Okay so the last painful photo shoot of the autumn children’s clothing is finished, along with a few photos of clothing for mom and dad! (Men and women) Let me just say that knee-length boots in the tropics is quite comical!

So the photos were under our belts on Sunday. Monday we walked into a computer place and had the slide-show done within 30 minutes. Now we’ll probably wait for three weeks for someone to flip the switch or put in the right code or whatever it is that it takes to get it aired in the States. Another 30 minute job at tops.

This is the confusing paradox regarding time in developing countries vs. time in one of the most efficient countries in the world. The most frustrating thing in the world is sitting on the phone to some US company for two hours trying to get them to fix “their” mistake! Yes ladies and gentleman, there is something absolutely fantastic about popping in for a haircut at a fancy salon at any time. Something fabulous about popping in for full body massage at the exact second that you really NEED it. Something marvelous about getting a catalog designed on the spot. Something terrific about having a mechanic turn up 20 minutes after something breaks.





Of course this is the same country that 30 minutes late still constitutes being “on time.” The same country where parents pick up their kids an hour late from school simply because they were shoe shopping. And the same country where it takes three days to cut the lawn at the park. (actually four because it’s still not finished, but hey maybe they’re not going to).

Those of you who have traveled or lived abroad, you know that there is just no explaining these differences in time: why things that take ages in one country are completed with the snap of a finger in another. It leaves you wishing you could take all the conveniences of each country and roll them into a single most convenient country. HA! Now that’s an American 24-hour service attitude, wouldn’t you say??

Cheers & Ciao,

Gina