khala had the phone number for the "dolly" as they call this woman. "Dolly" is the negotiator for K. To make this short, they got a hold of the "dolly". See, the reason K left to begin with was that her parents wanted her to come visit her new baby brother that was born a few weeks prior. "Dolly" informed them that K's new baby brother died and that is why she hasn't returned yet. "Dolly" says that K will be back here at our house on Saturday. That's tomorrow! So hopefully this time she will return. There was mention by Shakil that there is supposed to be like 40 days of mourning observed but it doesn't apply to a newborn. I'm a bit confused about that. Why wouldn't it apply for a newborn too?? Doesn't matter how old someone is - you still have lost a loved one. Can anyone explain that to me?
Sobia had asked why we pre-paid for the servant? Well, that is what they of course were asking for and MIL told Shakil to go ahead and do it. According to MIL, that is customary of them to ask for year's pay. Shakil's khala (mom's sister) says to pay no more than 6 months in advance because they are due a vacation at 6 months and you don't lose the money if they don't return. I agree that is much better and makes better sense.
**Ok, baby Sara pooped her diaper - gotta take a break for a minute.
Ok, I'm back...let's see how far I can get now. I should be almost done considering I have a pretty long post which most might not even finish reading because I've just babbled way too much now! ha ha. However, that's not gonna stop me! I'm going to keep on goin'!! I feel so much better after a nice long post. It's a like a release for me. Ok, that sounds weird. Anyways, I just feel better!
Where was I at? It's like my mind just went blank. Now baby Sara is starting to fuss. I think it's time for another feed. I wanted to tell you guys about our a/c that has decided to start acting up and now Shakil thinks he's handled it. Now she's really fussing. I'll be back.
Ok, I'm back. I'm gonna try to finish now. Now I was mentioning about how our a/c has decided to start acting up. First it started out with some water dripping out of the vents - just a very small amount and most of the time it would stop. Now it has progressed into full blown water drops coming out and enough where we have to keep a bucket underneath it. Our split a/c is located above our bedroom window so therefore it is causing our curtains to get damp - not good and I can't keep the curtains opened 24/7. Shakil came up with this brilliant (I'm being sarcastic) idea to use some plastic shopping bags. He has 3 pretty good sized plastic bags placed on top of the curtain rod to channel the water that is dripping out of the a/c down to drain out the window. He has the bucket placed in front of the window to catch any water that doesn't get channeled down. It's hilarious but it's now getting on my nerves. It looks ridiculous!!! Today I snapped and started bitching that he needs to call someone and he just had 4 days off and didn't call anyone to get it serviced. Anyway, you'd just have to see it to believe it! I'd be so embarrassed to let anyone see this!! ha ha!!
Oh in other news, Shakil and I are planning to go back to Murree! This time we're going to go for a week but it depends on his job. He put in 2 weeks and a few days notice just yesterday but they are saying to not plan on it getting approved - that too many are taking leave. Well, we'll see. He has already requested off for the 17th and he already gets 3 days off and usually when he requests a day off, it's 4 days in a row. So we may just head out when he gets the 4 days off in a row. Soooo looking forward to it. It'll be a nice break from the heat here which is well over 110 degrees! Murree is mild during the day and usually pretty chilly in the evenings. Sounds great right now!
Until later...
Bye for now.
Shakil just went back to work after being off for 4 days in a row. It was great having him home!! We went out to Pizza Hut one night which is where we usually go once a week. You know you've been there 1 too many times when you can start recognizing the waiters and they are recognizing us. Well, I've told Shakil they have no problem recognizing me since I'm the only white girl in the restaurant everytime. Wait, I can't really say everytime because I have seen a few foreigners other than myself there before. Most of the time, it's just me though. Some people might ask if that bothers me at all. You know, being the only white girl. When I first came here to Pakistan, yes it did bother me. I felt like I was constantly being stared at which I'm still stared at don't get me wrong but I guess I've just become used to it. I really don't think I even notice it anymore. I do have dark brown hair and maybe that helps me blend in just a little opposed to me having blonde hair or something. I dunno, I'm just used to it all now. I guess I'd have to get used to it after having lived here for 1 1/2 years.
So in my last post I was discussing how I'm spoiled. Yes, I'm still spoiled and I need help here!! What I mean by help is servant help. We went over to the in-laws the other day because I needed to do some laundry. Laundry/ironing were just two of the things that our servant was doing for us. Now you might think how could laundry be so difficult and why can't you just do it yourself Tara? Let me answer that for you...I think I've mentioned before how we don't have an automatic washing machine here at our house. I would compare it to a portable washing machine. You just fill it up with water yourself, put your detergent, toss your clothes in (which can only be 3 or 4 shirts and maybe a trouser), turn the knob to 15 minutes and it jiggles them around - nothing compared to an automatic machine. Automatic machines will spin out your clothes - not ours. Automatic machines rinse the clothes - not ours. You have to manually drain out the water, rinse the clothes and wring them out yourself. Now keep in mind all of this is being done in 100 degree heat. It's horrible! So the point I'm trying to make here is that I went to the in-laws to do the laundry because they have an automatic washing machine and I don't have to go through all that other bullshit. It's still a pain in the ass though. I do the laundry and then I hang them out which at the in-laws there is no clothesline outside - just have to use a clothes rack inside. The clothes never finish drying AT ALL so we get fold them all up, toss them in a bag and truck them back home to hang outside on our clothesline. I probably need to stop bitching because at least I have the option to go over to the in-laws and get 'er done (some southern accent for ya!)
So the evening rolls around over at the in-laws and Shakil's khala (Mom's sister) shows up with her 2 kidos for visiting. We (Shakil and I) were in the process of leaving, getting all the laundry in the car and ready to go when they showed up. So of course we had to stick around a bit longer - which was ok by me. We were all sitting chatting, etc. more chatting by them than me considering there is lots of Urdu spoken and I can't converse in Urdu. I know many words now but I can't phrase anything to carry on a conversation. Good thing is that I understand a hell of a lot more now than I used to. One of the advantages for living here so long - you start to slowly pick up the language in your way.
Discussion came up about K (K is our servant). Shakil was discussing how she still hasn't shown up and Wednesday made 2 weeks she has been gone - mind you she was only supposed to be gone 2 to 3 days. 2 to 3 days has now turned into over 2 weeks now. Shakil has made many efforts to call her village and see what's going on but we can't get a hold of them nor can we get a return phone call. Well, Shakil's khala had the phone number for the "dolly" as they call this woman. "Dolly" is the negotiator for K. To make this short, they got a hold of the "dolly". See, the reason K left to begin with was that her parents wanted her to come visit her new baby brother that was born a few weeks prior. "Dolly" informed them that K's new baby brother died and that is why she hasn't returned yet. "Dolly" says that K will be back here at our house on Saturday. That's tomorrow! So hopefully this time she will return. There was mention by Shakil that there is supposed to be like 40 days of mourning observed but it doesn't apply to a newborn. I'm a bit confused about that. Why wouldn't it apply for a newborn too?? Doesn't matter how old someone is - you still have lost a loved one. Can anyone explain that to me?
Sobia had asked why we pre-paid for the servant? Well, that is what they of course were asking for and MIL told Shakil to go ahead and do it. According to MIL, that is customary of them to ask for year's pay. Shakil's khala (mom's sister) says to pay no more than 6 months in advance because they are due a vacation at 6 months and you don't lose the money if they don't return. I agree that is much better and makes better sense.
**Ok, baby Sara pooped her diaper - gotta take a break for a minute.
Ok, I'm back...let's see how far I can get now. I should be almost done considering I have a pretty long post which most might not even finish reading because I've just babbled way too much now! ha ha. However, that's not gonna stop me! I'm going to keep on goin'!! I feel so much better after a nice long post. It's a like a release for me. Ok, that sounds weird. Anyways, I just feel better!
Where was I at? It's like my mind just went blank. Now baby Sara is starting to fuss. I think it's time for another feed. I wanted to tell you guys about our a/c that has decided to start acting up and now Shakil thinks he's handled it. Now she's really fussing. I'll be back.
Ok, I'm back. I'm gonna try to finish now. Now I was mentioning about how our a/c has decided to start acting up. First it started out with some water dripping out of the vents - just a very small amount and most of the time it would stop. Now it has progressed into full blown water drops coming out and enough where we have to keep a bucket underneath it. Our split a/c is located above our bedroom window so therefore it is causing our curtains to get damp - not good and I can't keep the curtains opened 24/7. Shakil came up with this brilliant (I'm being sarcastic) idea to use some plastic shopping bags. He has 3 pretty good sized plastic bags placed on top of the curtain rod to channel the water that is dripping out of the a/c down to drain out the window. He has the bucket placed in front of the window to catch any water that doesn't get channeled down. It's hilarious but it's now getting on my nerves. It looks ridiculous!!! Today I snapped and started bitching that he needs to call someone and he just had 4 days off and didn't call anyone to get it serviced. Anyway, you'd just have to see it to believe it! I'd be so embarrassed to let anyone see this!! ha ha!!
Oh in other news, Shakil and I are planning to go back to Murree! This time we're going to go for a week but it depends on his job. He put in 2 weeks and a few days notice just yesterday but they are saying to not plan on it getting approved - that too many are taking leave. Well, we'll see. He has already requested off for the 17th and he already gets 3 days off and usually when he requests a day off, it's 4 days in a row. So we may just head out when he gets the 4 days off in a row. Soooo looking forward to it. It'll be a nice break from the heat here which is well over 110 degrees! Murree is mild during the day and usually pretty chilly in the evenings. Sounds great right now!
Until later...
Bye for now.
posted by Tara at 9:13 AM
3 Comments:
Oh, I hope she comes back. As for the mourning thing, I'm not so sure. I have heard that it is customary to pay in advance b/c the families need it.
Glad to hear you are so happy!
two days ago i spent more than 6 hours reading your blog ,, waw ,it is like a novel i was stuck to the pc reading every detail of your wonderful journey .. i think your story is so beautiful.. it is full of love and devotion ..
you are an inspiration to me ,, i started to appreciate every thing in my life that i previously took for granted..
thank you and keep blogging ,, i added your blog to my favourates to check everyday..
and by the way what a lovely Sara you have..
Dania`s mother
Rima
Man, I hear ya with the laundry thing. I can NOT iron the pants...at all. They are too big and weird shaped and my inlaws are way to freaky over properly pressed clothing. I can't tell you how many times they told me to go back and iron my pants again.
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