All y'all know I love the Mission District and so it is like me (and Darren) to try to replace some of the institutions of our life there. (I've already figured out that you can only wish here for the sunshine that we had there. My laundry gets rinsed a couple xtra times on the line and the stroller, or shall I say pushchair, raincover has gotten much use in the rain and WIND!)
The main street in our neighborhood is called Whitechapel and there is a huge open market every day there where we have found a bunch of fruit stands which are fabulous. I have yet to determine if they are really as good as the ones in the mission but Darren got a bunch (approx.6) small avocados for a pound.
I didn't know where I'd get my occasional article of cheap stylish clothing around here but I think I found it on the way to our church of choice this morning. It was also an open air street market but located in Spitalfields which is about a 10 minute walk. We've had to look truth straight in the face and say we will never replace the burrito but we may have found some cheap Indian food, and THAT'S not to say we've even come close to replacing Naan 'n' Curry but at least there can be optimism.
We went to a church in Spitalfields today which was great. I think it might be a match for our family actually, even though our intention was to visit around some more. It was very mixed, the worship was great for us, the people were friendly. It was probably only about 75 people with about only 3 small children because,we hear, people tend to get married and have kids here around the age of 40. There were some kind people who offered to show us around the neighborhood and have tea as well as those who have hearts for the Muslim community and want to have lunch, and that is exciting for us who are ready to get out a bit to socialize and learn about the neighborhood, though Darren and I are overdue on a cribbage night at home.
The big void we have is the lack of a telephone line at home and when we get one up and running we will enjoy being more connected with our family and friends who we miss and cannot be reconstructed.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
My Date with Jesse
BEFORE Jesse started a school schedule of 9 to 3:20, 5 days a week, D and I thought it smart to seperate the kids to give them some alone time with a parent. This was last Friday. So Lulu and D went to a cafe on a date and I took Jesse on a double-decker bus ride to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. We had a fun ride, hopped off, oogled at the Tower, walked over the bridge and found a way to walk under it and come up on the other side. Jesse found this to be the highlight and so exciting that he was jumping, making unintelligible sounds, and pointing at the road. I inferred that he wanted to cross the road and do it again so we did and then instead of heading to Starbucks to play cards (J had packed a whole back-pack full) J wanted to go to the cafe right in front of us as we emerged from the underpass. Reluctantly I agreed as I had my heart set on, not the best, but a reliable mocha.
There was a man dressed in a suit at the register taking my order. Odd, but I was too distracted by life in another culture to really pay it much attention, I mean you should see me stare at the change it my wallet. I told him what we wanted and he said "Where are you from?" California. "What part?" San Francisco. (That's when I realized his American accent.). He said "I used to manage an Italian restaurant there." He said "Bruno's". And from there we chatted for a 1/2 hour. He was the food and beverage manager there (there being 20th and Mission, a short walk from my old house in SF) and had introduced the southern food. I asked if he had worked there when they had the orange seats, and he said yes. He said the coffee was on the house and sat down with us . (I thought "shoot, this will ruin my date with Jesse") But he engaged J a bit and he was not a weirdo. He referred to having grown up in Connecticut and I said I grew up in Massachusetts and he said, "Really, what part?" I said HIngham. And he said "Really!" Then he asked me if I knew some people and I didn't but I found out that he worked for a catering business called "A Catered Affair" (one I've heard of) based out of my home town and we talked about a few Hingham things. It was really fun and I found that it was great to talk to someone who knew where I was from on both coasts. He had such a historical knowledge and interest in London, I thought Darren and John would really enjoy talking to him also.
J and I said good bye to him after a bit because he had just been checking in on the cafe (since he is food and beverage manager for the hotel right there) and we had a blast playing War, Crazy 8's, Old Maid. It was a refreshing day!
There was a man dressed in a suit at the register taking my order. Odd, but I was too distracted by life in another culture to really pay it much attention, I mean you should see me stare at the change it my wallet. I told him what we wanted and he said "Where are you from?" California. "What part?" San Francisco. (That's when I realized his American accent.). He said "I used to manage an Italian restaurant there." He said "Bruno's". And from there we chatted for a 1/2 hour. He was the food and beverage manager there (there being 20th and Mission, a short walk from my old house in SF) and had introduced the southern food. I asked if he had worked there when they had the orange seats, and he said yes. He said the coffee was on the house and sat down with us . (I thought "shoot, this will ruin my date with Jesse") But he engaged J a bit and he was not a weirdo. He referred to having grown up in Connecticut and I said I grew up in Massachusetts and he said, "Really, what part?" I said HIngham. And he said "Really!" Then he asked me if I knew some people and I didn't but I found out that he worked for a catering business called "A Catered Affair" (one I've heard of) based out of my home town and we talked about a few Hingham things. It was really fun and I found that it was great to talk to someone who knew where I was from on both coasts. He had such a historical knowledge and interest in London, I thought Darren and John would really enjoy talking to him also.
J and I said good bye to him after a bit because he had just been checking in on the cafe (since he is food and beverage manager for the hotel right there) and we had a blast playing War, Crazy 8's, Old Maid. It was a refreshing day!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
this and that
Examples of the jokes Luci tells on a regular basis:
"Wouldn't it be funny if there was a momma and a baby and the momma had the baby's head on her? Wouldn't it be funny?"
"Wouldn't it be funny if my leg was on my head? Wouldn't it be funny?"
She wears her tutu and purple poncho every day so she can be a ballerina. I always wonder if she would make a good ballerina or not because she is so messy and wild.
Jesse is learning English speech in class now and we are laughing about it together. I asked him what the favorite part of his school day was yesterday and he said "Broccoli." His least favorite thing was when his friend pushed his other friend during circle time.
The cheese and yogurt here are so good! And the biscuits too! There's nothing like a McVitties chocolate covered digestive biscuit. We finally located some buckwheat so we have D's buckwheat pancakes this Saturday.
"Wouldn't it be funny if there was a momma and a baby and the momma had the baby's head on her? Wouldn't it be funny?"
"Wouldn't it be funny if my leg was on my head? Wouldn't it be funny?"
She wears her tutu and purple poncho every day so she can be a ballerina. I always wonder if she would make a good ballerina or not because she is so messy and wild.
Jesse is learning English speech in class now and we are laughing about it together. I asked him what the favorite part of his school day was yesterday and he said "Broccoli." His least favorite thing was when his friend pushed his other friend during circle time.
The cheese and yogurt here are so good! And the biscuits too! There's nothing like a McVitties chocolate covered digestive biscuit. We finally located some buckwheat so we have D's buckwheat pancakes this Saturday.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Connection to the Outside World
Since moving in, my days have been filled with mediating the debates that J and Luci have, shopping for groceries (I can't believe how much food stocks a kitchen the way we expect it to be), finding things like plungers in local shops, looking for an appropriate school situation for Jesse, and thanking God for the little things, and the big things. I have missed my connection to the outside world since we only have very expensive phone service via Darren's mobile and no internet access. Currently I am sitting in a student pub/lounge of some kind that affords me a connection for the price of coffee (79 p, not bad in London!). Last night we brought the simplest clock radio home from the local electronic store to put in our bedroom and I celebrated my first connection with the outside world in my house. Haven't listened to it yet but I want to see what's out there.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Home!
D and I moved into our new place and it, so far, is more fabulous than I anticipated. We have what I think is a beautiful lounge with 3 coffee colored walls and one red, the one with the window facing out to our backyard which is yet to be developed into a beauty of its own. Our kitchen was nothing to be excited about, except that it has a fabulous window looking out onto our neighbors and the courtyard that our kids roll around in, but it now is super cool since Darren "decorated it" by putting pretty beans, lentils, and spices into jars. I'd say it pretty much expresses us and it's so great to smell curry wafting through the air every day. I think of our neighbors who will be fasting from sun-up to sun-down during Ramaddan and wonder how I am assessed through my kitchen window as I reach for a cookie when I please throughout my days. Should I be fasting too?
J and I had a discussion about how the women dress here, many of whom are totally covered, with the exception of their eyes. I decided to bring it up at the playground with a covered woman, who was the topic of our conversation, in the distance. (I had heard that some children could be scared of the appearance of covered women, reasonable I think.) So we talked briefly about how it was part of what they believe and that some women wear different colors of fabric and some only cover their heads, not their faces. About five minutes later Jesse was yelling 'Hey mom, I see a woman with a red thing on her head but her face ISN'T covered!" He was so proud on his applied education. Then we hung out with a totally covered woman who was pushing her niece on the roundabout (merry-go-round) and talked about the school situation here. We talked about the large Muslim home-schooling community and not having to put J in kindergarten (reception here) even though most people already have their 4 year-olds in it. It was great to have a lot in common with her, learn a lot, and watch my kids laugh with her neice Tayyibah.
I have a grocery store, vegetable markets, a hole-in-the-wall (atm), Starbucks, bargain theatre, big green park, and farm all within 5 to 10 minute walks from our house and am finding it a joy to get out and about here. So glad we don't have to cross town for our basics. In a minute, I will head to Curry's to look at prices on electric tea-kettles. Seems like a must have here.
Our internet and phone access is limited now as we search for a service and become qualified (with a debit account here) so you may not hear form me much in the next couple weeks and that explains my absence but my friends and family are on my heart and we shall be in touch when modernity comes to my home. I have a toilet with a chain that has a tank at the top and sometimes modernity evades us but I have to say I am a modern woman in the way that I love my internet connection and having the world at my fingertips so to speak. And absence definitely makes the heart grow fonder.
J and I had a discussion about how the women dress here, many of whom are totally covered, with the exception of their eyes. I decided to bring it up at the playground with a covered woman, who was the topic of our conversation, in the distance. (I had heard that some children could be scared of the appearance of covered women, reasonable I think.) So we talked briefly about how it was part of what they believe and that some women wear different colors of fabric and some only cover their heads, not their faces. About five minutes later Jesse was yelling 'Hey mom, I see a woman with a red thing on her head but her face ISN'T covered!" He was so proud on his applied education. Then we hung out with a totally covered woman who was pushing her niece on the roundabout (merry-go-round) and talked about the school situation here. We talked about the large Muslim home-schooling community and not having to put J in kindergarten (reception here) even though most people already have their 4 year-olds in it. It was great to have a lot in common with her, learn a lot, and watch my kids laugh with her neice Tayyibah.
I have a grocery store, vegetable markets, a hole-in-the-wall (atm), Starbucks, bargain theatre, big green park, and farm all within 5 to 10 minute walks from our house and am finding it a joy to get out and about here. So glad we don't have to cross town for our basics. In a minute, I will head to Curry's to look at prices on electric tea-kettles. Seems like a must have here.
Our internet and phone access is limited now as we search for a service and become qualified (with a debit account here) so you may not hear form me much in the next couple weeks and that explains my absence but my friends and family are on my heart and we shall be in touch when modernity comes to my home. I have a toilet with a chain that has a tank at the top and sometimes modernity evades us but I have to say I am a modern woman in the way that I love my internet connection and having the world at my fingertips so to speak. And absence definitely makes the heart grow fonder.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Anticipation
As you may have read in D's blog, it has been great doing life in such close proximity to each other and within the Middleton's house but I can't wait to move into what I hope is our new place. I'm ready for some space and alone time in the confines of my own home and I'm excited for the kids to get excited about their new room which will be decorated, unlike our time at the Well. I'm ready to nest, in a sense, and the introvert in me has had just about all it desires of this cozyness. I think our new adventure, moving to the Hayes in our new neighborhood tomorrow, will rejuvenate me so that we can paint on the week-end and move in Monday or Tuesday. High expectations but soothing to me right now.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Disorientation?
After landing on the ground here in London, we have been able to stay with our new friends the Middletons. They have 2 girls, Janae (4 1/2 years) and Anneka (2 years). Janae and Jesse are 2 peas in a pod and I wouldn't say there is tons of chemistry between Anneka and Luci except for the occasional heated dispute, but everyone has made new friends. Yesterday I caught Luci telling Janae, "We're gonna miss you when we move to London."
On a food note, I had the most fabulous little corn tonite in a vegetable medley at dinner all on the homefront, not in a restaurant. I was thinking about how they tasted so wonderfully like corn and wondered what had gone wrong with all the American versions I'd had before. Seriously, has anyone had a small corn in the U.S. that actually tasted like a little corn on the cob?
On a food note, I had the most fabulous little corn tonite in a vegetable medley at dinner all on the homefront, not in a restaurant. I was thinking about how they tasted so wonderfully like corn and wondered what had gone wrong with all the American versions I'd had before. Seriously, has anyone had a small corn in the U.S. that actually tasted like a little corn on the cob?