Lodging and transportation

Some people have asked to see a picture of where we are living so here’s a shot of the house (to post later). It’s quite nice and at least twice as big as our last apartment in Berkeley, so no complaints here. The place is also extremely clean thanks to Sandra, a woman Ben hired to clean and cook, for the supposedly generous salary of about $2 a day. It’s a bit unnerving having someone toil away scrubbing the floors and making lunch while I yawn about how tired I am as I play stack-the-cups with Ani.

Ani and I are still trying to figure out the best way to get around town and fill up time in our day when Ben is working. I have found that my one daily errand – walking to the market to get more cleaning supplies (Sandra goes through tons of bleach and laundry detergent in her efforts to make this place hospital-worthy clean) and food for lunch – totally exhausts me. Part of the reason why it tires me out is because I’m a total wimp, but another factor is that I’m carrying Ani while we battle over whether or not she is going to wear her sunhat and it’s very dusty and hot for someone acclimated to Berkeley weather.

Yesterday I decided that for our second trip to town, I was going to take the jogging stroller. As if we didn’t stand out before, now we looked fully, fully ridiculous navigating this neon green monstrosity through town. People stare and nudge the person next to them. The kids – all decked out in their school uniforms – thought it was hilarious and we had throngs of them following us through town on our way to the bakery. Ani, already prepping for an ambassador position, sat up in the stroller smiling and waving to all the onlookers. In spite of our making a spectacle of ourselves, the stroller is probably the better way to go since I am freed of carrying Ani and whatever we buy and the canopy on the stroller provides some shade. So, let the staring begin because we are off to town…