12 November 2007 - Our New Home

So we officially shifted on Saturday and technically on Sunday. We also bought the crib, mattress and car-seat for the baby on Saturday. We did our grocery and linen shopping just in time to make it to the baby store. At the new place we installed our first piece of very own furniture – the sleeper couch. This was the first time we had a home of our very own. The finances are a bit tight so we couldn’t for the moment buy any more furniture. Small beginnings I hope would end with great futures.
We spent the last night at our old condominium with almost next to nothing because we had shifted all our stuff to the new place. We had noodles for an early dinner but since hunger disturbed us again we had to order some mushroom pizza from Dominoes.
We chatted with shafi periappa, dad and mum on Sunday morning before we left for the new home. We had to spend a day without TV, and internet. This gave us time for a nap at a very odd hour and shortly after that we left to downtown with a friend to buy halal meats and we also needed to check out a few furniture stores which were unfortunately closed on a Sunday evening. For lunch we had snacks. I had cornflakes and bru had last the night’s left over pizza. We fixed some can soup but that wasn’t very palatable for bru. Jannah was very quiet all of Sunday. By night I was beginning to worry if something was wrong. It’s been more than 3 weeks since any doctor checked us up. And till Tuesday 1pm – which is going to be my first doctor’s appointment here - I won’t know what was going on with us. It’s amazing how moments like this show us how much Jannah is a part of our lives even though she is yet to see the world!
Our first solid meal at the new apartment was chicken biriyani which we had to eat sitting on the floor. It was very large in quantity but missing lunch gave bru a good excuse to finish it all.
It’s Monday and I’m spending my first day at our home alone as I type this and before I start my cooking. It was an early start with bru making the tea and then leaving to work soon after an English breakfast of bread, butter and bulls eyes. Ladies’ fingers and chicken will see us through lunch Insha Allah.
I don’t miss home now as much as I did in the first few days. I’m slowly getting used to the place. Its like living in a dream…. Like I don’t have my feet firmly planted on ground yet… but I’m sure that things will be ok and much better Insha Allah after we settle down. I also have my journal and some books to keep me occupied. Ironically however, I don’t make enough time to get my hands on them. The cable company is to come in the evening today to get the internet connection fixed after which hopefully I can talk to home people.
Its 10 minutes past one. Bru came home for lunch, prayed and then left for work. I am going to nap now. He will be here by 5 just in time before the cable guys get here. He seems to be always thinking about managing the finances for the rest of the week or two. Insha Allah I think everything will work out in good time.
4:35 pm – the naps done thanks to the phone ringing. It’s dark and gloomy. I don’t want to imagine the cold outside. Time to get dinner prepared…

The first few days in Milwaukee...

Usually one would want to say that its been a wonderful 1st week here but unfortunately I cant quite call it that. The city is a bit haunted and the place is a bit dead. The view outside and the neighbourhood is beautiful and quiet. But is this really a place that I wan to live in….? I'm not quite sure…
We reached Milwaukee last Saturday (20th October) after a very tiresome and long 26 hr journey with lots of little adventures all through it. Bru had to start working from last Monday which meant that I had to stay home and fight the challenge of whiling away time in effective ways. Thanks to the cooking that keeps a good one and a half hours of me being occupied. I managed to do that for the past five days thanks to cooking, cleaning, washing, reading and TV. Well most of what's on tv is 100% pure junk and I'm really sure that this is NOT the kind of place that I want to bring up my kids in.
Home is a call away and I also keep in touch with friends at the work place but I miss homeland terribly. Memories and little everyday things that I took for granted now seem so far far away!
If not for skype, msn and telephones I should feel lonely enough to turn back and go home in two weeks. We got a web cam today so my mum and dad could check on my weight gain… I miss the noise and hustle and bustle…. I am so tired of hearing the washing machine and dryer and dish washer all the time. And oh not to forget the 100 odd channels on cable tv that seems like such a curse to have around the house. We haven't yet bought our lap top so I have to wait for bru to some home to blog or chat and since day and night clashes with folks at home there's not really much time to speak to them all!
Bru has been so busy with making arrangements for us to settle down that we hardly have time to think through things. This trip was such a mad rush as we had just two days to prepare everything for a three year stay. I do hope that things get better…!