This is a random blog post, but I thought it would be fun to share just a few ordinary things that have become a part of our everyday lives here in Bangalore. The first thing is the weather. When we moved here the weather was gorgeous. It was in the 70s everyday and cooled off nicely in the evenings. Each day was perfectly sunny with not a cloud in the sky. Yes, we got spoiled! Now things have heated up to about 95-100 degrees with it cooling to the 70s-80s in the evening. Did I mention that we are living without air conditioning. Boy are we feeling the heat! We also live in a 3rd floor apartment (the top floor) so the sun beats down on our roof, offering us no protection from the heat. I have never lived without air conditioning before, so getting used to living in the heat 24/7 has been somewhat of a challenge. Plus I'm nursing a baby constantly and that just really makes you hot. We did purchase a cooler, which is like a glorified fan, so that has helped a little.
We have found some fun ways to try and beat the heat. A friend was kind enough to let Molly borrow her blow-up swimming pool. Up until that point we were using a bucket and just having water fights with each other. So we put the pool out on the balcony and let her splash around. Yesterday we went with some friends to an actual swimming pool. This was our first time swimming here and we had a blast! It was a great way to cool off and I hope we can do this more often!
Molly in her Little Mermaid swimming pool
John relaxing in the shade
Swimming at the pool!
John once again relaxing in the shade
The second thing that has become a part of our everyday routine is what we like to call "mosquito patrol." Oh how I hate doing mosquito patrol!!! Every night before we go to bed, we have to go around the room and find all of the mosquitos that are hiding and try to kill them. Below is our weapon; we call it the "zapper"or the "swatter." The "zapper" gives an electrical shock to any mosquito that flies our way. It does give quite the shock...Kris can testify to this as once he shocked himself by accident. The mosquitos here are very smart. They hide in dark places, and don't fly around until the lights go out. We have become very skilled at finding their hiding places in our room. They hide in places like under the bed, in piles of clothing, under the night stand, on the screen door, behind or on the curtains, in the closet, etc. Sometimes mosquito patrol can take over an hour as it feels like we are looking for a needle in a haystack. Molly and John both sleep with nets over their beds so they stay protected. However sometimes one gets trapped in the net and they will wake up with over 20 bites. Kris and I tried sleeping under the net, but the net is too small for our tall bodies, so we often times wake up with bites on anything that was exposed while we slept. We have also performed many mosquito patrols in the middle of the night because we realized we did not kill all of them before we went to bed. We already lose sleep due to a newborn, but now we also lose sleep over killing mosquitos. I will not miss mosquito patrol when we move back!
Our weapon: The "Zapper"
We carry this wherever we go...mosquito repellent
Lastly, I thought it would be fun to share about something as basic as getting a haircut here in India. There are salons on every street corner. Kris has received multiple haircuts already and has found his favorite barber. The haircut costs him only 100 rupees, which is a little more than $1.50 in US dollars. For an extra 100 rupees you can get a 15 minute head and neck massage with an optional "neck crack" at the end! (This was pretty surprising the first time, especially for a chiropractor.) Molly and I also received our first haircuts since arriving in India. We received our haircuts from a gal that is from Canada and works with YWAM. She also happens to be a beautician and cuts hair for some of her expat friends. She did a great job!!
Molly with her new haircut
