It's all about...

who you know and where you come from. This saying is even true in Curry Land. The city we live in, which another CA affectionately refers to as the 'Rut', is known throughout Curry Land as a crime hub, a den of thieves if you will. Whenever we are traveling outside of our city and tell people where we live, immediately we get the same shpeel...'that is a dangerous place to live.' They don't know that danger is my middle name - jk! Really we have lived quite peaceably in the 'Rut'.
We have another CA friend who's name is Don. I knew that his name is not common around here, but is was not till recently that I found out why. A long time back, probably before I was born...a Bolloywood film came out about a powerful and dangerous gangster who was named Don. This fictional character now lives in infamy all over the country.
So we can honestly tell people 'We are friends with Don and come from the 'Rut'...which would be the equivalent in American as saying 'We know the godfather and live in the bronx'...nuff said, instant fear and respect.
*Disclaimer: I am sure the Bronx is nice.

Sixteen weeks!

Here is the low down on how pregnancy in Curry Land is going so far...

• I now have a belly bump! Which I want to show off with pride, but showing signs of pregnancy here is Curry Land is not a good idea. Women will come up to you and urge you to where looser clothing, or try to cover your baby bump with anything available, they will even tell you to not come out of your house...it's like I have been stamped with the scarlet letter.
•  At least I do not have to worry about strangers coming up to me and talking to my belly or trying to touch my belly...Pregnant bellies seem to be pretty much off limits here.
• I thought registering for baby gifts would be so fun...boy was I wrong! Because of  life here anything for the baby needs to be washable and reusable, no such things as land fills. For practical reason we have to stay away from disposable items, heavy/bulky items, battery powered items, and items that run off of 110 volts. I had no clue how much baby stuff was disposable, non washable, battery powered and runs off of 110 volts!
• My brain has momentary lapses of mush...yesterday's menu was chicken and rice so I pulled out frozen chicken, thawed it and went to put the seasonings on it...the chicken just didn't look right, it was a really dark color but it didn't have a bad smell. So I went ahead and cooked it. After Z and our friend Art took a bite they looked at me and said this isn't chicken. Turns out it was buffalo...how did I confuse red meat for white meat?
• On the same lines of having a mushy brain I also have lost my internal GPS for the time being. Z has no internal GPS so we relied on mine constantly...so now days we just get lost everywhere we are going and constantly take wrong turns. At first Z thought I was getting lost so much due to carelessness...and I was adamant that 'I was not lost and knew where I was the whole time', now I have finally come to terms with what these hormones are doing to my brain functions.
• My sweet friend K gave me her lifetime supply of Bum Genius reusable diaper system...Thank you K, you are AMAZING! And these diapers are AMAZING, although I may be singing a different tune once I have stinky, potty filled reusable diapers.

Curry Land pedestrians Beware!

So I am learning how to drive a 5 speed...finally! And I am also learning how to drive on the left side of the road at the same time...very difficult. I am actually having a harder time adjusting to my new surroundings behind a wheel than the whole clutch/shifting thing. Not only is  driving on the left side difficult but there are all manners of vehicles and modes of transportation on the road. Bicycles, ox carts, and pedestrians are the slowest and the hardest to dodge. For some reason the bicyclists get spooked and swerve towards the car while being passed...gives me a heart attack every time, the ox carts...well they are just big dumb animals, and the pedestrians...they do not pay attention...in fact they put themselves in harms way by darting out in the road.
On my first attempt driving on my own there was a pedestrian in the middle of the road, I honked, I yelled, I did anything I could to get his attention so that he knew there was traffic coming. I finally had to slam on my brakes, which I did not do with greatest finesse and the car stalled, bucked forward and hit the pedestrian right in the thigh! I was shocked that I HIT a person, he was shocked that there was a white lady driving a car. Fortunately there were no injuries to the pedestrian.

The Help

I really want to see that movie...the book was Awesome! But anyways this post is really about my Help-less situation.
A month ago Rosy did not show up for four days, she claimed she was sick but she did not call to notify me that she was sick and not coming to work. So I did what any employer in the U.S. would do and I cut her pay for the days she did not work. Which is not common practise here in Curry Land but Z and I find that it works for us. This month she did not show for five days. I called her to ask when she was coming back to work and she told me she would not be back until I raised her pay. So what I can gather is that the five days off was sort of a strike, except we don't have an official work contract nor are there any unions around these parts. So I informed her that she would not be getting a raise and this months pay would be cut because she did not come to work. Two days ago she came by the house to negotiate 'the strike'...I was then able to explain how ordinarily we give raises based on job preformance, coming to work everyday, and tenure. At this time a raise was not warranted so Rosy has decided to no longer work for us.
I keep replaying the ridiculousness of the situation in my head. What if I did not go to work until my boss gave me a raise...FYI for all those who have bosses don't do that, it doesn't work - and that my firends is my speech about employment.

Nutella

...If you live anywhere outside of the continental U.S. then you better get used to this stuff because you can find it everywhere! Sadly, however, you can not find peanut butter everywhere. Nutella has never been my favorite...in fact I have avoided eating it for most my life. Now a days it is a different story, I am suddenly craving this stuff...weird huh? What would be even weirder if I suddenly started craving brussel sprouts because man I really don't like those things.

Z's new chore

So a couple of days ago we were noticing that the ant population inside our home was diminishing, as well as the cricket population. It was such a relief to not constantly battle with ants crawling on the counters or struggle with interrupted sleep as crickets chirped all night.
I then realized why the bug population was diminishing...we now have baby FROGS in the house. Can I have any break from pesky critters inside my home?!? Frogs do not belong inside, they are definitely outside creatures in my opinion so when ever I see one I immediately call for Z to catch it and throw it outside. 'Why does Z get the honor?' you may ask...well 1) he is a boy and has way more experience catching frogs, and 2) frogs pee on your hand when you catch them.

Curry Land baby tips

I am sure there will be multiple posts concerning tips I am given by locals as my pregnancy progresses to show. As for now I've only got the skinny on two tips, but oh they are good!

Tip #1: Z and I refer to this one as the Pretty Baby by Osmosis Principle. In order to ensure that you have a pretty baby you must hang up random pictures of pretty babies and stare at these pictures frequently. Then when you deliver your baby it will be just as pretty if not more so than the pictures you stared at. So Z is currently hanging up pictures of himself throughout the house...jk

Tip #2: If you drink two glasses of buttermilk a day while pregnant your baby will have fair skin. Rosy asked me if I was going to take her up on this tip and my reply...'if my baby comes out any fairer than us then it would be as white as a sheet of paper.' Besides just between you and I, drinking two glasses of buttermilk a day would make my complexion resemble a sea sick green color.