My sister, the intrepid explorer

By panda_eyed

My little sis, who’s 16, has been in India for the past 2 weeks and this week, is on a mountainous trek in the Himalayas. It’s a lower sixth school trip – the lucky little devils - we never had this sort of thing when we were in school! If we were lucky, we’d go to some obscure Belgian town for a day and look at a lace museum or something equally as mind-numbingly dull!

My baby sister in India – I’m so jealous! I was, until she got Delhi belly last week, and because they are staying in a poor part of town, I was imagining some horrendous toilet conditions – ick. The poor thing! She mentioned that all they have been drinking is bottled water, and she is so tired of it that I must make sure the house is stocked with other drinks when she returns! And because India is largely a vegetarian country, she says she must have meat too! :)

The house is really quiet without her and I miss her incessant chatter. It’s not the same watching TV by myself either – when we’re together, we play the advert game. This is basically trying to identify what the advert is for in the first few seconds of the ad, just by the music or images, before the product is displayed or mentioned. It sounds silly, but it’s a lot of giggly fun. She always has the advantage because she watches more TV than I do!

I also miss the house being filled with music when she plays the piano. She’s very good, and it’s so relaxing. I miss hugs and the random bits of gossip about her friends/school/who’s fighting with who, etc. I love my little sis, and although we sometimes fight, we have become close without me realising.

So I wanted to ask everyone – do you have any siblings, and what do you miss about them when you’re not together? If you’re an only child, tell me about your closest friend.

Current mood: Grumply, because it was so hot last night that it was impossible to sleep
 

15 comments so far.

  1. michelle 1:09 pm, July 20, 2006
    me, a younger sister 15 months. we don't get along.
    let's leave it at that
  2. michelle 1:11 pm, July 20, 2006
    man I wish my school trip was India, instead it was London and Paris which was nice...and since than I have been the only person from that trip to go to China, across Canada, andEurope two more times..
  3. michelle 1:12 pm, July 20, 2006
    so that means my next trip has to be, either

    drum roll please,

    Africa, Middle East or South America
  4. panda_eyed 1:44 pm, July 20, 2006
    Jia, how sad that you don't get on. London and paris is a pretty impressive school trip too! Sure beats the lace museum :)
    Ooh, I've been to Dubai, which was lovely. Would love to visit Africa and S.America too. Gotta find the funds first!
  5. michelle 2:30 pm, July 20, 2006
    yeah, me too
  6. Anonymous 4:17 pm, July 20, 2006
    I don't see my bro very much nowadays, because he lives in Cheshire, and I live in Sheffield.

    I don't miss the arguments, but I do miss my friend!
  7. Olivia 7:33 pm, July 20, 2006
    Awwww, seee, playing games and arguing and talking is what I didn't have when I was a child. I think it has left me a little unable to survive in the big world.

    Anyway, my best friend Lydia I met before I was old enough to remember. We were at nursery school together, about 3 years old. She and her family have always been there.

    We've never lost touch, but her life is so busy we don't talk as much as we should, and now she's engaged it's even less, but she tells me never to worry about losing her. We are close on a sort of spiritual level, picking up where we leave off.

    My other best friend, more like my sister, is Vanessa - we were roomies at uni in the early 2000s and got along like we'd been separated at birth - we still do, our relationship is very true.
    At first, when my hair was long, people asked us if we were sisters! My mother couldn't get over it when they met, and actually does call her "daughter".

    V has come to see me in London every year since I moved back here from Texas.
  8. Anonymous 4:48 am, July 21, 2006
    Awweee Panda this was a very nice entry. I am so jealous that your sister gets to go on such an amazing journey. She is a lucky girl.
    I am the oldest in my family. I have one sister (8 years younger) and two brothers (12 years younger and 15 years younger).. My parents are divorced.
    Anyways, I love them all to death but I am very close to the brother that lives closest to me. I think my sister and I are too much alike which tends to cause us to argue.
    Because I am so much older they all kind of see me as more of a parental figure. I have always longed for a sibling my own age.
    Maybe that is why I had my girls so close together......
    LOL who am I kidding, I didn't plan that....
    Anyways, I hope you and your sister are always very close to each other.
    Big hugs...
  9. panda_eyed 2:12 pm, July 21, 2006
    Hi Foxyboy and welcome. I guess all siblings fight a lot huh? It's nice that you're friends though. I hope me and my sis stay friends as we get older. Do you see your bro often?

    Livvy, I was an only child up until age 7 and I begged my mummy for a brother or sister! I don't think your ability to survive has been affected - you've turned out just fine! :) I love the story of you and Vanessa - me and my best friend often have the same - we look so similiar and think the same things at the same time. She is my psychic twin :)

    Youngmummy, how nice to come from a big family. Sisters often fight, but at the end of it, they still love each other. It's great that they can all look up to you - I sometimes wish I had an older sibling! I hope you and your siblings stay close too - thanks YM! xx
  10. Olivia 3:04 pm, July 21, 2006
    I begged my mummy and daddy for a sister too!
    It must have hurt them a lot because they couldn't make me understand why they probably couldn't have more. They did try, bless them. And she lost it of course. She'd lost 5 more before me. Poor Mummy.

    Did you know that a gap of 7 years does make you an only child, so the psychologists say. It's because of the length of time you spent developing without siblings. In some respects I agree, but I am sure you know many more reasons to disagree.
  11. panda_eyed 3:46 pm, July 21, 2006
    Interesting that you should say that, because when 'only child' is mentioned, I do identify with that term. I think there's some truth in that, but it depends how they define 'only child'. You have a bond with a sister that is like no other, so in that respect, I disagree. But by the time you are 7, you have mostly passed that critical stage of social development anyway, so I see what they mean.
    Poor Liv's mummy! That must have been hard xx
  12. Anonymous 3:51 pm, July 26, 2006
    hiya there..great to hear ur sisters out in delhi...hmm well i dont know why foreigners often have tummy problems...as long as bottled water is consumed should be ok..ofcourse spicy is the real thing back home...:-)..not the mild stuff we get here..

    Well hope shes enjoying it otherwise..i just wanted to point out something in the post..india is majority hindu in terms of religious majority..who dont eat beef ..they do eat chicken and stuff...also further down south..us christians eat pretty much everything..fish is very good.....
  13. panda_eyed 1:24 pm, July 27, 2006
    Hey Sppadic, nice to hear from you. A couple of weeks ago, I read that visitors to India are 48% likely to get ill whilst there! That was only topped by 52% in Peru. It's probably because we're used to too high levels of hygiene here - immunologists are always saying we should allow oourselves to be exposed to more bacteria and stuff.

    She returns home this evening, laden with gifts, or so she tells us! I can't wait! Yay presents! My mum is cooking lots of meat, lol. My sis was mostly in south India where most of the population is vegetarian, poor thing! :)
  14. Anonymous 2:15 pm, July 27, 2006
    hey panda...oo gifts..hope she s bought u some really good sweets..man i would kill for one of those rite now!:-) and i mean sweeeeet....hmm yeah could be..maybe its coz we are brought up there..i must say india s population doesnt help with hygiene levels..something that the british are damn good at! just a bit curious..which towns/cities did she visit?any places in kerala..(my state)??cheerio! hope ur having a good day!
  15. panda_eyed 5:12 pm, July 27, 2006
    Sppadic, I'm not entirely certain - I know she went to Leh, Jaisalpur, Akra and some more - I will find ut and let you know! :)

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