Part 14: Back to the present

I've spent so much time recently, thinking of the past and how Imraan and I met and our wedding. I'm really looking forward to our first wedding anniversary. I really need to find Imraan a awesome, memorable gift. We also had our up coming trip to Malawi for Saleems wedding, to finalize.

I am really looking forward to that too. Malawi is not a place i ever intended to visit, if it wasn't for Saleems wedding I doubt Imraan and I would have even considered it. But Saleem is Imraan's best friend and its so close to our anniversary, we would have went away somewhere anyway.

I have been chatting to Saleema, Saleems fiancee for awhile now. (yes, Saleem and Saleema...too cute hey!) I was so surprised that there are Indians in Malawi, for some reason I never thought of that, so when Imraan told me that Saleems getting engaged to a girl from Malawi,I had thought...well, I'm too embarrassed to admit, even in my diary, what the snob in me, had thought.

Turns out Saleema is more Indian than Il ever be! She and her brothers were actually born in India but her family moved to Malawi when she was only a few months old.

From chatting to her I learned that Malawi has a relatively large community of Indian Muslims, restaurants and even hotels. She already had an itinerary planned for our visit, I couldn't wait to go and to meet her.

I was really looking forward to having some company too, usually when Imraan's friends go out, for fishing weekends or evening sports...I stay at home. I spend the time watching TV, catching up with series or playing with Talha or Tariq so Sumaya can have a break.

Very rarely do I make plans with my own friends or Nasreen that co-ordinate with Imraan's plans. Sometimes I visited my Kala or Mamagee during that time.

While I had met most of the other wives on different occasions, I only spent time with them when we attended weddings of  one of the other guys in the group.
Mainly because whenever the husbands made spur of the minute plans, the wives used it as extra time to visit their own families', which I would have done too, but my parents don't live 'around the corner' or 'down the road'. 

Saleema would be in the same boat as me and now I'd have the company to join in on some of the spur of the moment events, and go watch some of their games.

When Imraan and his friends plan longer outings for fishing over the holiday season, I always go home for that time...i don't know what Saleema will do or if Saleem would still go, leaving her alone.

I can't imagine what it must be like to marry and move to a whole new country. Saleemas brother married a South African girl from Johannesburg, who is Saleems first cousin, Saleema told me that Haseena is having a very hard time adapting to the different lifestyle. Malawi is a far cry from the fast-past life she was use to in Johannesburg. She also misses her family alot and feels isolated due to language differences, she is trying to adapt. Saleema worries that Haseena would feel more alone after Saleema herself marries.

I went back to work after Eid and I'm so glad I have a job that allows me flexibility...even though the children thrive on routine, at this point of the year they settle down well enough to interchange activities. 
I work mostly with those with birth defects and speech and hearing difficulties so changes to schedules doesn't cause any major setbacks.

However, those teachers who work with the Autistic children have much more rigid timetables as its part of their development needs. It takes alot of experience and patience to work within this sphere and I hope to enter that area once I complete my Honours program.

Imraan's Dadi has extend her visit with us and my MiL seems to be at her wits-end now. I get the feeling she is just waiting for a chance to politely tell her MiL it is time to go...

I wonder what this weekend has in store...