Got to admit it's getting better, a little better all the time...

T+5 days.
That Beatles song in the title is running thru my head after this last couple of days.  We've been exploring our little area a bit more, and yesterday found the other market close to us, Monoprix.  Y'all, THEY HAVE BLUE BELL! Happy dance... they also carry Tostitos chips and salsa, Campbell's Soup, and Old El Paso Tex-Mex food.  So last night for dinner, we had tacos!

Today we went back to the mall, to the Qatari version of Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  We MIGHT have found our way to the CHILI'S for lunch... ( I KNOW, there's wonderful local food to be had.  And we will have it!  But for now, we needed this little taste of home.  And they had real iced tea.  First one I've found since leaving Texas.  Heaven.)  And I found a Starbucks to grind me some coffee beans -the coffee here is very different, it will take some getting used to.

We met another Aggie on our way in a couple of nights ago, and we invited him for dinner last night. We fed him in exchange for building information, advice, and general knowledge... plus all the campus insight that would be helpful to know.  We start work tomorrow, then we have a day off for MLK Day. (?)  We've been told to expect multiple meetings and appointments to get taken care of this week, for HR, for our permanent resident application, medical tests, etc.  Should be a busy week, and I expect there should be some training somewhere in there as well for the new job... I don't know that I will be seeing students this week, but I expect to fairly soon.  Eek!

Ummm, let's see, what else? We braved the unbelievable traffic (well, Thomas did, I just sat) to make a trip to Ikea.  We found a mattress topper and that has made a great deal of difference to my sleep- the beds here tend to be fairly hard.  Ikea was interesting, as you had Swedish translated into Arabic and English on all the labels.  Fairly international staff as well, but mostly friendly.  So each day we seem to be finding little things, little places that make it seem like we are not so very far away from home after all, and each day gets a bit better.

So keep your fingers crossed for us that all goes well this week as we begin the new jobs, and figure out how to navigate the campus culture along with the traffic.  We're off for an evening stroll around the waterfront and then back to Monoprix for dinner fixins... and maybe a little dessert!