Tuesday, September 22, 2009

The Way I See Things

This (above) is the view out my small kitchen balcony. I am looking towards the east.

The photos above and below are taken from out of my larger balcony off my living room. The balcony faces south.

The people in the above photo are elderly folks doing their daily exercises, some with fake swords. Although this was not taken in the morning, exercisers meet every day at 6 a.m., unless it is raining. I enjoy their chatter and noises, although I am always still in bed when I hear them.

If you notice, the main road is wet. It was not raining, but water trucks run up and down this street all day and all night long, presumably to hold down the dust. It must work, because I don't ever see any dust on the road. I sure do hear a lot of cars sloshing down the road on non-rainy days though.

(Bad photos, I know. Better than nothing though, right?)

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Technically, Moved

If you opened my blog hoping to see photos of my new apartment, sorry to disappoint, but really, YOU CANNOT SEE IT THE WAY IT LOOKS NOW!!! I am technically moved from the old apartment to the new, but it feels like this odyssey is never going to end. Boxes and what once was their contents are strewn all over the place. Looks like an internal tornado hit. I am really, really, really sore and the only reason I am writing now is because it hurts too much to unpack. I simply had to sit down for awhile. Though technically I have moved, technically, the result is that I can't move.

Finishing this house moving task is complicated by various tasks like getting curtains, hot water heaters, and keys; getting water bottles delivered, cleaning the old apartment, returning keys to the old apartment, trying to get money due me from various sources, finishing up contracts, and all sorts of what we call mah-fahn (trouble). I cannot even begin to tell you all the unbelievable stories of what I have experienced in the past few weeks, because if I did so you would be inclined to think all the people in this country were money-grubbing cheats who had problems telling the truth, and that is simply not the case. (Just some of them are that way, and apparently I have a way of attracting those types. Most of the people I meet are lovely.) :-)

When my [very serious] pain subsides, I will send photos and let you know HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS NEW PLACE!

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Moving Pains

Every bone in my body hurts. Despite months of daily exercise, there is obviously no workout that equals packing up your house by yourself.

Last year I took about 6 weeks to pack, so I did everything methodically and carefully. This time I have about 5 days to pack, so there is nothing careful or logical about it. Everything goes in a box, any box, quickly. Last night I even gave up labeling the boxes. Part of one box's contents may go in the kitchen, part in the office, part in the living room, etc.

Last year, I was leaving a city and people I had lived among for a dozen years. This year, I'm not saying goodbye to anyone. That part is easier. Last year I had to take Mimi on a bus for 8 hours to move. This year, by taxi it may take 8 minutes. That part is also easier.

Yes, I found an apartment finally. The kitchen pictured in the following blog post is it. It now has a gas stove in the kitchen, hot water heaters, and all the other missing pieces. It is a new place. It is slightly smaller than where I live now, but I'm going to like it.

The movers arrive in the morning. They have to take apart wardrobe closets and bookshelves, and reconstruct them in the new apartment. So moving will take part of 3 days to complete.

In other news, Mimi got her annual shots yesterday. She's been sleeping harder and more than usual. It's easier to pack when she is not underfoot.

If you wrote me an e-mail, sorry to say I don't have time to write much e-mail in the coming two weeks. I have time to read it, just no time to write back. Sorry. Gotta run!