Settling In: Starting to feel like home, a very nice home

Moving overseas, as some of you know is very different from going on vacation. There are many things we took for granted, one of the biggest is a great kitchen. We are thankful to have a kitchen, but would love to have more space and our pots and pans. Here is a picture of a breakfast.

Two kinds of bread, a cibatta and a multigrain seeded bread. We are thinking we will end up eating more bread which has been a rare treat for us for years. Both of these are delicious rich vegan and CHEAP! They feel healthy when we eat them. The yellow thing is the first mango of the season. They are expensive now, but will be cheap in a couple of weeks. We have a communal terrazzo that has a Weber grill.  Last night I grilled $2 of organic pork there for a big pot of soup with fresh ancho and bell peppers, red onion, carrots, garbanzos, lentils and avocado. Delicious, and leftovers for tonight.

Not having washer and dryer also alters life, especially when we have willingly left most of our clothes behind. Self service laundromats are exceedingly rare here. We eventually settled on having our laundry done for us, but not until the underwear situation grew critical. Turns out that was a wonderful treat for us, and the cost is minimal. I have fretted for a long time about how much water we wasted on small loads of laundry. No worries now. I am following the Rick Steves’ method of travel, wear clothes multiple times before washing and have limited clothes options.

Not having a car made us realize how many unneeded trips, and lazy trips we made. We think nothing of walking miles now, and it is undoubtedly good for us. We also have yet to watch any television. We read and write and talk to people, often people we hardly or not at all know. Walking here is an opportunity to see things through a new lens. here are pictures of some wonderful architecture, of which we are surrounded; and with that I wish you a good night.