Back in Canada, An Update

The last time we were in Victoria we had just driven 8,000km along the Queen’s Highway from Charlottetown, PEI to the BC coast. In all of our online research, Vancouver Island with its vast expanses of remote mountains, its wild coastline, and of course, its proximity to California and Oregon (where my family lives), made BC’s capital city, Victoria seem like a great place for us to relocate to. We spent just 2 days on the island mostly in and around Victoria, but was instantly won over by the city’s vibrant downtown core which was dotted with independent  coffee shops, yoga studios, and farmers markets. For me, the icing on the cake was the fact that within a few minute’s drive from downtown there are an absurd number of options for day hikes, trail runs, and forgotten beaches.  I was beginning to think this place was designed just for me. Our two days passed quickly and we begrudgingly boarded the ferry back to the mainland so that Vibhu could catch his flight back home to India.

Fast forward 5 months and here we are again, only this time, instead of sleeping in the rear of the Prius, we’ve got a 6 month lease, a cabinet full of food (thanks Michelle and Papa!) and our very own kitchen table.  I’ve been itching to get back to blogging, and now that I have a home with internet connection and a table to sit at, I can finally dive head first back into blogging. As I sat down this morning to reacquaint myself with wanderingdona.com I was reminded how much I love this blog. I know, it’s my own blog and I’m a little biased, but its become an extension of me and all of the things I love. I spent much of the bitterly cold PEI winter getting this blog up and running, developing a modest following, and then sort of abandoned her. But sometimes life just gets in the way.

I am happy to report however that the 5 month hiatus has been productive. Clicking through links and pages this morning, I read through my life list for the first time in a while, and was happily surprised to see that I’ve accomplished quite a bit. Without even really realizing it, I have managed to tick off 5 things from my list!

1.       Get Married—well, yes the whole point of going to India this winter was to get married.  It was an incredible, overwhelming experience that was shared with family and friends from across the globe. Here’s a short video of the 3 day event.

[video type="vimeo" id="19326544" width="400" height="200"]

2.       Perfect the art of roti making—living in a traditional north Indian household for 4 months, Vibhu’s mom was eager to teach me how to cook. Although she rarely passed over the reigns long enough for me to actually cook a meal (I learned how to be a great note taker!), she did trust me enough to make rotis and parathas. They may not be perfectly round, but the sign of a perfect roti is not in it’s shape, but how well it puffs up over the fire. Perfection achieved!

3.       Attend an Indian Wedding—winter is wedding season in India and as any visitor to India can attest, weddings are impossible to avoid. From parades of celebrating family members, grooms atop horses, and painfully loud brass bands marching down the streets, to massive complexes aglow with millions of Christmas lights, to fully booked hotels months in advance, weddings take over the country this time of year.  2 weeks after our wedding, Vibhu’s cousin got married to a boy from Calcutta. As the only foreigner in attendance at a party with over 1000 guests, I was more photographed than the bride herself.  I did my best to ignore the paparazzi like quality I was igniting in people, and focused on the food. Seriously there must have been 27 different food stalls to sample.

4.       Quit Working in a Cubicle—I did this when I quit my job with the PEI Department of Health back in September. It’s been a fantastic stint away from the mind shatteringly boring work of a government bureaucrat and I swore that I’d never go back. But, as life would have it, I may very well be going back to cubby land. Sometimes life sneaks up on you and requires a solid income for a while….(read below).

5.       Experience Pregnancy—it’s true and official. I am pregnant. After the wedding, Vibhu and I decided to stop trying not to get pregnant, the thing is, it just happened so fast. My mom always told me that the Francis women are incredibly fertile,  and I just figured it’d happen when it’d happen. Things happen for a reason, right?!?  Since moving to Victoria, we’ve found a midwife and have an official due date of September 12. This puts us at just over 11 weeks along, and close to rounding out the first trimester.  It’s been an easy pregnancy so far, with exhaustion being the only major symptom, but even that now is subsiding. And without a single bout of morning sickness (knock on wood!), I just hope this pregnancy continues to be as easy as its been.