'Normal'

 

As I was driving down the dual carriageway on my way into town the other week, I carefully avoided the motorbike driving at speed the wrong way and very much on the wrong side of the road. A few minutes later what surprised me was my lack of surprise. I realised how I had barely thought about the situation, let alone been shocked by the disregard for road safety laws. It got me thinking about all the things that have become ‘normal’ for us over the last few years. Here are just a few:

1. Pot holes in roads big enough to swallow a car.

2. Never ending sunshine... So much so that we often long for rain.

3. The sight of small children wandering unaccompanied along busy roads.

4. Watching an incredible amount of development, at a scary rate. For example when we arrived, Beira had one supermarket. It now has four with two of them opening up just the month gone buy.

5. Having people asking for money when you get out the car in certain zones in town.

6. Seeing all types of vehicles, from bikes to large lorries, overloaded with all sorts of items, people, animals and machinery.

7. Seeing the countryside alight as people set fire to the old season’s crop in preparation for the new.

8. Some ‘special’ clothing choices. My favourite being a man who was selling rugs at a local market dressed only in a dressing gown.

9. Neighbourhood monkeys, some wild, some kept as pets.

10. People offering to work for me as a nanny when I take the children with me shopping.