We Have Internet

Hi there,

yes we finally got internet and basic cable a few days ago - so we can communicate with the world (well sort of - we still have no phone that we can call internationally).

Things are fairly much the same here as in Calgary - just looking for work and blobbing out to conserve money. We had an unfortunate incident when we moved into an apartment which I decided I couldn't cope with - so we moved again the next day. The problem is, the landlord still has two months rent of ours. So we will have to wrangle that out of her somehow.

The first week was good - we were located right in town and could have a good look around everything while looking for accommodation. The city is very walkable and public transport is fairly good. You don't need timetables unless you are travelling in the middle of the night. You just walk down the road and catch a bus in five minutes, then catch two subways into town. It really isn't as horrific as it would sound if it was in Auckland. It is really only a half an hour trip from our apartment. We are also getting used to shopping and walking. So far, it is not too bad as the weather on the whole is very sunny and warm (around 28 to 30 degrees and humid).

One thing we did do that was new last week was go to an Ethiopian Restaurant. David and Margaret - you will love it. Basically the food consists of dishes of unleavened type bread/pancakes, break them up with your hands, and scoop up varieties of vegetarian and meat stews and curries with the broken bread. There are no knives and forks here and is a great place to socialise. And the food is also really yummy!! Mum, maybe you can find some culinary inclined Ethiopian people to open a restaurant in Auckland.

This weekend just been was the last weekend of Caribana.

This is a week long event for those coming from the Caribbean communities. This year was particularly good for the crowds, as last year SARS halved attendance. We went to the free thing of course - which was the parade. It runs from 10am to 6pm with a reason - the whole parade is VERY slow. Each truck will stop about 5m down the road for 15 minutes with loads of fabulous music. I think I have got to say that I enjoyed this more than Stampede parade coz the vibe was a lot more energized.

Lunch was at the hot and spicy food festival at the Harbourfront. Craig and I both had jerk chicken - a Jamaican BBQ with the meat basted in heaps of different spices. Mine wasn't as hot as I thought it could be - Craig on the other hand had to go one step further and add the extra hot spicy chilli oil to his dish. Very punishing!