Church in English

Tonight we went to an English church service. On the second Sunday of each month we'll be able to attend this service. It was a great time of fellowship, singing and praising God all in English. I can hardly wait until next month!

Our Farm

On our little balcony we have a beautiful potted tree.

This week we also added some pretty flowers in a windowbox. We enjoy our plants each morning as we eat our breakfast on the balcony.

Granola, Bugs and Mold

Today I began to make some homemade granola. The oatmeal comes in 4 cup bags which is just perfect for my recipe. I cut open the corner of the bag and poured the oats into the bowl as I was reading the recipe for the next ingredient. I took out the brown sugar and was beginning to measure it as Brian came into the room. He looked down into the bowl and said, "You have bugs in there." Sure enough, the whole bowl was swarming with busy little black bugs. They must have been living in the bag of oatmeal. After dumping out that oatmeal and getting out a new bowl, I opened another bag of oatmeal. The oats were greenish black and covered with mold. I was finally able to make some delicious granola with my third bag of oats. Some things are just more complicated here.

Shopping is Not Always Fun

Step #1: Walk to the grocery store with the hot sun beating down on you.
Step #2: Stop at the cash machine outside the store only to find out it isn't working.
Step #3: Go into the store and fill your cart with groceries while crossing all the items off the grocery list.
Step #4: Enter the last aisle of the store as the power flicks off.
Step #5: Get in line for the nearest cashier just as the cash registers are rebooting after the power outage.
Step #6: Watch the power flick off again.
Step #7: Wait for the cash registers to reboot again.
Step #8: Watch the power flick off again.
Step #9: Talk about leaving the store.
Step #10: Wait for the cash registers to reboot again.
Step #11: Watch the power flick off again.
Step #12: Wait for the cash registers to reboot again.
Step #13: Talk about leaving the store.
Step #14: Watch the power flick off again.
Step #15: Wait for the cash registers to reboot again.
Step #16: Watch the power flick off again.
Step #17: Realize we've stood in line for 30 minutes and not one single person has checked out.
Step #18: Leave the store and catch a cab to another grocery store.
Step #19: Decide we're too hungry to shop. Tell the taxi driver to take us to Burger King.
Step #20: Eat hamburgers while listening to the blaring music from a birthday party in the restaurant.
Step #21: Walk to the grocery store down the street.
Step #22: Try to decifer the grocery list with all the items that were crossed off earlier tonight.
Step #23: Stand in line and pay for the groceries.
Step #24: Take a taxi home.
Step #25: Haul all the groceries upstairs and put them away. Deep sigh.


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Our Apartment Building

Our apartment complex is getting a facelift. Each of the four buildings is being painted on the outside. They're even painting the awnings. Today our apartment building hallway was painted too. Everything looks bright and clean.

Look Where You're Walking

The other day we went for a walk in our neighborhood. I was busy talking to Brian when I saw a flurry of movement on the ground. A rat ran across the road about a foot in front of me. I nearly jumped in Brian's arms.

Wednesday Night Walk

Last night we went for a walk so we thought we'd tell you about a few of the things that we saw along the way. About a block from our apartment we saw a man wearing exactly the same t-shirt as Brian: a t-shirt from the men's retreat he went to a few months ago. As we walked along they talked a bit about the retreat before we parted ways. As we passed a trash can near a big field, we saw four rats run out. We often see one or two. Four was a record. Later we heard some accordian music coming from a big house. There was an advertisement for an accordian player on the side of a truck along the street, and the accordian player was sitting in the living room playing a song. We saw a pizza stand along the side of the road. We saw beautiful tropical flowers and lots of palm trees. It was a good walk.