Disco nap.
I’m holding my eyelids up and open with fishing line.
Which is to say it’s been a slew of busy days and nights that have been blurring into each other.
Which is really to say that life has been full.
(And if I’m not super careful, I’ll forget it all.)
Nicolas had his fourth (!) birthday a few weeks ago. We celebrated with his buddies and their families in the not-quite-too-hot-yet sunshine. It’s beyond belief to me that my little dude has firmly moved into “big boy.” Many of his preschool friends are headed to kindergarten in the upcoming academic year and we’ll be there ourselves at our next post. (Which is a whole new bidding consideration that I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around yet. Thankfully, we have a few more months before that process will start up.)
We took a spring break trip to Singapore which wasn’t a respite from the heat but was a respite from the frenetic chaos of Delhi. Long days of walking (7 miles one day, of which Nicolas did 6!) and relaxing evenings in the rooftop pool were * just * what we needed. We all kept remarking how quiet the streets were without the ‘beep beep BEEP BEEP’ of constant honking. And hawker centre lunches? Well, you know I’m not going to complain.
Of course there’s been work too.
I am loving the portfolio of paid and unpaid jobs that I’ve put together for myself here. But when it rains…
In advance of a training that I’ll be going TDY for, I had to get certified in the Myers-Briggs inventory. Which wouldn’t be that big of a deal but for the compressed timeline. It’s been a month of self-study, classes at 1 a.m., and practice feedback sessions at hours that can barely be called morning. Plus all the other small things that have to be attended to in advance of a big trip.
And, my work as one of the coordinators for Seven Cities has been busy as we’ve been working on wrapping up the Spring season and looking ahead to next Fall. I already know I’ll be transitioning away from the team at the end of next season in advance of my family’s PCS next summer. So in addition to all the must-do’s, there’s been an overwhelming urge to complete the nice-to-do’s so that the program is in even better shape than when it was lovingly handed to me.
Seven Cities has been such a huge part of my life in Delhi. It’s how I made some of my closest friends just a few weeks after we touched down. It’s been the throughline in my time here — almost every Wednesday morning, I’ve gotten myself out the door to go discover Delhi’s history with 40 other expats. It’s both figuratively and literally opened doors for me (including those of the Rashtrapati Bhavan — the President’s Palace!). And it will be sad when my time has come to an end.
But my work isn’t done yet and I’ll try not to get pre-nostalgic in the meantime.
Of course, my eyes were slightly misty a few weeks ago as I stood amongst last season’s participants toasting two of our own who had created an illustrated poetry book based on the sites we had explored together. Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees in the middle of wrangling logistical details, but that evening was a beautiful chance to exhale and see that it was/is/will be good.
It was a long day though: class from 1 a.m. - 3:30 a.m., up at 6 with Nicolas, out the door by 8 to get him dropped to school, and an Old Delhi tour in the morning with this season’s participants, a couple quiet hours in the afternoon, and then getting presentable for the reception.
It feels like more days than not of the past six weeks have been just as packed.
Like I said, fishing line has been keeping my eyelids up.
That, and disco naps. I am so very much not above a 2 p.m nap if it means I can pull the second shift when it’s necessary.
I just hope I get a little bit of respite from the necessity soon.
Photo by Jackman Chiu on Unsplash
