20K and a Year Away

All right, let me just start by saying I could easily get used to this lifestyle. I don’t really see the apartment as long-term, but the beach is a serious contender. I like this location, too. It is close enough to the city if we need something and it is close to the mountains if we want a day away. I might start looking at what life looks like right here. I would have to get a car though. (These taxi drivers really like messing with the price of a ride. More on that in a minute…)

Now, having said that… I just sent out an application for a job. Not just any job. The job I want. I had been hoping this job would open up, but am very surprised that it did. I actually thought that it wouldn’t… but here we are.

I am very happy roaming around foreign countries, don’t get me wrong, but this job is one I really saw as my perfect opportunity. Granted, they may see it differently and choose to go with someone else, but at least I can say I tried. If I get the chance to do it, great! If they choose to go with someone else, that is ok, too. It does put an interesting wrinkle in my plans. (Meaghan, we can talk about interesting wrinkles. HAHAHA!!)

So, where does that put us? Well, we are still looking at Peru for April and May, possibly June. I still need to go to Greece – which my friend Panos tells me will still be there whenever I go, summer being the ideal time. I still need to see so many places and do a lot of things, but the pull of making a mark and being a working person is still strong. Limbo, for now, I guess, until they make their move. The posting is open until mid-March, which works great for our time in the US, but does not work great if we end up needing to buy plane tickets. This feels like more adventure time!

So, let’s talk about how my days go at the beach. First, I get up and have a cup of coffee. Then, I put on the dry swimsuit and head to the beach. The beach is about 3 minutes away walking slowly – it is rough. I walk on the beach for about 40 minutes then go for a swim. I know, life is pretty unpleasant sometimes. After my beach trip, I come home, take a shower – hot water!, then get some breakfast. Later, after lunch, depending on the day, I will have an English or Greek lesson, then head to the swimming pool with Axel. I made Axel come to the beach with me today. We walked and I swam. The ocean and Axel don’t get along very well so he just wades. He prefers the pool. I fill my time with lessons and recording audio for an English learning app, too. In the evening, we cook dinner and watch some movies or Axel watches some guy stream some game. At 7pm, Ana, Dayra’s daughter, calls after she gets home from work for an English conversation hour. Then, we go to bed and do it all over again!

On the days we have to go shopping, we grab a taxi to the entrance of this area where all the supermarkets are. We have been to 3 of the 4. Two of them are so small, they are like corner stores. Not a lot to choose from. The other one is bigger and has some variety. We even found Johnsonville Italian sausage for pasta night. That was a nice find! It is always a little fun to find things you like from home to eat. Axel was extremely pleased with his Dominos pizza. He almost didn’t mind having zero clue about all the other stuff he has been eating.

So, the taxi seemed super straightforward, but no. Of course, it is not. The first day we were here, the security man told us that a taxi to the entrance was $1, per person, unless you are foreign, then it is $1.50 each. Ok, got it. Then, he said the ride back is $2. Or $3. Depends on the driver. Ok, got it. That seemed to be the case every time we got a taxi, until yesterday. So, yesterday, we got a taxi to one of the other grocery stores to check it out. It was no farther than any of the others, but the taxi charged us $4. Dang! What the heck, taxi guy? I chalked it up to jerk driver. Well, the trend continued. On the drive home, the guy charged us $5! Seriously? He didn’t even have shame when I said, “$5?” I noted his face and car in my brain forever. That is now a no-go. $5? Whatever. We ended up spending $9 just to go to a crappy store! We ended up walking over to the other store anyway. Jeez. I told you, life is rough.

While we sit around and wait for news from home, I will start doing a little research on life at the beach here. If I get a job again, I could still come down fairly often and spend all my time at the beach! If not, this could be a great place to end up after an adventure. Seems like a win-win to me.