"These Hazy Days Are Here Again..."

Have been feeling rather run-down and slightly ill the past few days. Not an Indian 'dodgy tummy' situation, but more of a head cold...go figure.

The weather here has turned hazy and though still unbearably hot, it casts a dim glow on the beach and gives this whole place a surreal vibe.

The husband and I have decided that our lives have turned upside down (or in Dumpie's words, "Upsy-Daisy-Down") in many respects. Whereas we both used to covet the weekends, now we sort of dread them. We've gotten too used to the monsters being in school during the week and having the two of them at large on the weekends forces us to recalibrate our 'selfish-o-metre' and make necessary adjustments.

Today for instance, I was trying to do some stretches in the bedroom. I suddenly got pelted in the head by rock that came flying through the window!

A peek outside revealed a Dumpie armed with a carved out coconut shell full of big rocks which he presumably intended to lob into the room - in a possible remake of 'David and Goliath' if things got sinister enough.

Out in the main room the husband was having his own problems. Egg has been invited to a birthday party later today and the husband was trying to motivate him to make a birthday card, whilst simultaneously teaching him long multiplication, whipping of some of his own emails and dodging the ant colony which appears to have taken up residence beneath our kitchen table.

Perhaps they have moved in because the television has moved out. That's right, we lost our telly this week much to the boys dismay (and ours if I'm honest - the 24 hour cartoon network was a godsend). On a positive note, it means that we now have room to shift things around and set up our little music studio in the corner, so yours truly can find an appropriate outlet for the artistic angst which seems to be building up daily.

As I imagined would be the case, we are in some aspects gloriously happy to be here, but one month in, we are missing a few creature comforts (our stovetop espresso machine and REAL coffee.....decent chocolate...decent biscuits...cheese.....wine....ah, wine...). But more than anything, we are missing the sensation of feeling (and let's face it, BEING) clean. We are forever coated in sandy bits of debris, sweat, sugar, lotions and potions of the SPF 50 and 40% Deet variety, 'boogies' (from Dumpies nose mainly, wiped with relish and delight on our legs when we're not looking), more sand, watermelon juice...need I go on?

We are simply filthy. All the time. The coldest shower possible leaves you feeling fresh for about....oh...50 seconds...until your upper lip fills with beads of perspiration and you slink out of the bathroom, your feet covered in sand again momentarily.

Nothing for it but to go native. We must give ourselves over to this life fully, not expect the same standards of hygiene and care we practised back home in London (I reminded myself of this as I fished out a drowned ant from my banana porridge this morning), and just ease into it.

Our friends leave to fly back to London in a few days, but my in-laws are coming to visit us for the first two weeks of April. We are very much looking forward to their arrival. I know that when we see this paradise of ours through their eyes, we'll fall in love with it all over again, and be reminded why we came here in the first place.

And did I mention they're bringing chocolate...and coffee?!!