The past few days have been really good.

We started language lessons Monday morning. It was like drinking from the firehose, but it was so, so good to get some semblance of starting our current full-time job. For awhile there, it was starting to feel like we moved here in order to set up a home.

Speaking of which, on Tuesday we rented a car for a few days so that we could get another chunk of house set-up accomplished. As you know from all my writing this past month, it takes a loooong time to get anywhere here, so having your own vehicle is an enormous help. Some fellow foreigners who’ve been here for years rent a car every six weeks or so, mostly for sanity. I can totally see why. We were able to get a ton done. It was great.

Because we got so much done yesterday, we decided to keep the car another day and take a little day trip out of the city for the afternoon. I’ve been reading the book of Mark, and I’ve noticed how often Jesus takes breaks between his miracles. Not a week vacation or anything, just a day to either be by himself or with his friends, refreshing himself before digging back in to his work. I’m not walking on water or feeding 5,000 – but I’d say it is a minor miracle that in the past month we’ve moved to a new country with 16 boxes, none of which were damaged and all of which arrived, found a home, slowly started furnishing it (without any language other than a pocket dictionary), and began learning our way around a new city of 4 million… all with a two-year-old. We’re not burned out by any means (in fact, we’re pretty eager to dive in to language learning full-time!), but we do want to take care of ourselves. We have personally learned how easily your batteries drain simply by trying to live overseas.

So. We decide to head out of town to this beach town about 45 minutes away, what Lonely Planet calls our city’s “backyard.” It was rather chilly and windy, but it was still a blast to get a change of scenery, a slower pace for the afternoon, and a break from the hustle and bustle of a huge city. We planned on having lunch at a Mexican restaurant that received good reviews in our Lonely Planet book. It was closed.

But we enjoyed what is now one of our indulgences – driving around together with Chickpea in a carseat. At first I worried that she’d pitch a fit about being strapped in the backseat with her parents up front; for more than a month now she’s been in someone’s lap in every mode of transport. But she actually thought it was a big treat. She saw her old friend and said, “My carseat! Yay!,” climbed on in, and buckled herself. There were zero issues with getting her back into the car the past two days – all we had to do was ask her if she wanted to go sit in her Big Girl Carseat. Kabob and I enjoyed a little solitude as we drove around and soaked up the scenery – sharp, rolling hills sinking quickly into the Mediterranean. Oh – and we saw bluebonnets. That was unexpected.

I should also mention that this morning, as we were getting ready to go, we got a call – our living room furniture was on its way. This was a major praise, as we have had nothing but our beds and dining rooms chairs to sit on this entire time. I’m actually sitting in an armchair as I type. It is pure luxury. Our place now feels SO MUCH MORE like a home. I love it.

You can see our furniture, and photos from our day trip, on Flickr.

posted: 07 April 4
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