Two Week

Let the job hunt begin. Resume, or CV as they like to call it here, updated and all the pertinent info showing. I began walking around town to get my name out... this included hotels, fruit stands, clothing stores, restaurants and bike shops. After searching and searching, which is very exhausting, I started to get a bit nervous. A few different people were telling me that I am a bit late, that people are getting let go at this time. Others were very helpful and guiding me towards other possibilities. I am still looking and hopefully will find something sooner than later.

On other notes Andrea and I have found it quite difficult to get to and from town being ~6 km (3.7 miles) from town. Even though, I purchased a used road bike, it is a bit of a trek as the terrain is hilly and mountainous here. Thus, after some chatting with our current friends/roomies, we have decided to move closer to town. Searching and searching newspapers and message boards at the grocery, we called numerous people, saw two places and narrowed it down to one. We move in on Feb. 1st. This place is still up a hill, but much closer to town.

One more problem that has been solved is the communication with family and friends. I was not exactly sure how I was going to keep in touch. Skype became the answer, www.skype.com. It allows me to call phones from my computer, and if other users are online I can even video chat, which has proven to be quite fun. My dad, sister and brother-in-law all just got a video camera for their computer and thus we can all skype. I told my dad about the program over the phone on a Saturday night. On Sunday, I woke up to a message saying "Craig and Jackie would like to be on your address book." I gladly accepted and within a few minutes they signed on and we began our inaugural chat. I could see my dad and he could see me, despite we are on opposite sided of the world. Its great and I look forward to keeping up with family and friends as Andrea and I continue our adventure.

Then there was the day that was January 19th, my birthday. It was a great day. Sunny, productive, fun and good food. We caught a ride into town to get some things taken care of and then started a short hike to the Skyline Gondola attraction. A steep ~40 minute hike up the mountain side leads one to a restaurant, luge, bungy jump, giant swing and take-off point to paraglide. Andrea treated me to a few luge rides, and they were way fun! It was an adrenaline thrill, perhaps not a bungy jump or a skydive, but enough of a thrill for my 27th B-day. It was incredibly fun! Just now, as I am writing about it, I really want to go do it again. Then we headed back to our place to grill some delicious foods and sip on a few Speights to celebrate the day. Of course we had some chocolate cake with milk.

In the next day or so, Andrea was offered two jobs at clothing stores and was working with both companies to figure out which one would suit her. She struggled a bit as one was part time and paid more where the other was full time and paid a little bit less. In the end, she had decided and begins work Tuesday. She chose the full time spot as it gave her a better vibe and she liked the clothes better. Right as Andrea was taking the job we pulled the trigger to rent a car and tour a part of the country as it seemed like the right time before we started working. We had the weekend ahead of us and were recommended to drive to the southern coast. Thus we decided that is where we will drive.