Time to blog

Hi All, I guess it is about time to blog again. Honestly, I think we both feel a bit whip-lashed right now and are trying to keep our heads up. Although it has honestly been a good week, I'm starting to think that two weeks is about how long it takes for someone to start realizing this isn't vacation, it is for real. Also, not only are we adjusting to a new culture, and new jobs, but also we are still living in the hostel (for those of you that don't know what a hostel is...it is a hotel of sorts, but more like you rent a room but share a kitchen and living area with everyone else that is here. There is space for probably about 50 people to sleep here and share living quarters. It is cheaper than a hotel, but also not as nice). Anyhow, living in the hostel is a challenge. We don't want to complain but the reality is reality...our bathroom is disgusting, this morning we woke up to dirt fallen in from the window (a window with no screen or glass) outside all over the shower floor and into the toilet area, there is never a quiet moment - either there is a party until 4 am or people laughing and talking loud, or car alarms going off, or traffic, or children playing while your trying to sleep....it's quite the ordeal. In part we have loved getting to know so many people from all over the world, and many of them that are teaching like we are (and looking for apartments as we are), but on the flip side this communal living is tiring. So, we ARE on the hunt for an apartment. We really, really hope to have something in the next few days, but....all on Chilean time.... and as we figure out how to understand the apartment listings in Spanish. But, we are getting some help from others that know Spanish better than us. It will work out. Also, eating is a challenge....without a kitchen we can really use (there is one here but there is barely any room in the fridge, it is disgusting, and there are usually about 6 people trying to cook in a 5 foot square space), we have eaten a lot of PBJs and cheese/advocato sandwhiches....Meals are actually pretty close in price to those in the US, so eating out all the time is expensive....and we aren't very good at reading the menus yet. I discovered ice cream two days ago. This may keep me alive - ha! Oh, and eggs and milk are never refrigerated. Rich was tired of warm milk so bought a single serving milk and put it in the fridge and it froze! So, he had frozen milk...well, he drank it as it melted....... Rich is actually excited about Nescafe in the morning now (read previous post on coffee)! We also tried out the Chilean passtime of hanging out in the park today. We were so exhausted today we pretty much just slept late (we don't know what time it is in our room because it is so dark), looked for some apartments, took a nap, and hung in the park for three hours just laying on the grass (that is what they do...lay in the grass) and watching people. It is now 7:30 PM and I think I'm starting to fee normal (Sunday is my only full day off so I'm trying to recover today). And, I thought I'd just blab on here if any of you might be interested in listening. Typing this is actually a bit therapeutic.