How frustrating to want to communicate and have the internet not cooperate with me! The service has been on again off again for weeks. They are supposed to send a technician from the embassy over to our apartment building to see what the problem is. Our whole building is having issues.
Hopefully they will get it fixed for good this time. Especially since we have already paid for the whole year's service. We had to pay the whole year up front about 2 months before we arrived just to make sure that the service was set up and running by the time we arrived. The customer service is pretty much non existent here. I know we won't be receiving any credits or upgrades. We aren't in Kansas anymore Toto!!
Things are relatively quiet here, considering what has happened at other embassies around the region. The Algerian government has done a good job of keeping the embassy area protected. We are still somewhat restricted but not as much as last weekend. Transportation around town (to & from work) has to be in armored vehicles. We have been asked not to go out alone and to use a buddy so thank goodness Kirk is my "buddy"!! LOL There have been some tense moments when things seem to be heading out of control but so far, no huge events. Friday is prayer day here and after the afternoon call to prayer, there have been people talking in arabic over the loud speakers. This has only happened the past couple of weekends and made me wonder what was being said. The local mosque is a few blocks from my house so we hear the calls to prayer quite clearly.
Nothing much new to report since we have been on restriction and all of our trips have been cancelled. We were supposed to go on a coastal trip this weekend. Hope they reschedule it soon!
Kirk started his new job in the consular section and seems to be enjoying it so far. He is learning to take biometric fingerprints. The consular section is where they issue visas and give services to American citizens.
We have already planned a trip to Marseille, France for the long weekend in October. I can't wait! We are staying in a hotel near the coast and are so looking forward to some good food!!
We have been working out with our Playstation 3 EA sports until our stuff arrives from the states. I also go to Zumba class at the embassy. It is a good stress reliever! We are getting ready to go out to the local markets and butcher. They don't shop like we do in the states, it is more of an everyday thing here. But the good part is we get hot, fresh baguettes whenever we want and they only cost like 20 cents a loaf!! They are so GOOD! That must be the frenchman in me....good bottle of wine, fresh baguettes and some nice cheese....although the cheese here is not so good! But the wine and baguettes are A-ok!!
We will try and post updates when we can, assuming the internet cooperates. We will try and take some photos of our neighborhood to post so you can see what we see everyday! Don't get too excited...it is not much of a view!!
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