HI!
I moved in on the May 17th, but I just got Internet on last Friday. The house was already set up for it (and for 110v as well as 220v), but there was a mix-up with the mailing address from the cable company, so the landlord, Ricardo) hadn't gotten the bill.
*And Ricardo is AMAZING!!!!! Stories to follow.
*This is why I haven't posted a blog the past two weeks - too busy nesting and introducing two adorable brother kittens into the household - Mouse (because he squeaks) and Kohl (as in the eye make-up Liz Taylor wore as Cleopatra). Emma was not amused.
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| Kittie cats - that's what I call them to Emma. |
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| The packing tape toy. |
I kept them in the nursery (the guest room) for a couple of weeks. (they still sleep there). Then they learned how to climb over the lattice accordion barrier. That's when the fun started. Now they're old enough to protect themselves from the huge black thing. They either go under a chair or the bed, or hiss at Emma so she backs off. The three get into close proximity, though, and all goes well until I pick up one of the kitties. Then I have to pet Emma, too. Not surprising. But she doesn't bark, and they entertain her so she's no longer such a Velcro dog with me. She lies on the floor near me, gazing toward my bedroom - the kitties playroom - and rushes in to check on them if they get too noisy. I'm more than a little concerned about the fate of my breakable things when they move into the rest of the house. Time to child-proof, I guess. Yesterday Emma and I were playing ball in the back yard (still dust till the grass grows in, so Emma is a mess - I'm going to have to learn to groom her) and both kittens were on the window sill watching her antics, their little heads turning in unison as if they were at a tennis match. This morning I can pet the cats and they don't hiss or run when Emma sniffs them.
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| Kitchen to living room/hall to master bedroom - right are two 5 ft wide sliding doors. The left is a 7 ft window to the back patio where the driveway is. There's a clerestory section in the hall (about 11 ft high), with glass blocks each side. |
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| Living Rm and front door to Dining Area in Kitchen - May 16th |
And the house is MAHVELOUS!!! Lots of open space, more windows (and they're HUGE) than walls. Every night, and when I leave for the day, I push switches at each window and electric shutters roll down as low as I want. This is typical of houses here. When I get home, I push the buttons again and "open the house." It's the first time I haven't moved into a fixer-upper, and I love it! The yard has a rock wall all four sides, with an electric gate closing the end of the driveway. The back door from the patio opens onto the utility room (American washer and dryer courtesy of the base - the house has 110v and 220v, which is unusual) and from there to the kitchen. Plenty of open space and storage - my room has a HUGE walk-in closet! The two other bedrooms have wall to wall closets with raised floors and a shelf above for storage. There's also a capacious storage niche in the hall. And the VIEWS!!! 180 deg. from the front (south) side of the house (toward the ocean). It's spacious, and open, and holds all my furniture and "stuff" perfectly.
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| Living Room to Kitchen - May 21st |
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| To the south - the front of the house |
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| To the west, out the dining area window. |
AND THE VIEWS!!!!! 180 degrees from the front of the house. The sounds of surf, roosters, and church bells, plus wind chimes on the terrace.
I have a phone through my computer and Magic Jack - that you can call as if you're calling me in Arlington. Send me an e-mail if you want it. Best times (Azores time, which is 4 hrs ahead of east coast) are up to 9PM on school nights and any time on weekends.
*Memorial Day was my first holiday here. It was gorgeous - sun, intense blue ocean, and lighter blue sky with white, puffy clouds. I drove to Angra do Heroismo (ahn grah - doh - eh row ees mow ) - 15 - 20 mins west (see map of the island below). It's a world heritage town and all the power lines are underground - makes it very photogenic.
*I bought an "island bomb," a cranberry red1998 Fiat Punto (4-door hatch-back) with only 73K miles. And the clock even works!! It cost ~$1,400, and I had to put another ~$600 into it to replace the gas hose and fix oil leaks. When Ricardo saw the gas leak, he told me to leave the keys under the floor mat and he'd take the car to his mechanic. Then he called to tell me about the oil leaks. Then he brought the car to me a couple of days later. He had paid for the work!!!! I reimbursed him right then, and I was blown away that he did that for me. I'm probably going to have it painted and put new seat covers in. It's standard shift and very fun to drive. I'm at a qtr of a tank (filled up 10 days ago) and have put about 450 kilometers (280 miles) on the car since then. My car holds 12 gallons, so that works out to 31mpg! The max speed limit anywhere on the island is 55mph. My car isn't projected to arrive till 16 June, so the cost of the car is very cheap compared to what I would've paid for a rental for a month. A Portuguese woman from the Legal office on base went with me to Praia (pry ah - we refer to it as "downtown") to initiate the process of transferring the title. The original arrived in the mail this week.
*Back to Ricardo. He also:
1) sent his maid, Fernanda, to help me unpack and clean
2) told his full-time handyman, Pete, to help me with whatever I need. Friday he put together the utility shelving unit in the laundry room. When I decide where I want the stuff up on the walls, he'll come to drill the holes and hang everything.
3) will have his gardener is plant flowers/shrubs along the sidewalk and terrace
4) installed a beautiful aluminum door to hide the gas tanks on the back terrace.
5) brought his laptop over when I told him the wireless wasn't working to see if it was the system or my Mac. When he couldn't get access either, he called a friend who works for the cable company and the friend came over to check it out. They were here till 8:30 trying to figure out what was wrong. As I wrote above, it was the missing bill, which mean the service hadn't been paid for. I was up and running the next day (and Ricardo came over to make sure that it was so).
6) has asked his wife, Claudia (cloud-ee-ah), to take me plant shopping.
I AM BLOWN AWAY!!!!!!!!!!
*The folks I supervise are talented, conscientious, fun, and play well with others. There are 4 environmental folks, an energy manager, a community planner, a real property specialist, and housing office with 30 folks. All of them are Portuguese except for the real property guy and the housing Branch Chief. Sadly, the man who's been the Environmental Engineer (and acting Flight Chief), also U.S. civilian, is moving back to Alaska this month. It will be impossible to replace him, and we might not be able to hire anyone due to hiring freezes.
*The only downer in my time here so far is weight gain (~5 lbs) from eating out a couple of weeks before I left VA and since I've been here. Every restaurant brings out fresh bread, butter, and mild goat/sheep cheese before a meal and it's irresistible. Since moving into the house I've hardly gone out to eat, including for lunch, and I've lost 3 lbs! Yay!!!
*Between putting the house together and expanding my family, working, touring the island, day trips that Family Support Services organizes (whale/dolphin watching, spelunking, boat trips around the island to name just three), taking a class on Terceira culture/history on the 6th), enjoying my view and relaxing, continuing to nest, playing with Emma, Mouse, and Kohl (and working with them to co-exist), going to evening events with co-workers (Saturday night it was dinner and a choral performance in a lovely church in Sao Mateus (sou mah tay ush) with Lerena to hear Susana, one of my environmental engineers. I tried octopus for the first time! Pretty good, actually), being tutored in Portuguese by a co-worker, cleaning house (now that all my wood and glass furniture is out in the open, I'm actually enjoying Pledging/Windexing it, writing my blog, communicating with friends via e-mails (and phone calls soon, I hope), taking photographs, grocery shopping, doing laundry, attending an Environmental Conference in Germany at the end of June, spending a week in an environmental management class at Wright-Patterson AFB (Dayton) in July, taking on-line courses for work, and trying to get enough sleep, keeps me fairly busy.
*Today I'm going to go in to the office - lots to catch up on. After noon: a front tire is flat and one of the workmen is going to put on the spare when they break for lunch.
All in all, I'm happy, happy, happy! I just hope I survive all the happiness!!!!!
Touch base and let me know how you're doing!
