Drive and walk at your own risk.

Driving/Riding/Walking here is interesting. There are very high fines for speeding and running red lights. They have cameras, big obvious cameras to catch speeders. My understanding is it is about 1,000.00 US dollars if you run a red light. There are also small poster's of a man pointing a huge finger at the traffic to remind them to go the speed limit, (to be specific, the pointer finger, for those thinking otherwise). It is a strange little poster that is made of cardboard and obviously sunbleached, as though someone just posted it on the road just as we would for a yard sale or community event but forgot to take it down after a month or two. What people have discovered is that if there is no camera....there is no speeding ticket. I suppose there are policemen monitering the roads somewhere...but I haven't seen any. There are accidents everytime we go out, they are mostly in roundabouts. Speaking of roundabouts, there are two lanes in the cirlce but the strange part is that the driver on the inside lane has the right of way. Whenever they decide to get out of the roundabout, they just turn, not always a signal, just random cars cutting in front you. I think I have started holding my breath during the roundabouts, and there are a lot. It is like a mini rollarcoaster ride each time as my husband attempts to go faster or slower than nearby cars to assure that we can get off as needed without being run off the road. To make it worse, if there is no camera....do you think they go the speed limit? We have discovered either people here are driving so slow it is a hazard or they drive as fast as manics. The crazy part is we hear that many drivers are still gone on vacation and the traffic is very managable right now! Scary!

If you are a pedestrian, watch out! We do not have the right of way. We have nearly been run over near the mall/grocery store a few times. As we were exiting the mall we went to cross the street to get to the parking lot. Cars were zooming past and even if you thought they were going to stop for you to cross it is just a joke because they speed up. Then as we were walking down the parking lot to our vehicle, a car swirved into the empty parking spot in front of us. They were so fast I just felt a whoosh of air and a blur of white as we stopped in our tracks to look closer and realize someone was cutting us off while we were walking with a stroller!!!!

A few nights ago we were on our way home and an suv didn't think we (us and several other cars )were going fast enough. So they passed us on the wrong side of the road, it wasn't a passing lane folks. Then they cut in front of us to turn right.

Dance Party

I was walking upstairs yesterday when I heard loud party music. I followed the music to our bedroom to find my husband and daughter having their own little dance party!  Adorable, right? Just as I was going to turn back for my camera I saw my husband turn to the computer to change the songs and he leaned over and did the booty shaking dance move!!! You know the one, where nothing else shakes but the rear end which is going 190 shakes a minute! I can't say I have ever seen him do that move on the dance floor before...he is a closet booty shaker...who knew???

 

Gas Prices

We took our car to the gas station to get fuel as we run our errands for the day.

Pull up to the pump and an attendant runs to us to pump our gas for no extra cost.
Total cost of gas to fill up an SUV, $25.00.
Final feeling as we pull away,  priceless!

No more repairs, please.

 

I mentioned the heat earlier, it is hot enough here that even the cold water is hot. Fortunately, there is a unit that can be installed called a "water chiller" to make the water temperatures normal, cold is cold and hot is hot. This must be installed on the roof. When we first arrived someone mentioned that one would be installed at our house soon. I assume this is much like the U.S. repairmen who use their own time schedule to arrive and do work. They say morning it will probably be evening. So of course, my husband's first day of work, they arrive. I am left to deal with this on my own. When the doorbell rings...it makes some type of psycho response in the dogs to go wild and they bark until they can bark no more. You would think I had trapped two wild beasts in my house. Three gentlemen are outside with paperwork. ( They do look a little scared of what's inside my house making that much noise) I can't understand them when they speak to me. One of them does speak some English but with their accent....I can't decifer what he is really saying. So I kept saying, water chiller? water chiller? (As if I could keep saying it over and over and they would suddenly understand). They didn't understand. So they got in their truck and I shut the door. I kept peeping through the kitchen window and they got back out and came to the door. They rang the doorbell again, the dogs hadn't quit barking to begin with. I answer and they handed me a cell phone. Could I understand the accent on the phone any better, hmmm...nope. So they go to the truck and I shut the door. I peep through the window and they come back again. By this time the dogs are foaming at the mouth (just kidding, but it sounds good right?) And they give me the cell phone again. Thank goodness...someone speaking English. They are here to install the water chiller. (Just so you know I did wonder if this was all a hoax and I was going to be kidnapped and taken to a cave somewhere. Turns out I would have just released the wild barking beasts I had caged up and figured I would be fine, right? : ) I let them in and they go right to the roof. I hang out downstairs for a few minutes then go up to check on them....as I go up to the roof they are coming back down. They try and communicate over the dog barking. They said, "No water, on roof". I am like...huh? "No water, on roof, can't work". So then they go back up the stairs to the roof...maybe looking for a cell phone I don't really know. The doorbell rings again. Two more gentlemen. I am relieved as maybe they can help the men on the roof. They must have found a cell phone and called for back up. They go upstairs. I hang out for a few minutes then go upstairs to check on things again. The two new gentlemen are in my bedroom, not with the water chiller men! I am a little nervous. I try and talk to him and mention a water chiller. He says something I can't understand and then points to the ac unit, which doesn't work. He punches some buttons and says "works now, see?". I said no it doesn't work, it stops working at night after running all day. He tried to talk to me more but I can't understand him. He is talking too fast and the dogs are barking and the men from the roof are coming to the bedroom to see what is happening.  I said no but they need help with water chiller. He looks at me like I am crazy and says.."mam, do you speak English?" I said, "yes! Really thinking I have let a lunatic into my house. So I say, please help them on the roof". So off he goes and comes back to me in a few minutes and says he will get a plumber. Three minutes later he arrives with the plumber. They are both on bicycles.The plumber turns the water on in several rooms, goes to the roof, quickly returns, turns off the water and leaves. The ac repairman gives me his name and phone number to call for more help if needed and off he goes on his bike. I feel relieved but only for a few moments as the roof workers come back down to try and tell me something else isn't working. (Dogs are still barking like mad). They need power, a circuit breaker. I find one, but all the tags are in english and I don't think they can understand. I call the ac man. I said please come and help with the water chiller. He started talking quickly and I can't understand a word, not one word. Soon he hangs up on me. This is just great, barking dogs, crying child, three workers on the roof clueless. But much to my surprise the doorbell again and the ac worker has brought an electrictian. It is amazing how many workers here come so quickly on bikes! So the electrician flips a switch and off they go. In about 15 minutes the roof workers come down and say they are finished. I am estatic. Cool water! The dogs stop barking and the house is calm and cool. Thirty minutes later, the doorbell rings. Two new gentleman. I said "water chiller?", they say no. I said "Air conditioner", they say no. I am beginning to wonder what is going on here. They said "kitchen". At this point I didn't really care anymore and welcomed them inside. They installed a lightbulb on the oven hood. I signed a paper. They left. Why couldn't it have all been that easy?? We still don't have a properly working ac in our bedroom, but do you think I am going to call anyone about it...no way!!!

 

 

We have arrived!

We finally arrived at our destination. It is exciting and rather exotic with palm trees and sand everywhere. Our house is huge and very nice....it will be much nicer when we have our things to help fill it up. Hot. It is extremely hot. I am not even sure how to describe how hot it is. More to come...