Exploring the City
After two years of having to weigh risks, it was so much fun to just be able to go out and not worry about getting sick!
In between ALL of the logistical things associated with moving to a new country, we managed to find some time to just explore. We found parks near us, and went to check out the library. Of course, we had to eat, and although the place we were staying had a kitchen, it didn't have all the spices and whatnot, so we didn't get past microwaving. So we spent a lot of time exploring restaurants! Which would have been more fun if we hadn't just eaten two straight weeks of delivery. Although if you can imagine four children eating three meals a day on a hotel floor, I think you'll understand that eating OUT was a big relief.
We all got public transit cards and figured out the subway system. Buses take longer to figure out, but we made some progress on that too. We also found Costco and mostly held off on buying things until we had a house, but what a relief to have a Costco when setting up a house! We spent at least two trips surveying the options so that we'd be able to act quickly once we knew what our house would come with. We were all so happy to be out and about that nobody really complained about being tired, but it was really very tiring.
I had kind of forgotten what it was like to live overseas. I mean, of course I hadn't forgotten. But I guess I didn't remember what it feels like in your body. What I mean is, in the States, I would walk to the car in the garage, walk from the car into the store or whatever, then walk back. I carried K around, but only about that far. I walked across the driveway to my parents' house. I mean, it's not like I had a desk job! I was following four kids around! But when we got here, whoa I was out of shape. I couldn't wear K for more than a few hours without having days of neck pain afterwards. My arms got sore from carrying groceries and my back hurt from wearing my backpack. But I wasn't doing anything here that I hadn't done when we lived overseas before! It was a big surprise to me how much strength I had lost while living in the States. But I'm happy to report that I have adjusted and now I can wear K for hours every day while shopping and carrying groceries and not be sore.
The kids really enjoyed going out so much. Plus we needed to buy so many things that it was like every other day, they were getting to choose something. What blanket they wanted for their bed, or what color towel to get or did they like this jacket? We really slimmed down to move, so we needed a lot of things. Plus they hadn't been regularly going out for years! It turned out E only had like two pairs of pants that didn't have holes in them! Why did we bring pants with holes all the way across the world?! Anyway, suffice it to say that we more than compensated for all that time staying home, and for quarantine in particular, and everyone really enjoyed it!