Life in General

O.K. this is just plain weird. Here I sit drinking my cappuccino and eating a croissant on the ground level of the mall. Tommy Hilfiger, Pepe Jeans and Booster Juice glare at me. I try to avoid the golden arches in the opposite direction. I could be in any mall in the world. Well, except France – I’m sure the croissant would be a thousand times better.
I walked over to the mall to buy at blender at Jamal’s, a fabulous kitchen shop. We’ve deposited far too much money there already. But they are so friendly and will deliver to your door if your purchase is too big to carry.
It’s noon and they haven’t opened yet. I’ve gotten used to shops opening at 11- 11:30 and closing in the evening between 9 – 11pm. So here I sit, patiently waiting.
We bought a grilled chicken from a street vendor a couple nights ago, brought it home and made roasted potatoes and greek salad (yes, I found feta!) to go with it. Now I’ve made the best smelling chicken stock and need a blender to make soup. Plus I’m thinking about mango lassies, fresh fruit juice and smoothies.
Yesterday, after two weeks, I was reconnected with the world – the old fashioned way. Newspaper, telephone and cable all delivered on the same day. Of course the one thing that we all really want – THE INTERNET – has continued to allude us. So much so that yesterday I finally put the laptop in my backpack, grabbed my phone and said to the kids, “Come on, we’re going to find WLAN.” We walked all around the neighbourhood and I searched with my phone.
Every few houses I would refresh and often enough it would say WLAN found, but always a password needed. What are these people so afraid of? What are they hiding? It was early afternoon, the sun beat down on us, the kids dragged along behind me, “How much longer? Did you find it?” Honestly, the exasperation in their voices, one would have thought I was dragging them through a desert looking for water.
No success finding the internet but now that they have installed the phone it may only be days away. Even at the mall – no access to WLAN.
The kids start school in less than two weeks so we are going on a five day holiday to Kerala, Friday to Wed. Looking forward to spending some time at the ocean and on a houseboat in the backwaters. Not sure that this is the best time to go as the coast is getting hit hard with rain. It is monsoon season but we can’t let that stop us. It’s kind of like going to Tofino, off the north coast of Vancouver Island in Canada. You go expecting rain and storms – it’s all part of the ambiance.