Speaking of walking to work - I tried to grab a few shots of my daily commute. A lovely, tree-lined street with an uneven broken sidewalk and cars parked in my path. No biggie - people just walk in the street here, so I join them! (Of course, I wait until none of them are around to take the picture - I already stand out enough, I don't want to look like a complete weirdo whipping out the camera at 7:30 in the morning to take a picture of the street!!) It is almost never this deserted.
The mail room called this afternoon and said I had TWO packages to pick up!!! It was like Christmas! I got a box of Valentine goodies from my parents - complete with sweethearts and heart-shaped lollipops. :-) AND, as if that wasn't enough - I got a big box of goodies from my my brother's whole family. COOKIES!! yum. There were three stuffed animals serving the dual roll of keeping me company and keeping the cookies from crumbling during transport. I also got a bit of artwork from my nieces and nephews.
More good news... I heard back from American Airlines. I contacted them via their website to inform them of my poor traveling experience on the way to Paris. They responded with an expected form-letter, but it had a $75 voucher attached! Hmmm... now I have to figure out where else to vacay this summer!!
Last night I had the wonderful privilege of having dinner with my ALAT's family (same group from Church last Sunday). Because they are new here themselves, they are very mindful to look out for me. So Mark and his wife were kind enough to invite me over to dinner so I could do my laundry. Otherwise, my other options include giving up an arm and leg to the hotel launderer, or dropping off my beloved belongings with the non-english speaking stranger at the laundry shop on the corner. Um, scary!
So Faith cooked an amazing dinner of chicken, rice, broccoli, corn bread and baked apples. We got to talk about adjusting to life in this strange city, and at the end of the nice evening, I had clean clothes!! She was a bit stressed because they have not yet received their belongings. The Bureau pays to ship household belongings to your new post - but it takes a while. So they really only have what they brought with them on the plane and a few items they shipped. Their comforts of home won't arrive until mid February. Their house is furnished, but they have no wall hangings, muffin pans, pictures, blankets, etc.
I took a picture of their huge living room. The Americans live very well over here! Everything is in this shiny marble which is kind of cold and echoy. In the family photo above, you may be able to see that the walls in the dining room are a beautiful mosaic tile. Very nice. And they don't pay a thing - the Bureau pays for the home, utilities, school for the kids... pretty good gig. :-)
Can you see their cat "Nemo" lounging in the chair? And, yes, those are bars on the windows. Every house here has them. That little alcove to the left is a sunken den with a fire place (not so cozy in ALL white shiny marble), and the formal dining room is off to the right.
It was 66 and mostly sunny today - we've had a great week for weather. Unfortunately, the rain is coming in just in time for the weekend. I hope to get out and explore regardless.
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