Things have been a little more stressful here in the Middle East as of late. Our housing is… not quite what we were hoping for. It just looks like they rushed to get it completed. Besides it being very dirty, there are electrical problems, drainage problems, mold problems, floor cracking problems, and every other problem. All the other teachers in the building are having the same problems. We have banded together to try and get something done about it. I’ll update that when I know something.
We did buy our appliances and furniture. The appliances have all been delivered. We got the basics – fridge, washer/dryer, microwave. No stove/oven though. There’s just no room for it in our current kitchen. We did get a toaster oven that has two burners on top of it though so that will do for now. The delivery process was a hassle. None of the guys spoke english, and our new place isn’t exactly on the map yet, so you put those two together and… well there were problems. I mostly had to just bring the delivery trucks to the hotel, then either let them follow me over to the apartment in a taxi, or like today, actually get into the delivery truck with two guys and ride with them over. Let me just tell you – riding in the middle of two sweaty, smelly delivery men who don’t speak a lick of english is not a pleasant experience. But we got it all in there so all is well in that regard. We also go Logan’s crib in today, but I didn’t want to unpack the bedding because the floors and walls are still dirty. We’ll still in the hotel until at least Thursday (hoping it gets exended another week) so hopefully we’ll get the place cleaned at least. Our living room couch and bed won’t be here for a few more weeks (back stock), so we’re gonna have to buy an air mattress and sleep on that for a bit. At least Logan gets a nice crib.
In other news…
We went to a pizza place with a bunch of teachers. For my pizza, I had a pepperoni and hotdog pizza. Yeah, I did. It was basically just some type of… hotdog meat cut into circles and put on the pizza. It was very tasty.
Not sure if any of you southern folks remember, but Hardees used to have Hotdogs when I was little. Well, the Hardees here have hotdogs. Not pork of course, but close enough. They come loaded with mustard, chili and onions. Once you add ketchup from the packets, its all good.
We no longer have free internet in the room. They found out and turned it off. There is free WiFi in the lobby though so we’re using as long as we’re here. Once we move in to the apartment, I’m not sure when I’ll be up and online again.
I bought Logan a really cool baseball lamp for his room. I’m so excited to teach him how to throw… in a few years.
Oh… I forgot to mention about my job interview. I went to the music school and spoke with the director. She is very excited and wants to work with me. She wants me to direct their Christmas musicals (30 minute little shows at nice hotels). They want to add some drama into the program. They just sang Christmas songs last year so anything I can do to spruce it up would be great. I may also teach classes there as well. I will be paid, not much, but its something. I’ll only go maybe once a week at the most, and in the afternoon so we don’t need a babysitter. I’m gonna do some brainstorming about everything meet with the director later on. So yay.
And finally.. I found out that my name… Rob… means Yogurt in Arabic. Lovely, huh?
