Settling In

This post is probably going to be a bit long-Its been a busy 2 weeks. 

We arrived here in the city on Feb. 9^th and spent the next week staying at our teammates house and looking for an apartment to rent. After lots of looking we saw the place we wanted on Friday. We signed the papers on Saturday and had the keys and we were able to sleep there Saturday night. Things can move very quickly here.

            We were able to move in so quick partly because we were willing to clean it for a discount on rent for the first few weeks and because it was already furnished. There was beds, appliances, and kitchen items so we could mostly eat and cook right away. Often you have to hook all the water, gas etc. up and buy a fridge and stove so we got lucky and it saves us lots of money having those items here already. So we have been cleaning as it was quite dirty and slowly unpacking our stuff. We have made lots of trips to the grocery store and we are mostly good for food now. We have also spent a good chunk of time at IKEA as we needed to buy furniture for the kids room such as a crib and toddler bed. We also bought some bookshelves and dressers and then some kitchen items that we still needed. They had plates and bowls and such here but we felt more comfortable using our own stuff since we would be replacing whatever broke anyways-and with the kids that is bound to happen. They also had no Tupperware or kid friendly dishes so we picked that up as well, along with mats for the bathroom and some storage containers and shelves for the kids toys, books and art supplies.

From what we understand from hand gestures and pointing at the calendar, we are fairly certain our stuff is coming today.

Yesterday we went and bought a dryer. Most people here do not use one but after the 3^rd day of our jeans still being damp, we went and bought one along with a vacuum and they were both delivered and dryer installed within an hour of being in the store. We also bought a mattress for us. We wanted to sleep on something comfortable and something that we knew where it had all been and the mattress here was none to comfortable. We already had a frame and beautiful dresser in the master bedroom so we are all set there.

So we are getting there and this place is starting to feel like home a bit now that our clothes are all hung up in a closet and folded in drawers. They have been in suitcases and bags for almost 2 months now.

This is a city where you really can get almost anything. It is very modern and seems to be efficient at most things. We have had lots of conversations where we are talking in English and they in their language and we smile and nod at each other because neither understands the other. It will be nice to know the language for sure, but so far we have found someone in most situations who understands enough to help us.

The people here are very fascinated with our kids. Especially Elijah as he has such blond hair. They are always pinching his cheeks, rubbing his head and kissing him, sometimes on the lips but we are usually able to stop them before this happens. He tolerates it and has learned to run away or push their hands away when it gets to be too much. Azariah has been in the ergo carrier every time we have been out so they leave her alone for now.

 I will try and post pictures of our new place soon. It is on the 4^th floor so we have a great view of the sea but we have no elevator-good cardio workout everyday when you have a 20 lb child attached to you and an armload of groceries since we walk everywhere to get things.

We got a duplex-2floors and it is technically 4 bedroom although 2 are quite small.

On the main floor there is a great kitchen that has an enclosed balcony off of it and a living room/dining room that opens onto the balcony. Then there is the kids room, a bathroom with a Jacuzzi type tub-minus the jets and a separate shower, and the master bedroom that has a toilet and sink en suite. It is small only one of us fits at a time but it is handy.

Upstairs is more of an attic type room with the sloping ceiling. I can only stand upright along the one wall and even then the ceiling is pretty low. This is the kids play area. It is a great size to fit their toys and have them be able to play happily. Elijah really loves playing up there. There is a small toilet and sink bathroom up there and the 2 smaller bedrooms. One is an office and has always been from the way it is set up with a desk and wired for internet. It would be hard to fit a queen sized bed in there. The second room is slightly larger and fits a futon and a small dresser. Not much room besides those. This will be a guest room/storage area for now. Again, I will try to put up pictures soon.

So this is home for the next while 3 years?? We are getting to know the area and the stores. We are a 2 minute walk from the train station and about 10 from the closest grocery store. It takes us about 15-20 minutes to walk to our teammates house-depending on how fast Elijah walks. We miss everyone at home but we are settling in here. The kids are doing well. We are glad they are doing good. Azariah had a high fever for 4 days right after we first got here and so we now are familiar with a pediatrician that speaks English and the closest private hospital. Not sure what she had but we are glad its gone and she is back to normal. As a side note-Elijah is absolutely loving the olives and feta here. Our usual morning snack is almonds, olives and dried apricots-sometimes with cheese.

Hope to hear from some of you soon.

Travel

Well...we have made it. We are finally here. After many hours of travel we are glad to finally set our bags down and get some sleep. We left Canada on a very snowy day. We had to dig out the truck to get out of the driveway and it took us much longer than normal to make the drive to the airport. But we arrived and had lots of time. Our flight, surprisingly was not cancelled, although we did sit on the tarmac for awhile getting de-iced. We flew for 7 hours and Child # 1 cried a good part of the flight but we were very thankful that we were sitting with another mom and her child as well as a guy who had a small child at home and a nice elderly grandpa who did not mind, and in fact welcomed, having kids crawling on him and crying in his ear.
Flight # 2 was smooth. We all slept for the whole flight. We landed, paid for our visas had our passports stamped and got our bags. We had arranged for a local here to pick us up with a big van, so we got everything loaded and drove 2 more hours to get to the place we are staying. Both kids thought it was great to ride in a vehicle without a carseat. (they are not really used here so we didn't even bring them).
It was great to see T & R and they had supper ready for us so we had something to eat, let the kids play for a bit, gave them a bath and then we took showers and went to bed. It feels great to have a hot shower and lay in a real bed after being on a plane for a long time. T took Andrew out to the store last night so we could get toothpaste and deodorant after we couldn't find ours.

 The kids did pretty well. Slept until 1am and then went back to bed around 3am and slept until we woke them up at 9am this morning! Hopefully tonight is just as good or even better. We have not ventured out today. we have just been taking it slow and napping a bit. Tomorrow we have about 7 places lined up to look at for us to potentially rent, so we will get out and explore then. So far nothing has stood out to me to much. My first impression has just been like any other mega city I have been too, lots of people, lots of cars, and crazy driving. I'm sure we will have more to say on that once we get out in the city a bit.
Well that's about it for now. Its warmer here- feels like May in BC about 15 C today and a bit rainy.

small town life.

Small Town Ontario. This is a town I grew up in but I often forget what it is like to live in a small town and the daily events that make the paper. Small towns always have their eccentricities and an example was this weekend. My younger brother and his buddies came back to town to participate in the annual Plunger Toss contest.  Yes, it is what it sounds like. A bunch of people throwing toilet plungers into empty toilets that stand in a field. You get points depending on where in the toilet the plunger lands. 10 points if it stands upright in the hole. Keep in mind that this competition takes place outside and today it was -22 C. That did not seem to deter anyone. My brother left all layered up this morning and came back 12 hours later as the grand prize winner. He and his team even had their picture taken and will make it onto the front page of the local paper.
These type of events make me smile. Its seems funny to me that these type of events are a big deal but they are. Its these silly kind of things that I will miss. Having lived in larger urban areas for the last 8 years, I am used to locking up everything and keeping a close eye on my purse, children or any belongings. I seem overly paranoid here when nobody else locks there doors and all the neighbours know each other and recently, this town was (supposedly) deemed the safest community in Canada (or Ontario??) by McClain magazine.
(That is until the other night when my mother saw someone trying to break into our car which resulted in her calling the police and all the neighbours having a chat over the phone about it the next morning-and Police cruisers driving down the street in front of the house an hour after she called.)
I forget how big of a deal this is. It is refreshing in alot of ways to be in a slower paced community that is looking out for their neighbours and enjoys participating in community events.
Having lived in an area with fairly high crime rates and lots of drug trafficking, I forget what it is like to live this way again.
We have enjoyed our time here (other than the temperature). The kids are settling in nicely and we are ready to go. We had an open house today to say goodbye to friends and family. We were privileged to be here when one of my closest friends had their baby and it was nice to be able to bring them lunch at home a few short hours after the birth and see the new baby. Just to be around with life happening. So this is where we are for a few more days until we head out into a major metropolitan centre.