The good, the bad, and the... food?

It is slowly setting in how cool it is to be where I am. Although, not having some of the things I am used to can be a bit of a challenge for me.

Shoes:
I decided to just bring dress shoes and buy shoes over here so that I could fit in. I have found that I am quite particular about shoes. I have finally decided on a pair. The problem is, that every time I go to the store they are at, the owner of the store is not there. He is the only one that has the power of negotiations in English. I do want the shoes, I don’t want to pay the “tourist” price. I miss being able to go to a shop and looking at a price tag and paying that amount.

Coffee:
They graciously provide for us instant coffee. And as thankful as I am for it, yuck. Yesterday, I found one of those Italian espresso makers (the ones we had in Italy with the two chambers and the coffee in the middle). The only problem is that it is huge. It probably makes about 25 shots. I have almost mastered it though. I miss Starbucks (I can’t believed I just typed that).

Privacy:
I have not spent more than an hour by myself in the last week. This is an adjustment. Seriously.

On the other hand, there are some things here which make the things I just listed totally worth it.

The food.
Oh, my goodness, the food. Ahhh. the food. No really. Uhhhmmmm.

The culture.
The people here are awesome. They will tell you exactly what they are thinking and they will be very pointed in their questions. But they are very interested in you as a person. When somebody says, “How are you today”. “Good” is not an acceptable answer. If they don’t care about how you are, they won’t ask. I love it.

The town:
You can walk for 10 minutes and cross three different people groups with different rules of contact and everything. The place is alive and always changing.