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It's been a long 3 years- now just 8 months to go. I've restrained myself from writing this list for too many months/years, so I apologize for being negative, but this is real for me these days (and I suspect that it will be an important list someday when I am gone from here and am remembering how perfectly marvelous this place was).

Things I will NOT miss when we leave from here:

1. monkeys stealing my laundry off the laundry lines and making my little boy sob in anger as he watches them steal it


2. the fear of the monkeys whenever we go for a walk, play outside, dare to eat outside... i hate the monkeys.


3. feeling excluded in such a small community because i am a stay-at-home mom


4. endless computer/internet problems


5. having spent all last night walking in the Bazaar, trying not to forget to buy anything, dragging it all back home, only to find that I didn't even think to buy ribbon, which I have to have for my little boy's birthday party tomorrow. OH to have a car and a store nearby where I could go with my kids to pick up last-minute things when I forget.


6. feeling like a failure every time someone asks me if I speak Hindi... that was just one of the many things I didn't manage to do during the past 3 years here!


7. having to have a lady helping me clean my house 5 days a week (i know it sounds great, but she doesn't do a great job and i'm tired of having her in 'my' space all the time.)


8. borrowing a hand-crank sewing machine that barely works, although I AM thankful for the use of a machine at all... it's just frustrating


9. my teeny tiny ovens (although I am very thankful that I even HAVE an oven! -in fact, 2 ovens!)


10. having to wipe black mold off the walls every week


11. dreading figuring out something to cook for dinner almost every night because the options that we enjoy are so few and so much work


12. butter shortages, milk shortages, "no cocoa powder until Monday, Ma'am", no molasses, weird-flavored vanilla 'essence', no good cheese, no beef, and rarely lettuce. I just won't miss these things!


13. skype frustrations and any other downloading of almost anything, which take eeeeeooooonnssss to complete (oh yeah, I already said internet problems, didn't I?!)


14. getting sick from food/water so often and having to deal with the health centre/hospital and all their run-around-info

Well, I'm running out of things to complain about for now, so it's probably a good time to quit. The wonderful thing about this sort of list is that as I hunt for lousy things, I remember scads of things I WILL miss. That list will come soon, I promise! :) I DO have it pretty good, I'm just so weary of some of this stuff. Of course, every place has some good, some bad...

Most of the time I really like living here and I am so thankful for all the ways that God has provided for us.