I Don't Get Out Much ...

Most of my pictures up to this point have been taken inside or right outside of our condo.  That is because I don't leave our compound a whole lot.  It is so overwhelming and difficult for me that I often choose to stay home.

This evening, however, after Case arrived home from his business trip, I made an attempt at a quick trip to the grocery store.  We were out of baby wipes, deodorant and Coca-Cola Light.  I could have improvised with the lack of baby wipes (paper towel & some water) and deodorant, but don't make me go without my morning carbonated drink!  I left for Tesco at 8:56PM with the goal of being back by 9:45.  (Tesco is less than 1km from our house.)  I found a great parking spot, made it to the entrance in record time.  I would have even been faster if I hadn't been approached by someone in the hypermart offering to give me a free weight-loss consultation.  I tried not to be offended and continued on.  I got off track again in the deodorant aisle as I searched for an equivalent brand to what I used in the U.S.  I came across an anti-wrinkle formula and got really confused.  Was I in the correct section?  Yep - it was deodorant.  I was unaware that people are concerned about wrinkly armpits??  I made a selection (no anti-wrinkle formula for me) and finished my shopping.  I paid for my things, got my parking validated and headed for my car.  I felt confident and was pretty proud of myself for how smoothly things had gone.  Until .. I realized that I lost my validated parking ticket.  Most places charge a good bit if you loose it.  I did some laps around the store, checked my purse, the bags in the trunk and found nothing.  So I had to go beg someone for mercy.  I found the customer service counter and they wanted to see my receipt (which was left in the car). Thankfully, the customer service person felt sorry for me and gave me a validated parking ticket. I finally made it home 10:15PM.

Although I've learned a lot, everything is more difficult here and takes three times as long.  I guess it is to be expected for a while - I am in a foreign country after all.  I do want to adventure out, but I need to figure out how to conquer our own neighborhood first.  We could do more during the weekends when Case is home, but after our trip to the U.S. Embassy a couple of weeks ago (a 15km drive took 2 hours), I'm not so eager to drive anywhere - especially when three young kids in the backseat need food and bathroom breaks.

So, for now, here are some more shots from our pool ;)

On a positive note, I feel very blessed to have met so many wonderful people.  I'm not one to make friends quickly, but there are four wonderful women here that I think are a gift from God. One is my neighbor.  Another two are from our church.  The fourth woman I met at our serviced apartment just days after we moved here.  I've been able to spend precious time with each one of them (thankfully they were willing to come to my place this week).  I am encouraged :)