A bit of an RE lesson for you!

MICHHAMI DUKKADAM
Thats for all the jains out there!

For the non-jain readers of my blog, yesterday was the end of a religious phase of 8 days. During the 8 days, practising jains meditate and either fast (completely - no food!) or try and eat a simpler diet without garlic, potatoes etc...
Every year Shams dad tries to make Sham not eat meat for this 8 days... sorry dad, he didnt manage it again!

At the end of the 8 days we all say the phrase above to eachother. It basically means we are asking for forgiveness if we have offended, hurt or upset you.

This year, we have a few family members that did fast. Congrats Bhavin... hope your new wife was supportive!

If anyone wants to know a bit more, good old wiki is the best place I have found!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism

Home is....

not just where the heart is....

We have just got back from a surprise visit to Kenya for Shams cousin Bhavins wedding (we had sooooo much fun - there will be a seperate blog post for it!)... it was so nice to see Shams mum, dad and brother - and of course other members of the extended family.
As we had suspected, saying goodbye again was just as hard - although knowing we will see them again in a few months should have made it easier - it didn't.
Having said that, we are both glad to be home. Yep, Sydney feels like home (even though its really cold!)
I have to say its taken me by surprise - especially because I have been feeling particularly unsettled without a job and the uncertainty of the residency application etc.
Don't get me wrong, we are both still having the occaasional wobble when it feels like everything would be easier if we were back in London, but then we remind ourselves that this is where we hope to have our future...

So, for me, home is definately where my heart, head,and more importantly, dreams are!

Keeping in touch

I recently had a conversation with one of the other expats about keeping in touch with people at home... we decided that we were both surprised at who we did hear from... the people who we thought we would never lose touch with are the very same people we have hardly heard from!

Since we have been here, I have spent a small fortune on cards, learnt to use Skype as an accepted form of communication, and of course, started a blog!

Now, I know lots of people read this blog - some of you even subscribe to it! Please, please, please let us know what you are up to and whats going on at home - I miss the gossip!!

So, whether its an email, a Facebook or Twitter message, a card or a Text... don't be strangers!

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