Progress

We feel like we've made some progress in the last few months in different ways.  First of all, our language has definitely improved.  We can now understand taxi drivers, neighbors, and even our language tutor when he speaks slowly!  We can speak it ok, but I'm sure that people are cringing at every wrong verb tense and our accents.  

Daniel can navigate us almost anywhere around the city.  When we rent a car, he can always find his way around, and he has even found short-cuts to our house that he shows to taxi drivers to avoid traffic at busy times of the day.

We now know how to make sure we get enough water on fill-up day (Sunday) to last us a whole week - but we still save most of our laundry until Saturday, just in case.  

I have figured out a list of recipes that I can actually make here considering what we can and cannot find.  Although I still get daring and go to the store with grocery list in hand, only to find out that, no, I can't find buttermilk, or blueberries (at least not a quart for under $15).  

We have figured out how to get rid of mold spots on the ceilings, and the walls, and behind whatever piece of furniture that is sitting against the walls.  We have also figured out that mold is a problem everywhere in the city.  I think it has to do with the fact that there is no insulation, lots of moisture and cold and cheap paint on the walls.  Thankfully, we don't have the hairy kind of mold growing in our apartment like some of our friends do.  AND, supposedly it goes away for the summer. 

The more people we meet here, the more we love it here.  We feel so welcomed.  The friends we have are so inviting and hospitable and fun.  And the city is fun, too.  Did you know that guys can go out for a night of billiards and ping pong?  Yes, you can rent the ping pong tables by the hour, it's very popular here.  We're thinking about getting a table for our spare room.  :)

ALSO...the kingdom now has a new law, no smoking inside the airport or any of the malls!  THAT is progress!