We moved in last night, and as of this afternoon (Saturday), everyone actually has a pillow. That's a new thing. (We were using ones from the SP house.) I took two loads over to the apartment yesterday, some SP guys got the big stuff, and our new place is great.
And now it's Monday. We actually have most things put away, if not officially organized. It was enough so that I could actually vacuum the floors. We spent a ton of Saturday morning cleaning up, and then we spent quite a bit of time trying to do some more shopping for the apartment to get things like trash cans, converters, and an ironing board. (We finally found a decent one at a reasonable price at one of the neighborhood markets.) There are a number of markets here, but the one in our new neighborhood, Achumani, has prices that are way too high. That's where I tried to buy a bunch of stuff the other week and they tried to rip me off, so I walked away. However, another market in Irpavi seems to be a decent place to go. I found a small household stand with an honest woman who gave me decent prices, so I think I have found my market stall, even if I have to drive a little way to get there.
Shopping at the market isn't always cheaper, though. Part of me wonders if the buying power of supermarkets is going to end up driving markets out of business at some point. I can frequently find things in the supermarket for less than the market. Additionally, everyone tells me (and I have found from my experience) that as soon as they hear my speak they are going to hike up prices or not give me the best deal. When things are a simple, set price in the grocery store, there's no real reason for me not to shop there. The only exception will probably be fruits and vegetables, but otherwise I'll probably just shop at Ketal or Hypermaxi unless I go to the one woman in Irpavi.
We should get our furniture while we are gone, which has its benefits. As of right now all we have is a bed (the kids are sleeping on the floor) and a plastic table we're eating on. It works for a few days, but it will be great for the kisd to have beds, to have a few side tables, a real dining table, and a couch finally! What's going to be interesting is the color of the couch. I looked at the receipt over the weekend, and the color said chocolate. I ordered more of a stone brown color, MUCH lighter. We tried calling yesterday but no one answered, and things are so crazy today we don't think we can check on it, so the color might be a surprise. We'll see. I like the idea of the dark brown; I'm just afraid that it will end up showing fuzzies and stains. But then so will the lighter color; it all just depends on what gets on the couch, right?
The kids really like the apartment and are going to love their rooms I think, which are pretty large. Micah was taking a nap on Saturday while Alex and I were gone, and apparently Jason poked his head in the door and watched Micah very sneakily put on his monkey boots, very carefully pull the covers over him, and go to sleep. We have the pictures for proof!
No more for now. Today is insane because we have to get up at 3:00 in the morning tomorrow in order to be at the airport at 4:30. And we have a short flight with a short layover, and then we have an eleven. Hour. Flight. With small kids. I'm not quite sure what we're going to do for entertainment, but we'll work it out. We're almost there!
