Our New Home

This is the view out of the front door of our building.  The road and sidewalk in the distance are the "Rambla" we have mentioned which hugs the coast line around the city.  Needless to say it's only a "hop, skip, and a jump" to the beach!  The guy in the orange vest makes his living watching over the cars on this block.  They are licensed for a specific block and no one else can work that block.  They are dependent on people to give them tips.  On busy streets they are very useful because they will stop traffic to let you pull out (or park).  As you can see the cars are parked very close to one another.  This guy also helps you park, although our real estate agent told us she has had them motion her to keep backing up as if there was lots of room and suddenly BAM!  I guess the more cars you can get parked on your block the more tips you get.

This is the view from the dining room looking over Bonnie's shoulder (she's out on a small terrace) at the plaza/park in front of our building.  Traffic on our small one-block-long street is almost nonexistent which keeps the noise down even though we are sandwiched between two very busy streets (which gives us great bus access).

We also have a small terrace off the master bedroom, but not quite the same view!  At least there's a palm tree!

Below is the narrow, yellow kitchen Bonnie has referred to.  You can't see them because they are behind me in this photo, but we do have a small stackable washer and dryer which along with the central heating makes this better than most of the apartments we looked at.  However, Bonnie did comment it was ironic that Tawnya had expressed her relief at no longer having the washer and dryer in her kitchen- and now here we are with the same set-up.  At least when you are not looking at the washer and dryer you have a nice view of the plaza.  If you look us up on Google Earth (Plaza Tomas Gomensoro, Montevideo, Uruguay) practically the only thing you can see of the plaza is trees, so it will be even prettier when spring time gets here and everything begins to leaf and flower out.

I think it is funny that after the landlady showed Bonnie how to use our all-gas stove and range Bonnie keeps looking at it now as though it were a bomb about to go off! 

No dishwasher- so after all the dishes our kids have washed in their lives, they will be happy to know they are really missed several times a day!  We may be washing dishes, but we are really going to splurge and have a housekeeper come in once a week to clean house and iron.  I've always wanted to get Bonnie a housekeeper- but to get one that does ironing is better than I had ever imagined! 

There is a "portero" (sort of like a guard/doorman on duty 24 hours a day, so no one gets into the building without his say-so.  Porteros were the bane of my missionary experience- and now I love having one!  However, in retrospect, I am a little incredulous that, as missionaries, we were able to get past the porteros so many times to knock on doors.  I sure wouldn't be able to do it today without some divine intervention!

After all our traveling and hit and miss with the internet, we are finally back online.  I spent most of the day yesterday trying to figure out how to get internet access and worrying about how long it would take to get installed.  Everything is on a minimu one year contract basis, and, of course, we leave in less than 10 months.

When I checked the wireless networks we were able to pick up on our computers every single one was locked and most were too weak.  Our portero put us in contact with the neighbor above us who has a wireless network and she has agreed to let us on and we will pay half the monthly bill.  No installation, no waiting, no contract, no immense monthly bill- the blessings keep pouring out over us!