Happy New Year!

It’s back to school; and back to normal routine. I am still missing the kids, but I think I have started appreciating the organized days, slowly and steadily.

Holidays were all about experience this summer; an opening of mind and eyes.

 I met some of the most wonderful people in south India- simple, and yet more warm, helpful and accommodating than any other family I have ever ever met. We got a chance to compare the French and the Germans in their approach to tourists; and I can safely say that if you leave the magic of Eiffel Tower and Disneyland on one side, Germans have my vote. They were far more helpful, everyone spoke English, normal vegetarian food options were more easily available, shopping was more interesting and varied,  and although the metro-stations had a weird rubber like smell that hits you on first day, they were definitely more cleaner than French train/ metro stations...  We also said goodbyes as more neighbours, friends and colleagues moved – some back to their home countries, others to their retirement homes, and still others to greener pastures.

Post holidays, though there is a sense of being wiser, the sudden quietness (even though farewells are so intrinsic to Dubai!!) hits you. There is no more Cartoon TV (or for that matter, a constant negotiation on TV time allowed per person!), no more shouting and screaming of kids in the park, no more constant fights over pieces of Lego, no more familiar faces in the neighbourhood, not even the Hoover’s noise next door!

On the brighter side, there is now a choice to get into a  better routine,  an option to get back to our original New Year resolutions before Dec 31 actually hits us, an opportunity to make new friends (again), meet new neighbours (it’s a fast selling neighbourhood!), and refine the art of creating our temporary, small support circles around us.

In all, it seems like a fresh start to a familiar and yet tantalizingly new journey with a definite end and end date in view J

Happy New Year everyone!