Getting Settled

So, I really meant to post for over a week now.  To my credit, my laptop died 2 days before I flew out and then I didn't have access to the internet until last Wednesday when a friend here gave me hers to borrow until I figure out if I am going to buy another or just share with Paul.  I do plan to post more regularly and once Paul gets our here he will be helping me out as well.  (Say a prayer for paul...he is in the middle of the first day of the bar exam as I type).

So, I made it!  The flight was actually pretty pleasant.  I got to catch up on some movies that I'd been wanting to see, had some decent food, and then with a glass of red wine and a sleeping pill I just slept the rest of the way.

I checked into my home for the next month and I got to see some of the first few differences about living here..

Yes, that's a non-alcoholic beer in the hotel fridge.
i wonder how many people actually pay
the ridiculous prices to drink this?

 

This is the "bowl" that they give us in the kitchenette.
It holds less than a coffee mug and the only spoon provided
is a serving spoon that is almost as big as the bowl itself. 

The very first day (Saturday) I met up with a mutual friend who helped get me oriented and acquainted to the city.  I was happy to find a great mexican restaurant in one of the malls here :)

I started work on Sunday, which was pretty rough as I still was not on the right sleep schedule and only got 1 hr of sleep the night before.  Work is definitely a bit of an adjustment as the project that I am on is really "owner driven" in that we are in the owner's building, we have their computers, we have a seperate email address issued through them, we have to contact their IT, etc.  I am sure there are advantages to this set-up, but so far it has been a bit frustrating since there practices are really not at all american.  For instance, I have absolutely no rights on my computer, so since the computer clock is set 8 minutes slow, I can't change it and I can't download any applications that I like to use to make my life easier and more effiencient.  But I guess if these are my biggest concerns, I'm doing pretty good.  This week I have been enjoying work more and more as I get to know more people and get a better handle on what all is going on.  Anyways, there are many differences about the culture at work that I can write about, but I'll have to save that for another post as it's getting late.

There is still much to be done, but first is getting my residency visa. Without it, I can't open a bank acct, rent a flat, buy a car, get a proper phone plan, get a driving license, and the list goes on and on. My company sent off the paperwork for the visa the other day, so hopefully I'll have that soon.

I hope that this was coherent; I'll try to post more often so that I can keep the posts a little more focused and concise.  I think I'll just leave you with one more photo that I took this evening while I was on my way to take a look at a flat in the city.  It just shows how some things don't get translated very well here (both literally and in principle).

Hopefully you can read that, but in case you can't it's "Butt Sweet House."
I have no idea what the store/restaurant is actually supposed to be.