Random Observations and Other Fun Facts

by Amy

Here the stop lights go from Green to Yellow to Red to Yellow to Green. So, it's kind of crazy when your taxi driver is stopped at a red light. It turns yellow and he begins reeving his engine and may even take off a bit early. All the while the drivers on the perpendicular road are going as fast as they can to get through the intersection before the light turns red (or is red for too long.....) Therefore, screeching of brakes and honking of horns is a common sound on the city streets!

In the local grocery stores, you have to have your produce bagged, weighed, and priced before leaving the produce section.

Many stores, grocery stores included, are two, three, or four stories tall. They have these cool little moving ramps that your shopping cart locks into that you ride from floor to floor.

Taxi drivers only abide by one rule: There are NO rules when driving! This makes for some exciting rides! It's not uncommon to see taxis drive on the sidewalk when the street is too busy. It's also not uncommon for my taxi driver to drive on the wrong side of the road (into opposing traffic) if that will help him get to the final destination 1/4 of a second earlier! Also, left turn arrows are very rare here, so taxis just pull out and make the other cars wait or hit them....

Did you know that God made yellow watermelons? That's right, the outside is green, but when you cut into it, the inside is bright yellow! Brad brought a couple home for us to enjoy the other day. We had a yellow dinner two nights ago ~ cheese, crackers, pineapple and watermelon! Our kiddos thought it was fun!

Many people have been wondering what type of food items are available here. I have to admit that I've been pleasantly surprised and thankful with the western foods that I can find. Here are a few:
- Ketchup (even Heinz)
- Refried Beans ~ Old El Paso brand! They come and go, but that's OK, I'll take 'em when I can get 'em!
- Olive oil and Red Wine Vinegar (to complement the Good Season's Italian Dressing Mix I brought from the states ~ a favorite of my husbands!)
- Cereal
- Hershey's Chocolate Syrup Mix (you pay for it, but it's here!)
- Real milk ~ it's whole milk, but that's OK. It's cold and pasteurized! And, they'll even deliver it to my door!
- Cream Cheese ~ It's pretty pricey too, but one store here carries it fairly regularly.
- Avocados ~ isn't that delightful!?!
- American Cheese slices.
- Pringles.
- Ritz crackers.
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts (they are actually one of the cheapest cuts of chicken!)
- Ground Beef.
- Ice cream ~ most of the chocolate flavored ice cream is not what I'm used to, but the vanilla is pretty yummy!

So, it looks like I'm not going to starve to death after all! Now, if we could just get our kitchen installed, I could cook up some of this yummy food!

Speaking of cooking, the kitchen in our apartment came complete with one short, small, plastic sink. So, I've been using our plastic trunks to build "counters" that hold my coffee pot, microwave, water dispenser,etc. It's working out OK, but I'm so ready to have a range and oven so I can cook our food instead of eating most meals out. Today, though, I cooked spaghetti in our microwave! Who knew you could boil noodles in a microwave?! (Obviously, my husband did!) In the second to last pic on Savannah's post below she is standing in my make-shift kitchen!

I'm sure I'll have more random thoughts at a later date, but that's it for now!