Thursday, February 14, 2008

We're Doing Science and We're Still Alive

Rowan loves science. It's definitely his favorite subject and he wants to do experiments all the time. We got a hold of a bunch of old Bill Nye the Science Guy videos and he watches them over and over. So yesterday he was taking a bath and he managed to sneak in a small piece of coral that we had found on the beach. I was curious why he wanted to bath with coral and he told me that he wanted to see if barnacles would grow on it if he left it in the water long enough. What could I do? I let him keep the coral and conduct the experiment. Alas, no barnacles formed and he decided that it might just be something that happens in the ocean. Oh, the things we do in the name of science!

In other news, we finally hired a maid! She is a lovely lady from Sri Lanka. She is coming five days a week in the afternoons. She cleans and also cooks our evening meal. She is an excellent cook and a really hard worker, I couldn't be more pleased. She comes on Saturday evening and stays with Rowan so we can go out! All this for the bargain price of $200 a month! Well worth it since keeping the dust down means cleaning all the floors and dusting everything every day. We were laughing the other day that we can have a maid, but we can't afford Starbucks! Labor is one of the cheap things in this country.

The weather is starting to warm up a bit and being outside is a real pleasure. We go out and play at the beach for hours and people are starting to come out a bit more. I've been meeting more of our neighbors and seeing a lot more kids about. Once it finally gets warm enough to swim I'm sure we will get to know all of the kids around here.

Our internet is slowly but surely getting back to normal. I was afraid it would never be the same, but I think it's getting there. Let's just hope no more cables get cut. That's all the news for now.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I will be starting a new job in Kuwait in March. I have enjoyed reading about you experiences so far.

Is there any advice you can give under a "lessons learned" heading you can provide?

I am coming over for only 12 months unaccompanied.

My biggest question is how hard will it be to find a furnished 1 bedroom apartment?

Thanks,

Jeff

Kerri said...

Hi Jeff,
Congrats on the job. Do you have a place to stay for a while after you arrive? It might be very hard to find housing from the States. If you are only here for one year, funished is definatly the way to go. It is very expensive setting up a household. Do you know what part of town you will be in?

The best thing you can do is to come with an open mind and a sense of adventure. If you are ready to roll with the punches and try to see the humor in everything, you will have a good experience.

Let us know when you arrive or if you need any help.

Kerri

Anonymous said...

Hi Kerri

Thanks for responding back. I will be in company provided housing for 3 to 4 months, then will move into an apartment. Not sure exactly what part of town I will be in yet.

Is the driving there really that dangerous or is it comparable to a big city like Phoenix or Los Angeles?

Any idea if you can negotiate at all on rental car and apartment prices or are they all the same?

In general, how safe do you feel there, all things considered?

Thanks,

Jeff

Jesse said...

Jesse here. The driving is really not too bad. Occasionally it gets a bit nuts in traffic, but in general you get used to it pretty quick. It's definitely not what you are used to in the US (anywhere).

Personally I feel perfectly safe here. I've never felt unsafe, even while riding buses or wandering around run down neighborhoods.

From when I was looking around for apartments I can say that finding a 1 bedroom furnished apartment shouldn't be too much trouble. You will pay for it, but that's pretty much par for the course around here.