We were supposed to get our new couch and chair today. I waited and waited. I woke Amy at 2pm (yes 2 in the afternoon) to help me move the couch into Randy's and my bedroom. At 7pm our friend, Iris, called to tell me that they would not be able to deliver the couch today. The man had 5 other deliveries, it would be too late and he was tired! Now it will not be here until Thursday or Friday. I asked why they were not delivering it on Wednesday and she told me that the schedule was already full and they couldn't do that. I am thinking - if it is already on the truck, why would they not just deliver first thing in the morning? I guess they do not work that way here. Seems like a lot of extra work to unload the truck and reload it. Another cultural difference! So now we only have the 2 chairs in the living room.
I also had the repair man back for my stove. I was having trouble with one of the burners. I would start to cook on it and it would just go out. This was really frustrating when I would put on a pot of water to boil, come back 10 minutes later to check if it was boiling only to find out that the flame was out. The same man who was here before came this time. He started showing me something about the burner. I was guessing that he is telling me it is broken, but these burners look different than ours, so again, I was guessing. I call Iris to have her translate for me. It is indeed broken, so he replaces it for me. I also have him check all the others (with only 3 I need them all working!)
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| Can you tell which is the new one? If you guessed the one on the right you would be correct. The small burner has a little rack for smaller pots. It can be moved to the other burners. The burners are very close together, so when I have 3 pots or pans on the stove, it is a tight fit. There is no writing on the dials. |
Then I ask him to show me how to change the light bulb on the vent. It is not that easy, you need to pry off the cover using a knife or screw driver - something strong but thin. It took him a little while to get it off. I clean off all the built up grease while he changes the light bulb. I now have a working light above the stove and 3 working burners. Life is good! Now if I can just figure out how to cook!
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| These are the controls for the oven. I am still trying to figure it out. The right button controls the temperature (and after the first time when I put it at 250, I now remember it is Celsius and cook around 175! ), The left button is the controls. Near as I can figure, the second choice on the right of the button is baking. At least that is what I have been baking on. It is weird, because when you turn the dial, the light comes on and stays on while the oven is on. When I put it on the picture that has the line on the bottom, it doesn't seem to get hot enough. I still need to play with this some more. We have tried to play with the middle buttons and have not been successful at getting them to do anything. You would think that the button with the clock is how you set the clock, but if it is there is a trick, because we can't set it. |
Today I was looking out the window and I noticed a repair man fixing an air conditioner in a building nearby. The air conditioners are on a small balcony in the back of the apartment. We can not access it (not exactly sure how to get out there). He was on the fourth floor, standing on the railing while he was working. I was having panic attacks that he would fall - of course no safety harnesses or anything like that. Glad to report he did get down safely!
Cultural differences/Frustrations 101: Many people with babies and young toddlers (but not all) dress them in special clothing where the bottom is open. It looks like overalls without a crotch. They do not use diapers, just "free as a bird!" I find it unusual especially for infants. How do the adults keep from getting soiled themselves. For toddlers I have seen the adult just put the child to the side of the sidewalk to go to the bathroom. It sure solves the problem of soiled clothing when potty training!
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