Friday, July 2, 2010

"I Think I'm Going to Like it Here..."

We arrived in Frankfurt yesterday morning. I didn't sleep on the plane. It just doesn't work for me. The Benadryl I gave the girls kept Olivia up and knocked Lila out. Matt fell asleep on the tarmac on take-off and, pretty much, remained that way the entire flight. I had an allergic reaction to something I ate on the plane (a piece of fruit, I think) and had to take Benadryl soon before we landed. I had meant to take it much sooner - but decided to watch a movie instead. Taking it during the last hour was bad, bad, bad. Olivia finally fell asleep during the last two hours of our flight and screamed bloody murder as soon as we landed until we picked up our luggage. We love drawing attention to ourselves!

Our sponsor quickly helped us get ID cards taken care of and hit up the housing office before the long weekend. We do not have to live on post (this is good news)! Matt is at a housing brief this morning and we are hoping that we can spend some time today looking at houses. Though, I'm so tired, I don't know if that's a good idea.

Our guest house has no air conditioning and it is hot. We are on the top floor and, since heat rises, you can imagine how uncomfortable we are. We closed all the windows this morning, after letting it cool down last night and it's not working well. I'm going to ask to have us moved to the ground floor, if possible, as soon as a room opens up.

The guest house manager has been very helpful. She tells me there is a farm nearby where I can get raw milk and fresh fish weekly. She has also told me of three or four local markets. I just need to get their times and locations. She did, however, suggest going to the farm directly, as she does, because food picked up directly at the farm is less expensive than the market or the grocery store.

We did hit up a grocery store yesterday and I'm a bit overwhelmed. I need German language lessons STAT! I'll have to bring my little dictionary next time and start reading over common food items in my book right away. I know I will figure it out, as I did in Portugal. Therefore, I'm not nearly as anxious as I was when I first arrived in Portugal. Aside from essential items, as soon as I start making my own yogurt and bread again, I don't plan on needing much out of the grocery store all Summer and Fall due to the farms and markets.

So, I'm pooped, Olivia is bored ("When is our stuff going to be here already...this is the most boring place I've ever been"), and Lila is just along for the ride. Matt's trying to delay his deployment until we find a house, all of our household goods (HHG) have arrived and we either buy a car or find a cheap rental until my car arrives. I'd like him to stick around long enough to have us fully moved in and have schools for the Fall taken care of for the girls. I'm so jet-lagged that I can't even wrap myself around all of it, but I know it'll all come together and I'm able to remain calm.

We plan to walk around Heidelberg later today. I'll bring my camera and try to post pictures later. I'm really excited and I know I'm really going to like it here!

1 comment:

The Dunns said...

Welcome! Hope the jet lag doesn't last too long.

We are on the top floor of TLF, too. Fortunately, they provided a fan in the room and, with the room door open, we can get a decent breeze. It's going to get hotter this weekend. :(

Can either of you drive yet?