A New Kind of Strange

Living in a new culture and climate is all about adjustment, flexing and bending with the current. There’s the life-changing adjustments that happen every once in a long while, but mostly life is made up of subtle, minuscule changes over time. It’s fun to look back and see what has become normal after 9 months. For instance, to me, this vehicle now appears to have hardly any bamboo on it (because it’s not stacked to twice the height of the vehicle). I was also shocked that there was even a triangle on the back!

This now seems like quite an efficient dish removal method at a restaurant…(WARNING: GROSS PHOTO) And one morning we discovered a genius way to trap roaches without poison…

When there aren’t any imported dates to make great grandma’s cookies, you use mangoes for filling instead!

Shoes now come off instinctually…

Helmet hair exists. Also, you will always kick yourself for taking the poncho out of your bike during rainy season.

You can guess how old babies are by the way they are being held (or weighed at the local clinic). Finn recently graduated from the sling to this rig. You might also think your baby is cold at night if the temperature in the room is below 80 F.

You feel strangely vulnerable when your electric bug racket is on the fritz.

You don’t hear the roosters anymore.

You pray for good laundry days so your clothes can dry.

But by far my favorite adjustment has been the beginning of that feeling that you can just go hang out with your national friends who don’t mind your 5 year old vocabulary. Huzzah for progress!