After a long delay, we finally have internet. Now I use the term "long" loosely because when you don't have internet you feel as though the world is happening all around you and you can't jump into the conversation. And that makes you feel very frustrated! So here we are, fully loaded and ready to go.
So when we last left off I told you all about getting our keys and receiving a few furniture deliveries. That weekend we assembled all of our furniture with the expertise and nimble fingers of Brian and Kellie. If you've ever bought Ikea furniture, you know what I mean! We set up the house as best we could, did a full grocery shop and then our family left the Ingraham nest Sunday afternoon. You need to understand that moving into a flat after just a week and a half in country is absolutely ridiculous. This was truly an act of God. He got us settled and put us to work right away.
In the week that followed we quickly got our bearings and figured out the quirks of our new place. We learned which parts of the creaky floor to avoid at night so we don't wake up the kids, we learned that the bathroom sink only produces water from the north pole, and we learned that our kitchen window has a huge gap in it that lets in a howling wind. Not bad for a flat that was built in the 1800's. Since we live in a corner flat we have a lovely turret/bay window with window seats and we can look out over our kingdom, er, neighborhood and watch the world go by. The kids love to play in the heavy drapes of "the castle room".
Darren got to work straight away with meetings and events and even preaching in a small church outside of town. He and I were both glad that he was so busy right away, it really helped to crush doubts and insecurities when we saw God show up in the things that Darren is involved in.
The kids continue to plug away at their school work. Although, it seems silly to do formal schooling when all that they've been experiencing over the past weeks has been far more educational than anything I could provide for them. They absolutely love their class at church, Kid TOUGH. I knew it would be hard to match their love for their PRBC teachers, especially Miss Corina and the always hilarious Mr. Key (ask Cameron about that sometime), but God knew what they needed to feel at home and a church that they love was essential to their successful transition. Jason is having a great time running errands with Darren, especially when they take trains or taxis all over the city. Cameron struggles to find food that she will eat but we have made a few breakthroughs. The kids all enjoy the parks in our neighborhood.
We have been busy finding more furniture for our flat. The bedrooms don't have closets so we are hunting down wardrobes and dressers for everyone. I've found great bargains at the Salvation Army and we've been painting wardrobes in fun colors for the girls. Grocery shopping without a car has been adventurous and a daily chore. We live on a hill so going down to the stores is no problem, I'm always optimistic at first. Then when I climb back up with all my bags I get mad at myself for buying so much. We have a fridge with a small freezer (such a luxury!) and a washing machine in our kitchen. I've gotten quite used to doing laundry in the kitchen. It's pretty convenient since I spend so much time in that room preparing food and doing school with the kids. We don't have a dryer so we hang laundry on all the radiators in the house. Mid-afternoon our flat looks silly with so many clothes hanging about!
The weather has been cold and wet. We've seen a little snow, rain and wind. We've even seen the sun once or twice! Let me know in the comments if you have questions about our place or city. I'll do my best to post pictures soon.
