Thursday, June 6, 2013

Singapore

We had the most unbelievably amazing trip to Singapore.  Originally it was only going to be Legs to have a 12-week ultrasound, but at the last minute we bought tickets for Thumper and I too.  We are so incredibly happy that we all decided to go, because that one trip renewed our excitement for travelling the world, and Legs, Thumper, and I were able to see our new little person and hear their heartbeat for the first time together.

In the past few months Legs and I have really contemplated whether or not the Foreign Service lifestyle is right for us.  It would be an understatement to say that India is not what we anticipated.  It has been a very difficult adjustment for us here, and we constantly wonder whether living in India is a good experience for our family as a whole, a bad experience, or somewhere in between.

Travelling to new places is one of the things that brought Legs and I together in the first place, but after this post we've both started to wonder if maybe we're getting older and less capable of adapting to foreign environments.  Perhaps having a child has changed our mindset, and we just want things to be the way that's familiar.  Could we have been lulled into a false sense of enjoyment on our previous journeys because they were all relatively short-term?  Sometimes being a tourist in a new city gives you just the right amount of time to find all of the positives, and conveniently gloss over all of the negatives.

Singapore seemed to completely wash away those fears about whether or not we want to try another post.  I guess it may depend on where that next post is, but, nonetheless, we certainly want to find out.  Stepping off the plane was like stepping into a different dimension.  There was beautiful greenery everywhere, it was almost deafening how quite the streets were without all of the honking, I felt as free as a bird walking down the sidewalk without being pushed and yelled at to buy something, I felt safe in a city where there were rules like no littering or jaywalking and people obeyed them, I felt adventurous drinking tap water for the first time in 4 months, and I probably drank 10+ shots of Starbucks espresso in the three days we were there.

All of the things I just mentioned could just be 'developed country' things that we've been missing, but there were also many cultural things about Singapore that made our stay that much more amazing.  The city was extremely diverse and we regularly heard languages from all over the world, the people were some of the friendliest I've ever encountered, there was tons of natural green space interspersed throughout the city, and Singapore is innovative and efficient with it's public resources.  There were tons of things that we would have loved to do while we were there, like a night safari, a trip to the aquarium, or take a ride in the Singapore Flyer, but all we managed to do was a night cruise through Marina Bay and a beautiful walk through the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

It's hard to say what our impression of Singapore would have been had we traveled there directly from the U.S., but, what I can say is, it was a wonderful modern city reprieve from life in Hyderabad.  I'm still convinced that we would have loved Singapore either way, and I would absolutely recommend visiting if you're ever in the area.  Thank you for a delightful trip Singapore!

Here are some pictures from our trip:


























Happy Travels!

Pancho

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