Electricity and Innertubes

After a long hiatus from blogging, I felt compelled to write a quick note and post it out there in the bloggosphere. Our life has been eventful, to be sure, as every move is eventful. Everything is a step or two more complicated here than it would be if we had simply moved somewhere else in the US.

Allow me to iterate... In preparation for our arrival, the school signed a contract with the electrical company, and the electricity was up-and-running. Well, it was sort of running. Let's just say that when there was electricity in the neighborhood we were already part of the action. When I got here the school handed me their contract and told me to go into the electric company and switch the contract into my name. They made it sound easy.

As it turns out, the electricity company is notorious for a few reasons. First, they have some super lousy customer service. I got to see this first hand because I was talking with a customer service lady that simply would not slow down her speech, no matter how many times I asked or reminded her that I had only been in the country a couple weeks. Second, the electric company has been known to over charge people. Kinda like how they want me to pay for the month of MAY (not June or July... it's crazy). Lastly, they're quick to simply turn a person's power off. Currently the good ladies at my school are worried that the company will do just that because I can't talk to their customer service people long enough to get them to switch the account or allow me to pay a bill for the time period that we were actually living here.

Dizzy yet? You should have seen me walking out of the office last time... it was nuts. Pretty much everything around here works kinda like that. I bought a new motorcycle... had it in the shop within two weeks. The smoothest thing that's happened so far is that I got a flat tire today, and it was patched within 30 min and cost me less than 2 bucks. That's because it was a guy working out of his house, not some established place trying to steal my pesos. (BTW... the motorcycle tires down here have INNERTUBES like a bicycle! It reenforces my theory that this thing is really a bicycle with a motor attached to it)

We're learning how to navigate in this new culture, though. The motorcycle is a great deal easier to get around on in La Vega, because the streets are narrow and there's a great deal of waiting and honking to get a car through some of the neighborhoods. The mercados are cheeper to buy veggies at, and there are more options than just the Dominican Walmart for the shopping. We've found most of the spices we'll need for the basics, and I even managed to find a place in Santiago that sells BAGELS!!!

Our current complications involve buying a bed and couch, as well as a possible auto repair on the SUV that I drive to work every day. Please pray that we'll be able to afford all of these things and still pay off our medical bills in Portland. Also, pray for the beginning of my school year which begins this coming Wednesday. We're almost done with our teacher's meetings, and will have Monday and Tuesday to prepare for the actual classes. Pray for the kids and parents and teachers that we may start this year off well.