Oz

Well, this blog is long overdue and I'm sure we've lost the five of you that have been checking it regularly. To the one or two that are actually still checking (mom and dad), here is a little update.

First of all, we have to start with a very brief explanation of the last month. Here it is:

The cheapest flight to leave Uganda was on the 23rd. We landed in Dubai on Christmas Eve, spent three hours in a motel and jumped back on the plane to Singapore. In Singapore we got our feet massaged in some free airport massage chairs and jumped back on the plane. We landed in Brisbane Austalia at 6am on Christmas Day. We spent Christmas morning with customs going through everything and with an Indian cab driver. We stayed with some friends on the outskirts of Brisbane for a few weeks. Job and apartment searched for two weeks. Rachel found a part-time job. We found an apartment. Now here we are blogging.

All in all, I think we will always remember our first Christmas. I (Joel) spent Christmas afternoon konked out on a bed, after spending literally 70 hours not sleeping. I have a strange condition where I always have to watch the airplane movies. Can't waste the time sleeping, this is entertainment I paid for!

Our apartment is amazing. We won't bore you with details because so far I think we like it way more than anyone else that we've shown it to. But we are literally a stone's throw away from the river. And we ride the ferry to work and to get into town which is really nice. However the best part about where we live, is the people we share the house with.

Our apartment is a small section of a larger, older, "historical" house. So, there are about 6 other flats in this strange hodgepodge of a house. A couple of days ago while hanging laundry, I got into a conversation with some of the other tenants who were sitting outside eating cheese and drinking beers. We ended up talking for about two hours after which I had to go pick up Rachel from the ferry. When we got back we sat down again and talked for another hour or so. During this time they explained to us that this house was different. "We take care of each other here." That was said by Mick, an older, pudgy man who lives upstairs and delivers everyone's mail to their door and takes out everyone's garbage. Sasha and Alex live in the apartment near the front. Sasha offered to find Rachel a job since she has lots of connections. After relaying our story of how we got to this place, they all offered to help us get furnished. They gave us an old fridge that they had used to store beer in the basement. Mick gave us one of his couches. They found an old table and a bunch of mismatched chairs to use. So, our somewhat sparse flat has now almost turned into a fully furnished unit.

But what makes it great is the people. And it really seems like unbeknownst to us, me moved into a little community here, "who takes care of each other" and you can put a price on that. We wanted an apartment and God blessed us with a little family.

Anyway, we are pretty excited about it all. We also were able to get a two bedroom apartment so if any one wants to come visit we have a place for you to stay and we'll introduce you to Mick and Sasha and the rest of the gang. Also if anyone wants to know our address is:

2/7 Merthyr Rd. New Farm, QLD 4005 AUSTRALIA