Trip to Tipaza - Roman Ruins

Well, we have been here almost 2 weeks.  Kirk had an interview at the embassy today and is now gainfully employed at the embassy in the consular section.  He starts in a couple of weeks. 


Tipaza, Algeria
Mediterranean Sea

Last Friday we took an embassy sponsored trip to Tipaza, a beautiful site of roman ruins.  It was very interesting and some of it was very beautiful...some of it, not so much.  Some of the ruins date back to the 1st century.  It was about 100 degrees outside and sunny but we enjoyed the Mediterranean breeze, even though it was pretty hot.  We were driven to the site (about 1-1/2 hours from the embassy) in an armored van with police escort.  Our escorts accompanied us everywhere.  Once we left Algiers, our driver had to keep stopping as we entered new "counties" and had to show our diplomatic paperwork.

After we toured the ruins, we walked around the souvenir shops for a few minutes.  We didn't find anything that we could live without.  We then went to lunch.  That was an experience!  Kirk ordered grilled turkey and I ordered a steak, trying to be safe.  Both were tough and not so good.  At the end of the meal, one of the other ladies found a cockroach in our bread basket!!  Needless to say, we didn't eat much after that!  LOL  Life in a third world country....we take a lot for granted in the U.S.!  We walked across the street to the waterfront after lunch and the stench from the fish markets and rotting garbage just about knocked me over!  I am definitely not a "smell" person. 

We then stopped at a local beach club where we got out and walked around.  It was dirty and not somewhere that I would want to stay.  The sad part is, it could be very beautiful but they don't have the infrastructure to make it that way.  We also noticed that it was mostly boys and men swimming.  The majority of women were off to themselves with the girls, many of whom where covered from head to toe at the beach.

We then went to the tomb of the Christian, which is actually a tomb of the first royal family.  It is a dome like structure.  There was a white camel there.  One of the girls from our group paid to take a ride on it.  I want to ride a camel in the desert so I am waiting for that. 

When we got home from our trip, we showered and headed off to another party.  It was a going away party for one of my co-workers who leaves for Mali this week.  We had a good time and met some more people from the embassy.

We have found a wonderful little gelato shop just down the hill from us.  We love to go try out all the different flavors.  So far, the Snickers has won!!  Just across from that is a pizza joint called Dolce Vita.  We had pizza there yesterday and it was actually good.  Thin crust, crispy and good toppings.  No pepperoni here though!!

There are several small markets in our neighborhood and we have started feeling comfortable enough to shop there.  We have found a local butcher shop where we get our meat.  The smells, again, are quite overwhelming.  There are stray cats everywhere!!! No wonder we had to get rabies vaccines.  There is a chinese restaurant down at the bottom of the hill in our neighborhood and Kirk says they must not be serving cat because there are so many on the street!!  LOL

It is hot and humid but I can't go outside without having my arms and legs covered....it is frustrating.  I just want to put on some shorts and walk to the store! 

This Friday, we are going on another embassy sponsored trip and then another party Friday night.  There is also a place called the Brit Bar here, which is part of the British embassy, just down the street from our embassy.  You have to be members there and you can enjoy food, drink and the occasional trivia contest. They somehow serve BLTs and sausage there.....amazing since we can't get pork in this country!  So glad we are in a country where we aren't supposed to drink!!!

There is a large temple about 2 blocks from here.  We are starting to get used to hearing the calls to prayer 5 times a day (the 1st one being at 4:30 am).  It is broadcast over a loud speaker and sounds like "Allahhhhhh" and then some arabic prayers.

First Dinner Out

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Another busy day of work!  So many meetings and new things to remember.  Have another day full of meetings tomorrow!  I really like my boss and my office.  Things are off to a good start.

We went out for dinner tonight with 6 others from from the embassy for the Wednesday night dinner club.  The restaurant is called the Grill Room.  It was a wonderful dinner with good conversation. We sat outside on the patio, enjoying a cool evening breeze.  The waiters brought out baskets of bread, plates of olives, and plates of fresh calimari.   Kirk and I both ordered filet mignon (mine was au poivre and his was with mushrooms). We ordered several bottles of white wine to share.  There were several cats roaming around but all in all it was a great evening. We were told that this is one of the nicer restaurants in the city and that it was a bit pricey but after being in DC, it didn't seem bad at all!!  LOL

The restaurant is on the top of a hill and we had a great view of the Mediterranean on the drive up there.  Coming home in the dark, with all the lights in the distance, the city actually looked pretty. 

1st day at the Embassy

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Had a great time at the bbq we attended yesterday.  It was at my new boss' house and we met most of the Marines from the embassy. I also met another Marine wife, which is always wonderful!  Semper Gumby! We had fried chicken, beans, & potato salad.  Kirk played spades with the Marines & my new boss.

The weather is so hot here...upper 90's and it is supposed to be over 100 by the end of the week.  We are not supposed to wear shorts or sleeveless shirts out in public so it is brutally hot! 

We went to the embassy today.  Kirk got his i.d. and I started my new job.  I like my new office, I have a great workspace.  I am meeting all the different sections and getting all my paperwork done.  I am trying to remember so many new faces/names and learn the layout of the embassy and try to figure out what I will actually be doing!  I met with Ambassador and DCM this morning.  They were very nice and welcoming!  Everyone has been so nice. Our sponsors (who are also our neighbors) have really gone out of their way to help us. 

Today after work, we walked to a couple of local shops (butcher, fruits/veggies, convenience type store).  It is definitely a third world country...the streets and sidewalks are not well cared for (when there are sidewalks at all) and there is quite a bit of trash around.  Lots of stray cats everywhere....we brought one home with us.  If he doesn't do well, we can always eat him.....JUST KIDDING!! (That was Kirk's idea!!). 

We did ok communicating in the stores...as long as they speak slowly enough!  The roads are not well marked and are very narrow and winding so we didn't venture too far. We found a small gelato shop and stopped for a gelato.  It was very good!  I even figured out how to ask to sample the different flavors!  LOL  There was a pizzeria on the street across from the gelato store but we didn't eat there yet.  One adventure at a time!

We are joining the "dinner club" at the embassy.  Each week, they pick a new restaurant and a bunch of people go out to eat and try the new restaurant.  Tomorrow we are going to a steak house.  Yum!  It will be a nice break from baked chicken, wild rice and tuna sandwiches for lunch! 

Friday we are taking a trip to a nearby beach to see the local ruins and do a little souvenier shopping with a group from the embassy.  It should be fun. Will keep you posted and post some photos as soon as I can find my camera cord!

Cooking & Cleaning!

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Spent the day cleaning and moving furniture!  The house has all white marble tile floors + no mop = me scrubbing floors on my hands & knees.  Ugh!  They look good though.  We have alot of furniture that came with the house so we rearranged to suit us and make room for our shipment of goods when it gets here.  I scrubbed my kitchen and rearranged the dishes.  Tomorrow is laundry day....forgot to mention that we don't have a washer/dryer in our apartment.  We have a community laundry room in our building.  I have to schlep our laundry up 2 flights of stairs to do laundry.  Oh well, at least I don't have to leave the building.

We have a small patio out back near the pool with some furniture but we have a big cement wall so there really is no view.  We explored the rest of our apartment building and just spent the rest of the day cleaning and rearranging and watching some tv.  We have local cable, which is mostly French or Arabic language shows but during the daytime there are several channels that show English programs.  We also have AFN, military satellite but the shows are several seasons behind and we have a limited variety of programming.  Kirk is happy though because we get some NFL games!!  They are also showing the Yankees game tonight!

I also have limited grocery options so cooking is a challenge!!  We decided to have spaghetti tonight.  When we went shopping, we bought tomato paste and what we thought was pureed tomatoes (which turned out to be just a bigger can of tomato paste).  So imagine trying to make spaghetti sauce with just tomato paste, water, oregano, basil and garlic powder!!  Needless to say, the garlic toast I made was the best part of dinner.  LOL  :)  Good thing I am a Marine Wife....Semper Gumby....Always Flexible!!

Ramadan ends tonight.  The city is preparing for a big celebration.  We are getting used to hearing the calls to prayer several times each day. 

Grocery shopping adventure!

Friday, August 17, 2012

We took our first trip to the grocery store today with our neighbors.  I can honestly tell you that I am very glad we did not bring our car here!!  The NASCAR drivers have nothing on the drivers here.  They drive extremely fast and make their own lanes...stop signs and signals are optional.  The only cars that don't have dents or scratches on them are the ones still on the sales lot!!!

We did ok at the grocery store.  My french came in handy.  We were definitely stared at!  Little kids were tugging on their mothers' sleeves and pointing at us!!  LOL  Bottled water is actually cheaper here than in the states.  Olive oil is affordable but bath towels were $20 apiece!  Needless to say, we did not buy any towels.

The city is definitely not a tourist attraction.  The beach near the grocery store has quite a collection of litter on it.  We are told that the beaches to the west of us are very nice and there are a couple of nice hotels in that area also.

We attended movie night at the Marine House.  We toured the embassy and met some of my new co-workers, including the Ambassador!  We had a beverage and then watched The Avengers.  It was a nice evening. 

Home, Sweet (?) Home!!

Thursday, August 16, 2012
We have arrived in Algeria....finally! 

This was our first experience with Air France and it didn't start out very well.  We had our 4 suitcases all settled, under 50 lbs each.  I had called Air France several times to confirm their baggage policies.  They neglected to tell us that our carry on bags had a weight limit.  Needless to say, we were sent to a scale in the corner of the airport to repack our suitcases and get our carry-ons under the weight limit (which subsequently put 2 of our suitcases over their weight limit).  $300 later, our carry-ons were approved and our suitcases were checked. Good thing we arrived early at the airport....it took over 2-1/2 hours to get checked in and through security at Dulles.

Our flight from DC to Paris was delayed over 2 hours which caused us to miss our connection in Paris.  We were seated in economy on the flight from DC to Paris and that didn't make for very good sleeping conditions!!  My knees were touching the seat in front of me, my back hurt and I couldn't get comfortable.  Kirk didn't sleep much either.  We can't wait until we have enough frequent flyer miles to upgrade to business/premium where we can stretch out and enjoy those long flights! 

Charles DeGaulle airport in Paris has to be the most unorganized airport in the world!!  We have decided that we want to avoid going there at all possible costs in the future!!  We had to go through security each time we changed terminals and when we were finally called to board, we went down the gateway, thinking we were getting on the plane, only to be crowded into a shuttle bus to be driven across the tarmac to our plane, where we had to get out of the bus, climb the stairs and then finally board our plane.  We were late taking off from Paris because we had to wait for the last bunch of passengers to arrive via the shuttle bus!!  And people outside of the United States do not form lines.  They form a "queue" which means they all push to the front of the line trying to get in front of you!!

The weather is sunny and warm here, very similar to San Diego.  It was a beautiful day to arrive.  I can tell you that there weren't many tall, blonde females in the Algerian airport.  It was a bit strange for me....I sure don't blend in!  LOL

So glad we didn't have to drive home from the airport....the traffic is CRAZY here!!  They make their own lanes and just pull out in front of each other.  Kirk did some research and found that Algeria is the 4th highest in traffic accidents in the world!

Our apartment is on the ground floor, just steps from the pool (very small pool).  It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath furnished apartment.  All of our neighbors are State Department.  We are going grocery shopping tomorrow with our neighbors and then are meeting some more of the Embassy staff tomorrow evening.  We have been invited to a bbq on Monday.  It is a long holiday weekend here (the end of Ramadan) so I don't have to report to work until Tuesday morning!  :)

Ready to go!

Tomorrow is departure day.  We are finishing up the last minute packing and making last minute phone calls.  It seemed like time was going so slowly during training and now departure is upon us!  I am excited and a little nervous. 
We are missing our Abbie girl already!  Wishing her the best of luck as she starts her second semester of college next week.

Family Time - day 2

Saturday, August 11, 2012 -  Another great day in DC!  We had breakfast at IHOP and then headed downtown to take Abbie to all the great memorials & monuments.  Kim's favorite is the WWII and Abbie's is the Lincoln (which is pretty awesome).  The reflecting pool is still under construction but we got some great pictures from the top steps of the Lincoln memorial.  We saw Marine One take off from the White House lawn.  It was great weather and we enjoyed the day.  We arrived home with very tired feet but wonderful memories! 
Abbie leaves tomorrow :(   We will miss her so much!  She starts college on the 20th.  We are so proud of her!  Good luck to my Abbie girl....we will keep her close in heart and prayer.  xoxoxo 

Family time

Friday, August 10, 2012 - What a great day in DC for the Duryea family today!  Abbie arrived last night after 4 hours of delays due to the weather.  It was a long night waiting at the airport.  We spent the day today exploring downtown DC and visiting several of the Smithsonian museums.  This is Abbie's first visit to DC so we are having fun showing her around.  We walked to Georgetown for a wonderful dinner and then topped off the day with a visit to DC Cupcakes and Sprinkles (if you watch the Food Network and all the cupcake shows, you know about these places!).  The cupcakes are fabulous!  We walked along the Potomac and enjoyed the cooler weather today. 
We plan to go back downtown tomorrow to check out all the memorials.  We are thinking of taking a Segway tour...that should be interesting!! LOL 
We took some good photos today but can't find my cable for my camera to download them.  It probably got packed into a box already!
The car was taken to be stored today.  5 days and counting.  Trying to clean out the cupboards and refrigerator in the apartment.  So glad Abbie girl is here to spend some time with us this weekend!!  We are making the most of it.

And so it begins.....

8/8/2012: 
One week and counting until we begin our great adventure!  We depart for Algiers, Algeria on August 15th.  After 5 months of Kim living in DC, we are both really ready to go!  Kim passed her French test, scoring what was required for her job.  

The packers arrived today to pack out the apartment.  We will be living out of our suitcases for the next week.  We finalize our big shipment of household goods tomorrow and the car goes into storage on Friday.  It is getting very real!!  

Abbie arrives Thursday for a long weekend.  We plan to give her the grand tour of DC since she has never been here.  It will be so good to see her!  We are going to miss her lots.