An almost empty nest

 

It has been quiet here on the blog while I have been busy elsewhere. I had the pleasure of having my family over for the past few weeks. We had a great time with lots of laughs, good food and some adventure to boot!

 

I have just waived my brother off, seems like it was only yesterday that he landed on Saudi soil. His visits are never long because of work, but something is always better than nothing!

 

I'm sitting here in the candlelight trying to get used to a house that all of a sudden is so empty and quiet. Until next time!

 

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Time out

No, I'm not talking about toddler discipline. I am talking about a time out from the daily grind. 

Last week me and the young one decided to turn our backs at the dishes in the sink, the laundry towering out of the baskets, the toys spread around the floor... Instead we spent a whole morning in enjoy the gardens of our compound. Drinking coffee, eating crackers and raisins, playing on the slides... Good fun! Note to self: must do this more often.

1 1/2 today

 

Exactly a year ago I wrote this post. Today I am sitting here trying to write this post with a very squirmy toddler in my lap. Explaining that the paper is for drawing, the book is for reading and that pens and books don't mix all that well. Oh and I am trying to keep her hands out of the coffee cup as well :)

It is also roughly a year since we started the whole husband living away part time arrangement. All I can say about that is that it still sucks... Especially when I fall sick, or even worse, when both me and the young one fall sick. At the moment the little one is suffering from a cold paired with and ear infection, two weeks ago it was a stomach flu... I do realise we are not the only ones living this reality, I have friends who are pulling of the same, except that they have two kids (or more). I feel bad for my husband who is missing out on so much time with our daughter while she is young. He gets to follow her milestones and achievements vi e-mails and iMessages; first steps, first solids, first drawing... I don't even know how many photos and videos I have taken of our bundle of energy, but it is in the thousands.

Now back to reality, time for some outdoor time. Got to love winters in Saudi, sun is shining and it is around 20 degrees.

 

Oh, by the way, she still sleeps the same way.

 

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Homebody

With five trips in less than two months I am REALLY happy to be able to spend the coming few months at home. Preferably curled up on the sofa or playing with our daughter that is just such a little bunch of giggles!

Or why not enjoying a cup of coffee with a cupcake on the side?! Happy Sunday everyone!

Adios Spain, Merhaba Turkey

A week in Spain is over, it's time to head back east. But before we land back home we have a 24 hour stopover in beautiful Istanbul.

Granada, Spain

The answer to the question in my previous post. The last four days we have spent in beautiful Granada in Spain. So much history and ao much to see, Alhambra being the highlight of it all.

A different type of fast

I have been reunited with our tiny tot for a week now. To not have her around for two weeks was HARD, so the past week I have been making the most of our time together. I took time off from other things, I decided to go on a Facebook fast for a while. And it was good, must do it more often!

Eid Mubarak & Hajj Mabrour

We are back from an experience of a lifetime. We have performed Hajj, alhamdulillah.

I will come back with some pictures and some tales from our week. But right now I am gearing up for a quick trip to Finland to pick up our daughter who has spent the lat fortnight in my parents' care.

Meanwhile we can only hope and pray that our Hajj was accepted, or as they say in Arabic : Hajj Mabrour.

Gate 32

At the gate, waiting to board my flight to Istanbul. I wonder if we will all fit om the plane..

Väntar på att stiga på flyget och undrar om det finns plats för oss alla...

Behind the glitter of the Gulf...

Cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been dazzling visitors for years now. The capital of Qatar, Doha, is heading I'm that direction too. But behind all the shiny sky scrapers and outrageous-sized malls lies another reality. That of the migrant workers that are hired to build these structures... It really is nothing short of modern-day slavery.

I visited Doha just a couple of weeks ago and I thought I might share some of the photos I took during our long weekend. I changed my mind and I am sharing this video instead.

The Monsoon

When it rains it pours they say. I really thought it was enough getting food poisoning and a cold in the same week. But no. I then got a toddler that somehow lost the ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. Then... I managed to pull a muscle in my back...

Thank God I am feeling much better now and the young one is sleeping so much better. Not yet fool proof and she's definitely not a " sleep through the whole night" type of person, but maybe we might get there one day.

Here's a sample of what we have been up to - in pictures.

Karelian pasties - bringing Finland to Saudi

Running - the young one first and me after her!

Picasso she might not be, here's the first drawing. Surely there are many, many, many more to come!

Har varit frånvarande en tid. Har nu klarat av matförgiftning, förkylning, en värkande rygg och en ettåriga evigt växlande sömnsvårigheter... Ja, sömnen e de väl ännu si och så med, men det är i alla fall bättre än för en vecka sen. Ännu vet den lilla int vad sova hela natten betyder. Men kanske hon gör det en vacker dag... Jag menar natt!

Här kommer nu ett litet bildkollage av vad vi har hållit på med.

Still here

Still around, but I have put the blog (and everything else) on the back burner for a while. After coming back from India the whole family got sick, so we are now trying to recover from a very nasty cough and cold.

The past few days have been a bit of a blur, but we will survive :) thanks to everyone for the get well wishes and for all offers of food, meds etc. 

Here's a funny pic for your Saturday night. Have a great weekend everyone!

Our Indian Adventure - Day14

Another day spent at home. The trip ended on a slightly negative note because me and the young one fell sick. Rather than going anywhere, we concentrated on spending our time with our family. Our daughter has a bunch of lovely and doting cousins. It was just amazing to see how well the older cousins took care of her and how the younger cousins adapted their play to suit her. These are the things you miss when you leave away from family.

I just thought I'd share a photo that I took one day while driving through the neighboring township. I just thought that the name was hilarious!

Our Indian Adventure - Day 13

Are we on day 13? I really have lost track over the last few days.

I'm making a slow recovery, yesterday's achievement was a walk around the residential area where my in-laws live. It is a gated community in what can only be called the countryside, about one hours drive south of Bangalore CBD.

Before we arrived I asked my niece what to expect of the area they live in, as I had no clue. I did ask her if we would be woken to the sound of roosters every morning, to which she said no. While there may not be any roosters around we do see cows and sheep grazing the empty plots of land right opposite their house :)

Having said that, there are more and more houses popping up and the area is filled with new development of similar communities. The road sides are filled with the developers signs and one intersection has about 20-30 signs to show the direction to different communities that are being developed!

It will be very interesting to see how this area transforms over the coming years.

Our Indian Adventure - Day 11 &12

Woman down. Food poisoning. Not really sure what it was that I ate/drank to bring this on. Today has been spent mostly in a horizontal position. Thank God for my in-laws and my hubby for taking care of the little one.

Tonight we got to enjoy an evening snack by candle light as the power went out just often sunset.

Our Indian Adventure - Day 10

Indian Independence Day. All kids were off from school so it was time to take them all out for a little excursion.

So we take a Maruti Suzuki Wagon R (pictured above), a car that is comfortable for four people at best. And what do we do? We squeeze 6 adults, four kids and one infant in there!

A normal feat for anyone in India. I have also see. 2 adults + 2 kids on a moped, four adults at the back of a rickshaw and 6 adults and three kids in a Maruti Suzuki Zen. Combine that with pothole filled roads, a crazy amount of honking and you're ready for another adventure in Incredible India.

Our Indian Adventure - Day 9

A fairwell to Bombay. From everything that people told me about it before my visit, I was sure I would not like it. Not really sure why though, it is dirty, smelly, busy and chaotic.

Most of my photos aren't of very good quality as they were taken while riding in the car through the monsoon rain.

Marine Drive and Chowpatty Beach, the high end area of town. Hence very clean.

Blue tarp everywhere. A good way to cope with the monsoon rain, it seems.

Even these guys living at the top of a fancier apartment building  decided to decorate their balcony with a blue sheet of plastic. 

 

But nowhere will you see more blue than in the slums of Bombay. This one is right next to the runway of the domestic airport.

And then there's the billion dollar "mansion" which they say the owner is not even living in as an astrologer forecasted great room for the family if the stayed there. Not sure if that story is true though...

That's Bombay in a nutshell; a stark contrast between high and low.

Our Indian Adventure - Day 8

Our Bombay trip has been a food feast, to say the least. After several years' absence my husband is now shoving down all his favourite Bombay specialities; pau bhaji,pani puris, faluda, dahi puris... The list goes on. We will both be leaving India looking a bit "healthier" than when we arrived :) The little miss is surprising us every day by being equally adventurous in her taste for food!

Saw this on the restaurant menu today. Not sure what its all about, but maybe people would be willing to pay for fresh air in a polluted city like Bombay?! 250 rupees only (approx 3 euros).

Our Indian Adventure - Day 7

Our second day exploring Bombay. It's great to have friends who are locals, that say you get to see and experience places that might otherwise pass you by. Like the restaurant where we had dinner tonight. Their decor was definitely 99% shabby and maybe one percent chic, but the food was out of this world!

Very modest wall "treatment" at Bademiyan (meaning Big Brother).

Our Indian Adventure - Day 6

Go fancy or go home, is what my husband must have been thinking when booking the hotel for our Bombay stay.

The service and the facilities are impeccable! But the highlight of the day was to meet all my husband's friends and relatives here in Bombay. They were delighted to meet my husband after such a long time, but the star of the show was our little girl, as per usual. We are blessed to have so many warm, kind and generous people in our lives.

Our Indian Adventure - Day 5

Not much to share today, other than this picture of a sign that made me smile.

Our Indian Adventure - Day 4

Eid Day. We wake early, everyone's dressed up in their best, there is plenty of sweet, the kids are hyper and waiting for a gift. My husband always said Eid would be best spent in India and he was absolutely right!

Cricket with the kids, hubby (the one in white) looks like he's bossing everyone around, as usual.

And there's my outfit! I love it, although wearing white when there's a toddler in the house is a bit if a challenge :)

Our Indian Adventure - Day 3

This could also be called the day of true Indian experiences. Both me and my husband were not feeling a 100% (that sort of started on the night of Day 2).

When we were getting ready for today's outing there was a power outage, it makes you realise how dependent we are on electricity.

Later in the day we got stuck in the afternoon rush hour, for a good 15 minutes the car did not move even an inch! 

We did get to enjoy some really good street food in Frazer town, although fasting meant that we got it as takeaway rather than eating it there. I wish a photo could give you an idea of the  smell from all the food, check out the heavy smoke from the barbecue!

Today the moon was sighted in India, that means the end of Ramadan, Eid Mubarak everyone!

Our Indian Adventure - Day 2

I would say that our shopping trip was successful. We did not come home eith a massive haul, but I managed to find an outfit for Eid, which is only a few days away. Here's a little teaser, I will try to remember to post a pic of me wearing it later on.

At the end of the day our daughter sported a slightly different skin colour. We are not quite sure if it is a tan or dirt (yes,we did bathe her)... Here she is helping her cousin study for her physics exam :)

Our Indian Adventure - Day 1

Our first day in India draws to a close. Our daughter has spent plenty of quality time with her aunties,uncle, grandparents and cousins.

We have also been reunited with the piece of luggage that strayed on our way to Bangalore. It would have been a different type of holiday with no extra pants (for me) and no diapers...

Today we spent recovering from a sleepless night, although I did doze of for a while in the car on our way from the airport. I fell asleep when we were driving through all the shiny buildings that are Electronic City. I woke up to a view of farming fields and cows on the side of the road. India is indeed incredible!

Tomorrow: shopping!

Makkah revisited

Last weekend we spent in Makkah. It was my first visit in nearly two years and it was the first visit for our daughter. It was a great weekend that was over way too soon!

 

 

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