Rhythm of Life - Plagarized from www.wacmiller.blogspot.com

So... I read this on my friends site and it really hit home. So, I am going to take a couple liberties with editing it (my comments in bold) and cutting bits out for clarity. If you want a full version, check out her site - see above. She is pretty dead on and this should give you a good overview of the day to day here...The highs and lows ...

Just in case you were starting to think that our whole life was a series of tourist adventures:)

".. the rhythm to being an American expat in India. The roller coaster analogy is probably the most helpful at illuminating the general feel of it in most things.

Some days are awesome - relaxing in Palm Meadows, exploring the Vijayanagar ruins of Hampi, champagne brunch, no laundry or cleaning or cooking....

Some days just suck - sitting in traffic next to a cow, the utter dirtiness of India, days spent in the bathroom and the subsequent lingering fear of eating, the frequent cold showers and warm beverages.

But the roller coaster is about more than just cool adventures and minor (and some major) annoyances. There's just not much middle here - no gentle sloping part to this ride where you go peacefully around the corner and reflect on the rest of the park. That's because it's entirely unfamiliar - there's so little that isn't extremely cool or really crappy; living here generates a near-constant unsettled feeling.

For instance, you are never alone to reflect or be with yourself... having a driver, cook and maid seems simple enough to explain and a luxury at that. What's hard to explain are the days that drive you to drink....

You have to wait for your driver to show up to go anywhere, you have 5 people, 1 car and potentially 5 destinations. NONE of which can be done in under an hour ..you have no control over when you leave or when you get there, never alone in the car to turn up the music and jam out to a song you can actually understand, or alone to fight with your husband about his/your parenting style.

Our cook now is actually really, really good, everything is fresh, from scratch... but there's days where I would kill to actually have a decision in what I'm eating. Taco's, fahitas, lasgana, the grill... nope, you get what they decide to cook. They also have an opinon on what you should eat, drink and how you look. I have been told 3 times in the last 2 weeks that I am looking dull and need more fruit/protein in my diet. So... what do you think I get for dinner?! Not hard to figure out....

The maid sound nice, and generally are - but they are there constantly. In six days of two people working nearly full time, they get less done than our housekeeper/friend did in two hours. Part of it is not their fault. The red dirt here is EVERYWHERE and you need to sweep, dust, mop, everyday. Not a small task with 8 people tracking dirt in and out...

Now, since I realize this sounds like me bitching about our pampered existence, I am bitching about a full-time staff of three people in a palm-tree lined resort. I know. There's times I just loose all patience.- I CAN DO MY OWN DAMN LAUNDRY AND DRIVE MY OWN DAMN CAR!!! Stop calling me "ma'am"! And... stop calling my 2 year old "sir".

Last observation in this theme, is the sense of time. There's really only two times here - now, or later. Not too many clocks (why would there be when the power goes out every day?). Either there is a sense of urgency, real or imagined, that it must be done NOW or it can wait until LATER (which is never specified). Our days at home too are either a whirl-wind of activity or a complete lack of it (refer to above and the stigma tied to doing your own chores). It took us 4 months to get a bank account opened and its been 8 months and we STILL dont have screens on our windows. But...you can call a party planner on a Wednesday and throw a full blown St Patricks day themed party 2 days later."

Over all, we are loving the experience, the adventures and the growth its given us as a family to be living in India as Americans. However, its not easy. Fun, exhausting, stressful, invigorating, adreniline pumping, but not easy. Sort of a roller coaster ride as my friend states above:)