A note about the customer service here- I don't know if things get lost in translation, or if we as Americans are spoiled...but it seems like everything takes a little longer, and no explanation is really given. There is no rush to fulfill any request you have...say, needing another knife, or a box to take home leftovers. Idk...
Eugene met us at the coffee shop and took us on a walking tour of the city. We learned lots of history- he knows so much about it- and saw landmarks like St Sophia's cathedral, which I think dates back to 11th century? Gonna have to look that up, it was a lot of information. We saw K from the upper city, and then walked down this beautiful cobblestone street to see the lower part. There are street vendors everywhere, but they don't really bother you, they let you look without hounding you for a sale.
We rode this cable car back up to the upper part, and then set off to find a place where we could see about getting my phone activated on a U** plan so that we could use the internet out and about for translations and skyping with the kids. That ended up being an adventure in itself, because after going to 2 legitimate cell phone stores, we were directed to this flea-market for electronics. There were dudes with no shirts selling used cell-phones and parts out of their car trunks, or on small card tables. There were a bunch of tiny shops all smooshed together, with halls winding through all of them. Everyone we talked to pointed us in a new direction, until we found shop 222, where the hacker only needed an hour to rig the phone to work.
Eugene took us to a pizza place while we waited, where we split a veggie pizza and cokes (real sugar). The pizza sauce is a lot sweeter here than in the US.
We made it back through the labryinth of technology and thankfully found my phone again. After ten minutes, it was set and ready to go. It cost us $30 to have it hacked and to get on a U* data plan for a month. Hopefully we won't go over our usage, but we can just add money to extend it if we need to.
Eugene brought us back to our apartment and I took about a 2 hour nap. Bryan is trying very hard to stay up and get used to the time change (of course, as I am writing this now, he is passed out). We got a call from the Monier family, who arrived the same day as we did and have their SDA appointment on Wednesday. We met up with them for dinner at Fridays again, which is fine...we will have plenty of time to sample the food here! It was so nice to be able to have someone to share this experience with (in English) and to compare notes with. It helps too, that they have 3 boys at home and are adopting a 4th boy AND they are aweome people :)
We meandered home though an indoor farmers market. Probably 2/3 of the counters were packed up, but there were still a bunch of vendors out (at 11ish PM!). We can't wait to go back today during full business hours. There were fresh fruits and veggies, fish counters, cheese, and bakery items, as well as fresh spices and dried fruits. Oh- and caviar. Lots of caviar! But Eric Monier told us from experience that if you take one of their samples, they will pretty much expect you to buy it, and will be put out if you don't. Sooo- we didn't try it :)
I ended up staying awake until after 3am...that nap really kicked my butt. I made it through an episode of Game of Thrones and most of Pirates of the Caribbean before I could finally keep my eyes closed. There is a bit of sensory overload as well as a general weirdness that comes with jet lag, I think. Ah, well. Onwards and upwards! Day three, coming up next!
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