Update!

Well, hallelujah, we have internet! On Tuesday Jason went back to the City to turn in our papers for the visas and there was someone there who could speak English! She informed Jason that after he paid 50 Euro for each of our visas and in addition to getting health insurance, they also have to check with the police to make sure we haven't done anything illegal since we have been here, then we will have our visas. They said checking with the police alone could take up to 3 weeks (who knows how long the health insurance thing will take). We were very discouraged after that meeting because that meant we would have to wait that long just to get our internet contract started. Jason decided to go back to the internet place and ask them again, bringing with him one of the papers from the work permit process, and they went ahead and accepted it! We now have one of those USB mobile broadband connector dealie-bobs that we can use until they get the DSL switched on to our apartment (2 to 3 weeks), and then we will have a genuine high-speed connection! Yay!

London woke up in the night last night saying she was scared because there were horses in her room. Oh boy. She came in our bed for a little bit and then we told her she had to go back in her own bed. About 10 minutes later she was yelling about the horses again. We prayed for her and she went back to sleep. Today, she has been talking about the horses in her room/bed. I asked her if they were nice horses and she said yes. I asked her how many there were and she said 2. Weird. I vividly remember having a nightmare about a gigantic spider at about her age and also when I was a little older I swore I saw snakes in my bed. I hope this is just her newly-developing imagination at work and not something spiritual.

Today some men came to fix some things in our apartment that were not kosher when we got here. Tomorrow we are getting our sofa and bed frame! Also, as of this very moment Jason is teaching his very first English class! It will be interesting to see how that goes.

Great news, Jason found cilantro ("coriander") at the grocery store! I was thrilled! To celebrate we made fajitas and pico de gallo and it tasted just like at home! (Anna, I know you will be happy about this also!) I just hope that I can keep the cilantro plant alive for at least the rest of the summer because I doubt they have pots of fresh herbs in the winter. We will eat it as much as possible just in case! Tonight we are going to try chicken tikka masala (without the jalapeno, which we still haven't found a replacement for) and will let you know how that goes.

We are crossing our fingers that perhaps next week we can get some kitchen cabinets! We have to arrange for someone to go with us and translate. A lady in the church has a kitchen counter with a sink in it that is almost the right size for our apartment that we can have also! I think Jason and David might go and get the counter tonight (they have to carry it). It has wood supports to hold it up and a curtain to go across the front. We might put cabinets underneath once we see what is available at the used place. It will be so nice not to be doing any more dishes in the bathroom!

I have been sewing curtains like crazy this week. Got London's curtains made and am working on curtains for our room. The sun rises incredibly early here (it starts getting light at 4 or 4:30 a.m.) because we are so much further north. Sunset is pretty late in the evening too -- doesn't get completely dark until 11. I think we will be able to sleep a little better after we have some curtains up. I'm so thankful that Meg has a sewing machine I can use, and it is easier to use than the one I have back in storage! :)