Weather, our daily routine, and other random tidbits

Coming from the beastly Chicago winter, I was SO READY for some heat and sun. I am still enjoying the heat, but man, it is also brutal. The weather in this area is basically the same every day- sunny, no clouds, over 100 degrees. The humidity has varied- it was more humid in early April vs. now, but in exchange it has gotten steadily hotter. This time of year (March, April, May, and half of June) are the “summer” months in Jamnagar area. It is hottest at this time. In June, monsoon starts and I guess that is not considered summer. Sometimes, there is a stray cloud. One time, I saw clouds that looked like rain, but it didn’t rain in Reliance Greens. Sometimes I have to change clothes in the middle of the day because I am soaked with sweat and am dripping wet. The Indian people seem to be amused that I sweat so much, especially when I am running.

Landon and the swans... naturally I have to make sure he doesn't join them in their pond

Chasing the boy. All day long

The shade feels much better than the direct sunlight. Unfortunately, Landon does not like to stay in the shade. He seems to have a homing beacon for direct sunlight. I slather sunscreen on that pasty boy and still he ends up with a little pink here and there. I hope he doesn’t get skin cancer. In good news, he has taken a liking to his hat. So at least his delicate little scalp is getting some protection. With all the sunlight and swimming, his hair is turning a lighter color blonde. 

Having been here for a month, I feel that Landon and I have gotten into a good routine. He is still not sleeping through the night consistently- we moved back to the twin bed with some extra measures to prevent falling out to see if the hardness and coldness of the floor was waking him up. I need a crib!

Other than that, at some point in the morning we wake up. Landon climbs in my bed and warms up under my covers. Then we get up. Landon plays with toys while I check in on what the rest of the world was doing while I was sleeping. If we are up early enough, we go for a run before Austin comes home. If not, we wait for Austin to come home to go to breakfast. We have the faithful room cleaners clean our room during breakfast. After breakfast, Austin does a little email checking and Landon and I play in the room until Austin goes to bed. We leave and either go for a run or swim or wander around until lunch. After lunch, Landon takes a nap of varying length. After nap, we play on the tablet for a bit- with me sneaking in learning games and discussing colors, numbers, letters, shapes, animals, sports for as long as he will let me. Sometimes we play with finger puppets or a numbers puzzle, but that usually lasts approximately 2 minutes. Essentially, I am desperately trying to get Landon to stay indoors while it is a million degrees outside, and he wants to go outside and stand in the sun and melt.

Eventually, Landon wins, usually by running outside (he can open all the doors). He loves to spot all the different types of transportation driving by so sometimes we walk alongside the road and spot transportation. He yells, “Tuck!, “Dar!” “Busth!”. “Sooter!” I’m am one proud mom that he learned truck, bus, and scooter while here in Reliance Greens. Sometimes he will bring a ball or a truck and will play with it. Other times, we go into Central Park and Landon steals this young guy’s phone. The young guy plays Indian music and they dance, and Landon learned how to turn off the music so he turns it off and on and pretends to talk to people. Sometimes he visits the old man who sits on the bench looking at the entrance gate to Reliance Greens. That man gives him candy and toys, and plays with him. They spot transportation together. Sometimes we just go to the front of the Residency and say hi to the fish. Then we count them. Other times we walk over to the Reliance mart so I can get diapers or water or anything else we need. Then we share an ice cream because it is so hot.

On Wednesday afternoons, we hunt elephants

Landon and mom find the elephant!

Around 4:30 or 5 we head on over to the little kid playground. By this time, there is usually a good wind so it is not so hot, and it is completely covered by shade so that none of the equipment is too hot. Around 5:30, Landon usually runs over to the big kid playground because that is where all the fun and big kids are at. They play until we go wake Austin up around 6. We go to dinner together, Austin leaves by 7, Landon takes his bucket bath, I trick Landon into eating his malaria meds by hiding them in a cookie, we sing “Wheels on the Bus” while I brush his teeth, we read stories and Landon goes to bed. Then I write, read, watch, listen, and recoup from the busy day chasing a toddler around, hoping beyond hope that he won’t wake up in the middle of the night anymore.

So that’s all folks, a pretty simple life. It is interesting with everything taken care of for us to see what Landon wants to do if left to his own devices.

Elephant in the lobby

Some observations I have made about some of the people here in Reliance Greens. The gardeners and waterers who are women seem to all belong to the same tribe/caste, I don’t know what to call it. They are beautiful, taller, very skinny and all wear similar clothing, which is different from the traditional everyday clothing that I see the other ladies wearing. They wear these almost backless shirts, long skirts, and a scarf that sits on top of their head and flows down the back. Some wear all red, others wear multi colors. They have tattoos (real, not henna) on their arms from their hands to their elbows. The water ladies walk around with a hose all day, watering different areas. There are LOTS of ladies that do this every day, all over Reliance Greens. There are some sprinklers for the big areas of grass, but most of the trees and bushes get watered by hand.

Several ladies that speak English and don’t have commented that I don’t wear any jewelry or ornaments. Most ladies have their nose pierced and I have seen SO many kids with their nose pierced too. Most young girls have at least their ears pierced, and all wear jewelry all of the time. So I guess it must seem strange that I don’t.

He rang the bell of this lady... Landon likes to try
to disturb the water/flowers

Today we went running early and we saw the security guard arrive for work. There are some Hindu god sculptures out in front of the building, and the guard rang the bell of one, and touched the others’ feet and then himself a few times. He went inside to visit the other sculptures that are situated in the lobby and the swan pond. It was interesting to watch someone worship.