FIRST WEEK IMPRESSIONS (Photos to follow)

Not unlike most of us, I have have formed some initial impressions of our new home after serving in-country for just 5 days.
(These are rather ramdom, so excuse my organization) Everyone seems to live in an apartment (saw some in our development, somewhat bigger and newer than ours for $ 3K US/mo.) where the entrance doors seem to be made of prison steel. One good dead bolt lock and not even the biggest Nazi commando would have gotten in. The toliets all flush by way of a button, (either pull up or push down) and when flushed you had better not be too close or the baby may be going down with the bathwater, so to speak. (no plungers needed in this country) Most walls are totally soundproof and why shouldn't they be when made with about 10" of concrete. The water is instantly hot, (very hot) when you first turn it on so you need to keep this in mind and they don't seem to believe in ice, (not ice cream, fortunately) as everything which we know as cold comes in at room tempature. Clothes dryers also are not on the list of standard household lists and all washed clothes must be placed on one those dryer racks much like our grandmothers used to use. People drive every type of car you can imagine, most of which I've never seen or heard of and in a manner that I seriously doubt that I will ever get used to. They move very fast, ride your bumber, honk and flash their lights no matter which lane you are in if they want you to move and
believe it or not seem to have few accidents. (unlike the Las Vegas 'spagetti bowl') And on top of this, the roads are nearly completly inadequate to handel the massive amount of vehicles. We are currently only about 9 miles from the Mission office and it takes us about an hour and a half. Parking is next to non-existant so they park on the curbs, sidewalks, in the street and about everywhere else which turns many two-lane streets into one. This being said, everyone signals their intentions, (unlike any other American city I have ever driven in) and if they need to get in front of you (and they do so whether you let them in or not) they most always hit the flasher button as a way of saying 'thanks.' The October weather, so far reminds us of the Seattle-Tacome climate with light rain, damp & humid, grey skies with light winds, in the 40's and just basically depressing. (Thank goodness for Vitamin B3) What little food we have eaten has been mostly very good, fresh vegitables, yougrt, and the breads and pastries, ummm good! We even had our first Friday night pizza last night which was not the best, but we liked it. We shopped at the local Walmart which is called Tesco here, not near as complete, but a decent food selection nonetheless. The people we have worked with so far and of course the Church members have been extra nice and the missionaries, both young and older are great. I'll report an 'impression' update after a month or two.