I woke up around 2 am this morning and job hunted online until about 8:30 . Then John and I went down the street to our favorite little pancake vendor. Three egg pancakes and one onion pancake later (wedged on croissants), we were stuffed. In the afternoon, we signed the lease for our apartment—another 3+ hour long process. Earlier I had faxed the contract to my parents for translation services so this morning, we were fully prepared with an itemized list of add-ons. Including a statement that rental was contingent on the availability of high-speed internet. Ultimate tight-asses! Afterwards, the real estate office sent two reps with us to set up a bank account and set up the cable modem. Obviously, we weren’t expecting them to escort us and totally hook us up… but they did anyway, in the rain and cold! It was awesome having our own little team of assistants to get us on the inside track. Tomorrow morning, we’re handing over the third month’s prepaid rent, getting the keys and the cable company is coming to install the cable modem (next day service… can’t beat that!). Just in time for Yeb and Nai, who arrive in the evening.

The picture of John to the left shows a building facade where the “bricks” were handpainted on. The entire wall was originally gray and then painters added the red accents and used white paint to mimic the mortar between the bricks.